Curve ball

All psyched for Mysore this morning and Ladies Holiday intervenes. Okay, fine. Yin yoga, it is. I got out my little yin book and put on a flannel shirt over my yoga clothes, got the iPod, and was off and running.

Damn, it was cold in the house this morning. And to put it in perspective for everyone who lives outside of the desert, today's freezing house temperature is 68 degrees. I'm going to have to start turning on the heat when I practice at home. The little space heater, which I had blasting directly on me, isn't cutting it.

So yes, another attempt at yin yoga. Which always amuses me with its sweet and passive appearance, which masks intense physical danger ;-) Actually, of course, the practice isn't dangerous. I'm dangerous. My past forays into yin yoga have resulted in knee tweaks and back crinks. Why? Because in yin you are not supposed to push, and I don't understand what that means. My internal yin monolog goes: Okay, so don't push. Don't push. Relax and enjoy. Ooh, this feels nice. The whole point is to relax and not push. Hmmmm...I wonder if I can get a little further into this?

Today, though, I really didn't push. I just enjoyed the poses. Well, I enjoyed them while I was in them, and then I really hurt as I tried to get out of them. Therein lies the challenge of yin. If you lie there relaxed for five minutes, it hurts like a motherf***** when you come out of it. Who knew I'd need a motherf***** count for yin yoga? Today's count: around 3.

The fun part is listening to music. I have no compunction about playing music during yin practice. With Ashtanga, I sometimes listen to chanting. I always think before I turn it on, though, to see if I really want it. I'd rather not turn it into a habit. Usually I go with the low chanting about 30% of the time. With yin, though, woohoo, bring on the pop and the hip hop!

I spent some time downloading music over the weekend. And this morning I lay around on the floor in yin poses, reexperiencing the weird wonderfulness of Macy Gray's voice. Not at all what I had planned for myself, but pretty nice after all.