Day 4

I am pleased to announce I did not need the crane to help me out of bed this morning.

Today was another solo practice: the assigned 10 Sun Salutations with the 3 ending poses. Sadly, it's only Sun Salutation A and doesn't even include B. <sigh> I'd be more impatient except I can feel the effects of this truncated practice on my lumpy, inflexible body.

This is not my first flirt with yoga. When I was in my 20's, I practiced using Karin Zebroff's yoga books, but every pose came so easily (including headstands, handstands, and bridges), I thought there was no point. The joke's on me. 

Seven months ago, I signed up for a beginner's yoga class and have been practicing ever since. Unfortunately, I haven't figured out how to encompass yoga in my lifestyle when I travel, so there have been notable gaps.

I came to Ashtanga in a roundabout way. By nature, I am a researcher. When I started the beginner's class, I promptly overwhelmed myself with books about yoga from the library. During that first gorging of information, I discovered the various schools of yoga and became smitten with ashtanga. I loved the idea of flowing poses, always in the same order. However, I was terribly intimidated by the sheer physical strength and agility needed to do some of the poses (this from a woman who can't touch her forehead to her knees in a foreward bend), so I shied away. But the idea wouldn't go away. Finally I decided to just go for it. So I am.

Tomorrow is my second Mysore class.