Wandering Mind

And it takes a looonggg time.

Friday at 4, one of the last ones. It’s the one time when it seems like a few of us can usually get together and practice outside of class. I’ve come to really look forward to these. Next week will be my last one (sniff). More often than not my main intention going into my Friday practice is being grateful for wonderful friends that give me the gift of their practice. I usually try to open myself up as much as possible and give away as much energy as possible. I never walk away with less than I came in with…

I do sometimes have sub-intentions and today was Breathing. Inhale, 2, 3, 4. Exhale 2, 3, 4. That was my goal for my practice today. I didn’t go into any postures and worry about how deep I got or how my alignment was. Just - Inhale, 2, 3, 4. Exhale 2, 3, 4. Five full breaths in each pose. That’s a lot harder than I expected it to be. I knew my breathing was quick but this about killed me. I have to admit it was great for my practice. While focusing on my breathing and counting I felt my body align itself. All the things I normally consciously do slid into place one by one as I just held the pose and continued to breath. And the extra amount of time in each pose allowed me to deepen without pushing. I was amazed at the amount of concentration it took to keep my breath. If I stopped paying attention I would catch myself going inhale(1), 2, exhale(3), 4. or I would sneak in half inhales in the middle of an exhale. I could really see this having a profound effect on my practice and I would like to continue this focus in my practices outside of class. I think that the focus on the breathing also really helped me to go inside myself. Other than the occasional thoughts that I was suffocating I found my mind extremely clear.

The drawback to the slow count breathing was that after 90 minutes I had just hit navasana. I didn’t want to be there all night and I felt like I got a lot out of my practice so after navasana I did my sandbagged utanasana drill and then the finishing poses. I did 3 urdhva dhanurasanas from the floor and then did four more dropping back and standing up with the wall assist. I really like back bends and I feel like my upper back is really starting to open. Sirsasana with the alternate hands again really worked the shoulders so I think I’ll stick with it a while, too. So breathing, backbends, and shoulders in sirsasana…I think I’ll try to keep those in the forebrain and let everything else just come into place on it’s own for a while. However, on those days when I want to get completely through the series I may have to cut the breathing to a 3 count.

Lots of cleaning again on the house today. The windows are actually see-through! We did some yard work, too so hopefully it won’t take long to get it ready tomorrow morning for the open house in the afternoon. Think good house selling thoughts for me tomorrow afternoon so I can sell this thing quick and painlessly! I promise to send good vibes to anyone that helps.