I'm back

Well, I took more than 3 days off. On top of LH, I've been sick with a cold since Thursday. I did some yoga, but not a full practice. I even pulled my recent issue of Yoga Journal and did Marla Apt's sequence of poses to relieve sinus congestion. It was okay -- a lot of inverted poses -- but it did not deliver the "sweet relief" it promised. Also tried the Neti Pot, but was too congested for anything to flow through. So, I took a break. And a nap. And some brandy. While lying in bed, I did some meditation with the Maha Mritunjaya mantra, which is dedicated to overcoming disease and death.

When I wasn't resting, I joined Johnny (who came home for a day - yay!) and we got the vegetable beds completed and filled with soil! It was a big job and very, very satisfying. Today, between rain showers, I will plant the lettuce, arugula, carrots and swiss chard. Yeehaw! We also picked up some soil from Big D and created our sunflower bed.

I had an Ashtanga Lite practice today. Still feeling a bit run down and mucus-y, so I did most of the standing poses, a few Primary poses without vinyasas, and then most of the Finishing. I used a lot of props and did supported backbends on the Swiss Ball. It was enough to get me moving and I think it will take a few days to get back to the full practice.

Holiday!

Ladies Holiday showed up unexpectedly today and that means a 3 day break from practice. I will stick to my waking schedule, but I'm looking forward to easier mornings for the next few days.

Saro and I greeted the morning with a long, lovely walk in the park. It's another beautiful, sunny day.

This just in: carbon-negative water

Fiji Water Co is planting enough trees to offset (and then some) the environmental impact of its bottled water. The net result will be an improvement to the environment.

Well, that's just fine, but what about all those plastic bottles? Have you heard about the swirling mass in the middle of the ocean?

Nice idea, Fiji, but I'll stick with my Sigg and fill it (and refill it) with tap!

Earth Day

I stumbled on this article not knowing what it was about. The title "Why Bother?" was promising. Turns out it's Michael Pollan's assessment of the climate change situation and what we, as individuals, can do about it. It's a smart piece.

His final analysis: the best way to make a difference is to grow your own vegetables.

As we are starting our very first vegetable garden (soil is being delivered today!), this is good news! The article is inspiring; I even got a little choked up at the end. Ever since I read Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, I've been thinking more about connected-ness, especially when it comes to food. Growing food (or preparing to grow food) is so humbling. All we need are seeds, sun, soil, water and care. How amazing is that? It's this wonderful thing that anyone can do. Now, I don't plan on growing all my own food and foregoing big box grocery stores (though I can't recall the last time I bought a meal-in-a-box). Aside from the massive amount of work that would require, I simply don't know enough about gardening. But if we can supplement our groceries with one or two fresh crops at a time, I think that will be significant.

And we're on our way! The Broccoli and Brussels sprouts have been joined by cherry tomato and red bell pepper sprouts! The hot peppers will poke through any day. Just can't wait to get the raised beds finished and filled with soil so we can get the rest of the seeds out there.

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Practice yesterday was fussy and fidgety, but on the upside, I have no shoulder pain. The Plank Plan is working so far. Today, I got a late start. Without Johnny here to get me up and going in the morning, this week will be a real test of will. I finally got on the mat around 7.15 and was very slow to get going. After each sun salutation, I had to pause and remind myself why I'm doing this. (And I only did 3 Surya Namaskara B.) Once I got through that, the rest went pretty well.

Swami T gave a nice little talk about effort. Any accomplished person (e.g. a musician) gets that way only through practice. Yoga and spiritual growth are no different. You have to practice every day and if you take a few days off, you notice it. Once you are accomplished (read: enlightened), you don't have to practice any more. "When the rice is cooked, you don't have to keep cooking it." Since I don't expect my rice to get cooked in this lifetime, it's practice, practice, practice.

I've incorporated Handstands in between each Navasana and it is pretty tough. Navasana is challenging on its own, but including 3 handstands really amps things up. Going right into Bhujapidasana after that feels like a lot. I wish there was a resting, catching-your-breath pose in between. Other than that, the late-primary poses are going well. I feel good!

"losership instead of leadership"

That's an actual response to Bush's statement about reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This is from an actual (German) government official who is actually concerned about actual changes in global climate.

I've been enjoying Gail Collins op-ed pieces in the NY Times lately. She writes with a sense of humor that makes reading the news almost bearable.

Since the president never suggests actual behavior changes on the part of American citizens, that leaves us with what? More efficient refrigerators?

Lots of things! There is, for instance, the ambitious new fuel economy standard of 35 miles per gallon by 2020; we sure do have a lot to look forward to in the future, people. There’s new federal spending on biofuels. Much of this is for ethanol, which has the unfortunate side effect of creating more greenhouse gases than it eliminates, and, of course, helping to create a planetary crisis over rising food costs. But nothing’s perfect.

Go America. Way to lead the world.

I did a Yin practice (lot of hip openers) Friday morning to give my shoulders a break. It was what I needed, but it's not my favorite style of practice. I'm determined to have a safe, injury-free Ashtanga practice. It's such a great series of poses, and now that I've been doing the full sequence regularly, I'm enjoying it even more. It feels flowy and meditative and I'm feeling nicely energized at the end of practice.

It occurred to me that binding poses might be aggravating my shoulder just as much as Chaturanga. So I'm easing off on that a bit. (The Marichyasanas are less fun.) And in a flash of brilliance this morning, I decided to hold Plank for 5 breaths during the Sun Salutations (instead of Downward-facing Dog). I felt pretty good after practice and I'm going to try this for a week and see how it goes. My shoulders remain stable in Plank, and I have to activate my core, legs and back to stay lifted. This is exactly what I need to do more of in Chaturanga -- distribute the effort throughout my body rather than relying too much on upper body muscles. If I can build this strength in Plank, that will hopefully carry over into Chaturanga. I also might start including a Handstand or two after Navasana.

In other news, Saro graduated from Basic Obedience class today! He's been very good in class and is definitely a teacher's pet. He responds so well to training and he's become much easier to handle. We got very lucky with him. (He just trotted past me with a bone in his mouth. So cute.)

The Brussels sprouts and broccoli seeds are sprouting! I put two little sunflower seeds in the cruddy rocky soil outside as an experiment. John thinks it's too rocky for anything to grow, but I'm not ready to give up. I mean, if weeds can grow there, so can sunflowers. Right? Well, we'll see.

Mung Bean soup!

Mung bean soup with collard greens.
From Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian

Are we ready for a smart president?

Okay, I was open to Hillary at one point. Before Barack was a contendor, I thought it would be pretty cool to have a woman president. I liked Bill when he was in office. But it didn't take long for Hillary to distinguish herself as, well, utterly indistinguishable. She is a perfectly stereotypical politician.

Ironically, the Bush II years have raised my standards in Presidential candidates. Before Bush, a President like Bill Clinton was okay. At least he was intelligent. But now the stakes are much higher because we've sunk so low. I don't want someone who is better than Bush. I don't want someone in the same ballpark as Bush.

But now, Hillary has made the decision to play the anti-intellectual card by calling Obama (the community organizer) elitist. This from an Ivy-league educated millionaire lawyer and known policy wonk. Fear of smart people is what allowed Bush to fumble his way to the top. More than anything else Hillary is doing to destroy Obama, this one is too much. She's destroying herself in the process. It's a supreme act of self-loathing and it is actually pretty fascinating to watch. Sad, though. It says quite a bit about the level of discourse in this country and how hard we are willing to work intellectually (not that hard, as it turns out). Her only shot at winning is to be mean and act dumb. And that's why it's so important for Obama to win.

75% Practice 25% Theory

Or something like that...

I decided today to play lectures of Swami Tadatmananda's study of the Bhagavad Gita while I practice. Usually, I like a quiet practice, especially in the morning, but listening to philosophy during practice is actually kind of nice. I found these talks some time ago and they're really interesting and fun. Each talk is about an hour long, which then leaves me to do Finishing in silence. Perfect.

Practice today was better than yesterday. I wasn't as temperamental (less pouty) and my shoulders felt better (less crunchy). I'm still all about the knees-chest-chin. My goal is to practice every day, and perhaps more importantly, not to injure myself in the process. At least for now, ahimsa = no chaturanga. This is one of the biggest challenges for me with the Ashtanga practice. I enjoy it, but I seem to always teeter on the edge of injury.

So Saro...

A couple days of lackluster practice. Yesterday I forgot my mat and had to use a cotton blanket on the carpet. Not very stable and I was low energy anyway, so I sort of flopped my way through the poses. Today, my shoulders were making disturbing crunching, popping sounds. So... I took it easy. No chaturangas. No momentum during the vinyasas. Slow, steady movements. Yet my mind was all over the place, feeling very frustrated and agitated. And, well, I stopped at Janu Sirsasana. Didn't do finishing. Just went straight to meditation.

seeds are sown!

A little behind schedule, but we finally got these seeds started. The rest will be sown directly into the beds in the yard.

Fast forward to harvest day....

Just Breathe

I went to a workshop this weekend - Yoga for Depression and Anxiety, with Amy Weintraub. Based on the attendance (sold out, with a waiting list), this is a hot topic. She covered a lot of material over the three day workshop, but the basic message is: do yoga every day...and breathe. And not just conscious breathing during your practice (although that is important too). She recommends specific breathing techniques designed to either calm or energize the nervous system. Broadly speaking, she told us to "meet the anxious mood" with more active practices and then gradually move to more calming postures and breathing. For those who struggle to find energy to get on the mat, begin with simple, restorative practices. Start with the simplest stretch or heart-opening breath and build energy slowly, one pose at a time. Only by honoring the mood and working with it are we able to effectively change it.

Much of what she taught came from the Hatha Yoga Pradipika or other traditional texts. She taught some oft-overlooked (at least in my experience) practices, such as Bhastrika and Bee-breath. I've only encountered them with the Art of Living courses and they were among the trauma relief techniques I taught in New Orleans. I found them very powerful, both energizing and calming at the same time. It was nice to revisit these practices and be reminded of how enjoyable they are.

There was a question about the safety of starting these pranayamas without first establishing a solid asana practice. Some of the more energizing techniques can be very powerful and may be disruptive to the nervous system if not practiced properly. My understanding of yoga is that asana comes first (or third, if we're referencing Patanjali) and pranayama second (or fourth). Not just because asana is easier, but because it prepares the body for the more powerful breathing techniques. Also, in my opinion, a steady asana practice indicates sufficient discipline to make a pranayama practice sustainable. It's okay to dabble with asana, but less so with pranayama. On the other hand, I like the idea of empowering people to find techniques that work for them, without rigid prerequisites. Amy didn't give a direct answer to this, but said that yoga practiced without breathing (pranayama) is ultimately not as effective in managing moods, and that people should do what they're comfortable with. I've been taught both ways from different teachers. All things considered, I think I fall on the more conservative side of this one. When I meditate, I do a some Ujjayi and then Sudarshan Kriya and that usually puts me in a pretty good space.

One other note on this topic. An interesting point Amy brought up in response to the safety question was that each of the main students of Krishnamacharya incorporate breath differently in their teaching. Iyengar, who was very young when he studied with K., includes almost no breathwork in his teaching. Pattabhi Jois, who studied with K. later, emphasizes Ujjayi breathing throughout the entire practice. (Not sure what Desikachar's approach is. Anyone?) Srivatsa Ramaswami (who she did not mention, but was a student of Krishamacharya for over thirty years) includes quite a bit of breathing and says that a full 20-30 minutes of his practice with K. consisted of Pranayama. Amy's take on this is basically that whole "yoga for the three stages of life" argument. When you're young, do lots of asana. When you're middle-aged, do some asana, some pranayama. When you're old, do mostly pranayama.


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I had a very distracted practice this morning. I felt like an elephant moving through the sitting poses. I was very, very tempted to stop at Navasana. I looked over at the dog. He wagged his tail. We played for a few minutes and then I returned to the mat with a nice Bhujapindasana. I was able to get my legs higher up on my arms and it made folding forward seem almost possible. I still can't figure out how to keep my ankles crossed and point my toes back. I'm possibly also afraid of falling on my face. The dog joined me again for savasana. He laid down next to me —on his back— but his puppy mind took awhile to calm down.

From the Rodeo...

Springtime!

The dog and I took a long walk in the Park today -- it's full of birds and springtime smells. Very nice! Daffodils are sprouting up by the hospital and some of the plants and flowers we planted in our little garden last year are coming back. The building next door is doing some seasonal clean-up too. They're finally repairing the roof from the fire last May and the crack-smokers living under the stairs appear to be packing their stuff into large black trash bags and moving on. Let's hope for some more positive activity over there.

I had a nice practice this morning. Focused on the breath and everything went very smoothly; standing poses flew by. But as soon as I hit the Marichyasanas, I lost all my energy and suddenly felt hungry. I went through the rest of the series and took it easy. Skipped Sirsasana because I was pressed for time. And then the dog joined me for the final resting pose.