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Last night, Tyler ate a stick of butter The Cop put on a low table. All night he barked and moaned and rolled around in his crate like he was possessed by the devil.

I was pretty tired this morning.

At which point, I read from the Yoga Sutras:

Postures must have the two qualities of firmness and ease.

Gregor Maehle comments:

If the field of perception is filled with pain, the mind will be distracted. Patanjali’s definition of posture as ease automatically eliminates that which causes pain. If you are in a pose and experience pain you will not be at ease.

The widespread tendency in modern yoga to practice the poses in such a way that they hurt leads to being preoccupied with the body. This is by definition not yoga asana.

According to scripture, in asana the limbs have to be placed in a pleasant and steady positioning so as not to interfere with the yogi’s concentration. The inner breath (prana) is then arrested and moved into the central channel (sushumna). Sushumna will eat time, and the fluctuations of the mind will be arrested. Meditation on Brahman will then arise.

Asana is thus a preparation for samadhi, whereas practices that lead to pain will increase the bond between the phenomenal self and the body, which in itself is the yogic definition of suffering.

***

A little crim practice first thing this morning, using a DVD by Gabriella Giubilaro.

Lovely. And yes, crim week includes crim confessions: I love, love, love! asana without vinyasa.

Ardha chandrasana, always one of my favorite poses, was included today. On the right side, there was a delicate, whispery click click click, which adjusted and relieved the T12 hot spot.

***

At 10, I left the office and headed over to the nearby Anusara studio. Was looking forward to seeing my very first teacher, who owned the studio until recently. He’s been traveling and teaching so much that he sold it, though he still teaches there.

Unfortunately, he had a sub today. The sub was a lovely woman with a nervous, inner monolog leak. Inner monolog leaks aren’t my favorite thing, but whatever — we were just hanging out doing yoga. But it did occur to me that this particular nervous tic is verboten in corporate America –- a career killer, if you’re interested in climbing the ladder. I’m kind of curious about why that is. Too much naked humanity, perhaps.

We goofed around with Paryankasana (which I love), and some shoulder openers. Stood lined up a foot from the mirror for some shoulder awareness. Um, I look like a linebacker – all muscular (and I’ve lost LOTS of muscle since I switched from weights to ashtanga!). Anyhow, I look hulking compared to the others.

Interestingly, I imagined I’d be a stiff hulk compared to the Anusarans – but as it turns out, Ashtanga really makes you flexy.

Trikonasana without grabbing the toes. God, that feels weird! Virasana and supta virasana stuff. Pincha mayurasana variations. Hanumanasana variations.

Nice, all of it.

When My First Teacher teaches this particular class, which is an improv, hang-out-and-do-some-fun-poses class, he tends toward the esoteric. But this was a nice re-introduction.

***

Thanks all, for ongoing suggestions of crim practices. Keep ‘em coming. Maybe I’ll make a compilation of criminality.

It’s worth noting, I think, that the vast majority of the criminality is coming from men. What’s up with that?