Day 4

Weather: overcast but still great.
Today's Overall feeling: good. worked (no day off like the rest of the world). not tired.

So as a part of my program I will need to practice every day for one hour AND do 20 hours of classes in 3 months by a certified Iyengar instructor. This should not be too hard a feat, but it will take quite a bit of discipline. This morning I was thinking of hitting up a 9:30-11am class but (first excuse;) was so sore this morning that I decided upon a home practice of 1/3 standing, 1/3 inversion, 1/3 restorative.

It is much harder to push yourself when you are at home. Laying on your 'dining room' floor and thinking about all the things you need to do in the day. Especially, for me, with the standing poses. I know I have to keep myself aligned,  constantly readjusting, remaining still and trying to clear my big bloated head. Another thing, endurance is really a crazy will if you ask me. If you think about what people have to endure in this world - famine, disease, poverty - there should really be no reason that you can't stand on one leg for 5 minutes.  But when I'm in that pose and I think "hey, what's the big deal, this is hardly suffering..." then my mind has wandered and I thwarted my efforts with thought.

ardha chandrasana

Standing:

• Tadasana - mountain
• Utthita Trikonasana - extended triangle
• Virabhadrasana I - warrior
• Ardha Chandrasana - half moon
• Uttanasana - forward bend
• Adho Mukha Svanasana - downward dog

Inversion:

• Sirsasana - headstand (no wall)
• Pincha Mayurasana - feathered peacock pose (with wall)
• Halasana - plow 

Inversions are a great way to clear the head. When I'm upside down there seems to be little time for me to be thinking about anything. The concentration is completely and totally on my body and putting everything where it needs to be so I feel in control, unwavering, and strain-free. As soon as my brain goes somewhere else, I lose my balance and I collapse. One of the first things I often think about is "Wow, I can't believe I can do this now!" or "Soon I'll be able to do this for longer"... Insta-collapse. It's like riding your bike on a narrow one brick wide path, then closing your eyes.  The end of that scenario, most likely a blood bath. I'd have to guess that blood baths and yoga do not go well together.

I guess those thoughts go along with the yoga sutra 1.12 "abhyasa vairagyabhyam tat nirodhah" - Practice and detachment are the means to still the movements of the consciousness. right?  There I am reaping the fruits of my practice, thus forgetting about keeping the roots of the fruit tree planted... or something like that. We'll keep working on that analogy.

Viparita Karani

Restorative:

• Viparita Karani - legs up the wall
• Supta Baddha Konasana - reclining bound angle
• Savasana - whole body

All I can say is Viparita Karani is pretty awesome. I don't usually put my butt on a block like that, it's usually a bloster. But hot-damn, what a way to spend some time. I want to get some 10 lb sandbags to put on my feet while i do this, which we do in class sometimes.


I felt good about this practice. However, I also felt sort of bad about not pushing myself more - thus felt more bad about feeling bad... For those of you who know me, this is a common pattern :). I'm working on breaking this pattern. Rather than feel bad at all just accept what I have done for myself. And if I should want to do more and have the time, simply do it. Or save it for the next day's practice. There are plenty of practices to come.

NOTE: these awesome pictures have come from this great website I found Freret Street Yoga. Geoffrey Roniger is the main dude there,  he's from San Francisco and used to teach at the Yoga Loft. I'm not in the know with who's who in the yoga world so forgive me if this is known. (I DO know the one known reader of the blog will not know this information so this is for you!)