Drips from the Mat

Hello y'all.

I wanted to share another of my wee little revelations. First, let me say that most of my "aha" moments of late have simply been me finally hearing what it is that Katey or Josh (or Rick or whomever) has been saying all along. The quip that's sinking in to my stubborn mind-body over the past week goes something like this:

"...and flow. Remember, vinyasa is your time, move with your own breath. A single inhale or exhale for each move of the flow."

Well, I've been experimenting with this and taking my vinyasas, especially the early ones, really really slow. In part, that's because at the beginning of practice, my breath isn't huffing and puffing yet, so moving honestly with my breath means my vinyasa is going to be slow. Another reason is that as class continues, tapas builds and I start breathing harder, if I've already committed to nice slow vinyasas, I maintain better control of my breath for more of the class (near the end of the standing series, I'm still gasping, but I'm gasping mindfully). Ultimately, using vinyasa to slow my practice down - instead of it being the part that makes flow yoga so intense - allows me to come into the subsequent poses or sequences with greater reserves of energy and breath.

Yes, no, maybe?

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On another note, I wanted to say that I had a sort of peak moment in class yesterday, even though I was squished up in balasana while others were practicing.

Let me set the scene: Ustrasana (camel). Ashtanga Heidi is right in front of me, looking pretty good (uh, I mean her form...I mean her YOGA form!). She has her hands on her heels, strong legs, nice arching back...a really good camel pose. Then, sensing opportunity for growth, in sweeps Katey. She works some serious voodoo, places a hand on Heidi's heart and one on her back (something like that) and leads Heidi, layer by layer, deeper into the pose. By the end of it, Heidi's head was almost resting on the bottoms of her feet.

I have no idea if either of them were in magic yoga land like I was (I'm in child pose at this point, mind you), but I have to say it was like a flower not knowing what to do next until the sunlit strikes its closed petals - and voilá! A blooming.

Thank you both for that!

Z
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PS - Costco on Dimond has the VitaMix in right now, as they do twice a year. It's spendy, but certainly the most treasured appliance in my kitchen. From fresh juice to fresh ground flour, it's like the blender from hell. Also, Freddies has that coconut water everyone's been drinking - $3 for a good-size carton in the nat. foods section.