Ah-choo!

Allergies are out of control over here. The weather is lovely, so we've been sleeping with the windows open and it's killin' me. I can't resist, though--the breeze feels so nice and the birds chirp intermittently all night long. So peaceful. But the pleasure of the open window means I'm waking up and heading over to practice with a stuffy nose and woozy head. I thought about neti-ing before practice today, but I wasn't sufficiently motivated. Drinking coffee and washing my face (and maybe a little web surfing) is the limit of activity at 4:30 AM.

Practice was quiet today: The British Director, Returning Guy, and a new person who is just learning Ashtanga. Another Bikramite. Volleyball Guy always is enticing Bikramites to check out Ashtanga. She did well.

Right from the get-go my hamstring was shaky. First uttanasana: ow! ow! ow! Ah, I remember the days when uttanasana was just a nice stretch. Now it's a tester pose. I bend forward and my right leg straightens and my left knee bends. It's kinda jazzy, but not really what I'm after.

And the fact that I didn't practice on Wednesday, followed by a Moon Day on Thursday, didn't help. Why no Wednesday practice? The Cop found a muscle car that he wanted, and traded his rock-crawler Jeep for it. The catch? It was in Farmington, New Mexico. Which meant we left our house at 4:30 Wednesday morning with the Jeep being towed behind, and returned at 10:30 PM with a 1969 GTO. I hate car rides. The Cop kept calling it our "adventure." Actually, it was really interesting to drive through the northern reservation lands. Beautiful and stark and undeveloped. Astounding landscapes. A nightmare, though, to sit still for 7 hours out and 7 hours back. Oh, I worked the baddha konasana as much as I could, which was a good use of my time, but still... That's too long for humans to drive.

And then Thursday was a Moon Day. So this morning I was stuffy and stiff. One of those practices where pain is a constant companion. It was very cool, though, when Volleyball Guy adjusted me in prasarita C. He counted the usual five breaths, and then said "Two more." Uh, okay, I was thinking. This is a little unusual. He counts really slowly in adjustments, and I'd been giving it my all, so I wasn't sure why the extra breaths, and I thought a moment about how dorky I was going to be trying to come back up to standing. I just totally surrender in these adjustments. No idea where up or down is, etc. So a wobbly dismount is not unheard of. Anyhow, then I hear him saying, "Extend your little fingers toward the floor." Of course, at this point, I have no idea in which direction the floor lies. So I just push a bit more into my shoulders and unhook my little fingers from the clasp of my hands, and sure enough, my fingers touch the floor. I had no idea I was that close. What a nice surprise!

These days, I have this idea that my hamstring pain is actually more about the iliotibial band. Usually iliotibial problems manifest in the knee, but apparently it can cause some issues at the hip. The reason I'm thinking the iliotibial band might be the source of my pain is because stretching it feels both fabulous and excruciating in equal measure. This is my version of hard science. You can read all about it in my newest article, coming out in next month's issue of "Naive Science Journal." God's honest truth is that I have no idea what's going on with all this stuff, and I'm not even sure why I make up little stories in my head about what it can be.

Here is a picture My Gift took at the wedding. It's of Sokai's socks. My Gift was thrilled to find he had Disney socks on with his ornate robes. Apparently there is a Mickey Mouse on the ankle, but she couldn't get a clear shot of it when he was bowing.