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