Thursday, October 06, 2005

The good news

is that I bound all by myself in Mari C today, without a strap, without pressing up against a wall, without clinging to my own clothing. On the first side, my fingers hooked together. On the second side, I really and truly got my hands together and held it tight and breathed.

The bad news is that I did this at four o'clock p.m., after teaching a class and taking a led half-primary class (in which I used a strap to get into C and D), and stretching in a long, hot shower. I don't know if I can reproduce a self-bound Mari C without the benefit of all that pre-stretching. At least not yet.

But I see the carrot dangling before me. And it inspires me to keep trying, to eat less meat, to eat more veggies, to drink more water. And I have to say, I am grateful to Sir for forcing me to give up all of the poses after Mari C (for now) so that Mari C can be the pinnacle of my practice and the focus of my learning energies. Nothing like being stuck at one pose and not getting any new ones to light a fire under me to get me focused. Plus, my vinyasas are getting smoother and lighter, and there is less straining and "leaking" of prana.

More good news: I had the honor and pleasure of meeting the Divine Amma today at Yoga Sutra. I was hanging around between the class I taught and the class I was taking, and Christopher asked me if I wanted to meet her. I said, sure, but what do I DO? How do I talk to her? What do I do when I meet her? He told me to just say hi, and so I did.

Christopher introduced me as "Lauren, who is a breast cancer survivor", and Amma took my hand, and she whispered some words in another language, and then her eyes rolled up in her head. All I could see was white between her eyelids. She rocked back and forth, and chanted. I was a little terrified, and a little self-conscious. I wasn't sure if I should have my eyes closed or not. Then she opened her eyes, and took me in her arms and gave me the longest hug I think I have ever gotten from anyone. Ever. And she whispered more words that I didn't understand. And then she told me not to be have fear, that the divine is within me. It was really quite magical.

I have been hearing about the Divine Amma for years now, and I can't believe how lucky I am to have just stumbled upon meeting her and receiving her blessings.

So, that's the good news.

Also, my kids and I met the most precious, full-of-life, fluffy, frisky, yellow labrador retreiver puppy today. She is two and a half months old and absolutely irresistable. I am hoping we can make her our "best friend". But The Husband will have to get on board with this...once again....back to the drawing board....

And speaking of pets, I have a new pet peeve: the use of the word "swollen" to describe a pregnant woman's belly. Swollen??? Swollen??? When I think of swollen, I think of fluid-filled, puffy, sore flesh...not the taut, life-filled, NOT-sore abdomen of pregnancy. This came up today because I was reading an article in the New York Times Arts section about Jennifer Garner's pregnancy being written into her role as Sydney Bristow. The article made a glib comment, comparing Garner's now-"swollen" belly to her formerly "taut" tummy. Reading this distracted me; I couldn't read any further because I kept turning the words over in my mind. Swollen versus taut. It made no sense. I remember well the way my belly felt when I was pregnant, and it was QUITE taut. It was hard as a rock, as a matter of fact. It was like I had stuffed a basketball under my skin. And this isn't because I was any more physically fit than any other pregnant woman. It's simply the reality of pregnancy. It's how you can tell a pregnant tummy from a fat tummy. A pregnant tummy is hard as a rock. A fat tummy is squishy. So...swollen makes no sense to me and has negative connotations that really annoy me.

Vrittis? Sure. So what? No harm done. I said it. I feel better.

YC

5 comments:

Lees Lamar said...

As a formerly pregnant woman, I agree.
If they were speaking of the ankles during pregnancy
OK. But the belly is rock hard.
Harder than my belly has been before or ever will be again!
Do you have a yard for the doggie? Labs need a LOT of exercise and walking.
Susan

Yoga Chickie said...

I have the streets of New York and parks everywhere. Here on the upper east side, there is a park every couple of blocks. There is a large dog run six blocks away. And Central Park is just down my street, less than half a mile away. I am definitely up to the task.

Hey..your blog isn't working. What's wrong with Modblog?

Lauren

Lees Lamar said...

I have not a clue. If you click on my samasthti above my
comment you will go directly to my temporary blogger blog. I am having a hard time figuring out how to do anything fun with it.don't know if I should wait it out or just switch. It's weird to have all that blogging gone out in space.

Yoga Chickie said...

In order to do anything fun with Blogger, you have to go into your template and add code/rewrite code. It is a pain, but it is an interesting learning experience - learning HTML.

I think your blog reads really nicely in Blogger.

Lauren

Reese Lamb said...

It is a pain. I did email Julie to switch me, so i guess I will be learning HTML!
Susan

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About Me

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Northern Westchester, New York, United States
I live by a duck pond. I used to live by the East River. I don't work. I used to work a lot. Now, not so much. I used to teach a lot of yoga. Now not so much. I still practice a lot of yoga though. A LOT. I love my kids, being outdoors, taking photos, reading magazines, writing and stirring the pot. Enjoy responsibly.

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