Day 3

Weather: Really beautiful. super fresh and clear. You could even see the Farallon Islands! Can you see them?
Today's Overall Feeling: Much better. Good sleep and less pain in the carpal tunnel area. Wanted to skip class today so I could watch BSG. I should be ashamed.
Muni: Observations today: Homeless people seem to like riding the L Taraval and they get off in West Portal. They also like reading the SF Examiner.

Today at yoga school was grade A. We started out with some technical difficulties with sound + a Macbook pro. Where the little red light comes out of the headphones jack. After several tries to fix we ended up using the iPhone to play the yoga sutras and continue to examine them. Sanskrit does not get any easier as the time goes on (day 3 mind you). However it turns out there is a girl in class that is studying sanskrit and was able to help a little with pronunciations and helped the teacher with some grammatical bits. Basically the language is a verb based language while english is a noun based language. For example, there are apparently 27 different ways to say tree in sanskrit, tree by the river, tree by the road, tree in the desert, tree in my grandmas back yard, etc etc.

My take on the 15ish yoga sutras I've read so far:
Stillness of the consciousness is what we're aiming for here with the yoga practice. Oh, also detaching yourself from desires. That's all. It's not like my brain isn't moving all the time and the claws of consumerism aren't pinching my buttocks every few steps. Which is why you must practice, practice, practice. But also you must not get too attached to the fruits of the practice. I'll be honest with you, I get really happy when I've met a yoga goal. I even mailed Annette when I successfully did a peacock pose.

not jess. mine does not look so good

 I think it will take me a long long time to get to the point where my mind will be clear and the yoga become less about the body and more about the mind - this is for when I am doing the yoga. I'd say that my practice actually does help calm my thought when I am not doing the physical poses, like when I'm at work or doing life stuff. My perspective have cleared quite a bit since I've started. At that point I treated myself in a more disposable manner, sadly. Over indulged, ignored signs of declining life wellness, very undisciplined and wavering self control. That is what I felt anyways at many points, despite my beaming cheerful exterior ;)

The asana class today was really fantastic. I learned some new poses and managed to stay in some for a bit longer. Also I'm really like Kathy. Day 3 and I'm understanding her and she's helping me understand more about myself and yoga.

Virasana - warrior pose
Supta Hasta Padangusthasana I - laying down, grabbing your big toe pose?
Supta Baddha Konasana
Prasarita Padottanasana
Ardha Chandrasana - half moon pose
Parighasana - Gate pose
Marichayasana(?) - we may not have don that one
Upavistha Konanasana
Sarvangasana - shoulder stand
Halasana - plow
Savasana - whole body

This class was intense, again for the same reasons. I hesitate to say these poses are beginner poses, but I think many just starting people could handle them on some level. But the duration to which we hold these poses seems to be rather long for me. It's probably only 2-5 minutes each? maybe longer. there may have been some other things thrown in there and some variations but I cannot remember. I thought about keeping a paper with me so I could make a list of the poses but that is not very yoga to be concerned about an external to practice activity during practice. I need to figure out a way to build my stamina. I'm guessing it's going to be more yoga. :) I'll just remind myself of what I learned in the yoga sutra class and  be more patient... actually not even be patient because that would imply I'm waiting for/expecting something. I should just be. the path is the goal.


This post has not been proofread. enjoy!