Practice Notes

After a just over a week of shortened or interrupted practice sessions, I got in a complete practice today! Yay! Splitting thru Kapo, press-ups, drop-backs, handstand practice, "drop-over" practice and closing. Drop-overs is in quotes because it's mostly a kick up and then fall into urdva right now.
:-/
Flexibility is back to around 80%, strength and endurance hovering around 70% of my former self. All and all, four months out and I'd say it's not to shabby. Wanna know the secret??? Yes! Consistency! Everyday, everyday even if it is just a half an hour or I have to wait for the next nap to come around. I'm hoping to be back up to speed in July. I'm also thinking Kino at the end of May is very possible.
Who's in???

Fist Pump

Hurray-hurrah! We have a pass on the casts for at least 6 more months. Lennon still has a good bit of adduction, but the doc says his feet are still flexible enough to move back into place. No casts for now! Relief!

Tummy time success!

In the last week or so, Lennon has grown so much stronger. We can now enjoy tummy time and even play with toys. This comes as a great relief as I have come to worrying my baby had no motivation to do anything but stand and be nursed. I'm kidding of course... for the most part.

In other big news, this week we have our return visit to the ORA to check up on Lennon's feel. He was born with metatarsal adduction, which looks a lot like clubbed foot, but apparently is not. On Thursday we will find out if any casting is needed. Updates to come.

Lastly, I "fixed" the washer today by jumping in top to look at the back. I'm officially a super-mom.

You get what you ask for

What does an Ashtanga mamma get when she adds 30-60 minutes of walking to her routine??? Unhappy hamstrings. Gah!

And another thing...

Last week we hosted a student conference at the studio. It's a time for students to ask questions about the practice or how we teach. We had some especially good questions and I've continued to think about them over the last few days.
One student asked or commented on how she can't practice at 100% all the time. Clearly that's not possible and it's one of the most powerful and uncomfortable parts of this practice.

In ashtanga, the practitioner does the same sequence with some small variations nearly every day. Since the practice doesn't change, it makes day to day sensation more apparent. What you find is that you don't always finish with the happy go-lucky feeling we associate with today's yoga. This is part of Astanga's power; to shine a light on how things truly are. And perhaps it's the closest thing to being present and aware we feel each day.

Back to the question from conference. First, being able to accept yourself at less that "100%" is quite a task. It's really difficult in fact. Second, with practice we come to realize that 100% looks different everyday. As our awareness increases we are better able to walk the line between too much and not enough. What if 100% is more about how closely you can walk that line than what each posture looks like day to day? Hmmmmmmm.....

Private Yoga and Babies

A couple times a week I do a private yoga/massage session in the morning for this super nice lady at her house. Friday night she called me and asked if I would bring Lennon along. Her granddaughter offered to mind Lennon while we worked. I wasn't sure how it would go but ended up being pleasantly surprised. I was planning to go in early, come home and then head back in for another yoga/massage session later but we worked it out so that I could take babe in a bit later and do the session then.

Lennon has been doing much better lately with being out and about, and he was on today! I was worried he would fuss during the session and I would be really distracted. No fussing!!!! The granddaughter even took L outside and walked around the yard with him. She moved really slow and was very sweet with him. I was totally at ease and it was great! I think we found a new friend for Lennon while we are at the Shala. Yay! Good Day, Sunshine!

Welcome back Ms. Mysore

This week I taught both Wednesday AND Thursday Mysore! Woot! I ended up having a massage this afternoon so E and I switched out for the night. Before Little L, this was my usual schedule, but I haven't taughtawa Thursday all winter. Man I love that class!

We have some newer folks and the regs have added some more postures. It's awesome to see more people doing drop backs, others catching new binds and people doing more in general. It's a lot to come back to, but I think I'll get the hang of it soon enough.

Here's a fun photo from Wednesday. Note the hottie in black shorts and no shirt. That's my baby daddy!