Time

This drawing is from Light on Yoga, so here is a young Iyengar in Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, or upward facing dog. You do a lot of this pose in any kind of a vinyasa class, and especially an ashtanga class. David Swenson reminded us that this is a backbend, so focusing on the backbend everytime you transition through upward dog is a great way to unkink your upper back, warm up the back for deeper backbands, and also to avoid just blasting through it as if it were a waystation and not a pose in its own right. The most obvious modification while one is building the strength and flexibility to hold this is to take the knees to the floor.

Day 5 of the Fall Detox and I still feel good. Starting to long for eggs for breakfast and pasta with tomato sauce, but it's not too bad. The tea really helps and there is a broth too which I have not had time to make. And time, it turns out, is the real issue. Time to cook, time to apply sesame oil to the skin, time to shop for all the ingredients, time to make the tea. Time to do yoga, and take care of my family (oh yes, THAT full time job!), time to go to work, take showers, blowdry and flatiron my curly hair into silky flat submission! Time to talk with my husband, to draw, to watch my children grow and learn, to help them with their homework. Time to walk, pet, and throw the frisbee for my dog. Time to clean my house and do the endless laundry and the million sundry other things and I have no time left to think, relax, unwind. TV? Already I don't watch this. Who has time? Time to visit friends, to tend the garden, to remove the weeds. I simply don't have time to do all the things I want to do in this life, at least not right now. I long for all the time that I've wasted to come back to me, so that I can make better use of it. The hardest thing I have to do is choose. Art or yoga? Family or friends? Time for self-care or time to take care of my family? Paperwork and finances- you might notice that they didn't come very high on the list, and it shows.

How to decide when life is so interesting and full? What can I possibly give up to make more space for....