additions and subtractions

Back to almost full primary. Frankly, I'm relieved. My teacher returned Sunday, and saw me doing new postures..and decided to have me stop at urdhva-mukha pascimattanasana, as I was having enough difficulty with this pose. I offered to stop at the pose before that, as these new asanas were sort of exhausting to learn all at once. I told her I had been given the next pose too...what was that other teacher thinking, anyway. Yes, I am capable of doing the next pose, but it would mean 3 poses where I did not understand the vinyasas involved. I don't need to prove to myself that  I can do full primary right now. It will come, soon enough, and sooner than I wish, most likely. Then, I received the correct vinyasa for that one and the one before. I had been taking extra breaths holding my feet to prepare rather than inhale feet over head, exhale hold feet, inhale roll up....

One day, she gave me an assist for UMP that was sort of like bowl the yoga student! She pushed my feet up so I would have enough of a roll to actually get to the balance point. Whoa! How I will eventually do that on my own, that will be interesting. It is also interesting how in these rolling up poses there is quite a bit going on..to remember to point my feet and arch my chest slightly so that I can balance on my butt. My feet have definitely been missing the point the toes memo. Meanwhile, I am sort of enjoying not being able to do this pose. Why rush, anyway.

Today I got to try the transition into tiryam mukha, to jump through with the legs in position. (I suspect this is the easiest posture to do a no-touch jumpback from..because one leg is already almost behind you) I wasn't expecting this, but as I can sometimes briefly lift up in position after Mari A, this wasn't a huge surprise. I didn't whack any toes today..which is all I am worried about. I can now lift up after supta with the feet crossed (thankfully, since my teachers have gotten back, they have not put me as deeply into supta..nice to have that break) and then jump back. The practice reward for this is that the lift into kukkutasana has become pretty questionable again. When I add something new, another disappears for a time, as if there was some sort of conservation of success in practice law. I am also noticing that in the second half of primary, there is more of an emphasis on the having the back rounded/flat and then arched slightly in succession in the postures. Bhuja and supta exits, garbha to kukkutasana, urdhva mukha pasci, and ubhaya padangushthasana come to mind.

The next challenge of the year will be how to get to the shala BEFORE 7am. Sigh, that is how long practice takes me. 2 hours minimum. Thank god tomorrow is Friday.