Day 40

4:30 pm with Zeb.

I got a really good night sleep, and felt great through the day.  No stiffness to speak of, my knee felt great, as did my heel.  I was perfectly hydrated going in to class.  Everything should have been fine.  But once again, the class itself ran contrary to expectation.

The main culprit, I think, was allergies.  There was something like a clog in my right nostril, and no matter what I did I couldn't get rid of it.  This didn't really interfere with my breathing so much, but it continually annoyed me, and it messed with my mind, which in turn messed with everything else.  As a result, the class felt hot, humid, and long.  And I think if I had just been able to ignore the feeling in my nose, the class would have gone much better.

More and more, I'm convinced that how the class goes depends more on mind and attitude, than it does on anything physical.  The postures today were sort of middle of the road.  I was not so good on Standing Bow, but did well for me on Balancing Stick, and had one of my best Toe Stands ever.  And I didn't get more out of breath than usual.  It just felt harder, partially because I couldn't get rid of the distractions.

The other big distraction for this afternoon were a couple of visits we paid to elderly friends of ours.  He is 82, and is now suffering from a form of liver cancer.  He was in good spirits, and he is one of the few people I've met who is totally at peace with himself, and basically happy towards the end of his life.  So that visit was simply fine.  However, his wife is suffering from Alzheimer's and was recently placed in a facility for treatment.  She believes that she's been kidnapped by some very clever kidnappers.  They are caring for her very well, but she feels totally out of place and without any anchor, and its very sad.  Even though I know she's probably in the best place for her to be, it is difficult to see her, and it's hard not to think that she might do better in a place filled with love, if only such a place could exist for her now.

This evening, I'm more than usually stiff, especially in the lower back.  I dogged it in the back strengthening series (at least it felt like that), but I really pushed hard in both Camel and Rabbit, and I think I'm feeling that now.  But I'm confident that the cure for this soreness will be tomorrow's class.  I'm contemplating another double tomorrow, maybe, just for kicks.