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Pec pain. Last night, The Cop laughed at me and said, “It’s Karen logic: ‘Oh, my shoulder can’t rotate in either direction, but that’s okay, because my chest is opening!’”

Today I really did back off. I think.

Put the consciousness in my legs and moola bandha and set off. Practice was good, though the pec was pretty achey for the second half of primary.

Got to urdhva dhanurasana and collected my prize for being good: I’ve been pushing and pushing to get my hands closer to my feet, my chest more open, etc. Tightening the bow, basically. Today I went with a looser bow, a backing off, and in it, I found a super lightness in my arms. All of the energy/weight was in my legs and moola bandha, and my hands are starting to come up off the floor a bit. A new kind of counterbalance. Wouldn’t have found it if I’d been working harder.

So I’ll play with light and loose for a while.

And then go back to tightening the bow.

Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

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From Moola Bandha: The Master Key:

The yamas were designed to harmonize one’s social interactions, while niyamas were intended to harmonize one’s feelings. Together the yamas and niyamas were taught in order to reduce friction between one’s outer actions and inner attitudes.

This is a really interesting book. I totally didn’t get it the first time I read it. Important to keep going back to the things you can’t understand…

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Thanks for the suggestion about lying over the blocks, Arturo. I didn’t have time this morning (yes, another early meeting!) but will try it later. A good way to keep the muscles open without putting too much stress on them.