Day 103 - The nice things and the small hurts

I've had a really nice day.

I woke up at 7:00am next to the love of my life, which I always appreciate, did my prayers, grabbed a delicious piece of papaya and went off to teach my enthusiastic 83 year-old student, Max. Then I had a treatment with Mira, a lovely Body Talk therapist, who has been an amazing source of insight for me over the last year or so. She is so wonderful. When she pats my arm and says "It'll will be alright," she is so sincere that I immediately feel better.

After the Body Talk session, I walked over to this amazing park in NDG on Sherbrooke and Girourd to practice. It was perfect weather for practicing-- sunny, cool and breezy. I found a spot in the shade near the playground and began my practice which today focused on letting go of the small hurts I've experience in my life. Each sun salutation was dedicated to releasing any conscious or subconscious pain incurred because of the actions of a particular person or myself. So at the start of the surya namaskar I recalled an uncomfortable memory in my recent or long ago past, and then I consciously used my breath and movements to visualize cleansing the residual tension.

At times, I noticed the sharpness or the speed of my transitions varied depending on what I was thinking about and how fresh the emotional wound was, but ultimately, it felt good to acknowledge these negative experiences and then symbolically release them.

I made my way to a little cafe for a post practice veggie wrap and a wfii connection. I didn't get much work done because I ran into a good friend. We chatted for a bit then I had to rush off to ayurvedic massage appointment with one of my teachers. The massage was amazing. Just what I needed. While I was at the Ayurvedic Centre, I had a chance to chat with my teachers, Anita and Manu, who have been so wonderfully supportive of my 108 project and this big 32 hour Guinness thing. They shared some advice about what food I should eat and how I should prepare, and they told me that they were proud of me, which is special to me, because I respect them a lot.

This evening, I had dinner at a friend's house, despite my mandate to stay in this week. I'm tired now, but I think it was good for me to shift focus for a few hours and good for Craig to have some time on his own.

Ok, I apologize if this posting is so colloquial. I'm ready for bed.

Bonne nuit.

Day 60 - Body part surya namaskar

I got this text from Miranda (my neighbour) yesterday: "Anthea and I have a 108 proposal for you!"

(I love this. These two amazing women continue to have crazy and interesting ideas on how to vary the 108 practice!)

Their idea: We focus on specific body part for each set of 12 sun sals. For instance, we do 12 basic surya namaskar A, while concentrating our attention on, say, the knees and then, the hips, etc. Sounded like a cool concept, so we agreed to try it this morning.

We also agreed that we would, as a juxtaposition to yesterday's talkative practice, do our sun salutations in silence, so we wrote out a list to avoid the need for discussion. Here's our list:

1. Feet & ankles
2. Quads & knees
3. Pelvis, moola bandha + vagina ;)
4. Inner leg line/ spine
5. Rib cage & uddiyana bandh
6. Wrist & hands
7. Shoulder girdle
8. Neck & jalandhara bandha
9. Mouth, jaw & eyes

It was a really intricate and meditative experience. I felt that certain body parts we easy to connect with and others more difficult. My feet and hands were the easiest, probably because I'm used to doing that, but I had some pretty cool revelations in the process nonetheless. I discovered that, despite knowing better, I still lift the knuckle of my index finger in downward dog and so there is more pressure on my outer wrist and pinky finger, which for sure is related to my wrist and shoulder tensions. I also noticed that when I transition from forward bend to chaturanga, I most often step back with my left foot, unless I jump, of course. And when I step forwards from downward dog to the top of my mat, I use my right foot. Curious...

I had a harder time connecting with my pelvis and rib cage. I felt that there was too much focus on all at once and that 12 sun sals wasn't enough time to address each aspect of the area. Miranda and Anthea agreed stating the pelvis is "dense" and that there's a lot to it.

Next time we do this practice, I'll focus on less body parts. I think need more time to explore, because once I started observing a certain part of the body, so much information is revealed and I went deeper into the experience. This reminds me of practice my teacher Hart gave us to do for homework about five years ago. He suggested we place our hand on the floor for five minutes and just watch what happens. I'll admit I wasn't really into the idea back then, because I couldn't focus, but I think I'll give it a try now.


You can try this practice in any context. Let me know what you come up with!

Miranda's post-practice comment: "I feel so aware of my whole body right now. It's so cool!"

Day 59 - Chatter-asana: Is talking during yoga so bad?

I reconnected with my old friend Natalie for a practice of 54 sun salutations this afternoon. We hadn't seen each other for several months, so we spent a good amount of time updating each other on the various aspects of our busy lives.

As we chatted our way through the first 27 or so, I wondered if talking while practicing yoga is really so bad.

I am aware that the common belief is that it's best to be 100% focused on each breath and each posture and that chatting in yoga is discouraged. While I understand this and agree to a certain extent, I'm all for variety. I think a little chatting during a practice can be beneficial. After all, expressing feelings to a good friend can improve tension release and promote healing, and this coupled with surya namaskar can be really powerful tool in transformation.

Discussion can bring new energy into a practice and make it lighter. In a group class, I think a bit of dialogue helps foster community and puts people at ease. But don't get me wrong, no one appreciates a bitching motor mouth. What's said and how it's said makes all the difference. Right intention is key.

On the flip side, I think i's also important to observe silence. It's restful to just follow the sound of the breath and flow effortlessly from one pose to the next. This is why I enjoy solo practices a lot. It helps me connect with me and allows me the space to hear what's really going on inside my brain and body.

So, in conclusion, I am continuing to explore different ways of practicing and discovering that everyday is different, and that adapting my practice to suite my needs keeps things interesting and therapeutic.


(Speaking of trying different things, today, Craig decided to be creative with photo editing!)