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I rarely do two posts in a day, but I just saw this GREAT quote on autumn lotus yoga blog, and I had to pass it along. I assume it’s from Ana Forrest, since the blogger is a Forrest yoga teacher. Anyhow, sorry for the rip-off, E — but this is something good for the Ashtangis, too!

Ah, quote — why do I love thee? Well, mostly ’cause you’re pragmatic and straightforward. You remind me that all of the whining we do about poses is really about US. All of the fear we feel? The desire? The hatred? The shame? The pleasure? Yup — it’s all about us. Not about the pose. The pose is a tool. To dig into the stuff of us — whether we do it well, or badly, or fanatically, or slackerishly. All of it is just part of the excavation effort. Whether we want the pose, or don’t want the pose. Whether we idolize the teacher, or hate the teacher, or beseech the teacher, or reject the teacher.

None of that matters. ‘Cause the pose is just the pose. A tool. Like a hammer or a shovel. Do with it what you will. But if you make it into an emotional issue or a physical issue or a psychological issue, at least recognize that it is an issue of your own making. ‘Cause the pose is a tool, not an issue.

Mmmm. Had one of those practices that feels GREAT from start to finish. Even the so-called “pain” (i.e., the stretchy place).

I can tell when I’m gonna have that kind of day when I’m in hanumansana and the back leg hip flexor stretch feels like the best thing ever. And then the lying flat in ardho mukha hanumanasana feels even better.

Basically, when I have no physical or emotional resistances in those poses, which are early on in the standing series, I know body and mind are ready for a great practice.

***

Okay, so there were comments about my observation that MM keeps me in kapotasana for a reaaaaally long time. Got to wondering if I’d exaggerated. “Hey, that’ll be fun,” I thought, “I’ll count to see if I was accurate!” Then I thought about how my breath is usually quicker in kapotasana, and how that might have skewed my numbers. “I’ll breathe slower! That’ll be fun.” (Yes, geekish. I know.)

Kapo came around today, MM was promptly at my mat, waiting for the big assist. He helped me find the balls of my feet, then pressed down on my elbows as I tried to take longer breaths. And then I counted.

Kapo A = 22 breaths
Kapo B = 9 breaths

Thanks for the game, you guys. I think I’ll start amusing myself with tracking the number of breaths in kapo.

***

Right shoulder is getting better. Candice has been working her (painful! but healing) magic. She thinks it was a tight pec that kind of pulled the trapezius out of whack. Whatever it was, though, it’s going away. No pain in the right side of eka pada, and I managed tittibhasana C, which was off the menu for the past few weeks ’cause it hurt like hell.

Mukha hasta sirsasana C continues to taunt me in the shala. Wobbly as ever this morning. The rest of the deadlies, though, were great fun.