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Connect 4 (not just a childhood game)

Thursday, March 26, 2020
Delighted to be on my mat again this week.

Sometimes, it's hard to look forward to the practice.  "Why am I even doing this", my brain asks me at times.

"The couch you're on is soooper comfy, and the warm coffee you're sipping is sooooper nice, and the video clips of cooking shows you're mindlessly watching are pacifying and soothing as background noise......your mat is going to make you sweat, and make you work, and make you uncomfortable....who needs that?......no one."- My Brain

 I titled today's post "Connect 4" because today is the fourth day in a row this week I've started my day on my mat.  I typically practice Monday-Friday and rest on Saturday/Sunday.  I've also been training for the GO! St. Louis Marathon/Half-Marathon/10K that would have occurred this Sunday.  That running schedule, paired with a yoga practice, has definitely given my legs and back something to think about.  Out of the two disciplines, my practice is far more restorative and healing.

I come to my mat to make my days less mediocre.

Enough chatter...time to begin.....

Thursday, March 26, 2020 (Part II)
I'm writing this post practice update after having gone through my full Ashtanga Primary Series.

I'm not sure why, but my body felt "heavy" and "uncooperative" today.  Not terribly so, but enough that I noticed it; it felt that way yesterday evening when I went on my run as well.  My brain was running around on its own too.  Nothing too terrible, but seemed a bit odd. 

"It is the job of the spine, to keep the brain alert"


I like that saying and I've found it to be, mostly, true.

Sit up straight,.......straighter than straight...........tall through the length of your back.....you will probably feel your awareness heighten naturally, as I do.

Yoga isn't just hippie-dippie nonsense about how holding a chunk of amethyst crystal can realign your life; it's thousands (yes, thousands) of years worth of cultivated physiological observations boiled down into a physical discipline called "yoga".  Iyengar, shown at right, wrote that, to be measured as an effective teacher, you would be presented with someone who is ill and be charged with making them well again through a yoga practice.

A great list of Asanas, their history, and their meaning is here.

Namaste

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