Dude

Posted in ashtanga yoga, dog!, things i do to myself on 02/04/2010 10:05 am by karen

Chatting online with Liz and Sonya the other day and somehow the topic turned to my love (adoration, more accurately) of stoner stuff. Dude, where’s my car? Sweet! Obviously I cannot act upon my love of all things stoner (Officer Husband’s career would certainly suffer if he had a stoner wife), but I did indulge myself a bit this morning by practicing to a Grateful Dead soundtrack. Wheeee! Seriously, if you want happy happy energy, practice to the Dead. Next social event with The Cop & his colleagues, I’ll be the chick wearing tie dye!

In a weird twist of (perhaps practice-induced) mental flexibility, I’ve “allowed myself” (yeah, yeah, red flag, I know) to gain almost 5 pounds. This was an intuitive move — clear of intent but nebulous of purpose — and I’m really enjoying it (aside from very infrequent flashes of “I’ve let myself go!” panic). So yes, I am enjoying it physically — feeling strong and robust and energetic, and really REALLY resilient — though occasionally feeling uncomfortable in my mind. What’s breaking the tie between body and mind is the fact that the extra weight seems to be oiling the backbends quite dramatically.

My back is supple in a way that I’ve never experienced before. Perhaps my deeply held, brittle self-discipline re: body size affects physical flexibility? Does this rise to the level of a DUH! observation? Or is it woo woo mysticism? I don’t know! I can’t distinguish between the utterly obvious and crazy delusion because I’m just a hippie!

And here’s The Dude with his new stuffed elephant toy.

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11 Comments

  1. “Dude” can be very expressive.

    I like the lingo, but stoners drive me crazy. I guess I like fake stoners, like you. You can choose to snap out of it, while real stoners are… well, stoned!

    Very interesting about your back bending experience and weight gain. I have nothing to add, just that it seems like a good entry for Karen’s Scientific Journal (is that the name of it? I forget-).

    Waylon rules!

  2. Naive Science Journal!

    And yes, Waylon does rule. And he does drool. A lot.

  3. The backbend stuff must have to do with how your weight gets distributed. Your genetic predisposition (gaining more in hips or upper body?) must be working in your favor in terms of the mechanics. Lucky you!

    I gain it in my hips/butt, which probably wouldn’t help at all. :(

  4. I’m a stoner! No wonder why Karen likes me :) I’m not an annoyingly slow stoner though, and actually I haven’t smoked pot since some time in October I think.

    But I will in the future I am sure!

  5. hi Karen
    i have to stay trim, or say goodbye to twists and binding. hmm, something makes me think of the zen chant, “delusions are inexhaustible”. it’s so nice you were conversing online the other day with Liz and Sonya.
    hugs
    Arturo

  6. Linda! Dude! :-)

    Arturo, I imagined a few pounds would have a bit of a negative effect on twists and binds, but it’s been just the opposite!

  7. LI Ashtangini
    02/05/2010 at 11:50 am

    He’s such a cutie. He doesn’t rip those apart? Rocky and Petey don’t last five minutes with a stuffed toy.

    Ugh, extra pounds make my twists extra-hard. They’re already hard enough, thankyouverymuch.

  8. No, he doesn’t tear up his toys very much at all. He pulled one of the feet off of the elephant, because they are made of plastic, which he’s fascinated by — but generally he just carries his toys around and chews on them a little, or runs in the backyard & tosses them in the air & chases them. It’s very cute. The other thing he likes to do is sleep next to his stuffed animals.

  9. if you have gained the weight by eating bacon, then it is clearly the bacon grease that is oiling the bends.

  10. I know you’re the Ambassador of Bacon, Dana. Sorry to say, though, there’s no bacon in my experiment. There *was* a carrot cake with thick cream cheese frosting, though… :-)

  11. Maybe what’s oiling the backbends is the extra energy that a few extra calories gives you? Being skinnier definitely helps me in Primary. But for Second Series, it does me no good at all…and whenever I look at photos of myself backbending, I am always struck by how my backbends look so much less tense when my body looks a bit fleshier.

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