Rob - Day 36: Mysore

As promised, here for a daily entry! I set a repeating reminder on my To-Do program to make sure that I do this every day so hopefully I'll be much more consistent.

So last night I went to bed early. REALLY early. Like 8:30-9. I wanted to make sure I had enough mojo for the morning practice. It kinda worked I guess. I'm really not sure what's going on with my system right now. Obviously I got enough sleep, but I was still really tired. Probably some of this was left over from my intense led 1/2 Primary class on Monday which I followed with Heather's Yin class. I hadn't done the double header in a while and it was kinda intense. But I was really sore and tired even two days later! Also, the seasons are starting to obviously change now which is always a bit of a shock to my system.

My practice today felt sloppy, unfocused. My hamstrings were really tight and sore. I had trouble keeping focus even for the five breaths per pose. By the end I was quite tired and skipped out past Navasana. I didn't even have enough strength for Urvha Danurasana and ended up doing bridge! I let myself really go in Savasana. I borderline slept, which I guess is what I needed. I followed with a few rounds of Nadi Shodhana which definitely calmed me down a bit.

So what does this tell me..? Well, honestly I'm not quite sure. Maybe it was just an off day. By now (just after noon) I'm feeling a lot better and I'm glad I practiced even if I felt a bit wonky during and just after. I think we'll just let this one go at face value.

Rob - Day 18: Yin

So it's labor day weekend and was feeling quite ready for the impending break. I slept in fairly late and putzed around for a while. Then I remembered my rewarding experience yesterday so I reluctantly dragged myself to the mat knowing that by the time I was done that I would feel much better.

Pretty typical practice really. Lately I've been trying to focus on my hamstrings alot in my Yin practice to support my Ashtanga practice. I'm hoping that the repeated attention will help me in all those forward fold and especially Supta Kurmasana, which is currently the last pose in my practice and a truly POOR execution thereof if I do say so myself. So I've been trying to do Supta Padangusthasana with a strap every time I do Yin and sometimes before I go to bed too. There's already been palpable effects in my practice and even in my daily life. Just walking around I can feel my legs as being straighter and more limber. Awesome!

I found these slightly distasteful yet very amusing examples of "Drunk Yoga" online so I'll leave you with this for the day:
PS: Those of you in the know will recognize Natasha Rizopoulos from the picture on the left. I start my Teacher Training with her in just a week. YEEEEEEES!

Rob - Day 6: Meditation/Yin/Teddy Ruxpin!?

Ahhhh...sleep. Went to bed at 9pm woke up at 8:30am. What a beautiful thing. I feel like I took the appropriate measures to recover from my slightly excessive previous day because I feel quite alright today. I took further measures to balance my excess of yang with my practice today.

First I hit the cushion for almost a full hour of meditation - about 10 mins of metta followed by 45 mins of insight practice. It was quite lovely actually. I hadn't really noticed before today but my sits have been much shorter of late - only about 20 mins or so. I almost forgot how much more clear the mind becomes during longer sits. I think that I will need to try to set aside more time for at least a few longer sits per week. I used to get an hour with my group once a week but sadly my old Sangha has dissolved for reasons that I won't discuss on this blog. I guess the good news is starting in September none other than Heather and I will be starting a new meditation group at our yoga studio. Stay tuned for details!

I followed this by a little over an hour of self Yin. Here is the sequence I did:

Wide Kneed Child's Pose - 5 mins
Wide Kneed Child's Pose w/Twist - 4 mins/side
1/2 Saddle - 4 mins/side
Full Saddle - 5 mins
Child's/Laying On Stomach - 3 mins
1/2 Butterfly - 4 mins
Dragonfly Twist - 4 mins/side
Dragonfly - 5 mins
Twisted Root - 5 mins/side
Savasana - 10 mins

As you can see most of the focus was on front hips and hamstrings. Somehow this felt like just what I needed. I practiced in complete silence which was a nice change. Normally at home I put on some sort of ambient music. One funny side note - for no apparent reason the theme from Teddy Ruxpin got in my head while I was laying in Savasana. What the hell!?


But all told it was a lovely day. I'm feeling quite rested and ready to get back to a more vigorous practice tomorrow morning.

Namaste/Om Shanti to all the fly Yogis/Yoginis out in blog land!

Heather - Day Two

Today may have been the hardest day of all. I just DID not want to practice after working all day. Mostly because I found out that my license has been suspended for five years now unbeknownst to me due to a speeding ticket I don't even remember getting. It was a VERY expensive ticket! So after spending almost three hours trying to figure out what happened and get it all arranged, I was a little down and definitely in the mood to pacify myself with episodes of South Park or phone conversations with friends and family rather than practice even thirty minutes of yoga!

But I did it. My hamstrings and quads were begging me for attention - being a little sore from the day before and after all, I had made a commitment: I wasn't about to call it quits on the second day for goodness sake!

So I put on a short dharma talk by Ajahn Sucitto which was really more of a guided meditation centered in the breath and proceeded through about thirty minutes of yin yoga. Honestly? It was a relief. Physically, mentally, emotionally, I felt better, more at ease afterwards. I think I slept better as well, though I usually don't have problems with sleep anyway. I was glad I did it regardless of the trepidation and laziness I was feeling so strongly at the time. It is amazing, how, even when we know it to be true from past experience, we can forget how much better healthy habits make us feel. It is so seductive and easy to fall back on the little habits of mindless TV, a cigarette, or a hot fudge sundae we have or have had to lean on in the past for comfort or convenience when it seems like too much effort to address the true needs of our bodies, minds, and spirits.

WishinG you happiness and metta from a little dot in the universe called Boston,
Heather