Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Day 24

Padmasana

Thanks to a crème prescribed by my doctor and liberal dabs of shea butter, my eczema is gradually healing up. Twists were far more pleasant this morning. This leaves the door open for another side-effect to rear it's ugly head: joint pain. Yes, again. It feels worse this time around and I credit yoga with keeping me from hobbling around like an old woman.

The half-hour quasi-restorative practice I've been doing in the evenings has proven its value: last night, I skipped it and this morning my back was very cranky. Yoga to help me do more yoga? Fine, I'll take it! I may even experiment with doing some yoga before my hockey games to control the pain.

A few items of note in my practice today:

Padangustasana
Not only am I frequently getting my leg straight by the end of the five breaths, but I'm also doing this without the support of the wall. This posture has always haunted me in Anusara classes with my teacher - I was prone to fall over. I find the more I practise it, the more stable I feel. Now if only I could get my hip to open up a bit!

Parvottanasana
I have a confession. I'm a reverse-namaste-abstainer. I can do it, sort of, but find it excruciating. I like the rest of the post so much that I usually fold my arms behind my back instead. Lately, I've been working with a happy medium: Gomuhkasana arms. I switch arms as I switch sides. The first few days were rough and I found that I couldn't go as deep into the posture, but today I was binding on both sides and I was sinking deep into the forward bend. Could this eventually lead to reverse namaste? Stay tuned...

Ardha Baddha Padmottanasana
I've been binding in this one, but using a block to come into the forward bend. I'm still using the block to come down more control, but I'm now putting my hand on the floor after I put it on the block. In the next few days, I may try working without the block, starting with the left side.

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