Tittibhasana -- Days 2 and 3

I was one part optimistic and one part completely petrified about meeting tittibhasana on Sunday. After three days off (Thursday primary, Friday moonday, Saturday rest day), I was completely disoriented in my own body. It all started with the sprint out of bed when I remembered daylight savings (please explain to me why the US is doing this early). Then I get to the shala and the practice room is all moved around. I already am feeling funny, but then, I finish my surya namaskars and decide that its time to go to pasasana. Something felt weird, but so did the whole morning, and it wasn't until I finished krounchasana that I realized I was super tight not because I was still cold from being outside (which I was), but because I didn't do any standing postures. That was embarrassing.

The truth is, I wasn't thinking about the poses at all. But I wasn't thinking about my laundry list either. I was thinking about mulhabandha. I've gone through stages in my practice history where I really focus on it and others where I take it for granted, but after Thursday, it was at the top of my mind. I was concentrating so much on my anus and vagina that I forgot what the hell I was doing! Ha ha!

Laughing, I stood up and started my standing postures. But still, practice was strange. Everything felt awkward and gawky. And afterwards, it felt like it happened so fast. I kept thinking, "that's it?" Was it perhaps because it was fun? David Williams said that when you practice, you are either in one of two states. The first is yoga therapy and the second is cheap thrills. It did feel pretty good...

Tittibhasana was much better! Still, the same problems yesterday and today. Jumping to tittibhasana is easy. Doing it well is the hard part. On Sunday I jumped once, took a few breaths, then came down and readjusted so my legs were higher. Its cheating, but oh well. Today I jumped once and told myself that I would make it work. With my legs higher on Sunday, I was able to swing my feet down by hands with some grace. It seems the key is to get the thighs moving toward one another and the seat high (i.e. engage bandhas). Today, as my legs weren't as high, it was much more difficult to get the height and I had to rely on my strength to get me there which was much more difficult.

Recently, someone told me that they heard that primary series was the hardest series to learn because in it, you learn all the fundamentals and that the other series are just variations of these. I do see how the vinyasas into and out of bhujapidasana and kurmasana lead to tittibhasana...

Binding in B was ok on both days. Walking was okay. The key is not to think, just walk, otherwise the mind starts thinking about how much the thighs burn. D, surprisingly, came naturally, even though I really thought I'd be afraid to fall over. That said, it might have looked like crap on the outside....Then back to A really tired and creaking to bakasana and then jumping to chatvari.

What is frustrating is that I get to downdog and I'm tired, but not that tired. I feel like I have lots of energy still and I wish that I could have used that energy to do what I was trying to do in tittibhasana. I know that with time it will come. The body and muscles have to figure out how to do what I want them to do and this is all very new to me...

Recently Watched: Into the Wild. Verdict: thumbs up!
Recently Read: The Kite Runner. Verdict: good story.
Currently Reading: Yoga Sutras.

David Williams edited the last post, so please check out the updated info.

Life as a prayer

I watch the news in the morning after my practice and nap. There was footage of protests at the UN in New York City. At the Millennium Summit in 2000, 192 countries agreed to 8 "Millennium Goals" to achieve by 2015. One of these was to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. Unsurprisingly, they haven't made much of a dent as a protester noted, "every three seconds someone dies of hunger". Of HUNGER. Of not having enough to eat. Of not having enough nutrients from what they are eating.

At breakfast I had 3 whole meal rotis, sauteed vegetables, a banana soy milk smoothie, a spirulina drink, half a fruit salad, and a cup of hot water. I prayed over my meal.

The things that we see and the things that we don't.

In the book I am currently reading, Shantaram, the main character is amazed as he watches men taking barrels of water up the stairs of his hotel. He stands to the side as they take one barrel after another. His tour guide explains that the water from the shower comes from a tank on the roof and that these men are filling the tank. Upon hearing this, he felt incredibly guilty because he was taking three showers a day. So when he told the guide that he was vowing to not shower for the rest of his stay, he was surprised when the guide told him that he didn't understand and that it was a "people-job". It is because of the tourists that these men had a job. "You should have three showers, four showers, even five showers every day..." And as he watched the men go about their work, he began to notice how much strength they had, how proud they were of the work they did, and how favorably the ladies reacted to their presence.

As I tugged at the latch on our front gate, the moon caught my eye. I can't always see it here as it is usually quite low. But at 4:45 am, it was right in front of me, nestled between a house and a tree. It was full and bright and almost creamy like a piece of cheese. The outline faded into the sky so that a haze surrounded the bright, glowing moon. I nodded my chin so as to say my respective "hello", and turned to walk down the street to the shala.

When Sharath was here, the Shala was full of people, a sea of mats organized along huge floor rugs. Now the shala is a huge room full of floor rugs with mats scattered throughout. There are trains on the middle rug. Trains like "choo choo". Ever notice that?

I was amazed today when I received a supta kurmasana adjustment from Saraswati today. That is practically unheard of if you can bind on your own. (Binding means crossing your legs over your head AND reaching your arms underneath your thighs, wrapping them around your back, AND clasping the opposite fingers/hand/wrist). See pic of supta k on right...

On the back of Petra's bike, my gaze slowly drifted up to the sky (staring up at the sky is just about the best thing to do when you are sitting on the back of a bike). It was so blue. "It is such a beautiful day!" I yelled to Petra. I don't know if she heard me.

Today I'm off to the center with Krista for laughs, smiles, and overall good times...

Tomorrow its led class with Saraswati...