Quiet morning at the shala

I was reminded once again how the quality of my breath often seems dependent on hearing others breathing. I told myself before I started that it would be a quicker practice..nope. My practice has ideas of its own. Maybe slightly quicker in the transitions between the Maris, but I just forget to try to stay for the required 5 instead of 7 or 8 breaths in seated. I had to attempt UHP on my own, for the first time in a month (last time, I asked my teacher if I could try it on my own..big FAIL). This time, I made it all the way to extending the leg in front at the end..and then fell out on each side. Definitely some improvement there. And I am realizing that worrying about the posture while I am in the posture is at least as exhausting as doing the posture...if not more so. Or maybe it was that I had a little more sleep last night. Or both.

My mugwort tea bath seems like it was a success. I tried steeping the leaves in hot water, but ended up dumping the leaves and the water into my bath. Pineapple weed tea, on the other hand, was not so hot. The taste of the tea resembles chamomile, which I don't particularly like, rather than pineapple. The raw flowers do taste like pineapple, however. Picking plants in the park to use as food, etc on Sunday makes me feel like a little kid again.

                                                         pineapple weed

Last of the marichasanas..part 2

So I definitely fall into the bendy (and apparently twisty) but not strong (or good endurance) category of practitioner, though I don't consider twists easy or fun at all. Bound Mari D by myself on both sides today. I was expecting this to be a whole lot of drama (judging by what other people have said to me, and what I have read), that I would not be able to bind for a long time, etc. but lo and behold, I can bind (and even breathe a bit in it). It‘s not great, but it is a decent beginning. I just got the pose last week. I suspect it also helps that I tend to take a long time about my practice, with 7-8 breaths in almost all the seated postures (that way I am less exhausted at the end, from the vinyasas, ashtangi vinyasa count police be damned). I think those extra couple breaths do a lot. Eventually, I am sure I will cut it back, but for now it seems ideal.

Every day, when I get to the mari's, I have to regroup a little after each one, and I wonder if letting myself regroup has been helping me get deeper into the postures (such as it is for a beginner).  The marichasanas exhaust me. Weirdly, D now feels the easiest energetically of the 4, which I am sure either means I haven’t really gotten too deep into it yet, or that I am relieved to be done with them.

I have also been spending the weekend trying to make up missed training days for my feldenkrais program, and doing Awareness through Movement lessons. In the lessons, they emphasize the necessity of resting. For feldenkrais, the rests are when your nervous system integrates what you have done and actually learns. You are supposed to try to do each movement with a quality of attention as if you are doing it for the first time. Probably a great attitude to take into my yoga practice as well.

Really hoping that navasana is NOT coming this week. That is a pose I rather dread. I have no idea how the legs can be straight, let alone doing so many of them at once…

Last week was also my first week of going 5 days a week to the shala, since my injury. It made practice feel energetically better, and helped with my memory problems (ie remembering what pose or side of the pose comes next-yes, I can very easily forget what side I am on in seated!). I rewarded myself Friday with a trip out to King’s Sauna in NJ, which was pretty awesome. I can’t remember the last time I did something like that by myself. I am definitely going back next month. It isn’t as posh in some ways as Spa Castle, but it is also not a day trip just to get there and back. They had a sauna and a hot tub with mugwort (I think that is what it was)..very rejuvenating. Being a Korean sauna place..it is open 24/7 (just like Koreatown here, which is the only truly open all night part of Manhattan, as I know from my salsa dancing days.)

I went to a wild edible and medicinal plants walk in my neighborhood today. This is my first attempt at wild plant cooking. Sauteed violet leaves with wild spinach, onion, garlic and hemp seeds. Going to try making mugwort tea later to add to my bath, as it should relieve my rather sore hip muscles.

the last of the marichasanas

Today I got marichasana D. Totally unexpected. I had begun to assume that it would be a while..and I was pretty ok with that. I realize that all my - I want the next pose and the next - is dropping away, well, at least a little bit of it is. There is so much to learn and explore within what I have been given already, and that will keep me busy for a long time. Plus, every time I try to push myself to improve all those vinyasas..I am rewarded with a new sore body part...right now it is the front of my right ankle/foot, from the too hard Kino jump thrus. Maybe next year. Whether I like it or not, I have to accept what my body (and mind) can do..things go oh so much smoother in practice when I do.

The other surprise was that I could bind in D- with my teacher's help- just hook my fingers on each side. I have no idea how to make that space on my own. It didn't feel as exhausting as marichasana C..but I had to wait for my teacher to start on D. Mind you, I am very happy that this is the last of the marichasanas...they do quite a number on me, as a whole. Twisting does not come naturally to me. I can't even fathom how one does these with the proper count.

My recent home project of baddha konasana (to help my tight inner hip muscles to open..which is supposed to help me not have ankle pain when walking..no idea if it is working for that) seems to be having a real effect on UHP. My legs go higher than before, especially my right leg. I can see why this pose was originally taught after people learned the rest of primary..you need the extreme hip openers of the second half of primary to help you do this posture.

My big distraction during seated was my towel. yes, the one I not to use too much to wipe off sweat. I felt compelled to move it from one side of my mat to the other after each seated posture, even if I didn't need to use it. Ridiculous!  But also hard to resist.

No blanket theives at the shala today..and mysteriously, another blanket appeared in the basket.

a is for anxiety and apple pie

Is there something about ashtanga that makes one crave sugar? This is what a friend of mine claims, that the effects of practice, for him, is the same as eating sweets.

No yoga today...my Tuesday rest day, while I figure out how to get enough sleep during the week, so I can practice the rest of the week in the mornings. Amazing how much calmer I am on days I practice. And how much I seem to need and/or want to eat on days I don't practice, especially sweets.

Apple pie at the farmer's market...sugar rush...ahhhh.

yoga is NOT making me a better person, apparently

One of those moments today that shows me how far I have to go, not in the asana practice itself, but in the practice of letting go of my emotions.

At the shala this morning..someone took a blanket off my arm (which I was using to relax my tense forearm and wrist) while I was in savasana!!!! Yeah, they just made enough noise so I would open my eyes, then took the blanket--like anyone can hold a conversation in savasana. Since when do people think it is ok to disturb someone in savasana?

The person used the blanket for finishing postures...although there was another (thinner) blanket still in the basket, which I then I tried to use for my arm..but alas, I could not relax completely again.. I almost said something to the person on my way out, but I did not want to disturb her practice.

It is not so much the odd/rude behavior that bothers me now, but that it bothered me for such a long time after it happened. 

My practice this morning was ok..much less energetic. All that jump..drag..drag..drag for the jumpthroughs yesterday took its toll...on my foot. Serious cramping last night and this morning before practice. I need to learn to respect my limits, and all those vinyasas in primary seem to be exactly where I find myself at my limit. Breath, strength, and endurance in all those transitions. Every practice becomes an experiment in how to do them in a way that won't cause injury (because of too much effort) and will not mess up the flow too much. 

I did get a great assist in marichasana C. How can my teacher find so much more space for me to twist, when I think already at my limit...I could almost get a better bind on the second side because of it. Making space in twists is a real challenge for my rather untwisty body.

Practice today at least seems to have straightened my foot out, but I arrived at the shala thinking I might need to stop at UHP. Yesterday was a Tigger practice, and today was more of Pooh...don't try too hard. Breathe. Repeat.

Jumping through messes with your mind

ok, a little late with posting this...on sunday, I got up an hour before my alarm..what' s up with that. couldn't sleep even though it was grey and rainy..is 6hrs my new 8hrs? Must be.


The shala was a madhouse. People were starting their practice in the finishing room, and I had to wait a few minutes to even get a space in there. I think there was at least 20 people..and the main room fits 12. Ashtangis seem to like to practice when the weather is bad. I used to see the same thing happen when I would go out salsa dancing. 


I made it into the main room before the end of the suryas. The rain, the crowd and the heat running..made for a hot and humid practice room. I tried a new approach to jumping from downward dog to seated position (thanks to yogagoddess for posting this)...which took a whole lot more energy than I thought it would..whoa. I think I will go back to my plopping jump tomorrow; I need to build up to this more strenuous jumping. I must must must temper my inclination to go full throttle at something that my body and mind isn't quite ready for yet. Whenever I try anything new in the vinyasas, it really messes with my mind and my breath during practice. Each time I would jump and/or drag my feet through to sit, I would need to regroup for a moment, because I couldn't remember what comes next: which pose, which side, etc. I am always a bit like this in the seated portion of the sequence, but it felt extreme today.


My highlight was actually managing a real chakrasana (ie. landing in chautauranga rather than on my hands and knees). Well, in my second attempt: the first became a belly flop, which was interesting as well. I wasn't even trying to do it..it just came out that way. After practice, I talked with a couple women who are longtime students of my teacher, and they said strength is not so important, but that eventually by using the breath you will be able to do a lot of stuff that you never thought possible.


I wonder what monday's practice will bring.

5 steps forward..5 steps back?

New gimpiness with my left wrist. ugh! I wish I knew how to avoid this stuff happening to me. As always, the most gimpy injuries seem to never be accompanied by sharp pointy pain (to quote Kino), but either by nothing of note at the time or maybe an odd sensation that is not painful at all. I think this is related to some carpal tunnel issues. I used to knit a lot..and last fall, I decided to knit a shawl right before and after a jivamukti yoga immersion...too much handstand at the wall, plus too much knitting did my wrists in for weeks after that. I haven't knitted since, or really worn that shawl (of hand pain)!  Since this happened on Monday, I did the usual- got a massage, took a rest day (which coincided nicely with my ladies holiday), and slept with castor oil wraps on it.

I got very little sleep last night. I have got down the early rising, but not always the early to sleep the night before. I heard the birds at 430..what are they doing up that early? or was it 530? Yet somehow I was still late to yoga-815 start time (!!!).

Almost right away, my teacher nixed my vinyasas on closed fists -said it causes all sorts of other problems (shoulder issues perhaps, and from the 2 sun salutations I did that way..it is not the best feeling on my knuckles either) she wanted me to work with hands flat and just work around the sore area, and see if I could get a pain free sun salutation by going slow...it did work, eventually, but I wonder what this will do to everything else. I feel like I am now imitating what I used to do with my hands when I started practicing a couple years ago...hmm. but if it will get me through the next few practices, I guess I will deal with it.. Flowing from upward dog to downward dog is harder on my hand than being in any specific position. I skipped someof the vinyasas between sides in seated, as they were tougher on my hand/wrist at times, (and I made sure to stop and stretch out my wrist often). I guess my one highlight was that I didn't fall apart emotionally over this (well, a bit on Monday, but maybe I am learning a bit of patience).

Oddly the only poses I could not figure out how to modify were full wheel (tight shoulder is causing this whole thing I think) and uti pluthi (which I aborted, though I did my modified step back exit from it with no pain, go figure). Definitely an "I made it through practice alive sort of day". Not many people at the shala this morning when I got there, which was quite a contrast from the last 2 weeks, where it was full by 8am. I like the sleepier shala better, it feels so un-New York-ish to practice in a room of 4-5 people.

Wrist is still a bit sticky. Hoping a bath tonight will take care of that. Looking forward to that moon day on Friday - have an outing planned to Spa Castle with a friend. And fingers crossed, will try to start going to the shala more often starting next week. I think it is the split practice (between ashtanga and jivamukti) which is causing me problems now..rather than helping.