Just another morning Mysore

Nice warm, crowded practice this morning. A bunch of folks from Volleyball Guy's went to Bikram yesterday, as a holiday treat. I can't seem to get psyched up for that. Not sure why. Well, I could say it was because I was busy cooking, which is true--but the fact of the matter is, I didn't want to go anyhow. Apparently I have a prejudice against Bikram. I'm a bit perplexed by my close-mindedness.

I had a fun holiday practice yesterday, though. A practice of things I just enjoy doing--primarily inversions. But first off, some favorite poses I don't get to play with these days, like vasisthasana and astavakrasana. I practiced the navasana to handstand transition, then did a bunch of "timbering," which I find highly entertaining, but which the dog seems to find quite alarming. Then the seven headstands from second series a few times. Pincha mayurasana. All the favorites. It is very strange to do a practice of all poses one likes. It's rather like eating too much sugar--delightful but a little cloying.

So it was nice to get back to regular practice this morning. Chanting Man brought his daughter, who looks to be about 8 or 9 years old. It's apparent that she practices a good bit. She stayed focused through her whole practice, kept up with her Dad, and Volleyball Guy spotted her on handstands, which was quite charming.

I, on the other hand, forgot dandasana, paschimottanasana, and purvottanasana. I was disappointed when I realized I'd done it, because I particularly love purvottanasana. I think I was distracted by feeling kind of weird in my tummy--no doubt from eating rich food yesterday--and also because I was dreading ardha baddha padma paschimottanasana. I totally blew off the forward bend in ardha baddha padmottansana, so I knew I was gonna be hurting in ABPP. My knee isn't painful like it was when I first hurt it, but it feels achey and congested. So I'm not feeling good about the idea of cranking on it. *Sigh.*

Happily, though, bhujapidasana, which I swore I would never be able to pull off without dragging my feet on my mat, is now do-able. I even manage to slow myself before my head hits the ground. It's not pretty, but I'm not concussed, either. I have to use butt momentum to get my head back up off the floor, but these are just details that will work themselves out in time ;-)

And now kurmasana is added to the mix. It's going to take some practice before I get my legs straight, but hey, it seems possible, so that's something right there.