Wandering Mind

Good Practice Today. I had some balance issues early in my practice but it really smoothed out when I hit the floor. I was really able to build heat which sometimes I have a hard time doing when practicing by myself. I think my breathing was stronger today so I’m sure that helped. Swinging through to jump back and my jump throughs to seated were much stronger today, too. The heat always helps my shoulders but I had a better focus (drishti) and I engaged Uddiyana Bandha the way I know I’m supposed to. Setu Bhandasana gets easier every time I do it. It actually feels good to have straight legs now and I feel absolutely no strain on my neck rolling back. I was a lot better in the butt balancing poses, I think I engaged Uddiyana Bandha better in those, too…hmmm, I think I see a pattern developing. Janu Sirsasana B is actually getting harder for me now because it doesn’t hurt anymore. I used to know I had my heel in the right spot because it hurt, now it doesn’t so I have to spend more time finding the right spot. The knees felt better today, too. But I was smart enough not to push too far with them or they’d be back to their painful ways. Urdhva Dhanurasana really tweaked me today. After talking with Maria the other day I realized I wasn’t engaging my legs nearly as much as I needed. I focused on engaging the hamstrings and the quads and I could feel a great lift in my back. However my back doesn’t feel like it wants to straighten back out. I’ve done about 15 forward bends and completely flexed it the other way but it’s still a little tight. It makes a lot of sense why it is common to not start the second series before you can stand up from Urdhva Dhanurasana because the amount you need to engage the legs to come up is paramount in doing the backbends when you are on your knees… There really is logic to this!

The primary class went well, only five people and not a ton of energy but they used and shared what they had. I think everyone did well, and we need the less than perfect classes to really appreciate the great ones. I always wonder if there is something I could do to boost the energy but I have yet to come up with a good answer. It seems to be an every other week cycle. And it’s not like their practices were weak, on the contrary, they were quite strong, it was just the energy in the room was…slower.

And on another note: the Jehovah’s Witness came by the house this morning. We had a lovely conversation but they’re a little more convinced the end of the world is coming than I am. They also seem to think we need to sweet talk God to come down and save us but I think it’s a little more up to us as our own pieces of God to make it right. I didn’t get into the idea that it’s really all just an illusion and all life is eternal and God doesn’t care if we destroy the world or not. I wanted a nice conversation with them, not a long one. And I don’t think I’ll go any further as this isn’t my blog about my religious beliefs.

(At least not today)