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Past couple of days, every so often I’d think, Gosh, I’m looking forward to the retreat on Saturday, but HOW will I stay awake?

Ever since I started practicing Ashtanga a year and a half ago, I’ve pretty much been sleep-deprived. It really is the only down side that I can see to my practice.

I hate hate hate falling asleep during sitting. It’s reminiscent of falling asleep during classes in high school or college. You SO don’t want to, and yet there you go…drifting off into nee-nee-na-na-land.

I woke this morning at the sound of The Cop’s car alarm beep as he locked his car in the driveway. Uh oh, he’s home really early — I hope everything’s okay, I thought. He doesn’t usually get home from a shift until after I get back from Mysore practice. Ohhhhh, wait a minute. I vaguely remember turning off the alarm clock…

So I’ve had my first practice over-sleep since I started practicing Ashtanga. How convenient that I wrote just yesterday about the inevitability of failure

But wait. When I surfed over to Ashtangi.net, I saw mention on KJS’s blog of the Moon Day. Woohoo! Absolved by the universe!

I still need to get a nap in later and try to get to bed early. Still, no way I can catch up on 18 months of too little sleep before tomorrow.

Luckily, the retreat is a one day deal, and we start at 5:30. When Roshi is here, practice starts at 3 AM and goes ’til 9 PM over the course of a number of days. Yikes. Tomorrow’s a one day 5:30 – 5:00 schedule. The easy, informal schedule. I’ve not sat all day since I started practicing Ashtanga, and I am so curious to see how asana practice will affect zazen.

Happy Moon Day to all. Whether you’re conscious of it or not.