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Whisper, whisper, whisper. As soon as I got over to my corner of the Mysore room, MM came over to say good morning. I asked him about Mysore practice with David Swenson, which he attended yesterday (I did not — Sunday is Make Breakfast for The Cop Day at my house, and I didn’t want to miss it).

MM said the practice was good. Then we discussed the pasasana assist and the kapo assist I got. I asked him if he got an assist on those two poses, and he said yes. Woohoo! Now we can do them ourselves.

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Suzie Columbus! I saw you over in the other corner! Mysore practice is funny, ’cause it can be impossible to talk to someone if they’re working on something when you have a moment to say a word, and then you’re working on something when they have a moment. And then it’s ships passing in the night.

It is SO nice, though, to see familiar faces in the Mysore room. The Archangel was present today, on a visit from… oh, gosh, I can’t remember where he’s located these days. Have to ask again. He was in Singapore for a while there, but is now back in the states somewhere. Anyhow, it was lovely to see him, too.

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Candy cane and shoulders. Okay, so working the candy cane bend (thoracic) these days, and trying to get a grip on my shoulder situation. Yesterday when I woke up, after the super-Swenson adjustment in kapotasana, I felt really tight in my shoulders and traps. I recognize that I push stress into my shoulders and traps. Just need to figure out how to disperse that energy.

To that end, I thought about Erich Schiffmann and his shoulder sequence. And then I looked for the sequence online. Because I wanted to *hear* it. ES has a terrific voice, and I love listening to him. I guess he sounds kinda stoner hippie (“Dude!” “Sweet!), but underneath it I hear something else. And whatever it is makes my shoulders relax.

So I tracked down a video that includes the shoulder stretches, converted it to an iPhone compatible format, and edited the original 90 minutes down to 15 (just the shoulder stretches, thank you!). And now I have a strap here on my desk at work, and I can do a lunchtime shoulder stretch.

Yesterday, I did the sequence a good 4 or 5 times over the course of the day. It felt great because I was sore. But I need to integrate it more routinely. As is apparent to you all, I love routine and schedules. So why is it tough for me to schedule shoulder stuff? Not sure. I have resistance. Also resistance to the heart-opening stuff. It’s great in theory, to open up the heart, but part of me resists. I guess I am attached to the numb/closed spots for one reason or another. And no doubt there are reasons. Just not ones I am privy to.

ES says things like “Pause here. Get used to this feeling.” Huh? Sit still and feel something? Something I don’t like? Something uncomfortable? Nada! I MOVE or else I sit down and access the void. Those are our choices.

Nah. Time to suck it up and get used to the open shoulders/chest feeling. Even if it makes me kinda anxious.

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Pasasana assist with MM this morning: Yay! We both thought David S’s assist rocked, we both experienced it, we discussed it first thing this morning, and sure enough, MM used his arm to twine through mine to stabilize the wrapping arm, then gave a good upward twist. Twisty twist twist! Nice.

After the adjustment, he paused and looked at me. “”Swensonesque!” I pronounced. He grinned and moved on.

Kapo rolled around when he was busy (I think 14 people went through the room this morning! Great attendance!), so I did cat paw dropbacks a few times before he came over. Concentrated HARD on keeping my thighs perpendicular to the floor. Wondered how all of my shoulder stretching of yesterday would impact today’s kapo. Usually I do a few prep poses to crack open my shoulders, but today I decided to just go for it.

And to great results. MM, having seen and experienced the Swenson adjust, concentrated on helping me stay up high in my legs. When I finally went over, he easily brought my hands to the balls of my feet. Nice. No smooshed head under a collapsed triangle. What a great way to start the week.