Skinny and Sweet (There is an exception to every rule & NYC made me skinny)

There are a couple of new women practicing at the shala (doing second series).  One of them is practicing full second plus part of third.  I spied (post practice of course) her pincha and karandavasana and the woman totally had a Manju-as-a-child-pincha-photo banana back.  And she could bind her legs by herself and she could come down and almost come up (you could tell she can come up on days when she is up to it).  And her back was flat--almost even back bending--when she was resting on her arms.  *shrug*  Just goes to show that a)its not about the poses b)its about practice c)it takes patience d)every body is different.

Post-India Notes:

While getting dressed in the shala today I noticed that my big bra (the biggest size post-India) is too big.  India made me fat.  New York made me thin.  Ha ha.

Life/practice notes:

Had the WORST allergies today.  Could barely open my eyes this morning as they were so swollen.  Thought I had pink eye or something.  Yuck.  Felt so ill that I really thought I wouldn't make it to practice.  Low back is bothering too but I think its from adjusting people while I have bad posture.  In back bending I took it easy--just ankles.  (That is so ridiculous.  I am now really praying at the end of eka pada.  "Dear God, thank you for blessing me with legs, legs that work, legs that are able to do this crazy shit.  Thanks!)

Things I like/don't like:

Couldn't get through the first three pages of "Midnight's Children".  I must be a bad person.  Laughed my head off last night at "Nine-to-Five".  Absolutely infatuated with Amy Winehouse.

The world is not flat

Sometimes things that you see wake you up, rather than put you to sleep. This morning after practice a man sat on the grass by the side of the road. He was sitting cross-legged, and as I approached, I could see that he was missing his feet and that one of the stumps was covered in blood.

I have to start praying. We pray to ourselves before we practice, but part of it should include this gratefulness for being able to walk at all. After breakfast at Tina's, a young man was walking down the road with both legs terribly mangled.

Back in New York, I started having certain back issues that sent me to the chiropractor. When filling out the intake form, I answered questions like "what activities do you perform that are affected by the pain you are experiencing?" My response: drop backs, deep back bends like kapotasana. I had to stop and laugh at how ridiculous this whole situation was becoming.

I've tried before to take a moment to pray over my food, but I have been in the habit of forgetting until the end of the meal. I'm trying again today. Rachel wanted to do something nice for her house cleaner, so she thought she would buy her some of her favorite fruit. A nice gesture. So she asked her what her favorite fruit was. Confused, she explained that she only eats rice and chapathis because fruit is too expensive. It is likely that she has never tasted an avocado before.

Below is the opening mantra in ashtanga yoga:

It is all about waking up. It is always about waking up instead of going to sleep. And then the closing prayer:

I got moved to 5am for practice. I grabbed just above my calves today in back bending (and some of my hair). I'm going to chanting today. ____ poured gallons and gallons of cold water over my head with his words from half way across the world over a pay phone.