Posted in ashtanga yoga on 03/21/2007 08:18 am by karen
When I got to practice today, Volleyball Guy was in the hallway. Mentioned that he will be out of town for two weeks, leaving at the end of next week. And next week, instead of a Monday / Wednesday / Friday schedule, it’ll be Tuesday and Thursday. I told him that I would be in NYC at the end of next week, so will only see him on Tuesday.
“And when you get back from your vacation, Mysore is back to Monday / Wednesday / Friday?”
No. Apparently not. Just Tuesday and Thursday. Not enough people to make three days worthwhile, I guess.
Obviously, this gave me some things to think about during practice.
1) Why do I feel abandoned?
2) Maybe I can get more people to practice Ashtanga.
3) Other cities can support Mysore practices — where are the Phoenix Ashtangis?
4) Hey, now I can drink coffee before practice, because if I’m mostly practicing at home, I can feel sick during backbends, and if I barf, well, I’ll be at home.
5) I wonder if this is all very discouraging to Volleyball Guy.
6) Why do I feel abandoned?
7) Why am I so wound up about this?
I spent a good bit of time thinking about whether this turn of events is good or bad. I knew we had the Volleyball Guy vacation time coming up, and I was ready for home practice. But changing the Mysore schedule is something else again. I have a weird attachment / detachment thing with Mysore practice: just driving over today, I was thinking how good it’d be if we could have it six days a week. On the other hand, when I am off from regular Mysore practice, I really get into home practice, and it can be hard to go back.
In the end, I just told myself that I’m gonna have to wait and see what happens with all of this. It’s not like I don’t have my marching papers: primary and then intermediate to supta vajrasana. Five times a week. And on the sixth, primary.
Not like that isn’t enough to keep me busy.
I do, though, like to have Volleyball Guy around for moral support.
03/21/2007 at 4:44 pm
I often catch myself making idealistic plans like “yes, thursday night class is perfect…I will always hit it from now on” or “from now on I will always practice poses x, y and z” only to remember that circumstances always get in the way. I guess it’s the root desire for permanence in an ever-changing world.
It sucks when a good streak comes to an end, but they always do. The key, as usual, is just to keep on keepin’ on each and every morning. You do a great job with that. The rest is just monkey mind in action!
Either way, sorry for your loss.
03/21/2007 at 7:08 pm
Check to see how many of you feel the same way. What commitments might you/others be willing to make to keep three days of teaching? Or might people want a group practice, without a teacher?
03/23/2007 at 5:07 am
C: I’m a planner and a scheduler, too. It’s my automatic response to anything. In part from being a single working Mom for years and years. That was the only way to get work and home and leisure and school all synched up. Also the desire for permanence, of course! Now that I have fewer responsibilities, I am trying to lay off the hyper-planning a bit. The yoga helps.
T: Some talking is going on. Interesting to hear what people think and what they wish.