Efficiency is a double edged sword...

Today I practiced at Eddie's place. I missed Mary-Beth's led class at New York Yoga, much to my dismay, as a class party for Adam's kindergarten class did not end until 9:45, a half an hour after M-B's class began. I debated going late, but it didn't feel right, being that it is a led class.

I was one of the first people to arrive at Eddie's for the 11:00 Mysore session. Amie (another Upper East Sider and yoga teacher at New York Yoga) was there. I felt stiff, and my left shoulder feels kind of pinched. But I got started and it went surprisingly smoothly. A little less sweaty than usual, and I finished the standing series in 25 minutes. That left me kind of let down. I like the standing series. How did I get through it so quickly?

The primary series went super-smoothly, probably attributable to my jump throughs being so much more efficient. But of course, the downside is that it all takes far less time. On the upside, I figured that if I worked efficiently, then it would be more likely that I would get another pose today. It was not to be. Despite that it was probably my BEST EVER Marichi C (solidly bound, not falling over!) that is where Sarah told me to stop. However, she did say, "Next week we will work on Marichi D."

When I started the finishing series, beginning with four five-breath backbends (resting on the crown of the head in between), it was only 45 minutes after I had started. I realized that if I was doing the entire primary series, I would probably finish in 80-90 minutes! To me, that means that the system is working - less prana is leaking out, less extraneous everything, more focus, more efficiency. Of course, it ends up being a shorter practice. But perhaps it's like running an 8 minute mile instead of a 9?

I bound in Pindasana (lotus in shoulderstand, knees around the ears, arms around the legs), and I came close to binding in the first of the three finishing padmasana poses (with the help of Sarah).

Progess is fast and furious in a Mysore practice, which is exactly the opposite of what I expected. Sunday, hopefully Eric will let me go to the 8:00 Mysore at Guy's because I am already working past Marichi D there. But if not, no big deal. It will all come in time!

As for eating - it is amazing how my eating habits are changing because of this Mysore practice. I am almost glad that I have so much trouble binding - it reminds me to keep my stomach empty before practice and to eat less at night. I am hoping to take off a bit of weight with this practice - at least six pounds, maybe 10. We shall see. I honestly have no idea if that is even possible for me. I like to be strong, and I get the feeling that I don't really have 10 pounds of fat to lose. But it would be nice to be lighter, to actually lose some of the muscle weight that I carry - I am very muscular. I guess this is a case of setting an intention - my intention is to eat properly and in a manner conducive to my yoga practice. If it results in weight loss, then great. If not, then it doesn't matter, as long as I have been following my intention....

YC