You never know

Really, you just never know what kind of practice you're going to have. Last night I slept terribly--kept waking with pain in my lower back, kept thrashing around trying to get comfortable. It all added up to 6 hours of crappy rest. So I figured practice, which has been kind of painful lately, was going to be quite a challenge.

As it turned out, though, practice was incredibly light and strong. We have a terrific shala; the energy is always really good, but on Fridays it is particularly happy. I ran into the British Director in the parking lot, which was nice, because I haven't seen her for a while. As I went through the door, I almost knocked The Cat over with my huge Manduka mat bag. True to feline form, she just looked up, smiled, and scampered away.

Returning Guy was already doing his Suryas--somehow he's always the first one to practice. The Cat's dad, Chanting Man, was present, as was the new guy, who I have to think up a name for, because he's been quite devoted to practice these past couple of months. Sanskrit Scholar, The Other Dave and Crim Girl all came in a little while later. Sanskrit Scholar's just back from Costa Rica, where she hoped to try surfing. I can't wait 'til before tomorrow's led class to ask her if she had a chance to give it a try.

Volleyball Guy came over for Prasarita C--which appears to be one of his favorite adjustments lately. The Prasaritas have been killing my hip, but not too bad this morning. When he came over for C, I didn't want to run away quite as much as I usually do. It was a great adjustment, too--my hands touched the floor on the third breath. Haha! A new record ;-) On the way up from the adjustment, I suddenly heard the loudest buzzing noise. Which was, I realized, all in my head. Trippy.

Crim Girl helped me out with adjustments in the Baddha Konasanas, which was great, because popping my sacrum seems to make it feel better for a day or so.

Best of all, we had hippie music, which always makes me love everyone and feel like I am 13 years old again. I was just ecstatic through all the seated poses. It's goofy as hell, but boy, it feels great. For some reason it brings back memories of hanging out and smoking pot in the woods. (Cop, disregard previous sentence.)

Speaking of The Cop, I wanted to take a moment to think about how cool he is. He bears with this craziness that leaves him with a wife who sometimes suffers long periods of self-inflicted pain. Many people (my entire extended family, for example) would tell me to knock it off, that practice must be bad if sometimes the result is pain. The Cop, however, is endlessly supportive. Which rocks, because it means things like putting up with me shifting around constantly during our viewing of "Pirates of the Caribbean" over the weekend. I just can't sit still for two hours. The movie? Eh. It was okay. Johnny Depp with eyeliner? Priceless.