Another week over

How is it that the working days go so slow, yet the week seems to have flown by. Apart from Monday, practice has been good and consistent. Tonight was another focussed full primary with bound Mari’s, all apart from the 2nd side of D, bound Supta K and some decent backbends once I had gotten through a short dose of UD ADD after shoving dinner in the oven.

A well deserved rest tomorrow, I have at last got an appointment with Therapist Cristina, her thumbs of steel and sharp elbows will hopefully do wonders for my niggling shoulder and tight QL, no doubt when she has finished pommeling me she will tell me to go home and rest and drink loads, I think I can manage that.

Seeing more of my mat

Yesterday was half primary plus backbends, tonight was a whole primary practice plus loads of backbend and dropback practice. Despite the summer heat seeming to have gone away, both were ok practices.

2008 was the year of Supta K, I cracked the bind and leg cross in November and have been able to do it ever since.

 2009 was designated the year of the backdrop, after Cat insisted I start to try this crazy asana on January 1st 2009. I have my doubts that I will do it on my own by 31st December, but it certainly wont be for the want of effort and application on my part. Only getting assistance once a week probably doesn’t help my cause, I see the more rapid progress people make who have a daily Shala practice and the assistance that brings. My backbend is getting deeper, even when I am experimenting at home more of my mat is coming into view as I tentatively lean back, I no longer just catch a glimpse of the top edge, I now regularly see around a foot of mat. I am making painfully slow progress, Supta K was a piece of piss compared to dropbacks.  The question is how much mat needs to come into view before I let gravity loose and hope and pray my hands and arms hit the floor before my head?

I think success is more likely to happen at the Shala than at home, when I find that the teacher was just a mental safety net and I have done it on my own, I noticed last Saturday that I was getting further back before Michaela intervened and took me to the floor.

Stormy Moon day practice

After yesterdays abysmal practice, I had to practice this evening, even though it was Moon day. Though I like Grim’s comment yesterday about some teachers saying you should take off the 24 hours up to the moon point, perhaps it was the reason for yesterdays lethargy.

Practice today was done to the accompaniment of trying to listen to my breath while thunder and lightening crashed and banged outside. I like storms,  I usually stop what I am doing to watch them, but the electric stormy energy was good for my practice, though we no longer have the sticky heat we had last week.

I blasphemously did Primary up to Halasana, having diverted into a few 2nd series poses after seated to try and re-open and energise my back, it worked to a point, but I am realising Michaela was correct on Saturday when she said my dropback backbend is much deeper and croquet hoopish, then my Urdva Dhanurasana off the floor.

Halfway to Friday day tomorrow.

Lost my go

The momentum seems to have gone out of my practice again, Saturday’s was good, Sunday was ok, then last night I got home with the intention to practice. I got on my mat and halfway through standing felt shattered, really tired and drained. I managed to complete the standing sequence and tried to do closing, but my back has lost its openness, leaning back into a leanback (no way could it be classed as a dropback attempt), I was barely bending at all.

It had taken me 35 minutes to slog my way to this point. Some days you know its not going to happen, its only Monday why has the life and energy deserted my body, especially on the eve of the full moon?

Its Moon day today, I am mentally debating about doing practice tonight.

Marichy goo goo asana!

Finally managed to get to YP and practice with Cary again this morning. It wasn’t a Moon day and we had trains that actually turned up, talk about everything in the heavens having to line up. I couldn’t take up my usual spot in the corner, it was already taken by a big blanket and 6 month old Oscar and his toy pig.

Not such a good practice as yesterday, I think I was still tired and all the commuting takes its toll. Only adjustment in standing was Prasarita Padot C, my shoulders can still feel it. Cary plops Oscar down on the end off who evers mat it is she is adjusting and he happily watches or gurgles encouragement, though it was funny when Cary came to adjust me in Marichyasana A, she was pushing me towards my leg, while Oscar liked the idea of grabbing my big toe, all go aaaahhhhhhh….I had a quick chat with Oscar as I swapped sides. Managed all the other Mari’s on my own today.

Supta K was a good one today, I was sweaty and left to my own devices, bound both ends quite easily and managed to lift, there is even the glimmer of a Titibhasana trying to get out.

4 x Urdva Dhanurasana, then played around with dropbacks, though alas no assistance today, but I could feel my back was nowhere near as bendy as yesterday, it was a feeling more like cranking it open compared to yesterday when it spread on its own. It still ended up being a long practice somehow, not that it matters how long it takes.

After practice Croissants at Cafe Nero with AC, then home to the washing and reading the paper.

Just 3 at the shala!

A very intense practice this morning with lots of adjustment, due to the fact that there were just 3 of us doing Mysore practice with Michaela at TLC this morning! I have never seen so few, last month it was packed. At the start my shoulder was niggling me during the Surya’s so I slowed down and took more care, usual adjustments in standing, Parsvakonasana, PP-C & UHP.

Lots of help during seated, incredibly deep Triang Mukha, Janu A and Mari A and a wrist bind in Mari C and a bind on the second side of Mari D. I was most of the way into Supta K on my own before Michaela arrived to cross my feet and help me lift. The adjustments were good today, sometimes it feels much harder, almost stressful when you are being adjusted more deeply into a posture, but today I was able to let go and go with it and think about my breath and just release.

Urdva Dhanurasana was a bit of a struggle, though I got help in all 3 and was subsequently in them for far longer than 5 breaths. Michaela then helped me with dropbacks, she made an interesting comment that my dropback backbends are much much deeper than my UD’s, in dropbacks I can feel that my chest and upper back is working harder, she let me go quite a way each time before intervening to take me to the floor. I think my shoulder rotation needs to change so that when the time comes I stand a chance of having my hands in the correct place to land a dropback….. one day

So an unexpectedly good practice before heading into the city to the cafe for my brunch and then to Holborn to give my talk on Stockholm to 80 plus people, it seemed to be well received, quite a few came up after to say they enjoyed it.

That train had better turn up tomorrow, its been far too long since I did practice with Cary at YP, I need her input.

Its all in the mind

My 5th full Primary in the last 6 days and probably the best one of the week. Whole of Primary plus lots of extra backbend and dropback experiments all in an hour and three quarters, which just goes to show that for me practice seems to be about actually having my mind in my practice, once I focus and get on with it I have a good practice.

The sticky temperature of our current UK heatwave certainly helped, a great Supta K, though I was too slithery to bind Mari D.

This is the most consistent weeks practice in a while, and its my double header weekend of 2 shala practices at TLC on Saturday and hopefully YP or AYL on Sunday.

It’s Fridat at last.

A tired 4th

Last night was my 4th full primary in a row, well when I say full, actually I was running out of steam halfway through seated and ended up doing vinyasas between sides. I still managed all the poses and a short Savasana.

Today has been incredibly hot and sticky, we are one level below the highest warning level for heatwaves in the south of the UK, I just know its too bloody hot to be in an office all day, even one with aircon. We are not good with heat in this country, we don’t get it often enough to be competent at dealing with it. It makes you tired, I could happily nod off at work, but when I try to sleep at night its too hot and sticky and I can’t drop off, grrrr

Practice tonight consisted of standing then some different dropback experimentation. After some warm ups of Salabhasana, Ustrasana etc I did some bridges and Urdva Dhanurasana, then tried videoing my dropback to see how far I was getting. I seem to be at just about 90 degrees. I found I can get a little further if I take a second in breath and try and lift my chest more into Louise’s croquet hoop, at which point the floor comes into view. I had a line of pillows and a rolled up Duvet going the length of my mat and tried to go back as far as I could, but I just don’t have the confidence when I practice home alone to go for the floor and ended up landing on a combination of my arse and back, but there was definitley more bend. I have not bent that far on my own before, last time I was anywhere near that deep was when Susan helped me during Kino’s workshop. There’s always tomorrow….

Nanny State

After practice last night I was watching the news, some NHS spokesman came on giving advice about how we should all be coping with the hot weather. It was as if they were trying to avoid people sueing the government for the sun coming out. Having sweated my way through 2 hours of Primary I had to laugh when he said we should all try not to exert ourselves and rest as much as we can.

The upstairs of my house was an oven, having been closed up all day, it wasn’t quite as hot as AYL on Sunday, but not far off. A nice practice where I accidentally found that I can now get my left leg behind my head! No I was doing Primary, but I usually bring my foot up to my chest before coaxing it into lotus for Marichyasana etc, but last night found I could get it higher. I presume its a result of all the Supta K work I have done over the last year.

It was nice to play around with dropbacks, the teachers were on me fast on Sunday so I didn’t get any experimenting time, but last night I played around with cross arms and bouncing off the door and trying to hang back, though that feels a bit dangerous home alone, there is a fine line between holding myself up and losing it and crashing backwards.

Stifling

Just walking from the station to the Shala it was already stickily hot. I love the heat, practice is so much easier, but today the heat felt stifling. No chance of me nicking V’s special space, I saw the holy pink mat as soon as I walked in. I grabbed a space 2 along. It was a good spot because those on either side were already doing seated, so I could stretch out wide and up in the Surya Namaskars.

The heat felt sapping, there didn’t seem to be much airflow, despite the top windows being open, I was drenched, in UHP despite help, I had trouble keeping a hold of my toe, everything was slithery. When I got to seated the temperature at floor level seemed even more intense and draining, assist in Triang Mukha to keep me level, why can’t I sit on both sit bones at the same time? I could feel myself struggling for energy and it was hard to keep an ujayi breath, my knees liked the heat, I managed all the Mari’s up to 2nd side of D, I was too slithery to bind, luckily Louise came along and deftly managed to help my hands join. Some teachers seem to have a knack with Mari D, my knee was ok and my niggling QL didn’t blink. As I did the vinyasa I just felt wiped out. I lost the Supta K race to Louise, I thought I was slithery enough to get into before anyone spotted me, I was hanging out in Kurmasana, gradually moving my arms back when she arrived to easily bind me up, at least it doesn’t seem to take her any effort nowadays to get me there.

By the time closing came I was really tired, I had a dose of UD ADD, my first Urdva Dhanurasana was crap, but after that I managed 3 more reasonable ones, walking in a little to get more bend and get my hips more towards my ankles. No backdrop playtime on my own today, Ruth was waiting for me as soon as I stood up, she took me through 3, they felt ok, usually Louise does them with me. Ruth had me walking my hands in at the bottom, then coming up on the 3rd rock, though she said I still try and lead with my head, when I do consciously try not to. She said to put my brain in my ankle! So this pose requires me to look like a croquet hoop, with my brain in my ankle and not pass out or get dizzy, oh and I am sure I have to breathe at some point. No I enjoy the backdrops now, the fear has gone.

Closing in the finishing room, a long Sirsasana today, it just felt right to stay up there and a nice long Savasana, before peeling my yoga togs off and heading for home. Home via Pret, V was right about Pret having a better class of croissant.