After two days of break, I couldn’t wait to be back on the mat. I was tired in the morning but woke up by the alarm. I took the bus no. 29 and saw this old couple again. I can’t tell where they are from but they always take this bus at 6:05ish to go to work (I guess). In the beginning they sit together and when their lady friend joins, husband takes another seat so that two ladies can talk. I find it very cute. Once Zoe told us it is interesting to see different people in the street and public transportation before and after morning classes. Before the class, it’s usually low-skilled and low-paid workers (who are mostly cleaners I guess), and after the class it’s office workers who fill up the metro and buses.
I was afraid of today’s practice as I took two days off and my left shoulder blade was hurting a bit. In Paris, our hotel room had an ideal shape to practice hand stand and pincha mayurasana so I practiced a bit... and got this pain. Anyways I put my mat on the right corner, talked a bit with Lynne and started breathing. I felt the room was warmer than usual. When I started seated asanas, I caught a glimpse of a very familiar yoga towel behind me so I lifted my head and looked. It was Monica! Yes! I forgot she was coming this week! I was happy to see her and at the same time felt a bit guilty of not sending her a message before coming. Anyways I had to focus on my practice so I continued. In janu sirsasana, I thought of what Patrick told me about the torsion in the lower belly. In marichyasana A, it was a bit harder than usual to put my head down on the knee. In navasana, actually my tailbone area seemed better than before. This sharp poking kind of pain is gone. But I was still being careful with this practice by using the blanket underneath. After supta kurmasana and titibasana I had more strength to send legs back. Oh! I felt how I should feel! But at the same time I knew it will take mu~~~ch more time to really shoot my legs back :-) In garbha pindasana and rolling, I became more comfortable with rolling. I think it’s because I didn’t feel much pain in my sacrum/coccyx during navasana. I turned maybe about 45 degrees and came back to middle again to do kukkutasana. Whenever I am at this asana I think about practicing this at home but… I always forget. I should really try this tonight + pincha mayurasana with a wheel. I also thought a lot about bending my knees more when I jump back. It’s interesting to notice teachers’ advice when you practice certain asanas. Oh! And again this time (my second time!!) in ubhaya padangusthasana, I came up with toes in my fingers. I also came up at one go!! Yay! I was a bit unstable of course, but I was super happy that I did it! It is really amazing to see your asanas improve. Today I also tried urdhva sirsasana. I usually feel my energy is depleted by this point but today I felt I had more strength. So I tried urdhva sirsasana once. When I came down to the mat, I had more control too. And I thought briefly… ‘is this strength coming from all the sugary stuff I ate in Paris?’. Haha! Through today’s practice I felt I am becoming stronger. I was also touched by Anne for her encouragement during and after drop-back and come-up. I am really glad that I decided to practice Mysore way. As Bill during the summer said, we will always seek and end up in (practicing) the traditional way.
At Ashtanga Yoga Brussels on 3/12/18(Mon) from 06:40 to 08:15
Teacher: Anne, Lynne and Adriana
