Friday 24th March 2006
Practice Notes
I blatantly ignored the Ashtanga rule not to practice for the first 3 days of the menstrual cycle.
Yes I did take off Day 1 (Wednesday) which is usually my shala day; then on Day 2 (yesterday) I practiced in the Gallery with Renate. Because I was feeling physically and mentally really well, I only slightly modified the Primary sequence, leaving out the vinyasas between seated poses and replacing the finishing inversions with some reclining passive poses (Iyengar style). I rarely do passive lay-over-bolster poses these days, so it was a nice change to end with these, very soft and female. The rest of Thursday’s practice was strong, connected and intense, but not tense, really enjoyable.
The highlight (and I’ve taken to picking out highlights from each practice to focus on lately) was the Marichyasana quartet today, engaging in deep soulful communion with each of them.
And Savasana…I lay there at the end, enveloped in an incredible lightness of being.
“Be still and know that I am God” came out of nowhere so I let the words flow through me like soft waves, until I started to expand outward into light. Dissolution felt so close.
I came out of Savasana altered.
These shifts are small, but they’re permanent.
Because I missed out on Mysore practice on Wednesday, I decided this morning (Day 3) to skip Darrin’s led class (Iyengar) and go to David’s led Primary (Ashtanga) instead.
Not an insignificant decision because the Friday morning Iyengar class has been a ritual of mine for years. Alas, Ashtanga has captivated my heart.
Even after a shockingly bad night’s sleep thanks to Buffydog yapping her obsessive head off at the possums in the roof all night, STILL there was no hesitation when the alarm went off at 5am this morning.
In the very recent past, I would have used lack of sleep as an excuse to miss practice, buying into those ridiculous stories about how I’ll be tired all day, how I really really need the extra 2 hours sleep, how I shouldn’t practice on Day 3 anyway…blah blah.
Not any more. When that alarm went off at 5am I’d been awake for at least an hour, trying every trick in the book to quieten the possessed puppy and remain calm. So I just got up – no stories. My head was clear and bright, my mind undisturbed. I guess morning practice has become important now and nothing, not even 3 hours sleep, can sabotage that any more.
David’s led class was fun; I think he took into account that a few beginners he’s been working closely with were there, because he explained a lot of basic things and modified a few poses. We did 5 Surya As but only 3 Bs. We didn’t do Parivritta Parsvakonasana which was disappointing as I need all the practice I can get in this one. I wonder if it was intentional or if he just forgot, considering we did the entire sequence of poses thoroughly up to Marichy C.
In Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana, we had to keep the raised leg bent so the thigh was vertical and the shin parallel to the floor. We held the outside of the foot instead of the big toe which meant the elbow was bent and on the outside of the raised leg. He asked us to look at the similarity between this arm/leg relationship and that of Parsvakonasana. And he had something there. Standing in UHP like this I did feel quite weak in the hip of my raised (bent) leg which David often points out to me in Parsvakonasana. According to David we need to firm the outer thighs more and lift the kidneys.
In Virabhadrasana A we put our hand onto the outer knee of the bent leg and pressed it inwards equally resisting that by pressing the knee outwards. Isometric work.
Lots more little investigations like this all the way through which is why we only got up to Marichyasana C. I guess the beginners shouldn’t have even gone that far.
Instead of the full Marichy C pose we did it in stages, starting at a wide open Janu Sirsasana position and twisting towards the bent leg while staying upright and centred on the sit bones. Stage 2 was staying in the twist and lifting the bent knee up half way. I have such a bad memory I can’t remember if he asked us to press the knee down into the opposite hand that was supporting it or whether I just did that anyway. Stage 3 we raised the knee even higher and hooked the opposite elbow under the knee. Not difficult at all, just an exploration. So we really started with the full lift and twist of the torso in Marichy C but with the bent knee on the floor and gradually worked the bent knee up in stages.
All the inversions were cut down to half time and we didn’t do Headstand which was a good thing for me. Being Day 3 of my period, in theory I shouldn’t have been practising and certainly shouldn’t have been doing inversions. Physically I’m pretty strong and resilient, not a fragile sort of girl at all, so I'm not concerned.
My body feels quite light and lovely at the moment – like the innocent body of a child. Feels clear and clean through all the prana channels. Children are born pure like this, their bodies and minds clear, clean, open and receptive. Did Jesus say “Be ye as a little child”? Something like that anyway. I'm reclaiming the innocence that Nature gave me, the innocence that I lost when I grew up into an adult.
I passed up the opportunity to have a chocolate croissant for breakfast and actually chose a beautiful golden banana and some gigantic purple grapes instead to prolong the gorgeous feeling of light in my body. Food that is of the same lightstuff material as my cells. Like attracting like, for easy absorption and osmosis.
Then a strange thing happened this morning at work. I wandered into the boss’s office and asked for a 10% salary increase.
Very cool. Very calm. Very clear. Very luminous.
What’s MOST extraordinary is that it was such a spur of the moment thing for me to do, not like me at all. I felt an invisible force, like a big hand just guiding me in there and the words seemed to come out of my mouth before I had a chance to think about them. So I just went along with it for the ride.
I really don’t know what possessed me to do such a thing! There’s a much higher force at work here folks.
My request goes to the next Finance Committee meeting in 4 weeks. They won't say no. So why didn't I do this ages ago?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Monday 20th March 2006
Practice Notes
Damn – woke up feeling like Gumby today, a bit lethargic and unmotivated, not extreme, but enough to clip my wings a little.
STILL, no hint of resistance to getting out of bed and to the shala for practice. Those “let me stay in bed” demons appear to have been exorcised from my temple, evidence of progress along the purification path, or perhaps just a stronger intention to follow my ideal. Hmm, I think those two things are related.
But Gumby struggled all the way through practice, cutting corners wherever she could get away with it: only 4 breaths in some standing poses, reverting to the occasional lazy jump through, only 3 Navasanas, arms outside of legs for Garbha Pindasana etc etc. When I’m like this, it shows in my body too, less flexible. David had quite a struggle crossing my ankles in Supta K then they just flipped open when he let go. Towards the end as I got sloppier, I even skipped a few poses: Ubhaya Padangusthasana, Urdhva Mukha Paschimottanasana and Matsyasana.
Mysteriously, I brightened up at the prospect of assisted dropbacks so pushed up into a few backbends to prepare, then did about 6 assisted dropbacks, down and up quite quickly, sort of flopping into them easily instead of thinking or trying too much.
The highlight today wasn’t anything in my own practice. It was being next to the Meditative Beginner again. She fascinates me (this shall pass). She exudes utter composure and focus, her movements are slow and precise but not forced, and she spends 2 hours on the practice only going up to Parsvottanasana then she sits in meditation. She is becoming my teacher.
David gave her Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana today and just had her holding her big toe with her raised leg bent, no leg extension. He gave her a couple of points to work with in UHP, but emphasised to focus on how the breath can help her to balance.
I love the way this system is taught, pose by pose, each pose the perfect link to the next one in the chain.. There’s great integrity to this practice – it can take years to learn the full Primary sequence, but it’s a lifetime practice. I’m relearning how to practice by being next to this lovely beginner. Beginners Mind is a familiar term throughout Zen Buddhism. Letting go of all these convoluted ideas of how I ‘should’ practice, and instead being more present, quiet and in tune with each fulfilling moment as it arises. There it is again: Paying attention and letting go.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sunday 19th March 2006
Good, solid, self practice in the quiet of the shala this morning. Could become my new Sunday morning ritual, sure beats sleeping in.
David was there doing his own practice but I was in a seriously self-contained and self-focussed space on my mat today, so I didn’t even look sideways once. Angie was there of course, she’s always there. That was it, the three of us.
If I were to pick a highlight for the sake of rambling on about practice (which I feel like doing, but I won’t), it would be Shoulderstand and Headstand today. When I’ve had a really good practice, these two poses move me into another dimension – as if the practice has led me to the edge of this new dimension and the inversions are the key to entering.
So I’m at the café now, meandering my way through Sunday morning. I have no plans at all for the rest of the day. How bizarre.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Practice Notes
I blatantly ignored the Ashtanga rule not to practice for the first 3 days of the menstrual cycle.
Yes I did take off Day 1 (Wednesday) which is usually my shala day; then on Day 2 (yesterday) I practiced in the Gallery with Renate. Because I was feeling physically and mentally really well, I only slightly modified the Primary sequence, leaving out the vinyasas between seated poses and replacing the finishing inversions with some reclining passive poses (Iyengar style). I rarely do passive lay-over-bolster poses these days, so it was a nice change to end with these, very soft and female. The rest of Thursday’s practice was strong, connected and intense, but not tense, really enjoyable.
The highlight (and I’ve taken to picking out highlights from each practice to focus on lately) was the Marichyasana quartet today, engaging in deep soulful communion with each of them.
And Savasana…I lay there at the end, enveloped in an incredible lightness of being.
“Be still and know that I am God” came out of nowhere so I let the words flow through me like soft waves, until I started to expand outward into light. Dissolution felt so close.
I came out of Savasana altered.
These shifts are small, but they’re permanent.
Because I missed out on Mysore practice on Wednesday, I decided this morning (Day 3) to skip Darrin’s led class (Iyengar) and go to David’s led Primary (Ashtanga) instead.
Not an insignificant decision because the Friday morning Iyengar class has been a ritual of mine for years. Alas, Ashtanga has captivated my heart.
Even after a shockingly bad night’s sleep thanks to Buffydog yapping her obsessive head off at the possums in the roof all night, STILL there was no hesitation when the alarm went off at 5am this morning.
In the very recent past, I would have used lack of sleep as an excuse to miss practice, buying into those ridiculous stories about how I’ll be tired all day, how I really really need the extra 2 hours sleep, how I shouldn’t practice on Day 3 anyway…blah blah.
Not any more. When that alarm went off at 5am I’d been awake for at least an hour, trying every trick in the book to quieten the possessed puppy and remain calm. So I just got up – no stories. My head was clear and bright, my mind undisturbed. I guess morning practice has become important now and nothing, not even 3 hours sleep, can sabotage that any more.
David’s led class was fun; I think he took into account that a few beginners he’s been working closely with were there, because he explained a lot of basic things and modified a few poses. We did 5 Surya As but only 3 Bs. We didn’t do Parivritta Parsvakonasana which was disappointing as I need all the practice I can get in this one. I wonder if it was intentional or if he just forgot, considering we did the entire sequence of poses thoroughly up to Marichy C.
In Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana, we had to keep the raised leg bent so the thigh was vertical and the shin parallel to the floor. We held the outside of the foot instead of the big toe which meant the elbow was bent and on the outside of the raised leg. He asked us to look at the similarity between this arm/leg relationship and that of Parsvakonasana. And he had something there. Standing in UHP like this I did feel quite weak in the hip of my raised (bent) leg which David often points out to me in Parsvakonasana. According to David we need to firm the outer thighs more and lift the kidneys.
In Virabhadrasana A we put our hand onto the outer knee of the bent leg and pressed it inwards equally resisting that by pressing the knee outwards. Isometric work.
Lots more little investigations like this all the way through which is why we only got up to Marichyasana C. I guess the beginners shouldn’t have even gone that far.
Instead of the full Marichy C pose we did it in stages, starting at a wide open Janu Sirsasana position and twisting towards the bent leg while staying upright and centred on the sit bones. Stage 2 was staying in the twist and lifting the bent knee up half way. I have such a bad memory I can’t remember if he asked us to press the knee down into the opposite hand that was supporting it or whether I just did that anyway. Stage 3 we raised the knee even higher and hooked the opposite elbow under the knee. Not difficult at all, just an exploration. So we really started with the full lift and twist of the torso in Marichy C but with the bent knee on the floor and gradually worked the bent knee up in stages.
All the inversions were cut down to half time and we didn’t do Headstand which was a good thing for me. Being Day 3 of my period, in theory I shouldn’t have been practising and certainly shouldn’t have been doing inversions. Physically I’m pretty strong and resilient, not a fragile sort of girl at all, so I'm not concerned.
My body feels quite light and lovely at the moment – like the innocent body of a child. Feels clear and clean through all the prana channels. Children are born pure like this, their bodies and minds clear, clean, open and receptive. Did Jesus say “Be ye as a little child”? Something like that anyway. I'm reclaiming the innocence that Nature gave me, the innocence that I lost when I grew up into an adult.
I passed up the opportunity to have a chocolate croissant for breakfast and actually chose a beautiful golden banana and some gigantic purple grapes instead to prolong the gorgeous feeling of light in my body. Food that is of the same lightstuff material as my cells. Like attracting like, for easy absorption and osmosis.
Then a strange thing happened this morning at work. I wandered into the boss’s office and asked for a 10% salary increase.
Very cool. Very calm. Very clear. Very luminous.
What’s MOST extraordinary is that it was such a spur of the moment thing for me to do, not like me at all. I felt an invisible force, like a big hand just guiding me in there and the words seemed to come out of my mouth before I had a chance to think about them. So I just went along with it for the ride.
I really don’t know what possessed me to do such a thing! There’s a much higher force at work here folks.
My request goes to the next Finance Committee meeting in 4 weeks. They won't say no. So why didn't I do this ages ago?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Monday 20th March 2006
Practice Notes
Damn – woke up feeling like Gumby today, a bit lethargic and unmotivated, not extreme, but enough to clip my wings a little.
STILL, no hint of resistance to getting out of bed and to the shala for practice. Those “let me stay in bed” demons appear to have been exorcised from my temple, evidence of progress along the purification path, or perhaps just a stronger intention to follow my ideal. Hmm, I think those two things are related.
But Gumby struggled all the way through practice, cutting corners wherever she could get away with it: only 4 breaths in some standing poses, reverting to the occasional lazy jump through, only 3 Navasanas, arms outside of legs for Garbha Pindasana etc etc. When I’m like this, it shows in my body too, less flexible. David had quite a struggle crossing my ankles in Supta K then they just flipped open when he let go. Towards the end as I got sloppier, I even skipped a few poses: Ubhaya Padangusthasana, Urdhva Mukha Paschimottanasana and Matsyasana.
Mysteriously, I brightened up at the prospect of assisted dropbacks so pushed up into a few backbends to prepare, then did about 6 assisted dropbacks, down and up quite quickly, sort of flopping into them easily instead of thinking or trying too much.
The highlight today wasn’t anything in my own practice. It was being next to the Meditative Beginner again. She fascinates me (this shall pass). She exudes utter composure and focus, her movements are slow and precise but not forced, and she spends 2 hours on the practice only going up to Parsvottanasana then she sits in meditation. She is becoming my teacher.
David gave her Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana today and just had her holding her big toe with her raised leg bent, no leg extension. He gave her a couple of points to work with in UHP, but emphasised to focus on how the breath can help her to balance.
I love the way this system is taught, pose by pose, each pose the perfect link to the next one in the chain.. There’s great integrity to this practice – it can take years to learn the full Primary sequence, but it’s a lifetime practice. I’m relearning how to practice by being next to this lovely beginner. Beginners Mind is a familiar term throughout Zen Buddhism. Letting go of all these convoluted ideas of how I ‘should’ practice, and instead being more present, quiet and in tune with each fulfilling moment as it arises. There it is again: Paying attention and letting go.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Sunday 19th March 2006
Good, solid, self practice in the quiet of the shala this morning. Could become my new Sunday morning ritual, sure beats sleeping in.
David was there doing his own practice but I was in a seriously self-contained and self-focussed space on my mat today, so I didn’t even look sideways once. Angie was there of course, she’s always there. That was it, the three of us.
If I were to pick a highlight for the sake of rambling on about practice (which I feel like doing, but I won’t), it would be Shoulderstand and Headstand today. When I’ve had a really good practice, these two poses move me into another dimension – as if the practice has led me to the edge of this new dimension and the inversions are the key to entering.
So I’m at the café now, meandering my way through Sunday morning. I have no plans at all for the rest of the day. How bizarre.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
