Is it a crime if you just forget?

The Moon Day, that is. I have so much stuff written on my calendar that I didn't see the note about it being a Moon Day. Bad lady. I have asked The Cop if I would get in trouble if I were simply to forget a law and the officer who pulled me over understood it wasn't on purpose but just a case of me spacing out. The Cop has made it clear that I would be outside of the law and, therefore, fully responsible. I don't think I buy this, but he is pretty definite. LOL!

Practice was good. The posse was there: Sanskrit Scholar, the British Director, me, and of course Crim Girl. She has to be there on the Moon Day to keep her moniker.

The posse has been chatting alot via email this week. Well, except for the British Director, who, apparently, has a job that does not allow for extensive thought and discussion about Ashtanga in the middle of the day. Throw off your chains, British Director! :-)

This morning, Volleyball Guy adjusted me in janu A, and it totally turned into a scary pose. He cranked my folded right leg waaaaaay back, and then turned my torso waaaaay to the left. I felt like my cat, except without the extra vertebrae. It was delightful, in part because janu A is a straightforward pose that doesn't usually contain lots of adventure, and suddenly it felt like something that could go horribly wrong. These physical fears, brought up by practice, are so interesting to me. I have so many beliefs about how my physical self is, about how it moves and what it can do. Of course those beliefs are incredibly limiting, in many ways. So practice ends up being like climbing: you attempt something that is scary as hell, and you come out of it with an adjusted belief system. I love it! Especially the fact that this is nothing that can be accomplished by thinking, by intellectualizing: it all happens through experience and the body. Second side of the janu A adjustment wasn't quite as deep, but was even more scary, because there is something in my hip that is resisting. Nothing major, just another structural reality that will change with time and practice.

Upavistha konasana was another adventure: I got my whole chest fully on the floor for the first time. It's amazing how the belief that says: Go ahead, results in such a dramatically different experience from Oh God, I can't do this!

On my way home I had to have a heart-to-heart with myself about my use of Sharath's CD during home practice. It is a great motivator, but I can also use it to be lazy. Practice at the shala is always good, but less deep than a really engaged home practice. Not for any reason except it is easier to focus when there is no one else around. I have to get back to that next week. It's always so satisfying after the fact (practicing alone), but can be a little hard to approach initially. Same with zazen (easier at the zendo than at home) and same with climbing (easier to follow than to lead). That's fine, though. Just something else to work toward. Practice.