foundations first.

i'm feeling better. still have a lingering cold, but it's not bad. 

today and tomorrow i'll be at yoga squared for the foundations first workshop taught by jill!

i think it's the jump start i'll need to get back to practicing next week.

only practiced 2 days last week, but it was totally necessary to take off. 

i'm stoked for today! yay!

musings from the mat.

surya namaskara 1: "oooh. this feels funny. i cant bend over. ok, fine, i'll bend my knees in uttanasana."

surya 2: "i'm just gonna keep on bending those knees, i feel like the tin man in the wizard of oz."

surya 3: "after two days of no practice, should it really be this hard to do a chaturanga dandasana?"

surya 4: "oooh. ok, the hamstrings are opening.. still feel like a tin man."

surya 5: "last one... then 5 more."

surya B's: "i'll just keep on stepping back instead of jumping. amanda, you're taking it easy for the first day back. you know, you haven't had a mysore practice since thursday... doesn't mean you didn't practice... but its like you were gone for 5 days."

eventually, my mind quieted. got through my practice. it was hard getting to y2. the ice, the sleet, feeling like i wanted to sleep although i went to bed at 9:40 last night and woke up at 5:40am today.. meaning i got 8 hours. i'm coming down with some kind of sore throat. i think i might take off again tomorrow. i need rest. this nanny job is draining. and the babies spread diseases like wildfire. 

on garbha p. 

rolling is becoming less fearful. and i'm trying to keep my hands on my head when i roll, which is hard to do, but that's what i'm working on. i got all the way around. and my teacher helped me roll up for kukutasana, although i chose to roll back and forth a bit to work on rolling up on my own.

that is all.

a weak week, as jill would say.

sunday: led primary in balto.

monday: moonday and podiatry appt.

tuesday: foot rest day.

wednesday: mysore.

thursday: unknown?

friday: rest day/date with asher at night?

saturday/sunday: foundations first. 

structure vs. chaos, or why i love led primary counted in sanskrit!

i like structure. i like ashtanga. i like the living tradition. 

i do not like chaos. i do not like it when led primary is not counted in sanskrit. i do not like it when tradition is fucked with!

more on led primary: for some reason i thought all led primary classes are counted in sanskrit. ekam dve trini! that's what i fell in love with when i first took a led class. i was like, 'wow, this is beautiful!" i like the count. i like knowing when to inhale and exhale. without the count, it's chaos. pure chaos. i felt like i was waiting to exhale, when everyone else was already folded over and getting through 5 breaths in whatever pose we were doing. 

i guess i'm spoiled. during the first six months of my ashtanga practice, i got to practice in california. they counted in sanskrit. it was organized. everyone moved at the same pace (for the most part). it worked. here in philly, we have jill-ji who has an awesome count! i've also heard katherine's count is pretty rocking. i don't take many led classes here because of my schedule, but we count in sanskrit here in philly! they count in sanskrit in new york, well at least eddie stern does!

in baltimore, there was no sanskrit. i don't remember my summer practices. i practiced a few days a week, led classes only. they don't have mysore! i really don't remember if they counted in sanskrit or not. damn. i'm losing my mind. 

today's led primary was basically like any old vinyasa class. i'm very disappointed. i'm obviously a disgruntled ashtangi who takes her practice way tooooo seriously! :) but seriously, for the love of guriji and the practice. let's count in sanskrit. please.

pancakes laced with ambien, or my trip to baltimore in 10 points or less.

1- took 2.5 hours to get here. a plate full of food. played scrabble and lost. cuddled sister. slept.

2- sat. am: vinyasa yoga with sister.

3- pancakes and fake sausage for brunch. entire family except mother fell asleep right after!

4- walmart with dad. bought 48 rolls of toilet paper!

5- papermoon diner with owen and abby, i finally confessed how i think babies are secret sanskrit scholars. gaaaa gaaaa khhaa khaaa.

6- patterson theatre/creative alliance for kitty club. saw some peeps.

7- left show at intermission to come home and write this blog.

8- laundry next.

9- bed before midnight.

10-led primary tomorrow at charm city yoga, then brunch, coffee, philly!

bruises. parking tickets. and the sutra.

i was standing in front of the mirror and i noticed bruises on the back of my arms. i know it's from garbha p. 

i got my first parking ticket tonight when i went to go clean y2. i put a dime in the meter and got 3 minutes. and that's all i had. so i figured that i'll probably get a ticket and i did. i know that i shouldn't drive to center city. but i just didn't feel like waiting for the bus any more today. i'm tired and it cost me $36 to be tired.

i woke up at 5:30am today to go to y2 but i felt like i needed more sleep so i skipped practice. i decided to go to yoga sutra for mary flinn's mysore in the evening. there were about 8 people there. the sounds from center city were loud. the lights were bright. the heat was up. i felt kind of out of place. but i just practiced and focused on my breath. i definitely love practicing at y2. i love my teacher. i love my community. i love the space. yoga sutra is very business. mary was a good teacher. she assisted me in most of the poses that my teacher assists me in. and that's the end of that.

off to bed. then off to work. then off to b-more. then doing some vinyasa class on sat. and a led primary on sun. woo woo. 

this is MY outfit.

this is in d.c. the weekend after my grandma passed. that is her necklace. i think i like black shirts and jeans.

or white tshirts and jeans. that will be my staple outfit for the summer. white tshirts and jeans. yummy.

glass in foot.

i told my teacher last week that after my weekend of workshops and fun in ny, i would talk to my boss about the glass in my foot. 

so today, i asked my boss to look at it and she said to schedule an appt. with a podiatrist and that she would pay for it to be removed. (i guess it's good to work for doctors...) she gave me two people to call and i scheduled an appt. for monday, jan. 26th. i'm excited to get this glass out finally. it's been there for far too long.. probably since october. i know i'll have to take a few days or maybe a week off... but i'm ok with that. 

this is what needs to be done.

life is calling. are you there?