One of the hardest poses ever

I think it was one of my old, sadistic Iyengar teachers who said that savasana was the hardest pose EVAH.

I have to admit it is pretty difficult for me too, because I hover so closely between sleep and consciousness during the day anyway. And when I get to savasana after an exhausting practice, I just conk out.

At the end of this morning's practice I decided to go for it. I was so tired from the weekend of activities; I didn't even have a catch-up nap on Saturday to get me through the coming week. So after doing my half 2s, I pulled out my Hello Kitty lucky eye pillow (made by ever craft-y Laksmi) and immediately flaked out for 15 minutes. Just what I needed.

Lax came for her first mysore in a long time (Yay!). She even noticed that I took this unusual rest and mentioned that I snored. Not too loud, but loud enough. Yeah, I'm a snorer. Sorry! I apologize to everyone who's ever been in a class with me and had to endure it, past, present and future.

At least I didn't pop a boner like the dude in the pic. Photo credits go to Bindu Magazine.

Mr. Resistance Man

This morning's class was kick-ass but good.

It was a full house of more than 20 students. We had Megin subbing in for the Diver, who was away for the weekend teaching somewhere in Canada. We had a bit of a shaky, low-baritone opening chat that had people scraping their lungs down on the floor in order to reach the notes, but she did make it up to us by taking us through a hybrid vinyasa class of many asymmetrical poses and lots of lunging that were even more taxing than what the Diver does (Lax, you missed all the fun!). She focused on a lot of hip openers or the kind of poses that would benefited from having a crowbar or can-opener nearby. Some of the highlights:

1) A set of variations on the one-legged downward dog including one lifted leg straight in a 45 degree angle, bent lifted leg, side plank, vasistasana and a raja-type back bend ("look behind you and try to touch your head with your right toe" Mmm-kay).

2) Lunge-y warmups before going into the "crowd pleasing" hanumansana: virabadrasanas with variations, twisty prasarita padatonasanas. Then an eka pada rajakapotasana series that was capped off with a one-legged pigeon and other leg in bhekasana-foot bind and finished off with our free arm pointing at the sky in a lovely gyan mudra.

3) We even did a series of handstand variations with the wall that incorporated some backbending: "At the wall, do your headstand and sit your butt on the wall as your lower back extends and bends. Don't collapse into it. Also, don't forget to expand your chest outward."


Great stuff for my non-slutty guy hips. Some of the words from my old iyengar teacher were even echoing in my head: "This is where your body doesn't like to move." Fer sures.

Pi' ikea, who had her mat next to me, loved the class, even though she whispered, "this is hard" and Zen Rolling Ball commented afterwards that we did a lot of poses that we don't usually do in ashtanga. Laks was MIA. As was Carl.

In the crowd while we were doing handstands, I recognized an older student, Mr. Resistance Man, who used to practice with me at another studio. He wore his trademark grey headband. I know it's totally bitchy of me to say, but I remember him totally frustrating my teacher. He seemed never to absorb any suggestions from her and insisted on doing all of second even though she said that he wasn't ready. I mean, what do you get out of doing the 7 headstands at the wall? Anyway, she tried valiantly to give him notes in different ways before caving in and letting them do his whatevers.


P.S. The photo above is not of Mr. Resistance Man. It is from Mr. Speedcat Hollydale's blog page. Thanks. Rock on, sir!

Loss and Letting Go

It's pretty sad knowing that Laksmi can't come to weekday mysore for a while. I miss her already.

Happy Year of the Rat!

Good to know that Disney is pimping this primo marketing opportunity. I mean, they do have the cutest rats.

Work is busy and I'm trying to keep my daily practice, hence a brief post.

Attended the festivities last weekend in Vancouver. Officially, the new year starts tomorrow.

So remember, if you want to follow some of these tried and true Chinese customs (not comprehensive or in any rigid order):
1) Don't clean your house on the first day in case you sweep away your good luck. EASY PEASY.
2) Eat a shitload of candy to start a "sweet" new year. CHECK.
3) Wear a new pair of slippers so you will be "stomping" on the gossipy villagers who have nothing better to do with their idle time. REMEMBER TO TELL LAKSMI.
4) Decorate your home freely with loud reds (luck) and garish golds (wealth). WELL, ARMANI DOES HAVE HIS STANDARDS.
5) Don't wash your hair in case you wash out your good luck. HM, KINDA HARD TO RESIST.
6) Don't bitch out your kids or loved ones. NOW, THAT'S ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE.

Oh, and go vegetarian on the first day of the new year to ensure longevity. You can order Buddha's Delight at even the most carnivore-oriented Chinese restaurants. (This lotus bud's for you, Arturo! Cheers!)

Furniture Yoga (Take Two)

Yesterday was Day 26. It's the home stretch, people!

In the morning I did my usual Saturday yin practice, adding to my repertoire gomukasana, a not-so-favorite pose. Later that evening, my partner and I went to see the closing night of Pagliacci at Seattle Opera (Gordon Hawkins playing the murderous clown was great!). Usually these gigs are 3 hours plus, but luckily this one clocked in only a touch over 2 hours.

Before the show we went to Crow nearby. I had the manila clams with chorizo sausage and sun dried tomatoes. He had the duck confit and lentils. This place is not bad, even though it's usually crowded and the food is a little oversalted for my taste.

When you think about these situations, there are lots of long stretches of time when you're just sitting and not doing a whole lot. Plane rides, movies that never seem to end, opera. Shit, if only I could sit on the floor of my office in baddha konansa while I work through my emails. I would be so uberflexy by now. I know it's all that damn sitting at work that tightens my hip flexors and hamstrings.

So to make the best of the situation last night, I tried to squeeze in a pose or two. Hey, it's dark and no one notices. Doing half padmasana works. So does half-square or half-box pose with one bent knee resting over the other (what's the Sanskrit name for this?). I've also done it at the movie theater which is particularly good for boddha konasana if I can hook my knees under the arm rest and not bug my neighbor. I'd like to work up to full padmasana on a plane if I can.

But let's turn our attention to Lax for a moment. She has a lovely figure and mad-sexy hips. You know that she's pure as the driven snow (as reported in HER BLOG), but she has these envious "whoring" hips. I mean, if I had open, slutty hips like her, I could hang out all day in uptavishta konasana while reading a book.

I can't even begin to imagine how productive and flexible I'd be.