Day 138

I think my practice was the most important thing I did today - I really needed it. When I stepped onto the mat, I felt like my spirit was soaking up yoga like a sponge. I had a fantastic, focused practice and I worked very, very hard.

I'm really determined to get my jump-through and I'm so very, very close. I think it's a matter of upper body strength and muscle memory.

This morning, I decided to really work the upper body strength by adding a push up to all my vinyasas. After Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, I lower back into Chaturanga Dandasana and then push back up to plank before going into Adho Mukha Svanasana. I did this for the five Surya Namaskara A and the five Surya Namaskara B and I was sweating buckets. At one point, my arms just gave out and I was on my tummy, laughing at myself (I took a rest and continued).

I also did this in the vinyasas between seated postures and by that time, I was getting the hang of it and feeling strong. But I have a feeling that I'll be sore in the arms and shoulders tomorrow!

Garba Pindasana was much better today. With the aid of some water, my arms slipped through easily and I managed my nine rolls before coming up into Kukkutasana. Fun!

Something very interesting happened to me in Sirsasana today. I was holding the pose for 30 breaths and feeling very strong and stable, then I lowered into half-bend for five breaths, then started to raise my legs back up and...BAM!...I fell over. This has been my greatest fear about Sirsasana for years so it's amusing that when it finally happened (and this is the very first time it has!), it was totally anticlimactic. I just rolled out, set up again for the pose, and lifted my legs back up so I could exit correctly.

Backbends were good today. I'm still doing them on the Mysore rug. Today, I sprayed the rug with a mist of water to give myself some traction and held each backbend for 5 breaths, focusing on deep breathing (with varied success). I did try one dropback against the wall and it felt stronger.