the hungry yogini

For a while I was really amused that this was a search term for my blog!

This morning I was once again..the hungry yogini. 

Both yesterday and this morning, I kept feeling famished during practice. After practice, I felt like my day at work was organized around finding healthy and filling food to eat. Lots of snacks. I thought that this was supposed to make my metabolism slower..but I guess not yet.

I also think I am fighting off a cold, so that might be why I am low energy in the morning, and why I feel so hungry. Six days a week practice is quite a lot, both mentally and physically. Today, I got up, and reset my alarm as I felt so tired, even after 7 hours sleep. I have never been a long sleeper, but 7 hours seems to be my new ideal.

To conserve some energy today, I skipped the vinyasas between sides. It paid off, as I managed both bakasana exits today..not good ones, but I landed in chatauranga (still missing my mat! how to get my feet closer together, that is a mystery.) No toe casualties either. Of course, I did the first one on my first try lifting up out of bhujapidasana (and my teacher didn't see it...so much for me showing off..ha ha). Now to manage these poses without a big break before each- towelling off sweat, catching my breath, etc. That will take some time.

Yesterday, I discovered that keeping more of my weight behind me in bhuja translates to a bit more graceful landing, i.e. a softer forehead plop! I have no idea how to shift my weight in order to come back up..without resting my feet on the floor. I am also noticing the relationship between where I look and where I end up when lifting up. Looking on the floor = falling back on my butt, and looking forward usually gets me up in a stable way. Same with jumping back from bakasana- looking forward makes "jumping" possible. Looking at my mat means getting stuck in bakasana and slipping instead of jumping out of it. The difference in where I look is also one of not having fear about how the exit will turn out (especially as this is how I impaled my toe). My massage therapist did tell me something interesting: the soreness I am feeling around my collarbone- tensing those muscles happens when afraid. So my new mantra for these exits..no fear.