Tuckered out

In a boat down a fast-running creek,
it feels like trees on the bank
are rushing by. What seems

to be changing around us
is rather the speed of our craft
leaving this world.

-Rumi

Utthita hasta padangusthasana has gone to hell. I had three recurring dreams about being able to do it with no effort whatsoever. Very sweet dreams. And since the dreams, the asana has been slipping further and further away from me. I can't seem to get through it. I even tried moving off the Manduka, hoping that perhaps it was just the cushy surface of my mat that was thwarting my attempts. Nope. It's me. Volleyball Guy has complimented people on dancing around during UHP--he said usually it goes to hell before a breakthrough. I guess we're going to find out if he was just saying that to be nice...

Eka pada bakasana. What can I say? Yesterday, SMN commented on my post, saying that Sharath does EPB without touching his knee to his arm at all. This morning (and no, I didn't have any ambitions regarding trying the Sharath method!) I got to EPB, tried to place my knee, and found myself thinking, "I need bigger armpits. And deeper." But then I remembered SMN's comment. Instead of fretting about my knee, I just kind of used it as a touch point (versus a support) for the pose. It wasn't beautiful, the outcome, but it was more graceful than usual. Thanks, SMN.

By the time I got to navasana, I was pretty tired. I never really think about it that much, but I guess I do get kind of progressively more tired over the course of a week of practices. It also occurred to me that the whole navasana / handstand / bhujapidasana / kurmasana / supta kurmasana part of the sequence is quite strenuous. I know, it only took me 7 months to notice. Duh.

Supta k was less frightening than yesterday. I "fought back." I used counterpressure. I pushed back as hard with my shoulders as my legs were pushing. I think my poor squashed collarbones were the result of me not pressing back hard enough. I can't remember where I got that idea, but it was written somewhere and caught my attention...maybe ezboard. So thanks to whoever wrote that little tidbit.

Garbha pindasana has me over a barrel. I'll be happy to go to Volleyball Guy's tomorrow so I can ask a couple of questions. Today I ended up with my arms through, but I pretty much felt like a total loser. Uh, apparently my rolling coordination, never particularly good to start with, goes out the window when I add in the awkward jutting arms factor. So I wonder if I am supposed to muck about with arms a bit and then pull them out and do the rolling. Or try the rolling with the stuck arms? LOL! I see no graceful outcome for this pose, I'm afraid.

Beyond all of this, the new house is great, work sucks, I am blogging on my lunch break. Now you know everything ;-)