How true

“Nothing happens in the world according to our will; that is definite.”

I read that in Yoga Mala last night and I should have remembered it this morning when I did practice.

Not to say practice at TLC this morning with Gail wasn’t good, it was good and having Michaela on the opposite mat certainly kept me focussed and my practice on the mat. Standing I seem to be left alone completely apart from PPC, Gail doesn’t quite take it to the level Cary does, where you feel like the blood supply above the shoulders has been turned off! The balances were crap, but hey ho…

Seated were not bad, bound both sides of Marichyasana D after a nice assist in deep assist in Mari C. Supta K, today Gail took me to where I like to go with this adjustment now, bound feet and lift up into Dwi Pada, which proves it wasn’t a fluke when I did it last week. The bum balances, like the standing balances were not great, they seem to be better at night for some reason.

I had expectations  of my backbends today. Yesterday Helen sent me a link to a “You tube” of Grimmly standing up from a dropback, I could see what she meant as he seemed to be landing about the same distance from his feet as I do, then rocking a little to get the movement to come back up. I had managed to raise my hips a little higher and feel a slight change in the weight distribution over my feet as I walked my hands in, so I was hoping that having my 2 mats on a surface where my feet could stay put (the carpet at home makes it hard to stop the feet splaying), that I would see some progress today, but as the saying says “Nothing happens in the world according to our will; that is definite.”

I did 3 Urdva Dhanurasana on my own, then got the nice assist where you hold the teachers ankles and they induce a much deeper bend to open the back, no I wasn’t going to add in any criminal 2nd series with M opposite! Then after a slight head bang on the first dropback when my right arm gave way for some reason on landing, I managed 3 reasonable ones. But I could feel my dropback didn’t have the depth of bend it had  at home last night, weird as usually in the Shala my back opens with the heat. I was landing safely, but further away from my feet, I tried to walk my hands in, but my upper back felt very resistant. Gail then arrived, helping me going back, inducing a deeper bend before landing, but like Cary she didn’t seem to have to do that much to get me to stand up, I asked her after and she said she was just pulling my hips forward to change the weight distribution. So having had high (er) hopes for my backbends it didn’t quite go to plan. I think it may be a case of almost too many backbends in the last week, I just didn’t have the energy this morning, but Gail’s assists were good.

At the Shala I seem to speed up standing and seated without realising, not that it feels fast, I suppose I don’t faff around like I do at home, I got to closing in 70 minutes, then it tok another 35 minutes to get to Savasana. It was good to practice, as usual I am glad I went.

Though who will be the teacher at TLC next time is anyones guess, with M gone and P teaching elsewhere, I do wonder if the Saturday Mysore will continue to be an option.

Well a Sunday moon day tomorrow, my first Sunday since October when I can have a lay in, having the option to practice on a Saturday at TLC makes the moon day day off feel good, if that option wasn’t there I think I would feel deprived of my Shala practice.