Wednesday Morning

Well, I am here, crunching on apples and drinking oolong tea and updating my blog. Yesterday was a great day for me. I did an awesome asana practice- it was one of those days where everything just felt easy and I felt strong and open and ready to work hard. Maybe it is all theslpee I have been getting or maybe my spring cleanse has lightened me up or maybe just the planets were aligned in a certain way. At any rate asana was a real pleasure. And since I practiced at the club I had time to take a swim as well, which is always a delightful thing. The water is so good for me.

After that, I went to Westgate to teach. I was happily greeted by a nice big class at 4:30, full of new and familiar folks, which always makes me happy. We worked with a variety of details relating to the spirals of the arms and legs in Vira One and Vira Two. As well as a lesson of how to safely come to standing from uttanasana with a flat back and not rolling up one vertebrae at a time, which in our vision of things can weaken one's back over time. My theme at 4:30 was about self-honor and about how yoga is a time we take for ourselves to honor ourselves and to put ourselves first. It is a heroic act to do this in our culture where so many things pull at us and our only model for putting ourselves first I usually some kind of narcissistic indulgence as opposed to the deep self- regard of which I was speaking. So warrior energy is needed for the practice of self-honor. Like that warrior poses, honoring the self, strong work mindful of the details. Like that.

At 6:00 we worked with being a family, a kula, and feeling supported by one another we can cultivate a soft receptivity to one another, our breath and to grace. So support and softness. We worked a strong twisting and back bending flow which culminated in a great foray into mandalasana and headstand drop overs. Strong support in the arms, soft surrender in the heart. Like that. Headstand drop overs were Anne's idea, mandalasana was mine. It is the year of the four pillars of back bending- urdhva danurasana, dwi pada viparita dandasana, mandalasana and kapotasana. Get ready.

Today I have an acupuncture appointment, some time in my office, a lunch with Mom and Dad and mani/pedi girl time with Anne and Mom. Then I meet a friend and if all goes as planned I may drop in on Matt's Ashtanga class tonight. I am totally sore from my practice yesterday and usually Ashtanga is just the thing to take the kinks out.

All right, folks, have a great day.

OH- I have reserved the Love Shack on Saturday March 28 from 2-5 for a group practice. If you are interested in coming for practice, let me know, so I know whether I should keep the space reserved or not. I will plan a sequence, we will move in the direction of The Four Pillars and see where we get.