Astanga

Oh, it would have been so easy to hop on a train, head for the ferry terminal and escape to the beach for a day of fun. But I didn't. I looked around at my sad, dusty apartment: dirty floors and piles of laundry. I felt a pang of guilt. I'm on my last roll of toilet paper, the dog needs a bath and I could write my name in the layer of dust on top of the television set. Today just needed to be a cleaning day.

And so it was. Four loads of laundry, a trip to the corner store for provisions, scrubbing, sweeping, cleaning and coaxing the dog into the bathtub. Everything looks sparkling and beautiful now and I feel relieved. I needed to do this.

I rewarded myself with my yoga practice. Back to full Primary today. I was indoors, where the floor is solid under my feet and I sweat and sweat. I don't know why I sweat more when I'm inside, but I do. It was nice to have a focused, heated practice. No breeze, no distractions. Also nice to be back on my Manduka again (I use a cheap dollar-store yoga mat when I'm in the park).

I particularly enjoyed my Savasana. I've really experienced a sea change in this pose over the past year. I remember a time when I couldn't be bothered with it, or found laying still for five minutes unbearable. It felt like a waste of time. Now, I'm fully committed to five minutes in the pose, at the end of my practice.

I set a timer. I use the black silk eye pillow I won in the very first WoYoPracMo (Thanks Christelle!). I'm a huge fan of eye pillows now. I even use it at night sometimes, when I'm having trouble drifting to sleep. There is something about that slight weight again my eyelids that eases me into a relaxed state.

Today in Savasana, I was so deeply relaxed by the time the timer went off that I stayed for a little while and observed my own state of bliss. Wonderful!

Vinyasa

This weekend has been a orgy of really, really unhealthy, but extremely fun food. I'm not sure how I got on this train, but it's been a fun ride.

Let's review:

Friday: Was a Beach Day, so of course we had to head to the Café for Banana Pancakes to sustain us on the long (okay, okay, 15 minutes!) ferry ride over. At least we shared them. Of course, I had to have a home-baked banana-chocolate-chip muffin at the Island snack bar. We also went to the patio at the Island Restaurant for drinks but stopped short of buying a meal or dessert (their prices are insane). Instead, we saved our loonies for veggie burgers and fries back in the city.

Saturday: I worked in the morning and, of course, stopped by the Market. Saturday is Death by Chocolate Cookie day! I enjoyed my cookies after a healthy lunch at home. Went to cocktail hour at a friends place in the evening (had a sip of the wine, but mostly ate granola). We finished the evening at a favourite Thai Restaurant. I was *very* good and ordered the vegan vegetable plate which is healthy and delicious (and doesn't leave me feeling like I have a brick in my stomach, like the Pad Thai).

Today: I was treated to Banana Pancakes for brunch (ate an entire plate myself *burp*) and home fries as the Café. Banana pancakes two days running is more than decadent! I would like to think that I burned off these calories helping out in the garden, but I'm pretty sure that's not the case! We went out for a spontaneous supper in the evening and I had my favourite pasta, plus a few bites of dessert. Delicious, but *heavy*.

Monday? I'll be having an apple for breakfast. Seriously, my hollow leg is filling up!

After the gardening today, we headed to the pool at the Very Big Park for some chlorine and sunny fun. Oh, I love this pool! It's clean and uncrowded, possibly because it's unheated, which results in a process of natural selection. It was our first time out this year, due to the municipal strike and the generally grungy weather earlier in the summer. Plus, in August, we were busy at the cottage and the beach. Today was the last of the season!

We went for a long dip, played in the water (handstands!) and then warmed ourselves in the sun. We missed 'last call' by a few minutes; by the time we were ready for our last dip, the lifeguards were already shooing people from the pool. I managed one last tiny toe-dip before we were herded to the change rooms.

That's it, no more pools for the summer. It makes sense, because it *was* getting a bit chilly. I'm not ready to let go of summer!

(And because this is a yoga blog...)

I raced home and squeezed in a quick yoga practice after my bath and before racing off to supper. The day was so jam-packed that I literally didn't have a pause. This is where the YogaDownload classes really come in handy. I did a 25-minute Shoulder Opener #1 sequence with Dawnelle that was already sitting in my queue of downloaded classes. I like this sequence a lot and even the 25-minute version was a well-rounded practice.

Astanga

The sparkling weather continues, this time with big, fluffy white clouds moving across the sky.

I taught classes all morning and had an hour to kill between them, so I set up my mat in a courtyard park in the downtown core and did the Swenson short form. I did a full closing sequence, since I missed my chance to do Sirsasana yesterday. I had a good practice, self-led, which gave me the opportunity to hold poses a bit longer and linger in downward facing dog whenever I felt the urge.

The practice felt too short. I was on the mat for about 40 minutes. Lately, I've found myself enjoying a longer practice, but it's nice to know that I can squeeze in a well-rounded practice when I'm in a time crunch. I'll probably continue to do the short form on Saturdays, at least until the weather gets too cold for it.

For fun, a dog story:

I know my dog is smart, but sometimes she surprises me with her ability to navigate thorny problems. She absolutely loves Greenies. These edible dog bones that are supposed to be good for her teeth and breath (I'm as of yet unconvinced). They're not cheap, so I save them as 'special treats' and I had one celophane-wrapped hidden away in a baggy that was tucked into a cloth bag, sitting under the desk. Somehow, she managed to sniff out the Greenie, get it out of the cloth bag, open up the baggie and extract the Greenie from the celophane wrapping.

It was quite an operation! Here she is in the aftermath. Her expression says: “Greenie? What Greenie? I don't know ANYTHING about any Greenie. Nope. Not me.”

Yeah, riiiight!

Astanga

(Mysore rug in retirement; it has been reincarnated as a 'beach towel')

Beach day! I've been planning this all week. I did my yoga practice in the early morning, in the Big Park. Very quiet and no mowers this time. I finally got back to my full Primary series. I ran out of time and had to skip Sirsasana and Savasana, though. But these are small sacrifices to make for the prospect of Banana Pancakes. ;-)

After breakfast, we took our time biking down to the docks and ended up on the 1 o'clock ferry. We stopped for a coffee on the way to the beach and I added to the decadence of my morning with a home-made chocolate-banana muffin.

The beach was beautiful and the weather was absolutely perfect. I love it when it's just hot enough to make swimming appealing, but not so hot that's it's miserable to be in the sun. Unfortunately, it was noisy. The infestation of military jets continues. One of the fighter jets flew so low, I wondered if he was going to take the tips off the trees. It was actually a bit frightening.

I spent the day lazing around in the sun, swimming and reading. My latest book is 'Rapt' by Winifred Gallagher. It's an amazing treatise about the psychology and physiology of attention. The book touches on everything from meditation, to neurology, to cognitive therapy. It's well-written and engaging. This book appeals to me because it offers a scientific perspective on the benefits of meditation practice. I always love it when an aspect of my spiritual practice can be explained in a nuts-and-bolts kind of way.

This summer, I officially became a 'lake swimmer'. I've never been very comfortable in the lakes around here, but I finally overcame my water-snobbery and I've been swimming nearly every weekend since early August. I think my trip to the Island was the tipping point: it was so beautiful and clean there, almost ocean-like.

It was one thing to get over the 'yuck factor' but the temperature is a different story. This water is COLD. I've learned to wade in up to mid-thigh, exhale completely and then...just like tearing off a band-aid...inhaling deeply as I take the plunge. EEEK! As the season deepens, the water will get colder. It's very possible that this was our last beach day, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed for an Indian Summer.

Vinyasa

I enjoyed my morning practice so much on Tuesday! Not too hot, not too cold, not too sunny, not too many people, and most importantly, quiet.

I wanted a repeat.

This morning, I woke early so I could walk the dog up to the Big Park for another blissful morning practice. The park was practically empty and the sky was a deep, blue bowl. The leaves on the trees glowed neon green. Seriously, I could not ask for better weather. In my city, this is as good as it gets!

What I didn't know, is that I was about to have 'one of those days'. You know, one of those days when EVERYTHING goes wrong.

But back to bliss...The ground was dewy and wet, but that was fine. I happily started my practice, a Yogadownload Hot Yoga/Power Yoga fusion class (Hot-Power Fusion #1, 60 minutes, Lauren). When I'm doing a lot of Astanga, I miss practising poses outside of the Primary Series (I'm thinking of stuff like standing balances like Ardha Chandrasana, hip openers like Pigeon, standing splits - that sort of thing). This class was heavy on the standing balances, which was good fun and there was a half-Pigeon in there too.

Half-way through my practice, I heard a roar overhead and the ground shook beneath me. I glanced up curiously: Military jets. Rehearsing for the weekend air show. Great. The dog was shaking like a leaf, trying to wedge her body beneath me in downward facing dog. I spoke to her soothingly, but carried on.

And that's when the Riding Mower started. He began near the edges of the field and started ominously working his way towards me in in large, looping spirals. Each time he came close, the dog would break out in new spasms of terror.


As I was 'enjoying' Pigeon, the Riding Mower and the Military Jet synchronised their movements in perfect precision, converging simultaneously. The dog tried to wedge herself into my left leg.

Savasana? Ha! You must be joking!

So much for quiet mornings in the park. I know there's a lesson in non-attachment here someplace. I'm digging. I really am.

Vinyasa

Once or twice every summer, we'll have a stretch of absolutely gorgeous, sunny, not-too-hot, dry, perfectly clear weather. It found us this week. When I checked online, I saw a line-up of bright, happy, shiny suns icons in the weather forecast. No rain to be seen. Hurrah!

I've been trying to take my practice outside as much as possible. Today, I practised in the afternoon, sandwiched between noon and evening classes. I walked the dog up to the big park and did a fun Yogadownload flow class: Power Vinyasa Flow #4, 50 minutes, with Dawnelle.

I had a great practice, enjoyed my Savasana, enjoyed the sunshine, enjoyed the people watching.

Didn't enjoy the little friends who joined me for my practice.

(image from Wikipedia)

The yellow jackets are out and with a vengeance this year. They've been bugging me as I practice yoga, trying to land on my juicy-looking red mat. They buzz around my head as I try to read on the balcony. I keep my balcony door open at this time of year for the breeze so they've been coming in, then beating themselves silly against the window trying to get out (until I catch them under an overturned glass and free them, so they can turn around and come back and the whole cycle starts all over again).

I've noticed the yellow jackets in past Septembers, but never really understood their behaviour. So I looked it up on Wikipedia. Interesting!

“Adult workers chew and condition the meat fed to the larvae. Larvae in return secrete a sugar material relished by the adults. This exchange is known as trophallaxis. In late summer, foraging workers (nuisance scavengers) change their food preference from meats to ripe, decaying fruits or scavenge human garbage, sodas, picnics, etc., since larvae in the nest fail to meet requirements as a source of sugar. This is why yellowjackets are known largely as pests that are capable of ruining picnics.”

(Thank you, Internet for sapping all of the mystery from life)

So, the yellow jackets are sugar addicts, like me! Now I feel a bit more compassion toward them. But not TOO much. I'm still thinking of making a yellow jacket trap for the balcony.

Hatha

And I'm *still* not feeling well - my Lady's this month has been brutal. Headaches, cramps, mood-swings. I'm normally so easy-going and content, all of this inner chaos makes me feel like my body is falling apart.

I've been having distressing dreams. Last night, I dreamt that my dog wandered away from me in the park I couldn't catch her. No matter how fast I ran, she was always just out of reach. In real life, this would never happen - she's very much a 'velcro dog', whimpering if I'm out of her line of sight. I woke feeling panicked and my first impulse was to jump out of bed and get her leash!

I decided the best thing for my body (and my anxious, churning mind) was to get moving. I picked up my mat and headed to the Big Park for a morning practice. It was so beautiful out - much warmer than I expected. The sky was like a deep blue bowl, perfectly clear. I spotted two planes, high up in the sky, leaving a contrail overhead like a perfectly drafted dotted line.

I did a Yogadownload class, Yoga for Back Pain #1, 30 minutes, with Jamie. This is a very gentle Hatha class. Practising at a slow, easy pace felt good. The park was so quiet this morning, very peaceful. It would have been nice to do a longer practice but I was pressed for time.

My Fall schedule is beginning to take shape, with new classes starting up each week. By the end of the month, I'll be up to my full schedule. As I'm teaching more and more, fitting my practice in will be more of a challenge. I would like to try to get in the habit of morning yoga practice again. Yes, I know, Big Words coming from someone who loves to sleep. A couple years ago, I was a happy early-riser. What happened to that bright-eyed girl, who liked to rise with the roosters? I'm trying to find her!