Community

Saturday led class is all about community. I see the same folks week after week, and there is a lovely sense of community. Some folks I know well from Mysore practice, some just come to Saturday led. They are faces I see each week, people I am pleased to spend practice time with. I know they struggle with the same things I do, and that we all share the same practice.

Then there is the selfish side of Saturday led. The heat. It gets mighty hot and steamy, and I can see how my practice is progressing. So hot that my hamstring doesn't nag (full hanumanasana on the hurt left side today, and no pain at all!), so hot that I can get my arms through on garbha pindasana without using a spray bottle (not enough to fully crook my arms yet, but enough to get up into kukkutasana for a few moments). So hot that I believe baddha konasana with my chin on the floor is possible in this lifetime.

Speaking of baddha konasana: I had my first serious baddha konasana adjustment yesterday at Volleyball Guy's. I saw him coming over and was terrified. Breathe, breathe, I kept telling myself. The adjustment turned out to be way cool--a pop in my sacrum which felt really good, and not nearly the amount of pain I would have expected. That last phrase probably makes Ashtanga sound like masochism to non-yogic readers...

My Gift is working at The Juicy Yoga Studio 'til 1PM today ("My manager sent me my schedule, and he ends his emails 'Hugs'!" she told me this morning) and The Cop is sleeping after working all night. I imagined St Patrick's Day would be all about drunk driving arrests, but he said it was quite slow. They get more DUIs on a regular night. I guess everyone is on board with the not drinking and driving for holidays, but less motivated on non-holiday nights.

So I've practiced and eaten a soyburger. What next? Reading and a bath, I believe. Maybe combined--and with a cup of mint tea thrown in for good measure. Yup, this is paradise.