We’re supposed to go to Tucson for yoga vacation Oct 6-19. There is some talk about my needing to do some unexpected business travel, though, which might change our plans. Did I mention I’ve been exhausted and dying to schedule some vacation since August? It got pushed to September, at which point three business trips got scheduled. So vacay moved to October. Now there may be more travel. On the one hand, I’m tired and need a vacay! On the other, it’s international travel to a place I’ve never been. We’ll see what happens….

While i was in Chicago, Waylon tore his dog equivalent of an ACL. He’s scheduled for surgery tomorrow morning. A weird procedure called TPLO. Involves planing the bone and adding a metal plate. There’s a simpler surgery we could’ve opted for, but the surgeon recommended TPLO ’cause of his size and weight. The procedure essentially solves for the problem by making the ligament unnecessary.

One last practice note: my right knee has been a little hinky in eka and dwi pada sirsasana (’cause the hip is tight). The pain and fear of injury were causing me to get pretty anxious about these postures. This morning, as I grabbed my right foot to get into eka pada, I heard my inner monolog chanting, “it’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay,” as I went. I kind of laughed at myself, but I also noted that getting into the pose was easy and pain-free.

It IS okay.

He said, “Are you doing anything special for the weekend? My wife and I are going to Lake Powell.”

Me (internal monolog: “Wow, that’s random.”): “Uhhh…”

Him: “We go every Memorial Day.”

Me: “Oh, that sounds great.” (Internal monolog: “Long weekend! Woohoo! What month is this?!”)

Anyhow, to celebrate, I made pancakes for breakfast. This is the best and easiest pancake recipe ever. Cakey, vanilla-y, and like I said, super easy.

1 c all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 T sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 c soymilk
2 T vegetable oil

Mix dry ingredients. Mix wet ingredients. Add wet into dry and stir until lumps are pea-size.

Yum!

I have two favorite kitchen objects right now: a new cast iron skillet and a new cookbook. The skillet rocks — really, there’s nothing like cooking in cast iron. I’m eager to try out some naan on it.

The other new favorite is this book: Good to the Grain. Not only does it offer me an opportunity to treasure hunt local stores for more exotic flours like amaranth, spelt and teff, it also has the most astonishingly beautiful pictures and (yes, I worked in bookstores for a decade) a top-notch binding.

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Speaking of books. I just downloaded the Kindle version of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Hinduism. I’ve been having such a good time listening to podcasts by Swami Jyotirmayananda every day, but it occurs to me that my understanding of Hinduism is kind of catch as catch can — bits and pieces picked up in yoga classes, online, through my own random reading list, etc.

Must take a moment to shout out to Volleyball Guy, who insists all of his students learn to recite the limbs of Ashtanga, recite the yamas and niyamas, and chant a good number of mantras. He always put the asana practice in perspective re: the larger picture of raja yoga.

So yeah, an “Idiot’s Guide” is pretty unsophisticated. But whatever, right? I need an overview. I’ve learned to go easy when I suggest that people should pick up an “Idiot’s Guide” or “For Dummies” book. It never occurred to me that someone might take it personally, until someone did. But I’m pretty shameless about starting from scratch when I’m learning something new.

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And now some pics of Waylon doing what he does best on this long holiday weekend.

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And Happy Vesak Day to all! Vesak Day commemorates The Buddha’s birth, enlightment, and passing.

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P.S. Does a dog have Buddha nature?

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Possible sister for Waylon?

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Why Way needs a bud. Everyone likes to play the bitey game.

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.

We’ll be at my Mom and Dad’s house this evening — The Cop, My Gift, Waylon and me. My sister, her girlfriend and their dog, Wiley, are in from San Diego. Ought to be fun.

Some pics from this morning. The Cop and Way:

Lots of cholla cactus around the trail. Waylon managed to get a bit in his front left paw. The Cop got most of it out on the trail, and I just pulled the last bit out a minute ago when I saw him fussing with his paw again.

And here’s Way with an early Christmas present. Hope everyone gets everything they want in 2010!

I thought about how she was so gracious when I entered her & The Cop’s life. I remember the first time I met her. She sat on the couch next to me and I wondered if she was waiting for The Cop to leave the room so she could kill the interloper.

But that wasn’t her style. Nope. She played along, she helped raise Tyler and Waylon, and she never complained. Sure, she couldn’t *say* anything, but dogs let you know when they’re disgruntled. Maxine was pretty zen through whatever we threw at her. As long as she could lie out in the grass on a sunny day, she was pretty happy.

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“Why does baddha konasana hurt so much?” That’s a keyword phrase that brought someone to the site recently. If you’re still around and reading: take heart! It stops hurting. Eventually. It was a good couple of years (with 6 months off when my piriformis totally rebelled), but now baddha k is my FAVORITE pose. Largely because it was so hard won.

I think back though, and wonder: Why did I persist?

Is it some leftover tapas from a past life? That’s all I can figure.

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Seems like psoas stretching is a big fad among Ashtangis these days. I’m in. I’ve been doing lunges twice a day for the past few days now. And there’s hanumansana after the prasaritas every day. Still, my shoulders and hip flexors are super-recalcitrant in backbends. Oh, I guess I’m responsible for that, eh? All of those squats and shoulder presses and my abiding love for climbing overhangs. Ah well.

We have to do what we love. Like eating palm fronds.

Sharp, sudden pains are tough to work with — like trying to hug a porcupine.

And my internal monolog about this whole thing is twofold: 1) I hope it isn’t bad enough to impact my practice substantially, and 2) Hey, it’s the right side! My tight side. Maybe this is an opening? That would totally rock. I can LBH on the left side with actual pleasure — can’t say the same, though, about the right.

Watched Kino’s Intermediate DVD yesterday. (Is THAT what caused this pain? ) Watching the practice DVD was cool, but the real treat is the “How to Work” DVD. Lots of stuff MM has taught me, and some expecially interesting tidbits.

Karandavasana: She demoed it with hands in headstand position. Do the descent and return. Then shift hands to pincha position (don’t come down, just shift ‘em in headstand — you can do it!), and come down with hands in pincha and head on the floor. Once the butt is down and knees tucked in, lift the head off the floor. She demoed falling from there, which was charming, and then suggested you walk the lotus back up the arms and carry on, lifting the duck with pincha arms and head on the floor.

I loved the tone of this DVD, which was all about incremental progress. Basically, you do and do and do until finally you really can.

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Here are a couple of pictures of Waylon with his new toy: a stuffed duck. He loves his stuffed animals. I got him a red lobster, too. I find it endlessly amusing to see him walking around with stuffed animals in his mouth — the more colorful and ridiculous, the better.