Day 211

Finally, finally, FINALLY, I had a good practice. It wasn't fantastic, I didn't break any bliss records, but I unrolled my mat and got the job done. I'll take it.

I'm adding this new 'cheat' to my bag of tricks: a hot bath. Yeah, I know this is an old idea, but it's certainly an effective one. I was at the soup kitchen early this morning (I made it out of bed by 5:15 a.m. - yay, me!). Then I skated for nearly an hour afterward - in windchills of -16C. I took the bath for practical reasons: to thaw myself out. It had the welcome side effect of making my yoga practice easier, though. My cranky parts were less cranky than usual.

I added one other small boon to my practice this morning: bread baking. The heat of the oven always warms my apartment up nicely. Plus, I can look forward to a slice of fresh-baked ARTISAN bread (*waves at Yogamum*) afterward.

So, I had a good, sweaty practice today. I moved through the Primary Series with strength and a surprising amount of energy (given the way I've been dragging over the past few days). High points were focusing on my breath, paying more attention to the bandhas than I have in a great while and actually enjoying the poses.

Low points were handstand and Marichyasana D (I've stopped binding in this pose because I no longer like it. Fickle of me, eh? I'm sure I'll get over this eventually). Handstand threw me for a loop the first time I tried to go up, so I took a short break (checked on the bread) and came back to it. After that, I had no problems! I've noticed that my second handstand is always my best.

Backbends felt great and I did a couple of dropbacks against the wall. The last time I did a dropback was Monday night in the change room after my hockey game. Yeah, I was showing off a bit. ;-) Some of the girls have seen my photo on Facebook and wanted a show.

I've had dropbacks on my mind lately, after seeing this video and reading about some of the work that Vanessa is doing in her practice. I'm inspired, but my mind is waaaaay more inspired than my body is. Baby steps...?

Musical Sirsasana was 'Place to Be' by Nick Drake.

Overall, I'm feeling a million times better today in terms of my energy levels and outlook. Odd, as we're back to gray weather, icy temperatures and snow, but I'm not complaining. I'm teaching a workshop this afternoon and then getting as much done as possible while I'm feeling peppy.