Yoga in the Moment

So life is full of moments right? Well the really great moments in yoga, for me, are when I make a discovery, either in my practice, or in my body, or in my understanding of my practice. For example, recently, I've come to the realization that the vinyasa transition from chaturanga dandasana through urdhva mukha svanasana to adho mukha svanasana is a lot smoother than I originally intended. To begin with, your legs must be lifted in upward-facing dog, so moving from chaturanga, one does not completely touch down - your stomach, hips, thighs never reach the ground, instead you transition pretty much in mid-air.

This allows for a smoother transition, and prevents you from overextending your back if you try to reach upward facing dog from the ground up. It also requires stronger core strength.

In terms of movement in my body, besides this new understanding, I've also gotten stronger, and my balance is improving, so vasisthasana has begun to enter my grasp.

Last Days of the Challenge

So the challenge didn't really work out the way I thought - in the end, I go to yoga about 4-5 days a week, lift 1 day a week, run 1-2 days a week. I feel like I ought to do a little more running, but I enjoy yoga and the social/meditation aspects much more.

I've gotten to appreciate Susan and Sabina more and more - they're both great teachers. I just wish their classes weren't so crowded! Especially Susan's. Today I brought Ray to Susan's, hers is a good class to introduce newbies to I think. Shoshana's Friday at 7am class is a great one, to start the day off with, if I can bring myself to wake up that early, that is. Haven't been to Tracy's in a while, gonna try and make it this Tuesday. I did however, treat myself to a whole bunch of new Yoga clothes... so it's time to put 'em to use!