Why my practice sucked today

Just Yoga Chickie, please, originally uploaded by Yoga Chickie.

...It started with the ABS dress shown above (unfortunately, the floaty taupe chiffon handkerchief bottom isn't in the photo) , a pair of Prada strappy sandals (similar to the ones pictured, but in brown leather) and the amazing Hose Without Toes. It continued with a single Beefeater Martini with three olives.

And before I knew it, it was midnight, I had consumed an entire crabmeat salad with a taste of Chardonnay, some Chilean Sea Bass with a bit of Cabernet Sauvignon and enough bites of New York cheesecake to make me feel, well, not well. I collapsed into bed and was asleep almost before my head hit the pillow, thus managing to squeeze in somewhere between six and seven hours of sleep. Nevertheless, I woke up feeling as if my calves had been cranked way up to my knees. When I stepped out of bed, the stiffness moved up through my hips and into my lower back. Even my shoulders took some of the brunt.

I got to practice, and it was so packed that if I hadn't claimed the spot immediately next to the door, I would have had to wait for a spot. I have never seen that happen at Shala X. I was the second to last person to get to practice this morning. Yet I found myself moving so slowly and laboriously that as I was finishing my last Surya B, the last guy in was already bending forward into one of the Prasarita Pados (don't know which one).

All of that said, and despite a really awkward, and out of alignment Arhda Badha Padmottanasana on the first side, I still managed to get into every pose. On the other hand, Jose had to push my interlocked fingers further down than usual in order to get my hands to the floor behind my head in PP C, my vinyasas were weak, I felt kind of nauseated by the heat and the odors, and one side of Mari D was particularly wacky - the first side - the same side in which I had trouble in Ardha Badha Padmo. I think my hips were in spasm today from a night in high heels, and the right is always more spazzy than the left. So, notwithstanding a pretty deep bind in Mari D on the right, my right knee was miles from the floor, and I have no idea how I didn't simply fall over. But I didn't. And then...ahhhhh...Navasana. Such a relief to get there. Navasana is so totally no big deal for me. Some pose should be, right?

Did I mention my vinyasas were weak? And by weak, I mean, pathetic. And by pathetic, I wish to elaborate. For the first time in Yoga Chickie ashtanga history, I did not vinyasa between sides after Tirianga Mukhapada Paschimo.

After Navasana, I squeezed out three Bhujas, partly because this pose is just so much fun for me now, and partly because I felt the need to do a couple of extra vinyasas to make up for the ones I missed in the Janu Sirsasanas and Marichyasanas. None was particularly stellar, but I must say, I have finally met Mula Bhanda, without which Bhuja cannot happen.

By the time I got to backbends, I was totally not into doing backbends. Mainly a psychological thing. For the longest time, backbends contained my biggest dread - opening the armpits. So, it is easy to forget that right now, finally, I am at a point where I can press right up to my first Urdhva Dhanurasana without much discomfort at all. Thus, after the first one today, I realized I was perfectly capable of pressing on and doing my usual 18. Or, rather, in this case, 15, one of which I held for 15 breaths...).

Later is was brunch with some shala mates. Always great fun. Not something I am able to do often enough, because usually I have to run up to the gym to pick up the kids from the Husband (who brings them to Family Time, just like on the Sex and the City Episode) and take them to Hebrew School so that the Husband can catch a led primary class (his only ashtanga practice of the week). Today the Husband didn't feel like practicing.

Wonder why?!

On other fronts, yesterday was the second time Addy had a tooth pulled on an emergency basis. That boy really knows how to smack himself in the mouth. The weird thing was that the injury that:
led to the abscess
that led to the gum swelling of elephantine proportions
that led to a frantic call to the pede,
that led to a Saturday morning visit with the pede,
that led to a quickie referral to a pediatric dentist with Saturday hours,
that led to an x-ray that showed that more than half of Addy's tooth had disintegrated and was now filled with a mixture of pus and gum (eeeeew!!!)
happened more than three years ago (on the playground, where else?).

Last spring, he developed an abscess in the gum above one of his front teeth and had to have it pulled that day. And now, almost a year later, the other front tooth went south as well. Addy handled it super bravely, and all is well.

After that, we went to a random diner on the Upper East Side and ran into an ex-boyfriend of mine, his wife and some of their friends, who I had known back in the day. It was good to see G because the last time we spoke was nearly four years ago, when I was in the midst of chemo, and I couldn't muster up the strength to even meet him for coffee. No, wait, I think I ran into him on the street at some point after that. I don't know. It was fun to chat with them. They asked me if I was going to write about it here. They knew about my blog from a friend of mine who is a brother in law of a friend of theirs...who might be less than six degrees from Kevin Bacon ;).

I think I said, "nah". But here I am, writing about it. I hope that's cool....no deep dark secrets of the Diner Interlude will be revealed...I swear.

Oh yeah, and speaking of re-connecting with old connections, we got a ;etter from our former nanny, Tereze, who now lives in Prague with her husband. We love Tereze, and she basically saved my family from going down the toilet when I wasn't well, and she only left when I was finally on my feet again. Like Mary Poppins, with a student visa instead of an umbrella, and cargo pants and a belly ring instead of a proper little dress and blouse. The big news is that there's going to be a baby! And if it's a boy, his name will be......Adam.

YC