Wednesday, November 18, 2009

210/321 - Oz Revisited

Saturday Off
Sunday Off
Monday 6:30 pm with Sherry
Tuesday 6:30 pm with Libby

I skipped two days again. Sometimes I feel like I'm really slacking off.

Sherry's class was good, but I can now remember almost nothing from it. I was next to a noobie and trying pretty hard to set a good example. I don't know if I actually did or not, but I didn't skip anything and I was paying pretty good attention to both form and dialogue. I still couldn't find my breath in Rabbit, but otherwise everything went pretty well.

Libby's class was great. There was lots of energy, and it was just good fun. Plus, I got lots of nice compliments and good corrections. Here's a short rundown on the compliments. First, in the set-up to half moon. I've worked really hard on getting my elbows to lock, hands together, and arms back behind the ears. This was the first class where a teacher commented on it and it was surprisingly gratifying to hear the compliment, even when I know that I'm doing it pretty well.

Then the great compliment came in Standing Bow. She said I was doing perfect form and that I was definitely competing next year. I laughed and she said "What are you laughing about?" I was laughing because the main goal for me right now is fixing my knee, and if my form is any good its because of my bad knees. After class, I told her and she said "Aren't the injuries like a gift?"

There were some other compliments along the way, but those were the real high points. On corrections, she told me to keep my chest up in Standing Head to Knee. I was at the second step, just kicking out, and apparently I'm arching/rounding too early. This was a good tip, and the posture was easier to hold after the correction. (It was one of those few corrections that did not make the pose harder.)

And then in Rabbit, she said to get my heels together. Concentrating on doing that actually allowed me to get through the pose, even though I still had no breath. Maybe all I need to do in this pose is focus on something other than not getting any air.

The day 282 meditation reminded me again of The Wizard of Oz. At the end of the meditation Gates says that pranayama "confirms the central message of yoga -- that we have already arrived, that we are already home, that we must simply wake up from the dream that this is not so." And that could be straight from the Wizard of Oz. Dorothy had the power to go home from the start, all she had to do was believe it, and that would wake her up from her dream. And as Dorothy says "But it all seemed so real." And I guess the same could be said for all the baggage we get rid of, a layer at a time, through yoga practice.




3 comments:

tracik said...

Aren't shout outs the best??? Gives us that nice boost and sense of pride!

bikramyogachick said...

what a great little insight...that your injury may in fact be a gift due to the fact that you are becoming a stickler for form so as not to hurt yourself further. I think it provides great body awareness when we have to go through things like this. I'm still nursing my left elbow (it's been three months now) and have to really pay attention to my locust setup or it screams.

thedancingj said...

"But it all seemed so real!" Fabulous. I love that. It's amazing how we talk ourselves into these traps and convince ourselves that the cages are real, when it's all just smoke and mirrors.

We are in synch, by the way. I missed two days, too!! Monday and Tuesday. Was working on final presentation. Going back to yoga in a few hours now. It will be a train wreck, but a wonderful one.