Sunday, January 29, 2012

hungry

no, not for new poses...all i could think of on the way to the shala this morning was how much i wanted to eat something..my stomach refused to get on board with the ashtanga program this morning. that is, until i stepped on the mat, very tired, but then things went, as well as they could for someone who was hungry and tired. at least all thoughts of food went away. my big highlight was managing all 10 suryas without a break. might have been 11, i have a pesky habit of being unable to count -breaths, suryas, whatever...but after the suryas, i felt like i was taking more breaks than usual...oh well. the other funny part is that i am coming to love some of the poses that i didn't like in other types of classes..the praseritas (which i would normally just try to avoid doing in a led vinyasa class), utkatasana and warrior 1. maybe one day i will say the same for the other poses that give me so much difficulty.

somehow, magically, when i start practicing, i forget how hungry and tired i am. not that i practice better for being hungry and/or tired, just it ceases to be an issue. sure enough, once i lay down for savasana...the hungry feeling came back today.

i have been reading a lot about why other people practice yoga, well, ashtanga method, mostly..i guess for me it is that it makes me feel just a little bit kinder after i practice.

side note..in a book on aruyveda that i am reading, the author mentions using deep breathing to lessen feelings of hunger. that getting more prana from the air you breathe will naturally make you less hungry for food. interesting.


Friday, January 27, 2012

Ardha Baddha Padma Paschimottanasana

beautiful late afternoon light on the building across the street.


today marks 2 weeks of practice. 


one more new pose...this will go on for a couple weeks more..til janu C or mari B... i am in awe of my shalamates..that they can do this practice without all the little breaks i need to take...


now that i have a few poses in the seated portion of the series, i am not as tired when i finish. the standing pose section is exhausting for me. i think it will take years for real ease to come in this.  it was a quiet today at the shala, maybe 5 people when i started. that dreadful balancing on one leg pose is improving. having a relaxed neck = better balance. i did a feldenkrais lesson on the neck..and it really helped my balance, and the energetic feeling in down dog (though there is LOTS of room for improvement). i have done this one 2x this week. who knew. 


i am also learning a lot of new things about my neighborhood, from the new yoga commute. coming back from the shala, i take a different train and get to walk along a street with lots of  shops, bodegas, and people that sell vegetables on the street. not the same as the vendors downtown, these seem like they are local people. the shops however, are like a dual economy. there are the super cheap 99 cent type establishments, and then the boutiques that think everyone in the neighborhood is a drug dealer with tons of cash.