Thursday, June 01, 2006

I went!

I bent! I sweat! I held a towel between my hands in Supta K and gasped when Sir drew my ankles closer together and closer to my neck!

When I was done with my rest, I was, of course, the last person in the room, and the windows were open, allowing a breeze to waft through. Nevertheless, as I walked out the door, I glanced at the thermomenter/thermostat thingamajiggie sitting on the table near the door and saw that it read 79 degrees Farenheit and 80 percent humidity!!!

I am beginning to use Sitali breathing at intervals during my practice to cool off my internal pitta fire. I am a Sagitarious as well. Isn't that a fire sign?

Later (only minutes later, actually), I drove into the Lower East Side and then meandered (in my car) over to Little Italy, thinking that I might stop for an espresso somewhere. But instead, I found myself wandering...and wandering...and eventually, I found myself staring into the window of Devachan, the famous (at least in NYC) curly-hair hair salon. It's actually right across the street from Eddie's, and I actually ran into an Eddie's student there, who actually does NOT wear her hair curly. But I digress.

On a whim, and I mean purely on a whim, I decided to get in touch with my inner "curl girl" and basically had a total curl makeover. Henceforth, I will never shampoo my hair AGAIN. Nor will I ever drag a comb through it. And at practice, it's going to be all about the bobby pins. At least for a couple of months while I retrain my long-lost curls to come back to mama. It was getting ridiculous - me in a braid or a ponytail all the friggin' time. Even when I went out at night, I was wearing my hair pulled back, or in an updo. According to my new best friend, Luciana, I must NEVER do that again. My hair is now in training. The idea is to lift and separate. Like an 18-hour training bra.

If we Ashtangis worship at the altar of drishte, bhandas and bending, then these Devachan people worship at the altar of studied minimalism for the hair. LOTS of products, it takes, to create this naturally cascading curl look. LOTS of waiting for air-drying. But ultimately, the idea is to stop frying the hair. To start treating the hair like a part of the body. After all, it's with us all the time. We can't change it like we change our clothes.

So there you have it. I will post a photo eventually. It's the non-perm perm. The natural Yoga Chickie.

YC

3 comments:

Karen said...

That's a riot! I am a total hair slacker--curly because I never bother drying it and uncombed because it doesn't look right if I comb it. I didn't realize I was actually fashionable. I just thought I didn't care enough about my hair ;-)

Anonymous said...

So you're a Sag, too? What are we going to do with all that pitta?

Sorry ladies, but my gf has the most amazing hair in the world. From curly to wavy or straight in 5 minutes and back again in another 5 minutes - and still looking natural.

Anonymous said...

Forgot to add that it would save us lots of time when we're going out - but then she spends hours putting her make up on. After all, girls will be girls.

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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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