Drop backs this morning felt wonderful, spacious, light and the most free since that workshop with SD out in Charlottesville. There was so much space in my upper and lower back.
D came over for dips.
After the third dip, down and into a complete and total freak out / panic attack as D attempted to assist me into chakra bhandasana. After a little over 5 minutes in paschimottasnasana, I recovered enough to complete my finishing postures.
It's really true what others have said about heart-opening and how change manifests in this practice.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Question 4.
If I'm going to be stuck on hold with D.C. Superior Court for over 25 minutes now, why can't they play at least a palatable or vaguely tolerable version of Eine Kleine Nachtmusik - II Romance (Andante)?
Monday, March 9, 2009
Mantra Monday: Really, it's all just stuff. Nothing more. Nothing less.
When Aristophanes proclaimed himself a "Tawny-Headed-DemiGod" after completing his final push to sort and clear out the remnants of clutter from his place, I started thinking. There was a subtle change in our conversations and a lightness that surfaced which was not previously apparent.
Then I started noticing.
All the stuff that has accumulated over the last 5 + years here in DC.
I was just going to start with a box. One box.
It was that box (that probably everyone has or had at one point), filled with extraneous / superfluous cables and wires that go to nameless electronics delicately bundled like a rat's nest. My rationalization, if I needed a cable I could always go to RadioShack.
To get to the box, I had to pull* everything out of my hallway closet.
That was the closet full of crap that broke the camel's back, armed with a healthy dose of pop music and kitted out in shorts, tank-top and bandanna in my hair - I was a woman on a mission. A whirling tornado of a dervish. One and a half days, 8 garbage bags, 2 packing boxes of trash, 3 loads of laundry, and 13 cups of tea later:
I can see the floor in all of my closets.
My apartment feels fresher.
I feel much less encumbered.
I feel drained. I feel rapturous.
I'm not going to deny it, going though some stuff was hard. It never ceases to amaze me at how much emotional stock a piece of paper or a dried flower from 10 years ago or an empty chocolate tin can carry. All this stuff that we and others put weight on, place emotion and value on, really do become a burden.
Really, it's all just stuff. Nothing more. Nothing less.
On the phone with Aristophanes last night, he asked me: How does a designer know their piece is completed?
Me: Um...after...How?
Aristophanes: A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. It was Saint-Exupery who said that.
Me: (pause) Yes. I can see that now...
There's still a lot left to be done, but this all happens slowly and in it's own time -
opening the way for more experiences.
This, my friends, is only the beginning.
*pull is loosely defined as topple here.
Then I started noticing.
All the stuff that has accumulated over the last 5 + years here in DC.
I was just going to start with a box. One box.
It was that box (that probably everyone has or had at one point), filled with extraneous / superfluous cables and wires that go to nameless electronics delicately bundled like a rat's nest. My rationalization, if I needed a cable I could always go to RadioShack.
To get to the box, I had to pull* everything out of my hallway closet.
That was the closet full of crap that broke the camel's back, armed with a healthy dose of pop music and kitted out in shorts, tank-top and bandanna in my hair - I was a woman on a mission. A whirling tornado of a dervish. One and a half days, 8 garbage bags, 2 packing boxes of trash, 3 loads of laundry, and 13 cups of tea later:
I can see the floor in all of my closets.
My apartment feels fresher.
I feel much less encumbered.
I feel drained. I feel rapturous.
I'm not going to deny it, going though some stuff was hard. It never ceases to amaze me at how much emotional stock a piece of paper or a dried flower from 10 years ago or an empty chocolate tin can carry. All this stuff that we and others put weight on, place emotion and value on, really do become a burden.
Really, it's all just stuff. Nothing more. Nothing less.
On the phone with Aristophanes last night, he asked me: How does a designer know their piece is completed?
Me: Um...after...How?
Aristophanes: A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. It was Saint-Exupery who said that.
Me: (pause) Yes. I can see that now...
There's still a lot left to be done, but this all happens slowly and in it's own time -
opening the way for more experiences.
This, my friends, is only the beginning.
*pull is loosely defined as topple here.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Class# 333; AYC DC Mysore Class # 158: You might be a little tired...
...when placed into what feels to be the best supta kurmasana you've ever been in, and you find yourself dozing off.
Class# 332; Iyengar I/II #6
So. You know how standing and dropping back was a big issue?
One would generally think Iyengar yoga is supposed to be "sweet" and "gentle," largely therapeutic? Last night in my Iyengar class, Spirited C introduced me to what I currently call the Iyengar torture vinyasa of setu bandha sarvangasana to salamba sarvangasana.
I can achieve salamaba sarvangasana to setu bandha sarvangasana with only a slight lack of grace. Again, going up seems to be a problem.
Back to the mat, or drawing board, as it were...
One would generally think Iyengar yoga is supposed to be "sweet" and "gentle," largely therapeutic? Last night in my Iyengar class, Spirited C introduced me to what I currently call the Iyengar torture vinyasa of setu bandha sarvangasana to salamba sarvangasana.
I can achieve salamaba sarvangasana to setu bandha sarvangasana with only a slight lack of grace. Again, going up seems to be a problem.
Back to the mat, or drawing board, as it were...
Monday, March 2, 2009
Mantra Monday: Just go with the flow.
Life has been a bit on the busy side - painting with broad strokes, juggling work, practice, a creative artistic outlet, and a burgeoning social life. To be honest, I'm not surprised that things continue to go well. I would venture that even with today's snowfall, things are flourishing.
Amazing what happens with a little radical self-acceptance and when you hit a point of flow.
Hi. My name is Portside.
I had an inversion aversion. I had a fear of breaking the rules. I would over analyze things. I might have even forgotten how to play.
Nevermore.
Amazing what happens with a little radical self-acceptance and when you hit a point of flow.
Hi. My name is Portside.
I had an inversion aversion. I had a fear of breaking the rules. I would over analyze things. I might have even forgotten how to play.
Nevermore.
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