I slept in this morning and went for a long walk with the dog instead of skating. Zamboni Guy does extra maintenance on Fridays, which takes more time, which means less ice time for me. So more and more often I'm opting out of going at all. I really miss my long walks in the park. Today, it was pleasant out temperature-wise and the path wasn't so icy.
Of course, this threw my entire schedule off and I ended up doing my practice in the evening. Once again, I found myself deeply connecting with my breath. This is so reassuring because after I had that upper respiratory infection a few weeks ago, I found it difficult to find my breath again.
I moved steadily through the series today, focused and not a lot of dawdling. After Bhujipadasana, I veered off on a tangent: Bakasana. I haven't done Bakasana since I stopped using the Beryl Bender Birch 'Power Yoga' DVD. On the DVD, she includes Bakasana in the Primary Series, even though it's not introduced in traditional Ashtanga Yoga until the Intermediate Series.
Bakasana has always been one of those poses that I can occasionally do, although very badly and wish I could do better.
Today, my Bakasana was unrecognisable! I should take a photo.
First of all, coming into it was smooth and uncomplicated. My knees were up near my shoulders and I was able to straighten my arms. And I just hung out there, clawing my fingers into the mat like my teacher always told me to do (but the advice never made sense to me at the time), perfectly stable and balanced.
It's mysterious...this is a pose that I haven't even been practising, yet here it is, improved.
It's like magic, except it isn't magic: I've worked hard to build strength and flexibility. This is the practice, working. This is the 'all' in “practice and all is coming.”
But I'm still amazed!
No comments:
Post a Comment