Last mini practice

After having practiced intensively for the last three days, today everything has come to a halt again. My boyfriend asked me if we would go to the gym together. Yes, of course, I love my Yoga practice but I also love working out together with him. So, I did just Suryas, then we went to the gym together. Yoga is all about flexibility, isn't it? But I'm also looking forward to my regular schedule which is going to be resumed next week.
No time now for a Yoga review of the year that ends today, but this will come up next.
I wish you all out there much fun tonight and all the best for the new year!

Starting Intermediate

The question when an Ashtanga practicioner should start with the Intermediate series is the source for an endless discussion. On one side there are people who say that the Primary series has to be perfected before one can start thinking of Intermediate. They measure the level of perfection with the help of certain asanas, e.g. binding Marichyasana D, binding Supta Kurmasana, dropping back and coming up are common criteria. On the other side there are people who say that one should be familiar with the Primary series, which means for example knowing the sequence of postures and being able to practice the complete series alone, then one can start practicing Intermediate. These are the two extreme positions and of course there are many, many positions in between.
Since I don't have a teacher who I visit regularly, I had to decide this on my own. I've been practicing Primary on a daily basis for three years now. I'm far from having perfected the first series. I have problems with Janu Sirsasana C, I cannot bind Supta Kurmasana and dropping back is also still a vision. But I have the feeling that I know Primary now. I'm familiar with all postures and I'm able to perform the series in a steady flow. I simply have the feeling that I'm ready to move on. But I would have had some problems trusting only my own feeling. Fortunately I took part in an Ashtanga workshop lead by Arjuna, my first teacher, in October. On the second day there were Mysore classes in the morning. I practiced Primary, was left alone most of the time, did backbends and then Arjuna told me to do Pashasana. I practiced until Kapotasana. For me this was something like Arjuna gave his blessing to me practicing Intermediate. This together with my own feeling finally settled the issue. I start practicing Intermediate! Today I already added Pashasana, Krounchasana and Shalabasana to my Primary practice. Interesting how strange and unfamiliar the new poses feel. I'm looking forward to working with them.

Back in the snow

Back from the endless vastness of Peru's highlands I was immediately thrown into the usual Christmas chaos. From meditative stillness to noisy bustle. From the burning Andean sun to snow everywhere and minus degrees. That was hard. So my dreamlike vacation came to a very sudden end without being able to digest all feelings and impressions I brought from Peru. On the other hand I was so not in Christmas mood that it just passed by without the usual cozy warm feeling that comes along with it. But both is over now, so it doesn't really matter.
Maintaining a consistent Ashtanga practice while travelling is very hard for me, but this time it worked better than ever before. There were only a few days when I didn't practice at all and I even managed to practice full primary a couple of times. During Christmas it didn't get better but this week everything's back to normal I hope.

Is Ashtanga anti-social?

Another practice week ended today. Five times full primary in a row, but today only Suryas and a short sitting practice. My boyfriend has his 30th birthday today, therefore we're going to drive to his family and everything is busy. And I wanted to wake up together with him today instead of jumping out of the bed in the middle of the night.
This week I observed a new tendency: Ashtanga is killing my social life. No, not Ashtanga but my current practice schedule obviously is. Instead of going out with friends in the evening I'm so tired that I fall asleep at about 10 p.m. On the one hand I even don't want to go out because I'm afraid that it will have a negative impact on the practice next morning but on the other hand I miss it and feel like some anti-social freak. A little bit schizophrenic at the moment.
By the way we have the first snow here in southern Germany and I'm totally in winter-Christmas-mood today. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Most challenging pose

Good practice today, though a little bit exhausted towards the end. I got a yellow fever vaccination yesterday, perhaps the exhaustion had something to do with it. Of course the mental chatter was also there, it always is, but today there seemed to be some kind of automatism that focused me back on the practice in regular intervals. Supta Kurmasana feels very intensive these days, perhaps there is something going on. My current status is that I need a strap since I cannot hook the fingers, the feet are crossed but not really behind my head. I guess I have to take a pic of myself. This pose is definitively Primary's most challenging one for me. But I've already learned to count in years if it comes to certain poses. However I like it very much and I always stay for at least ten breaths.
In case you're asking why I needed this vaccination: I'm going to travel to Peru in about 1,5 weeks! Yippieee! More about that another time.

Daily routine

I'm just integrating a full primary practice into my daily routine. This means getting up at 5:30, preparing for practice, practice until 7:30 or 7:45, then preparing for work and leaving between 8:30 and 8:45.
So far I haven't managed a full week with this schedule, but of course it needs some time to adjust to a new schedule.
Today everything was fine, jumped out of the bed when the alarm went off and was on the mat at about 5:45. Practice was quite good, concentration was much better than yesterday. The breath found a nice rythm during parts of standing and first half of seated poses.
But it seems that I overdid the sit-ups a bit during my gym excursion on Saturday. My abs were so sore, ouch! Each Chaturanga and upward dog was a completely new experience. Plus I definitely have to work on my flow. When practicing alone it takes about 15 minutes longer than practicing with a group. I have to find a way for generating some of the group energy on my own.

Monkey Mind

Full primary today. Since I've been to the gym yesterday, the left hamstring felt very good today, almost didn't hurt at all. It's surprising how much positive influence some strengthening exercises can have. Flow was not very good today, the breath was rather uneven and shallow and it took some time to get through. Highlight poses were Bhuja Pidasana and Urdhva Dhanurasana, which was a surprise because the overall impression was more stiff than flexible today. But UD felt really easy and open, nice. But the biggest problem I have during practice is this monkey mind of mine, which is constantly producing irritating thoughts and memories. It's so hard to keep the focus on the practice sometimes. Drishtis help enormously and I try to direct the consciousness more into the body and away from the mind. Though today it was a constant struggle throughout the practice to stay concentrated. All in all it was an ok practice, I'm feeling great now and ready for the day.

New Year

I wish you all a happy and healthy new year!
Though I haven't written any blog entries since I don't know when, I still very much enjoy reading your blogs and it often gives me a huge inspiration regarding my practice or life or ... thankyou all for this!
I'm not going to make any assumptions about my further blogging activities since it is obviously a fact that I'm not a great writer but let's see.
In any case I'm still on the Ashtanga path, trying to hold up a six-day-practice-week, which often fails, but sometimes not. Perhaps the first practice of the new year will happen now.