The Saga of a Householder Yogi

Sunday morning is normally a safe time to practice, second series was on the menu. But even though I got up at 6am and made coffee, my oldest daughter woke up at 6:15 followed in short order by my son. I plowed ahead anyway with Kino's DVD, plagued by a knee that has regressed since a seemingly deep opening on tuesday night. But by the time I got to 2 feet behind the head pose, which is a bit of a joke if you're not yet putting one foot behind the head, I was fixing broken lego firetrucks and begging my son to quiet down so that I could hear Kino counting.

Sigh.

By then the girls were down and it was time to make breakfast and get ready for church. As I showered I began to experience the disappointment of a practice that hadn't gone as planned, an important practice for the week at that, and then I remembered despite my knee issues, one foot came a little closer to moving behind my head, and pincha mayurasana, which I have been working on for years (before doing ashtanga even), is finally at a point where I can hold it for five short breaths. I'm working on elongating the breath in this pose. I'm not religious, but it reminds me that "the lord giveth, and the lord taketh away." I've lost lotus (temporarily I hope!) but discovered balance in Pinca. It is enough.

Tomorrow I start a fall detox with Yoga Journal. I'm a little worried since they seem to expect one to give up coffee and eat kitchari 3 times a day. It's supposed to be a gentle ayurvedic cleanse, so here's hoping for the best.

Journey into Second Series- Nadi Shodhana

-photo of Erin Carey from the Zany Umbrella Circus: hanumanasana while suspended in red ribbon

Today was a first- I practiced 2nd Series from David Swenson's book. For some time I have hesitated. Traditionally in Mysore you should be able to bind in Marichyasana D, Supta Kurmasana, and be able to stand up from a backbend to move on to 2nd series. According to Swenson's book however, he advises that if you can practice 1st series in its entirety with full breath, making appropriate modifications for your body, then you may be ready to move on. I can't bind in Mari D or Supta Kurmasana, but I can stand up from a backbend and practice 1st series in its entirety with focus and breath. Further, when I only practice 1st series, I miss deeper backbends.

1 week later: I've ordered Kino Macgregor's 2nd Series DVD. The first time I practiced 2nd series from DS's book, I thought you had to adjust your hand positions in headstand while staying up the whole time. The 2nd time I read the instructions (and fancy that being useful) and realized that it is permissible to come down between the variations. Much better. The lotus on my left/hurt knee side is slowly slowly improving. Some poses are impossible right now (2 feet behind the head), so mostly I work on getting one foot behind the head. It's not quite there but I can feel the possibility.

Sunday (today)- first time practicing with Kino MacGregor's 2nd series DVD. Some things are much clearer, especially the transitions, but I can see years of work here. Not that primary isn't years of work either! Kino stops the standing pose sequence earlier than Swenson indicates in his book. Those tittibasana variations are completely insane! I need to figure out how to schedule my week. If I practice six days a week, Saturdays off, how often do i do Primary versus 2nd series? Perhaps I'll start doing 2nd series once a week for now, on Sundays. I can't realistically do a full practice every single day, some days get cut short, but I always do something. And sometimes I like to play with PranaVayu (another style) and tinker with my own sequences, but I can do that in the afternoons. For now I'm experimenting with ashtanga 6 days a week, from now until the David Garrigues workshop at the end of the year. Then I'll reevaluate and see how I feel and where all this is going.