The Journey of my practice

Friday at last. Practised last night, though no flow and little energy, hopefully my body will be more happy to vinyasa at tonights counted practice. There are too many people around with colds, am trying to avoid them, I really dont want the lurgy after the growling guts and shoulder problems. I just want to feel better and practice for the 3 weeks up to Christmas. 

Its going to be a manic weekend, practice tonight, running the travel stuff, then I plan, if the weather is OK to visit the Christmas Fayre in Hyde Park tomorrow night. But really I would just settle for feeling ok and doing Urdva Dhanurasana.

Roll on 4pm

My stomach is gradually getting there, it only looks 2 months pregnant now. This is the worst bout of IBS since about mid May. Things had been going so well avoiding the wheat and stuff. Practice this evening helped, though good job it was in private, windasana if you know what I mean!

I practised through to Navasana. It went well, the standing postures were open and relatively easy. Seated as expected a bit more problematic with the dodgy knees and shoulder. I avoided jumping through on the vinyasas, though having a nice flow I had to pull myself up a few times, otherwise it would have been automatic to do it. I managed Urdva Dhanurasana twice, carefully, so decided to book my space for Friday night.

Afterwards I can feel strange lumpy gristly bits in my shoulderblade, but at least its not painful, though I am wincing at the prospect of my appointment with massage therapist Cristina, she is going to have a field day with her strong thumbs and pointy elbows sorting it out. ooowwwwww

17 more working days after today, then its holiday time. I partly chose the hotel I’m staying at on the basis that it had  a well equipped gym, with sauna etc where I could do practice, but I am beginning to wonder if my holiday is not really an opportunity to rest my body, have a week off practice and let it repair itself. Stomach is still griping and shoulder is intermittently uncomfortable. There are only 3 more Friday night Counted’s to go and I dont want to miss them, they are so important.

I will practice tonight and see what happens.

Despite my swollen stomach, I just had to do some practice, so began with some easy Surya A’s and the rest of standing.

Seated up to Marichyasana A, with the odd vinyasa, so as not to upset my shoulder too much.

I did some backbends, mainly because I find opening the front of my body helps internally, Ustrasana and Laghu Vajrasana, then I tried one extremely careful Urdva Dhanurasana.

I always feel better for having done practice. Today my stomach though not happy is improving. My shoulder is OK except when I sneeze, its just so incredibly painful when I do. Cristina is away so cannot get her healing hands on me until the following weekend.

Strange day, swollen stomach again on a Monday, its got to be something I eat at the weekends, it cant just be the thought of an another stress/shit filled week at work. I want to do some kind of practice to see if it will help my guts, but after my shoulder having an oki doki day, as I sit here, its getting tighter and a bit uncomfortable, as if its saying “Oh no you don’t”.

I got my first Christmas card today, mind you it had come all the way from Canada, suppose its getting to the point of buying some and sending some before the lines at the Post Office get too long. Nokia seem to keep putting back the UK release of my new toy so I suppose I will just have to play with my Racing Frog instead!

I woke to find my shoulder still unhappy along with a crick in my neck on the same side, mind you I had slept for 10 ten hours without moving much.

The weekend is the one time when I have time to do practice, without it being a rush, so I am loathe not to practice, even when not exactly fully fit, not that I ever seem to be lately, one poxy niggling thing after another. Did hanging standing forward bends to stretch the hamstrings, and just 4 x Surya A’s, my dodgy shoulder hates updog. Standing are OK, quite open, even managed Utita Padangusthasana. My shoulder though having full movement was not keen on Utkatasana or Virabadrasana A, and a very careful vinyasa to seated.

Although I dearly love the Friday night counted practice for its flow and focus, its quite quick and I notice that my postures are far better when I have time to gently get into them. Ardha Baddha Padme Paschimot is a case in point, Friday’s my knees barely allow my foot onto the thigh, where as today, although I am still a good 2 or 3 inches from a bind, taking my time I can get my foot far more into the lotus. The same with Janusirsasana A & B. And then into Marichyasana A, B & C, I know its not a pipe dream to think that if I had access to a regular Mysore style practice I would progress. I had to abandon Kurmasana, my shoulder was not having that one, but it gave me more time to play with Baddha Konasana, my knees are flat, why wont my torso hinge forward?

Having a thicker mat at home also aids some postures, particularly Navasana and Ubhaya Padang’, my sit bones are able to be level, which they never manage on a hard floor with a thin mat, Navasana never feels as hard at home as it does at the Shala.

Closing, today for fun I tried Pasasana, I have the twist, but my fingers will need a GPS to each other. I knew Urdva Dhanurasana was off the menu today, so did Ustrasana and Supta Vajrasana for backbending. Also with my neck crick I missed Sirsasana.

A compassionate practice with bits missed out has to be better than a full practice that could easily bring further pain and misery.

My shoulder is more achy than painful, but if I move sharply or do something without thinking it hurts. But at least its Saturday, the traditional day off and Full moon as well, so no reason to feel bad as my mat looks at me from across the room. Hopefully I will be able to do some kind of practice tomorrow.

Not a wasted day though, our local cinema re-opened a year or so ago, but its tiny compared to the giant multiplex screens in bigger places. But its a beautiful 1930’s building, I remember coming as a child to see Disney films, it closed in the mid 80’s becoming a bingo joint and was finally going to be turned into posh flats. Then it was saved, and after years of work its art deco interior was restored. We don’t get new films until they have been around a while and even then its a job to get a ticket, one because they have an expensive membership scheme, whose members get first dabs on the tickets and two they also NEVER EVER answer the phone and take bookings, three you cannot book online either. So when I spotted “Rendition” was having a 2 night stand I went down this morning and managed to get a ticket, the tickets are hand written! Its only the third time I have managed to get a ticket. The first time I went not long after its opening, Hagen Das had given them a fridge full of ice cream, they sent someone down the supermarket to find out how much they were supposed to sell it for! The guy who owns it even comes on stage to introduce the film. Bring on the popcorn!

Rest of the day spent resting and researching my trip to China at Christmas, looks like I will have lots to see and do, I cant wait to have a go on the Maglev rail system and the complete opposite, have a leisurely cruise up the Huangpu River

Another freezing cold evening in south London last night, thankfully the heating was already on in the Shala ready for practice. Before we started we were talking about how practice never seems to get any easier, some postures are as impossible now as they were when I first tried them and how sometimes practice leaves me shattered, not energised. Easter said maybe I should do another practice sometimes, instead of ploughing through the series. Though I cannot think of anything else that would engage me physically, mentally and to some degree spiritually in the way that ashtanga does. Even when its been to my mind a “bad” practice, mentally afterwards I am glad I did it and feel better for it.

Standing poses were ok last night up to Utita Padangusthasana, I couldn’t get my balance on the first side and was only marginally better on the second, though there was a bit of a domino effect around the room.

Seated were a little better, my knee gets into the Janursirsasana A & B more comfortably lately, C was described in the first paragraph, its never going to happen. Mari  A & C I enjoy doing and bind quite easily. OH but B, well my knees don’t like that one or D for that matter. I did manage Mari B on the first side, but I just knew it wasn’t worth the pain on the second. I have begun to notice spots and bruises on my upper arms, I think this is down to getting more deeply into Kurmasana and Supta K, and Titibhasana where I am gripping my upper arms with my legs.

Then it all turned to crap, Urdva Dhanurasana number 1 was fine, as I pushed up for the second one my right shoulder blade screamed in pain, there was no warning, I thought it was all ok after the problem a couple of weeks ago. I muddled my way through to the end of practice, including getting to the count of 17 in Sirsasana, but it became about getting to Savasana. Its not how I wanted practice to end.

I spent the journey home trying to massage my shoulder and keep it moving, god knows what the other passengers were thinking. Today its not as bad as it was the other week, so I am hoping that I caught it in time and the recovery will be easier. But I couldnt see the point of paying out to enter the Yoga Show today and not be able to do the workshops, so am home in the warm, wondering when to risk doing practice again.

The sun is shining, there are another 3 hours to go, then its off to practice, sanity and happiness. Last night I was tight, I did the postures, but none of them had much freedom. But with luck it was enough to give me a nice practice this evening.

Still not sure about the yoga show, £10 to get in seems a bit of a rip off, knowing from experience how much stand holders pay to the venues for their places. But yoga is popular now, so I suppose they charge what they think they can get.

So England soccer fans are in mourning, the team blew a heaven sent opportunity to qualify for next summers Euro finals, by contriving to lose at home to Croatia last night. But some good may come of it, as by 9am this morning coach Mclaren had at last been fired, now please please please can we have Jose Mourinho as manager.

My stomach seems to have settled at last, so hopefully tonight I will get to do practice and will open myself up sufficiently for tomorrow nights Counted. I see the Shala has a snazzy new orange website. Perhaps I will get a snazzy new posture, or then again perhaps not…