Day 6

Weather: Sunny with blue skies. Cold cold cold.
Today's Overall Feeling: Good. no complaints.

Hi there. It's Jess. Today's practice was split into two different parts. One in the morning for 30 minutes and one in the evening for 45 minutes. After feeling a bit in a rush this morning I figured that rather than feel anxious, I should just move it along and continue when I could feel more settled.

Outside of being a split practice, I also only did 6 poses, not counting the transitional Tadasana (mountain) and Dandasana (staff).

Dandasana, Staff Pose

I started off this morning in Swastikasana, basically legs in a cross legged-ish position, sitting on a bloster with my hip bones higher than my knees with my shoulders down my back and my chest lifted. We normally sit in this position at the beginning of any class that I've taken, sitting to take a moment to ourselves before we do a traditional Iyengar chant called the Invocation to Patanjali. This chant, as one of my teachers will sometimes explain, is a way to say thanks to Patanjali for the practice of yoga. Geeta Iyengar says,

We chant so that at the very beginning that feeling of sanctification comes from inside, with the feeling of surrendering oneself, because nothing can be learned in this world unless you have the humility to learn.

I think that feeling humble has been key to my learning yoga. I suppose not only with yoga, but also in my job and creative life.  Feeling like "I am the best" is surely something I support, in the way that you should believe that you are the best you in this world. Not like, "I'm the best at everything so don't tell me what to do". I believe that positive world views start with a positive view of yourself, that's all I'm getting at.  So the chant... that's part of the Iyengar practice as per the Iyengar Institute.

I sat in Swastikasana for 10 minutes, then went into Dandasana for a minute, then got up and went into Uttanasana (forward bend) for about 10 minutes, and finally Supta Virasana (child's pose) for about 10 minutes. The longer pose times proved to be pretty beneficial for my thought process. I managed to relax out of the anxious feelings while in the poses, even though as soon as I came out I started thinking again.

Virasana

In the evening, I sat in Virasana (Hero's pose) for about 15 minutes. It might look like you are sitting on your feet from the front, but actually your feet are to the side of your buttocks and your buttocks are ideally on the floor. Sit on your butt bones, not just on your fleshy mass of buttness. If this is the case, I believe you are suppose to sit on some height so your butt is well seated on the ground. I have to say that sitting for this long was really quite a interesting experience and brought quite a bit of life into my legs. I have heard that it's good to practice this if you have varicose veins to invigorate the blood flow in your legs. Also if you have knee problems but seek counsel before trying. Never do it if you feel like your knees are going to explode. Knee explosions =  a bad thing.

Baddha Konasana

I then did Paschimottanasana, a seated forward bend for a bit, then went into Baddha Konasana, otherwise known as Cobbler's pose.  This is a good one for urinary health. As we grow older, I think we will take for granted our urinary vitality. Do this one and start preserving the welfare of a under recognized special freedom today.

I did this for about 20 minutes with back to the wall support. Normally at night I have that lactic acid feeling where I feel like I have to stretch all the time. But now the legs feel pretty rested. We'll see what happens in sleepy town.