pasasana = noose pose!

um. unexpectedly i started 2nd series yesterday. i didn't think that was in the cards for me right now, but i guess someone else sees the potential. i'm dropping back on my own, but still need help standing up. i'm very close though. pasasana, the noose pose pictured above, is the new pose. i haven't had a new pose in a very very long time it seems, probably since the spring. i have a new soreness in my armpits and ribs especially. i definitely need work on this. it's so hard to balance and bind, but i'm excited for the newness of learning something new and hard. very hard.

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i partied this weekend a bit with boytoy. i had a really fun time. we did some time at the standard tap. some beer time at home. some abbaye time late night after the tap. oh what fun! i can't wait for morgie to get here so we can show her our new home and new digs. i hope she loves it here as much as we do.

i'm tired. didn't make it to practice this morning, but i'll be practicing in the kitchen while the baby sleeps. wish me luck on the pasasana.

the bang.

i mean, come on. this is how it ends?! all that hard work and more hard work. :) i secretly love and hate this pose. i feel like it combines a lot of aspects of the whole primary series... except forward bending.... maybe it's just giving you a taste of what's to come in second.. (not that i'm any where ready or near doing 2nd.. gotta drop back on my own first.) 

well, it's friday. have to work at 8 today so i couldn't make it to jill's led primary. maybe next week. i'm going on a cruise with my dad on may 10-17th. i'm doing yoga on the deck. no joke. i'm gonna be THAT lady. :)

ps: this pose is called setu bandhasana. bridge pose?! i think not. or spinal lift pose!? that's more like it. 

upavista konasana.

today. today. today. 

got it today.

let's create time and space while rushing. mission impossible? i think not. we will try this on monday when i have to be at work by 8am.... hmm.

also...

also... also....

baddha konasana is hard. and i was doing it wrong. 

baddha konasana.

today i got baddha konasana. is this a hard pose? (i don't think so? maybe i'm doing it wrong...) i like this pose. i need to learn more about it. 

in philly, it's who you know..

i had a stomach virus last week. it was crippling. i didn't practice, i didn't eat. i just curled up and slept and dreamed of yoga... 

after a week of no mysore, i went back to y2 and had an enlightening experience. i told myself, "take it easy... it's okay if you only practice the sun salutations, standing and closing." so that's what i did for my first day back on the mat. 

every movement i made, i was very aware of. i knew what my hands where doing while in updog, i knew what my feet were doing in the warriors, i felt very connected to my body and the way i was moving. it was very thrilling. i also am learning how to really listen to myself and i'm glad that i didn't push myself into doing the primary series after being sick for almost a week.

the second day back was definitely good. i did my "full" practice and rushed off to work...

i took friday off. saturday i practiced with my good friend sara at dhyana yoga. we took justicia's class. i love justicia! ahh. so fun. 

today was sunday mysore at y2. it's normally packed but today there were fewer. it was icy out and it's the beginning of the holiday week so i think a lot of people are already out of town. 

i had a fun practice today. my teacher stood with me while i did headstand. i've been very reluctant to practice a full headstand. i've really been wanting to work on getting up with straight legs. so today i went up and i got to do a headstand away from the wall. fun fun fun.

also, during my backbends, i was told that i'll take the next pose (garbha pindasana) after supta kurmasana... so that's cool. moving on.

adam, a shala buddy, gave me a ride home. we got chanukkah coffee which was fun. we talked about some cool things, and something that is resonating with me is "in philly, it's who you know.." i feel like i'm making some really incredible connections here in philly. the people i'm surrounding myself with are very important and i'm learning sooo much.

adam, thanks for the coffee and ride and conversation. it was very much appreciated!

HAPPY CHANUKKAH!!!!!

kurmasana..

bhujapidasansa today. kurmasana tomorrow. sounds good. my grandma died last night, went to yoga this morning. felt kind of off during the standing series, but by the time i sitting on the floor i was alright. will go to yoga tomorrow and then home for the funeral. i'm obviously going to miss the last day with david, but it's ok. such is life. maybe i'll take a led primary on friday night in baltimore. that's always a challenge. 

bhujapidasana

david keil (of yoganatomy.com) is at our shala this week. he's an awesome teacher! yay david! 

so i just started practicing mysore style ashtanga not too long ago. it's been hard to get up in the morning some days but it's always worth it to be there in the end. i guess for this first month i was stopping at navasana because that's where my teacher told me to. i couldn't even get my legs off the ground for a while because it hurt my lower back. but today i made the effort to take my legs off the ground even if they were bent at the knee...

  

after navasana, i went straight to my backbends and david asked me what was my last pose and i said navasana and he told me to take bhujapidasana. of course i've never really learned this pose so he taught me and made me try it three times. it's fun learning new poses for sure. i like learning this way. i like knowing that this is where i'll be for right now. and that something else may come along later. 

i'm really tired. i couldn't fall asleep last night and i woke up at 5. and now i have to work for 10-11 hours. i think tonight i shouldn't have a problem with passing out..