April 12, 2009 at 6:23 pm (Bumping into YOGA, Running to HEALTH)
Tags: Health, Yoga
That was the name of the Mysore session at the shala today. It meant: no props, no towels, no water, no blankets, no modified postures. It was kind of interesting, to see everyone without the usual towels, blocs, bands and all sort of other stuff that usually accompany us at the side of our mats. The environment/feeling of the place was interesting–I really felt that everyone was really seriously focused on the practice, perhaps aware of the challenge of changing the “usual conditions”… in any case, I was struck by how real, internal, concentrated all yogis around me seemed to be.
In my case, I had to forgo my mat towel (which I use during the seated positions), a half-sized bloc that I use for one seating pose (Triang Mukha Eka Pada Paschimottanasana), and a blanket that I use for shoulder-stand (I have problems with the vertebrae in the the neck, so I try to ease the angle at which I take this pose). Overall, I felt great-my balance was better than it has been in recent days- and I have continued to try and stretch my calves, improving a lot the injury I have in the heel. Not having the towel on the mat made it stickier (and harder to do my clumsy jump-throughs) but overall it was nice to just keep on moving without interruptions. Also, I really didn’t feel too much the lack of the bloc or the blanket (well, maybe I missed the blanket a little), and overall I ended the experience feeling great–it was just a marvelous start for the day, Easter Sunday, finally a beautifully sunny day 
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January 25, 2009 at 4:25 pm (Bumping into YOGA, Running to HEALTH)
Tags: Health, Yoga
Ugh. I thought I was getting better and that I would be able to just stick with daily practice. In fact, after the 2 days off because of the cold, I was planning to have a couple of illegal days of practice ignoring the Ladies’ Holidays (yeah, I know…).
Well, not really. This morning I woke up with my nose completely stuffed (again!) and a pounding pain on my lower belly. Of course, I had to forget the idea of going to practice–and I’m extremely bummed by this. I know in theory it is a legal break (Ladies Holidays plus being sick…!) and yet again I’m totally bummed because I just don’t seem to get back on track and just get 6 days of practice a week ;(
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January 22, 2009 at 2:26 am (Bumping into YOGA, Running to HEALTH)
Tags: Health, Yoga
Back to the shala for two more days. It’s going nicely–yes, the soreness is there, but I can feel I’m starting to loosen up and I’ve had a really nice surprise realizing that my balance is holding up fairly decently, especially for the one-leg standing poses. So–no complaints there, really.
The only annoying part is that I’m getting sick with a cold. I could already feel it this morning (while praying to be strong enough to fight it)–my nose congested, my body aching. My first day back at work went on… and all I know is that I got to feel worse and worse. I know where it came from: last Saturday I spent some time at some friends’ house, and their cutie 2-year old had an awful cold. Well, there you have it.
I’m thinking to skip Yoga tomorrow to avoid passing on the viruses to my fellow Ashtangis, and perhaps I will also work from home… sigh.
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November 22, 2008 at 3:51 pm (Bumping into YOGA, Running to HEALTH, The steps of LIFE)
Tags: Health, Work, Yoga
Phew… it’s been (another) rough week for me. First of all, I started it feeling quite sick (nausea, headache, and a general sense of weakness and low spirits). On top of that, a lot of stress at work–not only a lot on my plate but also changes were launched in the organizational structure of the institution I work for, with my division being split, and lots of emotions involved.
Things improved a bit toward mid-week. I had two really nice Mysore practices on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. However, as I wrote in my past posts, I seem to have strained myself a bit. I soon discovered that not only I had the natural soreness from pushing the muscles to elongate, but also I started having waves of pain running from my right shoulder (and shoulder blade) through the arm and to the hand. Since it didn’t feel “muscular” it kind of scared me. I saw my chiropractor on Wednesday night and she thought that perhaps there were being some nerves pinched under my clavicle (that was a little turned) but the adjustment didn’t seem do do much. I actually suspect that the problem is that I was already carrying a lot of tension (knots and what not) on my shoulder and pushing myself during practice may have caused some stress on the arm. The pain was so bad that when I had my work’s performance evaluation on Thursday afternoon I spent most of the meeting grabbing my arm to ease the pain (luckily it was a very relaxed/informal meeting).
Anyhoo… I ended up having to take a break from practice from Thursday to today (Saturday), since the pain only started receding yesterday afternoon. Luckily it feels much better now and this afternoon I’ll go see a therapist that my chiro recommended to take another look.
Not doing Yoga, however, came at a bad moment. I really need it to make myself feel better, specially since more work stress toward the end of the week. I have 3 research projects to complete before I leave in a 2 and 1/2 week work trip on Wednesday, and I continue to get this stream of requests that interrupt me constantly. End of the story-will have to work on the weekend again ;( … and in the meantime I have this feeling of being the one person of the team who’s being overworked. It’s a vicious circle-the more I deliver and create a reputation for being hard working and good at producing, the more comes my way. Sigh. In the meantime, I have teammates on vacation! (literally). I admit that is *not* helping to lift my spirits.
Ugh. I hope this bad period will end soon. With my arm in much better condition, I’ll be able to practice in the next 4 days, before I leave. And I’m excited. Because of the Thanksgiving weekend I’ll have a chance to stop in Cusco and Macchu Picchu before a couple of work-crazy weeks in Lima. I’m dreaming of the place–I have heard not only of its beauty, but also of its energy. I think there could not be a better way to recover my energy before starting another rushed cycle. And by the way, my plan is to write every day to report on Ashtanga practice once in Lima (I will try while in Cusco and Macchu Picchu, but it will depend on how the altitude hits me)…
Oh, and I forgot. Thanks to Ms. Portside, I managed to do some little internet shopping to enlighten the end of my week (I think I deserve it) 
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October 4, 2008 at 2:27 am (Bumping into YOGA, Running to HEALTH)
Tags: Health, Yoga
I’ve been off from Mysore practice for about two days. I really don’t know what it is–terrible headaches, some nausea. Yesterday, after watching the infamous Biden-Palin debate (oh my, that wink…), I went to bed with a splitting pain behind and between my eyes–and it was still there when my alarm clock rang this morning at 5:15am. Needless to say, I just couldn’t move. Later in the day, a friend commented that my symptoms really could be related to a strong allergy–so I ran to the pharmacy to get something-whatever-that could help. I got some relief, but I’m still not sure the result was great. I’ll just try to sleep and drink lots of fluids. Hopefully that’ll help.
Unfortunately, I’ve still had to work. I mean, after all, I have to worry about the global financial crisis and oh, my, is that keeping us busy or what. Too many extra hours at the office, and frankly I’m really tired and anxious, with so many projects that have to be done in my “to do” list and that cannot be done because I’m writing little memos every other hour with a super tight deadline to answer this or that query related to the crisis. Phew. As my sister used to say: “Urgent stuff does not give room to the necessary stuff”. I guess the room will need to be found over the weekend. I’m *not* happy.
But I am looking forward to practice over the weekend. I’m hoping that tomorrow I’ll be rested and ready to jump on my mat at the shala 
That’ll be a treat!
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