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.