Hatha, Astanga

This was a bizarre day.

I was up bright and early, 5 a.m. I did about an hour of Hatha yoga with my new yoga buddy Erich Schiffman (the DVD). It was nice - the apartment was softly lit by the early morning light and I lit the OM candle that Yogamum sent me to enhance the atmosphere. I took the dog for a quiet walk in the park (I love my neighbourhood at this hour of the morning) and headed to the subway shortly after.

When I arrived at my contract location, I was told that they didn't need me. There was this huge miscommunication (between the client and the agency; a conversation I wasn't part of) so I ended up coming home early.

The entire day felt like a bit of a disaster but at the same time it was oddly harmonious. I was wearing a new pair of shoes and by the time I arrived at the location, I had terrible blisters. I limped all the way down to the security office to get my $5 deposit back on my ID badge, wincing in pain every step. On the way back to the client's office, I saw a vendor in the lobby. I think I may have actually heard angels sing when I noticed that she was selling squishy, croc-style flip-flops. For $5. I handed over my newly acquired security deposit and received a bright orange pair of marvelously comfortable shoes. I joyfully flip flopped around the building until I finally left.

I spent most of the the day at home, in my pyjamas, reading library books, drinking tea and feeling decadent. ;-)

My evening class cancelled due to weather (it's rainy and, once again, unseasonable cold), so I decided to hop on the mat and do the Primary Series. Yoga, Round 2. I had a great practice and really enjoyed myself. I just had fun. Since it was unexpected, it felt like a gift.

For some reason, I'm loving Marichyasana C. I usually hate it, but I'm binding to wrist this week and it's feeling good to me.

Here's some more 1970s Glamour Yoga. Kareen is the ultimate yoga cheerleader:

Figure 10: Gimme an 'O'!
Figure 11: Gimme a 'Y'!
If you add a 'G' and an 'A', whaddaya got? YOGA!!!

(Many of my older students remember Kareen from her yoga show. She's all kinds of awesome and greatly beloved here in Canada).

Astanga

The bad thing about a short-term contract is if it's *really* wonderful, then it's sad to leave at the end. On the other hand...

Rough day. Long commute. *grump*

To be honest, I was so tired when I walked in the door, I had no idea how I would get through a practice. My entire body felt like one big knot. But I once I unrolled my mat and got started, I felt this wave of relief wash over me. I could literally feel the stress dissipating. I felt like I was reclaiming my real body. By the time I was through the standing poses, I felt great.

The 'bliss meter' was way up there.

I practised full Primary with no extras (read: hip openers and extra backbends). I was binding everything there was to bind. Halasana was mindblowing, it was so easy and felt so natural. I experienced a rare *comfortable* Supta K, ease-y backbends, light and balanced Sirsasana (I'm running out of adjectives here.

Good thing I had a good practice, because the rest of my day sucked. Friday? Soon?



(My new theme song; it's an inside joke)

Hatha

Over the past few days, I've been working on a contract for a local university, marking papers for a technology course. It's the kind of intense, time-sensitive work that leaves sinks full of dishes and not-walked-enough dogs in its wake.

I've been hunkered down indoors with my iPod and a red pen since yesterday, trying to finish up the last bit. Fortunately, the weather has been atrocious (cold, rainy, feels like October) and my stomach has been in knots (food poisoning), so I wasn't very tempted to venture outside anyway.

I finished up the project around noon, organised everything and sent it off. I didn't step on the mat until late evening, though. And I wasn't feeling very ambitious.

I started doing sun salutations and ended up concocting a mixture of Surya Namaskara A with the classical Hatha salutation. Fun! I think I'll play around with that some more. I did a few standing poses, but was feeling pretty yucky so I moved to the floor.

I laid over the bolster again in a supine backbend. I don't know if this is making a difference, but my back has been feeling fine at night (I've had no recurrence of the lower-back-pain episode that was so horrific a few days ago). The bolster feels *awful* for the first minute until everything begins to release, then I can find the ease.

Best part is, it really does work! I tentatively tried Urdhva Dhanurasana afterward and it felt comfortable.

Note to self - do more of this:

Restorative

I had a really difficult day. Last week, I unexpectedly received a phone call about a job opportunity in an office. Normally, I wouldn't consider a long -term office contract, but the yoga business has been slow lately and this sounded perfect: part-time, interesting work, nice office, bike-able commute, friendly employer. The timing was just perfect. On Friday, I went in for the interview. It went really well and I was optimistic.

Then, today, I got the phone call: I came in second place. To be honest, I wasn't even looking for part-time work in the first place, but this was so ideal that I allowed myself to get excited about it. The let-down was harsh. I feel like fate threw me a bone, then snatched it way.

So I'm feeling a tad cynical.

Today's practice was a simple restorative practice. I did some supine backbending over a bolster, did 'upside down pigeon' to open up my hips, followed by some supine twists.

Tomorrow = a better day.

Day 314

Yesterday morning, practice simply didn't happen. When I awoke, I realised that it just wasn't practical, so I let it go.

I had a wonderful weekend with my new friend. :-) We happily spent our days awash in a happy daze of domesticity: walking the dog, talking to neighbours, preparing meals together, going out for brunch (and savouring a fabulous mushroom risotto at a sidewalk cafe in Little Italy).

We made a terrific team mowing the lawn and doing yardwork. Two people can accomplish four times as much as one - and it was so much fun because we really enjoy each other's company.

This morning, it was really and truly back to reality. I rolled out of bed onto my mat at 5:30 a.m. and did my practice. Practice is easy when it's routine - it's when it's not routine that it all falls apart.

I think I need to start forming new routines - ones that incorporate this new life I'm building. All of the (mostly positive) changes I've experienced this summer are forcing me to fit my practice into brand new contexts. The shoulder injury continues to demand that I modify my sequence. My two-month contract introduced a time-squeeze. My new relationship is pulling my energies in different directions.

I believe this change is all normal and wonderful and it's a brilliant segue into my last 50 days of the Primary Series, as I begin to explore how Ashtanga will be part of my life moving forward.

Day 40

“The good, the bad and the early”

And it certainly *is* early. I promised myself that if I took this contract, I would not compromise my daily practice so I've built my mornings around 90 minutes of the Primary Series.

My three readers should brace themselves: In order to pull this off, I've started to get up early. And I mean EARLY. I used to get up around 5 or 5:30. That's fine and doable for me, not even very difficult actually. Now? The fun starts at 4:30 a.m. Yeah, no joke. I'm seriously nuts.

At 4:30 a.m., I pull myself out of bed, put the kettle on and put the futon up (it folds into a couch to create more space in my small city apartment). I splash some water on my face, get dressed, then set up my yoga things for practice (so when I return from my walk, there's no avoiding it).

Then I go for a walk - it's always an hour (that's how long it takes to get to the park and back). This morning, I watched the sun rise as the full moon set in the west. Really lovely! I share this hour with my little dog, who loves the exercise, the smells and my undivided attention. The walk is also good exercise and it works out some of the stiffness before I stand on my mat for that first sun salutation.

I'm back home by 5:45 a.m. I do my practice, wrapping it up around 7:15. I get cleaned up, get my work things together and do a quick email check and by 7:40, I'm getting ready to leave. I ride my bicycle - it takes about 15-20 minutes, depending on my pace. By 8 a.m., I'm sitting at my desk, facing a long day in the office.

Time will tell whether I'm able to sustain this, but so far, I love it! The mornings are so cool and quiet. Practising in the morning has a different feel to it. The only downside is going to bed before it even gets dark, and feeling sleepy at 7:30 at night, like I do right now!

This morning's practice was great. My knees are feeling much better, though I'm still being careful. Utthita Trikonasana felt particularly good this morning and my Kurmasana is really coming along. I've noticed that I'm really savouring breathing in the poses and when I feel 'stuck', it's breathing that gets me through.

I've decided to start skipping backbends in my morning practice because they just don't work for me at that time of day. I added a backbend to my evening practice last night - it was fantastic! So I'll continue to do that from now.

Day 37

On Thursday, through a series of events completely serendipitous and unexpected, I found myself accepting a one-month contract at an office I worked at two years ago and I start today!

I've worked contracts past summers to fill the time that I'm not teaching (my classes always slow down in the summer, due to summer holidays and some pre-registered programmes only run in Fall/Winter/Spring) but this year I decided to take some time off to work on my practice and plan for the 'busy season.'

This opportunity literally came out of the blue but it is well-timed because I was going a bit stir-crazy at home. They offered me a flexible schedule to accommodate my teaching (I'm on a part-time teaching schedule at the moment) and the money is good - it will top up my emergency reserves.

It was so much fun going back and seeing everyone again! As I walked through the office, I was hugging people left and right - it was like a homecoming. The work itself is not that interesting. I thought it would be paralegal - it's actually data entry. But I'm fine with that - brainless is okay when you can listen to your iPod.

My practice was cut a bit short (1 hour, 15 minutes) this morning because I had to simultaneously do my laundry. My knee was bothering me a lot (I biked to my Thursday night class and I think I aggravated it), so I skipped many of the postures that are contraindicated for knee pain. I was using a towel rolled up in the knee pit to support the knee in the other postures. Ironically, when I played hockey on Wednesday, my left knee was bothering me (that's the knee that I always seem to have problems with), but for yoga, it's the right knee that's a problem.

I felt a bit rushed during my practice this morning, but next week, I'm going to start getting up a bit earlier so I have time to walk, practice, meditate and shower before biking to work for 8 a.m. (I elected to work the early schedule). The next month is going to be very busy for me with this contract and my classes!