and on to the konasanas

I haven't really wanted to post much about practice lately. It's been..well, emotional on a daily basis. I am either teary in the suryas (and/or when I am doing my pigeon prep before starting). Other days, things in the shala will annoy me..stupid stuff like how the person in front of me put their rug down, or if I feel hemmed in, though honestly, I am used to truly crowded practice rooms from Jivamukti. And I won't even go into what's been going on in my head before practice these days.

Today was no different.

I did manage to have a good practice in spite of feeling agitated initially by where I was practicing in the room. I even moved my mat after the first surya..called it a do-over, and started again. Oh yes, and I somehow forgot what I was doing in that first surya..too busy eyeing the empty space behind my mat, and suddenly realized I had stopped at the forward bend after stepping forward from downward dog. Later, I managed UHP on both sides by myself, with much goofy arm antics after the second nose to knee on each side. Still, no falling out of it. I am mystified about how to make the transitions in one breath. I need extra breaths to get my nose down to my knee every time.

The other thing that seems to be returning after a longish hiatus, is the exits from bhuja and supta K. This, I think, is due to a small change I have made in my so-called jump/hop back. Now, I am focused on keeping my head up and looking forward, rather than down at the ground. I remember my teacher telling me that looking forward and keeping the chest lifted was the key to those 2 exits, but after impaling my toes while jumping back from bhuja, I have been too afraid to really attempt them. The past week, I have found myself suddenly able to get my legs organized in such a way that I can jump back from bakasana. Not every time, and it could be a lot cleaner, but it feels more solid than it was before I whacked my feet.

I have gotten 2 new poses in the past month, baddha konasana and uphavista konasana. Baddha konasana was really weird to learn. I mean, I thought I knew how to do it (wrong!) and then I thought, maybe my arms are too long for the C variation (years of slouching over my desk have not helped for this one). I still have to figure out how to not use my hands/arms as much in all parts of this posture, but it will come. One day, I was even sure I had hurt my wrists from trying to use my hands too much for leverage. Meanwhile, I have either learned to lengthen up from my spine, or my arms have shrunk a bit.

Today after practice, I had my second sanskrit class. I almost have the alphabet down, as in writing it and sort of saying it. I can place my tongue in the proper part of my mouth for the consenants..but the sound I make does not seem to resemble the sound the teacher makes. Learning just the little bit so far makes me really appreciate chanting, which I have always loved, even more.