492/259: Rules Pondered.

We hated Bauhaus. It was a bad time in architecture... All they had were rules. Even for knives and forks they created rules. Picasso would never have accepted rules. The house is like a machine? No! The mechanical is ugly. The rule is the worst thing. You just want to break it.

Oscar Niemeyer.

* * *

Why do we push the boundaries? Over time, the chance of radical breakthroughs seems to increase as rules and their nuances are simply and slowly explored. The "rules" in place are pushed to the limits and ultimately broken - but concurrent to the exploration/deconstruction a new structure comes into formation. So, really, the original structure doesn't completely disappear - pieces remain.

Each successive pose feeds another - how they all link together - how opening/strength in one assists multiple other poses down the sequence. But can and usually does deepen expression in earlier poses.

There's truly a lot of depth to Primary.


To be honest, I'm not the biggest fan Intermediate yet.
There I said it.

Back on 10.28 D added parsva dhanurasana, ustrasana, and laghu vajrasna to my practice. I was ok having through dhanruasana. Prior to that, it didn't really "feel" like I "had" a second series - those first poses seemed more like an amuse-bouche.

Don't get me wrong I think parsva dhanurasana is quite enjoyable, while laghu vajrasna is pleasantly kicking my butt - or more specifically the rectus femoris, satoris, and would venture the tensor fasciae latae (thank you AP Bio anatomy textbook). From Primary, lolasana and bhuja pindasana are still slightly enigmatic to me. But, Intermediate seems to be doing amazing things for my backbending - Simply? Wow.


As I type this, I think - maybe it is the rules and their nuance that are close to the core of the beauty of this system.
As a result, there's hope for Intermediate.

After all, Niemeyer works in concrete with grids and structure - just with a different perspective on the rules.

Where'd October (!?) go?

I could have sworn that it was just September.
So much to do and in what seems to be so little time.

I this past weekend I had a moment to pause. In that moment I realized that this is the first time in a few years that I really don't have more than a nebulous idea of the 5/10/15 year plans. It's a little unnerving - choice does not necessarily create freedom, nor does freedom create choice. Maybe it boils down to the simple idea that we do what we have to do to get where we're ultimately going.

I look at the Mathematician and the Artist both who work really hard - independently and together - leading what T.R. would call a strenuous life, others would call it dharma and sometimes I wonder if they are happy or if they are content. I decide that it's contentment with highlights of happiness.

Is it contentment that is the ultimate "goal?"

One thing that I'm certain of, I'm not content to ever settle. Settling seems almost like a concession. Not saying going off the deep end always striving to the point of obsession for something more or better, but to steadily keep moving forward, deeper into knowledge and life and all that going along with it - feeding off the world at large, both the pains and joys.


Sure it's work, but it's work that is all worthwhile.

* * *

My practice has been changing a lot recently, to fit the recent rigors of the work that pays my bills. I've spent multiple evenings in Iyengar classes, mornings or evenings practicing on my own and slowly getting back on the Ashtanga wagon at AYC. It comes and goes in fits and spurts. My writing, photography, sketching, baking and everything else has been back burnered and days have pretty much been simplified to work, sleep, yoga, and food. Not necessarily in that order, but close.

But isn't life always in dynamic equilibrium?
The pendulum will soon swing back to Ashtanga.

On the heels of 30...

...so to speak.

Question 7: Coincidence?

Pseudonyms aside for the moment, if the next tropical depression/hurricane to hit the area is named Kevin - I think I might have to seriously examine the whole Universe concept...

When the "hurricanes" that have hit DC, two weekends in a row, are 2 for 2 in terms of chronological ex-multiple-date namesakes - one can't help but to begin to wonder.

The Results Are In...

Possibly not so surprisingly, I had more of a reaction to the tape that I used to apply the mat pieces to my skin than either my Manduka eKo, Manduka PurpleLite, or Jade Harmony mat.

Excellent news on the practice front. Not so excellent on the figuring out the cause of the eczema/hives. However, at this moment, things are the clearest they've been in a while.





So steady as she goes for a while as I try to hop back onto the Ashtanga wagon, not that I haven't enjoyed my three week foray into Iyengar and attempting to practice on my own. Which I did learn a whole lot - but it was so nice to be back to AYC this morning. Got a halfway decent primary in (skipping garba pindasana and kukkutasana) but really don't feel as though I'm starting back at square one - maybe more like a few steps back.

Like everything it seems, it is just going to take some patience.

My mind was wandering today and started thinking about a comment I had left on a friend from AYC's blog - Nairam - what seems like ages ago.

Dug it up...


For me, the pain, anger, sadness, loss that go along with my grief will still bathe me in waves at times – although form it takes has changed over time. There is a beautiful catharsis that occurs and the process in and of itself is a beautiful and necessary one. Like practice, like moving through the primary series for the first time, it is about having patience and faith in those around you and even more in yourself. Also, realizing that you have the strength to have the courage to learn what is best for you.

~ July 30, 2008 at 2:06 pm



I'm not going to say that it is at all easy.
Maybe I needed to remind myself of that.



Om Namah Shivayah.

Wild and Crazy Thought.

Recently haven't quite been making it to morning practice, let alone my mat with as much frequency as I would like. I stubbornly made my way to practice this past Sunday morning to be beaten into submission yet again - stopping myself at Mari-A.

Obviously - an Ashtanga practice is aggravating the hives/eczema that have covered my arms, legs and face. Too much heat generated. I was more than a little pissed off at my body, at all of what's going on. Between D and Spirited C I have a bunch of recommendations of cooling and restorative postures that I can do - which is good.

So no Ashtanga for me until this all clears up.
grumble. grumble.


After yet another visit to the allergist, my back was taped up with a 48 hour patch test - showed nothing. Both very positive, and negative - such is the dualist nature of some things.

Then yesterday morning, sitting in mediation (b/c I'm still waking at 4:45 am), I had this wild and crazy thought.
Could it be my mat?


I use it on a fairly regular almost daily basis. And I just got a new eKo to replace my original one that blistered! So at my allergist's recommendation (and after getting a good shower in, learned over these past couple days that I am not a bath person) I'll be taping a discreet corner of my mat to my body to do a homemade patch test.

If it is the mat...
Short of covering it with a yogitoes or Mysore blanket - does anyone have any recommendations?