3 - Home and Away

[Chris]

I *do* intend to establish early morning as my regular home practice time (really, this time). To help this along, I've sort of decided to do yoga first thing, even on days when I know I'll be practicing again later in the day. I hope the consistent repetition of hopping from bed to mat will become habit after a few weeks.

So today, even though it's a class day, I got up early and headed down to the dungeon (aka my lovely practice space). But since it's a class day, I took it easy and put on a favorite beginner DVD from the early days of my practice (aka last year). It reminded me of two things. First, I am still a long way from sitting in Hero pose. My knees don't want to play. Hero doesn't come up in my classes, so I sort of forget to work on it. Second, quarter-dog is still my favorite pose. It has the mechanics of downward dog, except you are on your knees and elbows. It really isolates the upper back for a wonderfully relaxing stretch. The longer I stay, the more things unwind in my back and shoulders. Delicious. Also, never done in class.

Later in the morning, I headed over to my class at the Y. My teacher was doing a special class with extra time for meditation and reflection to kick the new year off right. Since new year's resolutions are still in season, the room was absolutely packed. This particular class is the hardest one at the Y, so I felt a little bad for the folks who were trying yoga for the first time. One gent in particular was like "Good Lord, what have I gotten myself into....."

Actually, I was hurting a little, too. I was sick over the holidays, and I still felt a little weak and light-headed. Also, I hadn't been practicing. On the plus side, I got to show the new guy a) what extended child looks like, and b) that it's OK to go there from time to time.

At the end of class, we got an extra long Savasana and guided meditation. All in all, a lovely day.

[Chris]

Whoops, I was trying to link back to where the picture came from, which was About.com Yoga.

[Chris]

Hi lilalia - This is extended child:

For me, it is lovely, but more as a safe place when class gets too intense.

[lilalia]

What is an extended child? Sounds lovely; joyous, playful, and happy. A ballet teacher of mine once told me that you are finally a true dancer when you stop thinking about whether to attend classes, or whether you should take time off, and just go dancing every single opportunity you can. I never got that far, but there were times when I just "did" and stopped "arguing" about my ballet practice.

[Liz W]

I'm also trying to practise in the morning for 30 mins even if I know I'll have a longer practice later - I need to get it to the stage where it happens on autopilot, or else I know I'll fall off the wagon again! Good luck with it.

[LotusYogini]

I htink establishing the early morning habit will help me to set that internal reminder. I hope it does for you as well.
Oh my that poor guy! I hope he felt all blissed out after an returns.
I know I've had second thoughts after my first few classes, but something made me keep going.
Have a great night.