Have you ever wondered about the delicate little leaves at the base of a rose? Apparently, they’re called sepals. The bulky section just under the flower is called the receptacle. At its core is the flower’s ovaries (seeds).
Archives for August 2013
From “I can’t” to “I will”
I come into the office, settle down at my desk, and review my schedule for the day. Two meetings, neither of which I have any enthusiasm for. I groan to myself and think, “I just can’t do it”, knowing full well that indeed I can.
It’s not the first time I’ve muttered “I can’t” today. Several times already today I’ve muttered those words. As I think about it, I believe that I muttered these words to myself upon waking. Yeah, I know, that’s no way to start the day. But I’m sore, and tired, and I just don’t WANT to work today. Not at the office…and not on my mat.
Somehow, I got my sorry tushie out of bed and to the yoga studio for the led practice covering the full primary series at the instructor’s pace. I spent the drive psyching myself up for it, telling myself that it is no different than marathon training. Some days, you want to run and it’s easy, other days you don’t and it’s hard. Always, you are just a bit sore at the start but even that eases up and your body gives into your urgings to just do it.
My practice was difficult from start to finish but I did my best to still the mind and shush the monkey in my head who kept on pointing out my short comings. Yeah, every pose I took was less than the pose of yesterday. Yeah, I did hurt. And I was uber sore and extremely fatigued. “I know, Monkey, I know.”
But I stuck with my practice… just as I will stick with it here at the office.
Off the mat and onto (or into) the water
It’s been a couple years since I’ve taken my yoga off the mat and onto the water. Back then, I was fairly new to yoga. Standing up to move into Warrior I pose was huge.
Two years later, after developing a more regular yoga practice, a comparison of myself in this same pose shows little difference. Mostly, I see a difference in practice rather than more perfected alignment. My putting my hands together and forward of body is due to my current practice in ashtanga. It’s not better; it’s just different.
What you don’t see pictured, is the fact that we actually flowed through a sequence of poses, including Sun Salutations, with a nice build up of poses peaking at multiple points including tree, Warrior I and II, triangle, wheel, shoulder stand, plow, fish, etc. After savansana, we got a bit more time for free play.
Not so surprising, the poses which trouble me on land (namely tree pose), are exponentially more challenging afloat a stand up paddleboard. The difference is that you cannot fake it on the water. There are no walls to hold onto and even your dristi moves as you do.