Astanga

I've been in denial these past few days, but it looks like I need to face up: there's something going on with my right shoulder and it's not just my Gremlin talking to me.

This issue has been ongoing to a certain degree, but it's never effected my practice in a huge way until now. I started modifying parts of my practice yesterday, but today I found that even a simple movement like pushing back from Upward Dog to Downward Dog was very uncomfortable.

The pain is on the front of my shoulder, underneath the deltoid. I have to dig around a bit to palpitate it. It hurts at odd moment, like the forementioned Downward Dog, but also when I bring my arm over head in the Parvokonasanas. But it's fine in Chaturanga and even Uth Pluthi is fine (well, as 'fine' as Uth Pluthi gets, anyway).

By the end of my practice, I was modifying all vinyasas, taking out the jumps and replacing Downward Dog with table pose (hands and knees). I did a finger bind in Marichyasana D and took it easy with Prasarita C. For some reason, Supta Kurmasana was comfortable, but Pasasana wasn't even do-able. Ditto for Bhekasana and I didn't try Parsva Dhanurasana, figuring I pose that has me landing on my shoulder is probably a bad idea.

I gingerly did three Urdhva Dhanurasana, coming down to take a break between each. My shoulder was very uncomfortable pressing up from the floor, and the discomfort was enough that I was hesitant to make that additional push upward in order to bring the juicy stretch into my front hips.

Talk about taking all the joy out of my backbends!!! *sigh*

Fortunately, a Moon Day is coming up and my LH with it. I may take a break from Vinyasa-based yoga for few days and see if the shoulder issue sorts itself out. Meanwhile, ice and arnica are my friends. Demoing Downward Dog in my classes is NOT my friend.

I hope this thing resolves itself or it's really going to mess up my Big Plans for December. *sigh*




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Astanga

Eight hours of sleep feels like a novelty these days. In fact, it feels like too much. I woke groggy this morning after a night of very weird dreams. They involved elements of nearly every job I had worked over the past ten years, including teaching.

Very freaky! Hey, go easy on me, Brain! It's only Monday...gah.

Practice was stiff and creaky. Forward bends were fine today, but twists were limited. I could only bind to fingers in Mari D.

Sirsasana felt better today, but I completely wimped out on backbends. After my three compulsory Urdhva Dhanurasana I took finishing. I didn't even try to drop back. I was tired!

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We haven't had a visit from Lyn in awhile and with the colder turn of weather, it seemed like a good time to showcase her smurf-blue body suit.

Snazzy! All the cool Ashtangis are wearing them this season. ;-)

Every time I look at this photo, the words "Sit tall!" erupt from my mouth in my special 'Yoga Teacher Voice'.





Also: Bandhas, Lynn, BANDHAS!!!


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Astanga

I feel like I'm developing an intimate relationship with the garbage dumpster.

I've probably thrown away six bags of garbage/recycling and I've been up and down the elevator all weekend, carrying stuff down to the loading dock.

I placed a box full of items in the back hallway for my neighbours to pick through. It astounds me what people will pick up if it's free. Plastic travel mugs! Blank books! Gone! A jar of honey?! Yes, even a jar of honey! Everything disappeared within an hour. Old binders! A tea strainer! An old plastic spatula? Yup! A worn out skillet? Absolutely! Mind boggling.

The notes and papers from my YTT required two bags, two HEAVY bags, to recycle. I couldn't believe the huge space this created on my bookshelf. I kept some things - pop quizzes, my final exam and essay, chant worksheets and sentimental stuff. When I was finished, the keeper pile fit in a small file folder. Three giant binders were reduced to less than a centimetre. All these years, I've never even looked at this stuff...

I stumbled across the notes I took during my first year of teaching. I used to document every. single. class. Reading these critiques of myself and my fledgling teaching experiences was entertaining. It's a bit like finding the diary you kept when you were 16 years old. CRINGE! And then: RECYCLE!!! No, I didn't keep them. I'd prefer to forget my first year of teaching, thankyouverymuch.

The one thing I wanted to keep was a series of articles by Thomas Myers (Anatomy Trains) that were absolutely fantastic. I'm looking forward to rereading them. Of all the fluff I was forced to read for my anatomy module, those stayed with me.

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Practice today was a typical Sunday practice, with one notable exception: I was able to move past that 'sticky hamstring feeling' and find true openness in my forward bends. Friday's experiment wasn't just a fluke. I was reveling in it! The one pose that still gives me problems is Krounchasana. When that one gets easier, I'll be relieved.

This was probably the futziest (is that even a word?!) practice I've had in ages. At one point, I was camped out on my mat, laying on my belly, propped up on my elbows, carefully studying my fingernails and trying to talk myself into doing my Intermediate poses.

Then I was reading Twitter when I should have been doing Urdhva Dhanruasana. I admitted as much in a tweet, appending it with the #badlady 'hashtag'. Ha, ha! But with all of my futzing, I still finished in 1 hour, 45 minutes.

When I woke up this morning, the sky looked like this:




This is reason enough to wake at 5:30 a.m., non?

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Astanga

Today was more-or-less a day off, though I did do a short practice: the Suryas and fundamental poses, then finishing. No backbending!

I still woke up early though, at 5 a.m. I prepared a mug of tea and went back to bed with the Richard Freeman book. It was a great way to while away a morning.

It's amazing how well my body has adjusted to this crazy, early schedule. I get about 7 hours of sleep at night and another half-hour during my daily nap. It's really working for me. I even get tired in the afternoon around the time I should be taking a nap!

I shot the State-of-the-Backbend photo on Thursday this week. I was NOT having a good back bending day. But here it is:



See that? No bend in my upper back! And my shoulders have been really tight lately.

I feel like I'm regressing.

The Great Purge of 2010 continues this weekend with my desk, which I've decided not to sell because Princess Fur likes to camp out under there and hide from the world. It makes her very happy and I don't have it in me to deny the Princess her happy place.

I went through all the drawers and cleared out the junk, though. Note to self: You NEVER need to buy office supplies EVER again. I'm officially cut off from stationary stores. My plans for this desk involve keeping the surface clear of clutter.

After I finished the desk, I cleared out the bathroom cabinets. I now have three bags for the trash, a bag of stuff to give away and still more clothing to donate to the Sally Ann.

I've had a tough time letting go of some of these clothes, even though most of them are HUGE on me (thanks to Astanga, I've gone down many sizes). I'll never wear this stuff again, but the memories tug at my heart.

Next up: The kitchen cabinets. Then, three GIGANTIC binders of papers from YTT 8 years ago. My filing cabinet is also on the list.

I'm surprised by how much I'm enjoying this. Skippetty described this type of cleaning task as 'cathartic' and I completely agree. I also agree that it's only cathartic when it's *your* stuff. Cleaning up someone else's mess is no fun at all.

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Astanga

It's as if the Astanga Gods heard my whimpers of despair this week and delivered this morning's practice as a reward: I had a fantastic full Primary! I always love Primary Fridays, but this was a particularly yummy one!

I think I may have answered my own question regarding the hamstring. This morning, as I pushed through the sensation - with care and attention - I felt a shift. After a few minutes of this, things started to open up and lengthen. It felt AMAZING!

Kurmasana is the pose that tore my hamstring. A commenter asked where I was feeling discomfort prior to the injury. It was right around the attachment to the left sit bone. One day, I was lifting my heels in Kurmasana (something I had been doing for months) when I felt a sharp pain around my left sit bone. I knew immediately that it was bad, and it was.

As the injury healed, I continued with my daily practice, making all of these hilarious modifications to the Primary Series to accommodate my gimpy hamstring. Lots of bent legs! It seems silly now, but I often wondered if I would *ever* be able to do Kurmasana again. It felt so impossible! The pose used to be one of my favourites and over the summer, I watched with a bit of envy as shala-mates came into it.

Earlier in the week, I was experimenting with Kurmasana, engaging my legs and nearly coming into the full expression of the pose, chest close to the floor, and then strongly engaging my legs...as if my heels might lift (but not lifting my heels).

Today, I did this for five breath cycles and continued for another five. My chest was on the floor, I was feeling really comfortable in the pose and there was no sensation at all around my left sit bone. So I tentatively lifted my heels:



WEEEEEEE!!!! :-D

I know I'm not out of the woods yet. There will inevitably be days when I'm stiff and uncomfortable, but I think the worst is over. Lifting my heels in Kurmasana felt like the final test, and I've passed! I'm now learning where my limits are with this healing injury and how to move past them with care.

This has been SUCH a learning experience!

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Every morning, Princess Fur gets her fur combed out. If I don't do this, she turns into the schnauzer version of Bob Marley with fantastic dreads.

When I call her over, she hesitates, then finally heaves herself out of the basket and then (I swear I'm not making this up!), she DRAGS HER FEET until she's standing in front of me, head hanging low. It's like she's lost her best friend.

Then she gives me this pleading look:




Oh, poor, abused little dog!

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Astanga

Wow, it's a slllllooooow day in the Cybershala. I guess everyone in the States is stuffing themselves silly, hopefully on Tofurkey, but I know better. Poor turkeys! It's an ordinary day here in Canuckistan: practice, work, eat, nap, work.

My noon class cancelled, so I slept in then endured a really mediocre practice. My shoulder is feeling better, so jump back/throughs were do-able, but I bailed out of headstand early because my hands kept slipping apart. back bending felt stiff and difficult.

I'm still on my re-organisation kick. I bought two bins for storage. Princess Fur's toys will fill one and the other will be home to 'active knitting projects', though I use the word 'active' very loosely here.

I was knitting up a storm last year, then I got derailed by the heel of a sock. That heel has become the 'standing-up-from-a-backbend' of my knitting life. I can't seem to get past it. It's the gatekeeper pose to the Rest of the Sock. It's driving me nuts. One of my goals for December is to pay a visit the Knitting Lady at my favourite shop and beg for help.

If I could finish that damned sock AND stand up from Urdhva Dhanurasana in December, I wouldn't need anything for Christmas. Santa, are you listening?

Yesterday, I mentioned that I've finally adjusted to Intermediate Series. Not only are the poses feeling easier, but my nervous system seems to have settled down (no more insomnia, except occasionally on the Full Moon) and I'm no longer eating everything in sight. This is a relief, because my diet has been terrible during the transition. In the past couple weeks, I've been trying to reduce caloric intake and clean up my diet a bit.

Today, I purchased a stainless steel, leak-proof container to carry my supper in. Such a small thing, but it will make a huge difference. Because I teach most evenings, I eat on-the-go, usually between classes or on the subway. I used to forgo supper, thinking that I shouldn't be teaching with a full stomach, but I was eating anyway. I was just picking up vegan cookies instead. Might as well eat healthy!

I've also ended my dysfunctional relationship with 'energy bars'. Let's speak plainly: these are chocolate bars with some vitamins in the ingredients list. I jettisoned those cold turkey last week and I've returned to an entirely whole foods diet, no sugar during the week (I cut myself some slack on Saturdays).

Eek. Agave syrup is my BEST friend. I never thought I'd say that.

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Astanga

Okay, let's swap it up: Great day, lousy practice. I was up at 4:30, on the mat by 5:30, had plenty of sleep. My practice felt interminable.

I don't what the problem was, but I felt stiff and HEAVY. Halfway through, I stopped doing jump back/throughs allegedly because my right shoulder was feeling tweaky, but it's entirely possible I was just being lazy.

Also: The gimpy hamstring is talking to me again. During my shala visit last week, it was feeling pretty good, but it's stiffened up again. This morning, my mobility was limited on the left side and I felt overwhelming sensation in the area every time I came into a forward fold.

So, what do you think, Cybershala? Do I push through this (the injury is now about four months old) or do I back off? I think it's hilariously funny that my hamstring is always on it's best behaviour when there's a Mysore teacher in the vicinity. Kind of like that quirky banging in a car engine that ONLY happens when you're NOT at the mechanic.

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