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Main sensation in practice today was burny pain on my kneepoints. Kneepoints? You know when you do ustrasana or kapotasana, there’s that perfect point where you balance on your kneecaps? Yeah, well, that’s the same place where you blister and tear off your skin when you decide to wash all the tile floors in your house by hand on Saturday. Meaning: on your hands and knees with a bucket and a cloth.

Duh, right? I didn’t even think about it. But at the end of my chore I had gleaming floors and torn up knees.

So that was fun. Ustrasana and kapotasana. Ow. Bakasana. Surprise! Now JUMP into bakasana! LOL. The left knee blister broke and the skin came off yesterday. This morning, the right knee skin came loose after kapotasana. I tore the flap off and looked at it. Thought about setting it next to my mat, so as not to disturb the flow of my meditation (I’m laughing as I write this, BTW) but decided it was worth a trip out of the room and to the trash bucket.

Oh, and did I mention that I used the hedge clippers, too, on Saturday? And that the result is crazy tight forearms and claw hands? Great for all the extra handstand work MM wants me to do lately.

Okay, so myths. The myth for today is that handstands adversely impact backbending. As you know, from all my whining, I am not a natural backbender. I’ve worked for every millimeter of bend that I get. I’ve avoided handstands like the plague for years. Still, MM put me on a handstand and dropback regimen, and Ana Forrest sessions go right there, too.

Of course I figured kapotasana would suck suck suck this morning, due to faulty knees and overworked shoulders. But no! There is actual real progress. (Imagine!!) MM can now reliably guide my hands past my toes and onto the soles (just a little bit of the soles, but still!) and I can pretty much keep them there when he shifts his hands to press down on my elbows. Previously, he’s gotten me to my toes and let go, at which point my hands flew away from my feet and my elbows sprang into the air.

“Progress!” he said today, after kapo. Indeed. I really appreciate his patience. And I wonder if he’s secretly thinking, “God, about time!”