I give in: on practice

You might say that recently I've been a bit of an ashtanga tourist in New York. Guy is in Mysore and I'm short on cash, which leaves me either practicing at home, on good days with friends, and making the occasional drop in. In the last three weeks, I practiced with Greg, Amy, and Christopher at Yoga Sutra, and then with Russel at Ashtanga Yoga Shala.

Practice is never the same. Each teacher fills the room with a totally different feeling. Or is it the students who gravitate toward a teacher's particular teaching style? Or is it the students who are able to make that particular time slot? Or perhaps the fact that I was in one class in the afternoon (practically barfing up my lunch), the other in the early morning, the next after already teaching, etc.?

With Greg:

Students have always told me about Greg and how they love that he'll be adjusting you while he chants in your ear. As such, I feel like I missed out on the "Greg experience". Perhaps he already finished, but by the time I showed up, there was no chanting. There was a packed, sweaty room, however, where I spied a few people I knew from way back at Guy's and some people working on third series. It seems that people who practice with Greg take their practice very seriously, and many were willing to follow him when he moved from teaching all the way on the Lower East Side at Shiva Shala to Bryant Park's Yoga Sutra. He was nice, friendly, but I didn't get any adjustments. So, I guess you could say it was just like being in Mysore, and for that, I give it a thumbs up :)

With Amy:

Amy teaches mysore at Yoga Sutra in the afternoons. Although it is hard for me to motivate to practice in the afternoon, I often find that when I am able to focus and set down my mat, I am very open and playful. Which is why I wasn so very disapointed to almost be barfing the whole time. I didn't start practice until 5pm, having eaten at noon. I guess I am just so in the habit of morning practice at this point. Amy was really working the room, giving people tips, adjustments, and pep talks. I was impressed! And for such a small build, she coudl handle her own with really big people.

Christopher:
I have taken his classes in the past and have found them to be a bit "academic", but this time I really felt a lot of humor, which was very surprising. The best was when I was in kapotsasna and through my peripherals I could see a shadow looming. I think it was him checking my drishti. It was just so sweet!

Russell:

Russell is teaching at AYS while Guy is away. I found practice with Russell to be so completely relaxing. For instance, in Kapotasana, I was at my MAXIMUM, desperately trying to find space where there was none, then up walks Russell. He grabs one wrist and then the other and after some nervous laughter from me and some fancy "footwork", I am deeper than I have ever been and feeling so spacious I never wanted to leave. Amazing.

I've done ankle grabbing with all of them, as well as some friends, and no one gets me like Guy.

I've realized that I've been at about the same spot for a year. Bakasana B. Well, kind of. Pasasana since last January, so that has been a full year. Bakasana B since May or June. Probably June. Then I went back to primary in Mysore and have since been building back up slowly. But I think it is good. All the back bending needs some time to soak in after years of primary. So, last week I realized that I've been at this same spot for about a year and started to think about what has changed, what was the same, what was different. Honestly, I can't tell you. I think that my pasasana is much more stable, but heels are still up. I had a breakthrough with this on Wednesday. I can now bind with heels lifted, then lift my seat to get my heels down, but am still working on lowering my seat without falling over. Actraully, this is huge! I remember in Mysore, a friend was trying to show me how to do this and it was literally impossible. Now I can!

What esle has changed? Kapotasana is probably deeper and bhekasana as well. Still don't have Bakasana B though. I feel like I haven't developed the muscle memory of success yet. But last week I stopped after my 5th try and thought, "Okay, this is ridiculous. I've been doing this for a long time, I'm strong, I'm tired, and I don't want to be doing this all morning," and then I got it! So now, I'm trying to give my self a little talk before I try, which is helping. The next step is to remove the pep talk and just let it flow naturally. We'll see how that goes on Sunday...

Still in this constant debate over Mysore and travel plans. Its exhausting and takes up a good portion of my day. Won't go into details though. Its too boring.

Recently Read:
Holy Cow. One person told me this was great, a few that it was funny, but mostly that it sucked. I don't think it was any of these things. I liked the cover, but it did not go well with the content at all. Looking at the cover, it looks like this exciting backpackers tale. I found it to be more like a collection of journalistic essays. They were interesting. I didn't really get what people found to be funny. *Shrug* But I do think that she does explore a variety of themes that one experiences in India, and for that I think it is a good read. I just ask that they please change the cover!

Recently Viewed:
La Vie En Rose. I thought it was great!
This is England. Again, thumbs up!

The Lookout. Not so much.

Other updates:

I figured out some basic html stuff which made me almost pee my pants with excitement.
I've published the 2nd Livingmysore magazine. Please check it out!
http://www.livingmysore.com/.