Public gatherings

Yoga Mala is very clear about warning students of yoga to avoid public gatherings. I wonder about this in light of the World Tour.

But anyway, since tomorrow is a class trip that keeps me from practicing at Shala X and Wednesday is a moonday and Friday I am going to be joining the public gathering at the Midtown Loft, that left Tuesday and Thursday for me to go to Shala X to practice. And somehow, not knowing for sure if Sir would be there and not wanting to call and find out and not wanting to start and stop and kind of being into this self-practice mode that I am in, I decided to, well, be definitive and not waffle about where and when I am practicing this week. As such, I have decided to make this week all about self-practice, self-discipline, self-study (svadyaya) and then go back to Guruji on Friday.

It is good to make decisions. It is good to let go of ambivalence. Practice today was stellar. I woke up so sore that I considered trying to make up a new definition for sore. But I was too sore to even think. So I blogged. And then I made it down to Yoga Sutra to teach my lunchtime classes. SO much fun. Then I plunked down my mat, and soreness aside, I practiced. The funny thing about my soreness: I was sore, but not stiff. I enjoyed much in the way of ease and flexibility today, notwithstanding a certain achiness and fatigue in my muscles. It is days like this when I remember and reaffirm for myself that stiffness is, indeed, in the mind.

Somehow, and I am honestly not quite sure how, I made it all the way through the Marichyasana poses before 40 minutes had passed. That made my practice way more enjoyable. I think there is something to be said for holding certain poses extra long and taking looooong breaths. But everything in moderation. Not all practices can be like that. And if they are, well, I hear "rut" echoing in the distance. By not holding any one pose excessively long, I felt balanced, grounded, focused, energized as opposed to enervated.

When I got to backbends, Kelman and John-the-Ashtanga-teacher-turned-med-students both dropped me back. And all I can say is: I need to do dropbacks more often. The chest breath control alone is enough for me to say it. But the leg strength! Oh! And the addressing my fears, allowing my head to come up last! Oh my! I do hope that Sir will add this to my repertoire soon. I don't care if he ever gives me Kurmasana (well, maybe that is an exaggeration...) - as long as I can get to savor dropbacks and the way they help open me up.

It's a beautiful spring day in NYC, by the way, I thought I might add. Hope Gregg and Christi and all of our other visitors are enjoying!

YC

P.S. I just heard from SuzieC that El Senor and Miss Bud may be in town. Is it true? Could it be? Please Miss Bud, if you are in town, and provided you can get through the throngs of admirers from my international blogger fan base, would you consider coming over to my mat and saying "namaste", or as we say in NYC, "hey"? I promise, I won't out you...and I would even let you take a photo of Gary giving me a rough adjustment....