This is the end of our second full day at the beach. I got up early and practiced for an hour and a half. It's hard practicing on carpet, but the kitchen floor, the only hard floor, is slightly sticky from humidity, and not quite big enough. Around noon we went out for a swim. … Continue reading Alignment illumination!
Category: general blather
It’s been a good week
Good yoga practices, even when short, good walking in the early morning, good having my son home. A few negative things happened. I did a little extra breathing, practiced some forgiveness, kept my mouth shut, and so far, so good. Next week, the beach. I'm going to miss the first class of the early fall… Continue reading It’s been a good week
Practicing with my sisters
My sisters Deb and Priscilla and our sis-in-law Kate and I all practiced together yesterday in my snug little space. It was the same sequence I'm going to keep doing until the sciatica is gone, but there's something in it for everyone. Kate has high blood pressure, so she knows how to modify poses for… Continue reading Practicing with my sisters
Breathing and moving
One of the great things about Sam Dworkis's Recovery Yoga is the breathing instruction on connecting breath to movement. For example, lying down, completely supported and having relaxed into the position, you inhale and raise your arm at the same time. You make the raising of your arm correspond exactly to the inhalation, so that… Continue reading Breathing and moving
Back to class
Today was the first day of the Ageless Yoga class for the new session. In the weeks between sessions I developed sciatica. I've had it before, so I know now what helps. Nonetheless, it's very frustrating to suddenly have one hamstring shrink up to a little piece of wire. Sharp wire. I almost didn't go… Continue reading Back to class
Yoga practice and physical therapy
I'm getting a whole bunch of physical therapy right now, and I'm kinda thrilled to see how helpful my yoga practice is with some of the exercises. My balance is quite good even though my feet and ankles are currently wonked out, and it's due in large part to the efforts I've made over the… Continue reading Yoga practice and physical therapy
Miscellany
I love hanging upside down. I'm very crackly right now, and it's nice to feel my back stretching and crackling out. I am amazed at how quickly I drop into a feeling of peace. A pair of washcloths under my hands make warm soft pads on the concrete floor in reclining poses like Supta Baddha… Continue reading Miscellany
Lying around vs. restorative yoga
Sometimes I think there's a fine line between lying around (feeling sorry for yourself) and restorative yoga. But here are the differences: Intention - The idea behind restorative yoga is to restore your energy. Thus, it's intentional. Lying around can occur just because you're too wiped out to get up. And for me, I have… Continue reading Lying around vs. restorative yoga
Today’s class
I went to my Ageless yoga class today. It was just plain great. We did mostly supported poses - rope dog, rope uttanasana, supported wide-angle forward bend, supported shoulderstand, but we worked hard in them. The trajectory of the sequence went from easy to hard to relaxed. We also did one of my faves, Dwi… Continue reading Today’s class
Breathing
This morning on my walk, I was whining to my walking partner (14 years!) about having done nothing at all yesterday except lie around and feel bad. Then I mentioned that I had done yoga, but it was all restorative. She laughed. "Get that 'but' out of there!" she said. "You DID do something yesterday. … Continue reading Breathing
Practice Notes 