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Led primary yesterday. There doesn’t seem to be any overlap between Mysore and led class — totally different people. And yes, I’ll admit it: in the few minutes that we sit outside waiting for the class before us to leave, I usually end up not liking everyone around me. Actually, that’s too harsh. I don’t care for the general atmosphere of the studio on a Saturday at 10 AM. I prefer the “everyone wanders in on their own and doesn’t say much to anyone else” energy of Mysore mornings. I suppose it’s possible that if all of the Mysore people sat outside and chatted ahead of practice, I’d get annoyed with that, too.

Anyhow, Saturday seems more about fashion and seeing and being seen and presenting yourself to the rest of the community, etc. Or perhaps I am just projecting.

Still, Muscle Man opened practice with a few words about practice being practice and about how people should be happy with their practices. But not too happy. Oooh, is he talking about ego and greed? Indeed he is. I love lectures about ego and greed. Seems like they aren’t mentioned enough in yoga circles. I know, it’s hard to focus on ego and greed when there are rainbows and unicorns to talk about.

I remember talking to my brother — who was a personal trainer — when he was teaching me weight training techniques. I was focused on something detail-oriented and commenting that I needed to think about it more, when he offered the following teaching (which has stayed with me to this very day): “Instead of thinking about that, maybe you should think a little about impatience and greed.”

Haha! Yes, that is very good advice in almost any situation.

So led practice was good. I practiced next to a very tall, very skinny, very flexible, very young emo guy. I was immediately aware of how wispy his breath was. He absolutely (from a physical perspective) has all the makings of a natural Ashtangi. What he’ll have to realize, though, is where energy comes from in the breath. I am frightened for him, too — because I am a vata rabbit-breather. And if I saw his breath as ethereal, he’s got some serious grounding to do.

***

It feels like the habits/tensions in my body are rising up out of me. Seriously. The tension that usually resides in the mid to upper back region is migrating upwards. There’s “stuck” energy around the collarbone area, but everything below that is transparent. It’s a very cool feeling.

At my massage yesterday, Candice kept looking for all of the usual knots — in my shoulders, in the QLs, but there was nothing to be found, even in my neck. I figured that after all the LBH work, my neck’d be a mess.

“Wow, your body feels really good,” she said as I was leaving.

“Right?” I agreed, “Yoga’s been really hard this week, but it seems to be sorting everything out.”

“Are you still putting your leg behind your head?” she asked, kind of shaking her head in disbelief. “I wouldn’t have guessed it, but it seems to be a good idea!”