Nairam’s Roads

Really nice practice today. I still had to fight myself a little to get out of bed because yesterday night I was too hyped and couldn’t go to bed until 12:30 am! So waking at 5:15am was a bit of a stretch. But then, I thought that waking up and practicing would surely make me sleep early tonight… and I went.

It was great, even despite some sore muscles where my left arm connects to my torso, just below the shoulder blade (and maybe that’s the result of some of the weight training from Friday). Anyway, I found myself much more flexible; finally I could put my face on my knees during the seated forward bend (with assistance, of course) and my hands are back on the floor during Prasaritta C

The other plus is that yesterday I felt really great (flexible and balanced, and energetic) while dancing-this was the first time I dance since the “new regime” started

Ohhhh, so happy

Saturday morning–I had arrangements made to go comfortably to the shala at 8 am, but I was just too tired to wake as early as needed. I had gone to the gym yesterday evening, and I suppose I was tired. I got up well after 8, and soon I realized that, with the Mysore session finishing at 9:55 am, the trip just wasn’t worth it–my practice there would be reduced to just the starting asanas, because of lack of time. I toyed with ideas–one, going to the led class that starts at 10am; the other, try and practice at home for once. Why not? It hasn’t happened in a long while–I normally only try to practice by myself when I’m traveling (sometimes successfully, sometimes not so). But this gave me the occasion to see something new.

It was actually really great. I did something not-so-Ashtangi: played Kirtan music on the background, something that definitely does not happen at AYC. I thought it might bother me, but it really didn’t. It added some depth to the space, in fact, that made the whole environment really different. The practice went relatively fast, so I decided to go on and try my luck with a few of the Marichis guided by Svenson’s Ashtanga Manual–a bit illegally, since I haven’t been given these officially, but I wanted to understand what they were about. It turned out that I could get the grip just right behind my back, which made me really happy. The poses helped, since I tend to have quite a bit of tension in the chest muscles as I tend to lean forward too much in front of the computer.

Anyway, this was an interesting discovery, which I definitely plan to exploit. Perhaps it would be nice to add some light practice in the evenings some times, when I don’t go to the gym, for instance  

Otherwise, the food point-counting and the exercise seem to have work this week–I officially weight 2-3 pounds less than last Saturday. Nothing extreme, but considering that I didn’t exercise like a maniac and that I went out with friends for dinner 2-3 times in that period (which is challenging for me), is really not bad at all.

Back to practice today. I had to take a day off yesterday because sometime between my jog on Monday night and practice Tuesday morning I hurt the tendons on my left calf a little. So I let them rest, and today I felt great.

I’m amazed at how much more I seem to be able to stretch now, just after a few days of practice The Sun Salutations don’t feel as an ordeal at all anymore (they definitely did the first day), so I am definitely getting back into the swing of things)