The Venkatesh arches: If I stray at all from a still mind, waiting-for-it-to-be-over comes crashing in. And waiting-for-it-to-be-over (enduring) is something I am actually quite good at. I can push myself to do anything. But that’s driven by my mind, and a side effect of it is that I tense my body to get through it. Essentially, I “steel” myself. This has been an excellent strategy for getting lots of things done that needed to get done in life, lots of things I didn’t necessarily think I could do. But it has its disadvantages, e.g., diminished flexibility. And that plays out both physically AND mentally.
So this current practice is interesting. It would be easy to turn it into an endurance event, but that would negate its very purpose, which is to increase flexibility. The only way to make it work is to stay intensely grounded in each moment. And, hilariously, the practice involves standing on my feet, hands overhead, bending back. What more tempting posture for a vata to fly away?
The arches push stress up into the thoracic/chest. It gets really intense, like an anechoic chamber. I can hear my own heartbeat, the image in my mind is a hyperfocused visualization of the inside of my own mouth.
Trippy.
Data: Left QL is tight. Left psoas is tight. This is deep tightness — the kind that is about how I hold myself in real life, about how I am structured as an individual. I’ve certainly been aware of this structural “knot” for a while, but this week it is in much sharper focus, due to the alternate practice.
***
Waylon’s a Luddite. His breeder had outdoor kennels, and I don’t think the dogs ever went in the house. Which means Waylon was raised by wolves. Which also means he is good at being a dog: he loves to interact with people and dogs. But he’s not so good with modern or mechanical tools and technology.
The first day he was home, he didn’t want to have anything to do with the house. He was happy to stay out in the yard and goof around. The house totally wigged him out: I understand, because we have tile floors and high ceilings and minimal decorations, so the noise in the house is loud and it echoes. And the television? Forget it! Clearly the work of the devil. Also the refrigerator and the dishwasher and the washing machine and dryer. Oh, and the blender. And the blow dryer.
And the noise in the bathroom when the water is running in the bath tub! I did give him one bath, which was not fun for anyone. Over the past three weeks, he’s settled in. I can make smoothies in the morning again, now that he’s less freaked out. He seems to be getting past that scared puppy stage. Still, I’m not so sure about the bath thing. The Cop and I are going to visit my parents for Easter tomorrow. My Gift will come down for dinner, and my sister and her girlfriend are here from San Diego. They bring their young dog when they visit, so we’ll be bringing Waylon to meet everyone.
I thought about the visit last night. A holiday bath for Waylon seemed in order, but I felt concerned about setting him back, emotionally. He’d finally started calming down, and maybe a bath wouldn’t be the best way to reinforce his sense of security. He has been looking kind of worse for wear, though. He’s white, after all, and he likes to roll in the gravel and skid through the grass.
This morning, we woke to rain in the desert. I went outside with Waylon and he ran through the rain, cheerfully pawing at it and running with his head in the air as he sniffed the rainy breezes, and drinking every single puddle he could find. I wonder if rainwater puddles were a special treat in the outdoor kennels. Though the rain isn’t heavy enough to really clean him, his coat did come out looking spiffed up a bit.
For now, I guess he will be cleaned by being put out in the rain every now and again. And maybe a washcloth on his face for as long as he’s small enough for me to wrestle to the ground.
— to see if steroids before oral surgery is the new protocol. I was kind of afraid that maybe The Cop’s doctor was some wacko renegade practitioner. But as it turns out, the use of steroids before and after surgery wasn’t out of the ordinary. Once I saw that, I was just curious to see if they made any difference to the outcome.
