Sirsasana

For the first time in what feels like forever, I am at home and having an ‘evening off’. The last month has been so hectic with moving house and decorating and making furniture that I don’t seem to have had any time to stop and write anything. So, what has been going on?

Living so close to the shala and to work is fantastic. Cycling to the shala seems to limber up my hips before practice too, which is good. Although getting to the shala is infinitely quicker and easier by bike than on the train, inclement weather conditions are proving to be a deterrent to practice. Where before I would put up my umbrella walk to the station and be done with it, it is somehow infinitely harder to get up and cycle in the rain. Fortunately there have only been a couple of wet mornings so far, and I only bailed on practice for one of those. Those cold dark mornings aren’t nice though

I was sitting on the floor about 15 minutes ago and suddenly it occurred to me that I missed out headstands today. I have no idea what triggered my brain to acknowledge that fact about 12 hours after it’s occurrence, but there you go. I must unconsciously be assimilating my practice during the day.

Next week I’m off to New York – Hooooorrrraaayyyy. I can’t wait. It’s only 4 nights, but it will be fun and hopefully I can do some shopping. I have been so frugal these last few months to afford the new flat that I am really looking forward to hitting the shops. Hopefully not too curtailed by having BF in tow If any of the NY yogis are reading and want to catch up for a drink or coffee and a cupcake, let me know, I’d love to see you.

 

Lusting after the new stock at Reiss

particularly these boots : http://www.reiss.co.uk/shop/womens/shoes/quince/black/

This is what happens when I should be packing boxes…. shoe lust!

And this for Irish Anna’s birthday http://www.reiss.co.uk/lookbook/?look=53&g=F

 

Mind and Body

Well, I’m mentally in the right place with my practice, but physically, not so much.

It’s nice being back at the shala and until today I hadn’t really had to wait much. Today was only 15 minutes so not so bad.

I’m very enthusiastic about getting back into the routine at AYL, but physically things aren’t so good. My hamstring is still bugging me, it’s almost been a year now. Unfortunately my right shoulder is really painful at the moment too. One injury I can cope with, two I am finding I can’t. The shoulder has been sore since some time at TY. When I first noticed it, it was stiff at the beginning of practice, but after a few Sun Sals it would loosen up. Now it hurts whenever I extend my arm to shoulder height or above but also hurts at the end of the day at my desk using my mouse. I had ascribed it to drop backs, but I’m not sure about that now… I just want it to be better. I am having it looked at tomorrow, but suspect that I will be told that I should stop yog-ing.

Other than that, life is hectic. I move into my new flat on Monday so am currently surrounded by chaos at home as I try and pack stuff into boxes and throw junk away. I’m very positive about the move which will locate me within walking distance of everything important in my life.

And that is that!! Maybe I’ll be back here in a few weeks time

 

Week 1

Well, week one back at AYL has been OK, but I’m glad to have the moonday tomorrow, I think I need the day off.

I feel much more motivated at AYL, the room has an energy which TY doesn’t have. I don’t know if it’s because AYL is so much smaller, but there is definitely a difference.

Although I have maintained a fairly steady practice at TY, I feel that I have lost some strength, particularly in my arms (and core?), the lifts between Navasana feel harder and so does ultpluthi. I forced myself to hold for 20 (short!) breaths today, hopefully it will come back quickly enough. My flexibility seems unaffected, which is nice.

Practicing in the high heat and humidity is taking some getting used to. The increased flexibility seems to have given me quite sore hamstrings, but I’m sure that will wear off. Today I don’t think any of the windows were open, so I felt a bit stifled…

Annoyingly, after a strong adjust in Baddha Konasana yesterday, the piriformis pain is back with a vengence. I had actually got to a point where I could get get my head to the floor OK without adjustment, but I’m back to square one again now. Hopefully a couple of days rest will ease it up; I think I will request no more adjustments.

Otherwise all is good.

 

The shala

I went to practice at AYL today. I had forgotten how warm it gets, but that was beneficial as it is accompanied by an increased level of flexibility. Only problem was that I didn’t have my yogitoes with me and my mat was a bit of a skid pan.

I am going to try and practice full time at AYL again, it’s a new month and all that. That said, I have no idea what the bank holiday opening hours are, if at all; there was nothing on the notice board today.

 

Slow starts

Every new beginning has to start somewhere, right?

I did get on my mat this morning, after 15 minutes of generating excuses in bed. I still have a cold so I excused myself from a shala practice on the basis that nobody would want to hear my snotty ujjai. It was probably for the best as it was a pretty weak practice, if I’m honest. I did SNA and B, then all of standing except UHP which is stupid anyway and I can’t balance in the dark without my glasses on. Then fw bends, the Janu’s (how bad are things if Janu A feels tight?) twists the then savasana as I was pooped (blame the cold).

Not only was the stiffness a problem, but also the injuries which just keep on hanging around. My left hamstring really doesn’t reel like it’s ever going to get better (as long as I have to get up and stand on my feet everyday) and the shoulder for some reason hasn’t improved at all either. I did a quick muscle map search and think it is the Teres Major. Oh well. What can you do?

Tomorrow I hope to get to the shala, so fingers crossed I can breathe through my nose in the morning!

 

Why holidays are bad?

Ok, so they aren’t bad at all, they’re great when you’re on one. But the slog before and after are no fun at all.

I have a million things to do this evening, but catching up with Cyberspace seems to be winning over many, many more important things like sorting out my finances, reading numerous letters from my solicitor regarding moving house (this is highly important so can’t understand why I don’t just do it!), calling my mum, reading many e mails, unpacking my suitcase, dealing with mountains of laundry and preparing myself for tomorrow.

I’m hoping to go back to practice but have a really annoying cold which has left me with a streaming nose for three days (blame over airconditioned hotel). I realised I am still subscribed to TY until the end of the week, so will go there this week at least, then back to AYL, I think.

My holiday has at least given me renewed vigor for work and practice, but these two battle with one another, oh, and my social life. What to do tomorrow when I want to practice but have an after work engagement which means I can’t work late late… so, only answer go to practice mega early, but then where does sleep happen…. oh, the struggles of an Ashtanga lifestyle Hopefully this will be mostly resolved when I move house, the walk to the old shala should be 20 mins max, although I hope to cycle, an work is just a 10 minute walk. This will be bliss, even if I am bankrupt.

 

Where are we now?

I’m still trying to get to practice, but it is still much more sporadic than I would like.

Due to the sporadicity (made that word up), I don’t feel that I am doing as good a practice as I could… Drop backs are still happening, standing up needs more practice and progress is definitely hindered by not practicing every day. My hamstring still gives me grief on a daily basis and the dropping back has made my right shoulder sore. Teacher suggests dropping back onto a thicker mat, for more shock absorption (or my take on it, I just need to get better at dropping back so that I can control the last six inches of my descent!)

Hopefully in a months time I’ll be in my new flat, nice and close to the shala and work, and I will have time to dedicate the time I want to to my practice (ugh, not grammatically fun that sentence!).

I’m off to Spain on Thursday, so all will go quiet again here for ages

 

He was right, of course

When I was struggling with drop backs I told H that they were the hardest thing I did all day. He laughed at me and told me that I would learn to love them one day.

Suddenly, now that I can actually do them, I do enjoy them; letting gravity work into the different areas of my spine and gradually stretching out towards the ground. My, my, what has happened to me?

The hardest thing I am doing now is trying to get into Supta K on my own… I should have known it would get back to the top of the difficult list at some point!

 

So Little Spare Time

I have had so little time to blog, I don’t have time now really, but whatever… work can wait for a second or two.

So, my time has been taken up finding a new flat, but it is almost sorted; offers have been made and accepted and contracts are being drawn up. Once I move, the dilemma of which shala to go to will start all over again.

Practice has been good but more sporadic than I would like, but it’s still happening.

The regular teacher is back at TY and things are noticeably busier. She seems nice though.

The only notable change to my practice is that she encourages me to try and get into Supta K myself… it’s damn hard, but I suppose we shouldn’t always rely on someone else to put our limbs into place. Anyway, it’s coming, but I find that trying to cross my ankles myself means my shoulders creep out from under my legs and I lose my bind. A quick squish at the end helps.

Finally drop backs seem to be coming along. I can go down no problem and have now actually managed to stand up on my own at practice. Hurrah – it has taken over a year to get to this point!

Anyway, must dash off again. Hopefully I’ll blog again in the next fortnight