Moon Day

Thank goodness for the moon day. I need some rest. Yesterday, the university close to our home (about 25 miles south) had an open house. I attended with My Gift from the Universe. She's already been accepted at the college we visited back in October, and to this one, as well--so now she's making a decision about where she wants to go. It is good to watch this process. I am stepping back and just helping her weigh the options (versus pushing for one or the other). She has a boyfriend she loves, and if she goes to the school that is further away, she will be giving up seeing him--except for occasional weekends. Plus, all of her friends live in this area. So will she decide to step out into the unknown and go to the school that is far away? It's starting to look like she will. I'm very proud of her.

With the visit to the college yesterday, practice was a bit less mindful than usual. I got over to Volleyball Guy's on the stroke of 5:30 AM, and was out of there by 6:40. I must say, the swift practices have a charm of their own. No belaboring individual poses. No extra breaths. I tend to move along pretty rapidly, as a matter of course. Sanskrit Scholar has encouraged me to take extra breaths, but Volleyball Guy overheard and was quite adamant that everyone's practice is their own, and that when one is thinking am I going too fast?, or am I going too slow?, one has lost a connection to the practice, to mindfulness.

I practiced next to Returning Guy again, and we have very similar paces. He was probably two Surya As "in front" of me as I started, and he started his backbends just before I did. So we finished up at the same time. No fuss, no muss. I just pop into poses, breathe and experience, then move on. Once in a while I'll take an extra breath or two to set up for a tougher pose, but usually I limit that to a couple of poses per practice. Not sure why I have that little internal rule, but there it is. For example, at this point, I usually hold for extra breaths on Marichy D--so I can practice the balance of the pose, and so I can practice calm breathing. That's it, though, in terms of extra time in poses during practice. I felt kind of self-conscious about it, at first. Sanskrit Scholar really spends lots of time on each pose, so if it's just us in the shala, the time discrepancy between our practices is dramatic. When there are alot of folks, though, it's less apparent. And, as I mentioned, Returning Guy is also a zippy practitioner--so now he's my cover ;-)

Everyone, cross your fingers. Or put your feet behind your heads, if you'd prefer ;-) This morning, The Cop and I are making an offer on a house we'd love to buy. I signed all the offer papers yesterday, during a whirlwind meeting with our realtor following open house at the university. Whew! Busy day. Luckily, I started off with some zazen before going to Volleyball Guy's. Yup, sitting meditation--at the behest of Philosophy Monk, who suggested I resume sitting meditation as well as practice Ashtanga. Okay, fair enough. I can give that a whirl.