Hotel Yoga

I've been out of town for the past week, so I've been practicing "hotel Yoga"

You know, the kind you do between the polyester comforter double beds, with one arm brushing the TV console every time you do a sun salutation. I miss my studio, and I miss having space to stretch out, but it's a great feeling to know you can bring your mat along on your journey, and ground yourself in your practice.

Back in the Day

Got a little nostalgic lately, thinking of those years when my son was little, and yoga was a 2 person activity. It started when we went to "Mama and Me" yoga together, but eventually he was disqualified for crawling (pre-crawlers only). Still for years on Saturday mornings he would climb over and under through much of my practice. (Oh how grateful I was for adult time on those days I could practice at the studio.)

Some rules evolved:
Don't climb on Mama when she's on one foot.
Don't climb on Mama when she's on no feet.

This classic shot was taken at Burning Man, the one year we brought our son. He calls this pose "tunnel." It's his favorite.

Dog

Latest Iyengar revelation:

Relax the back of the legs back in Adho Mukha Svanasana.

And even though I've been doing this pose for a decade, it was like I'd never thought of this before.

It's been like a miracle all week.

Psoas

I seem to have pulled my psoas. I blame janu shirshasana. Okay, I blame my own bad alignment, or pushing too hard or something, but I'm pretty sure I did it in Janu Shirshasana. I've done it before, and I think it wakes up an old birth-of-my-son injury, so as I'm hobbling around I'm flashing back on the labor process, and that time I got this same injury in an Ashtanga class and it took a month to heal. I'm being pretty careful and cautious, but the muscles are so deep it really gets under my skin (literally) I'm finding myself irritable and tired.

Partner Work

In my Kripalu class we often do Pincha Mayurasana in groups of 3, so that the person in the pose can wobble all they like and get some feedback about their alignment. Generally I need the same feedback in every pose "tuck your tailbone and pull in the lower ribs." So I'm tucking and tucking and still not aligned properly. I've got 2 classmates and the teacher all trying to explain what is out of alignment, but I'm not getting it. Sometimes it's hard to think when you are inverted, so I come down and my classmate explains that my legs were tilted toward my front.

All of a sudden, after how many weeks of hearing my Iyengar teacher explain that the femurs root back while the tailbone tilts down, I suddenly understand. This need is exposed when your feet are skyward because the floor is not there to hold your legs straight up and down. It's one of those yoga enlightenment moments when the sun dawns and the light bulbs come on. Now if only I can do it...

Arriving

This morning I just could not arrive in my practice. It was an Anusara class that I love, but I was so caught in "future planning" mode that I just could not come back from June and May and later-this-week. Some people dwell in the past when their mind wanders, I dwell in the future. I don't think I finally arrived in my breath until Savasana.