The water is wide

My wandering led me to the bank of the Des Moines River last night.  I just sat there watching it for what felt like the longest time.  Then I laid and looked at it upside down.  River.  Breeze.  Lightning.  Darkness.  Silence.

I took off my shoes and practiced on the cement stage of the amphitheater right by the river.  Only 5 people walked by on the street above.  I love practicing, at least occasionally, without the constraints of a mat.  I don't like practicing in public but it was quiet enough here, and dark enough that I felt reasonably anonymous.

I did something like this though I can't remember very well because there wasn't much logic to it...I did not follow a more traditional order.   I just tried to let my body lead.  

sit

lay upside down on the staircase

legs up the wall 

move to stage: ardha chandrasana (half-moon)

down dog

very soft, melty half sun salutations

thread the needle twist

(here a group of 3 kids came by so i morphed into something more 'normal' and contained-looking)

cow face (just the legs part)

urdhva dhanurasana (upward bow) this was one of my juiciest upward bows ever.  if there's a place you need to find space in, just make that your priority.  in this case i needed to feel space behind my heart and so i zeroed in on that and made the subtlest adjustments until i found it.  i almost could have stayed in bow all night.  played with doing it one-armed

happy baby

seated prasarita padottanasana (wide-legged forward fold)  did this one forEVer, first with a rounded back then with straight back and felt like i had new legs afterwards. 

squat 

uttanasana (forward fold)

squat to crow

finish salutation

supine twist

savasana

slow, content walk back to the car.  as soon as i got in, the sky let loose with a refreshing spring downpour.  i've got good timing.

Meditation

Sat for 10 minutes this morning, instead of straightening my hair.  Timed myself with Neko Case's recording of chirping crickets.  When it ended, I stopped.  Just thought I would share.   

home practice

I worked overtime this week and didn't have the time or energy for yoga.  One morning I did a brief child's pose before getting out of bed but other than that the last time I practiced was probably over a week ago when my neighbor and I did one of Kira's online classes together.  

I had a little bit of time alone today.  I took advantage and did a practice that included:

cat/cow

thread the needle twist

child's pose

down dog

bikram style ardha chandrasana (half/moon) series

bikram style natarajasana (lord of the dance)

regular style, straight-legged trikonasana (triangle)

low lunge with prayer twist

wide-legged forward fold

low lunge with prayer twist other side

trikonasana other side

prasarita padottanasana (wide-legged forward fold)

drop to frog

yin saddle

happy baby

supine twist

savasana 

Margaret Atwood, 'Guest Blogger' on the Yogery

Essay called "Faster" from the book The Tent by Margaret Atwood:

Walking was not fast enough, so we ran.  Running was not fast enough, so we galloped.  Galloping was not fast enough, so we sailed.  Sailing was not fast enough, so we rolled merrily along on long metal tracks.  Long metal tracks were not fast enough, so we drove.  Driving was not fast enough, so we flew.

Flying isn't fast enough, not fast enough for us.  We want to get there faster.  Get where?  Wherever we are not.  But a human soul can only go as fast as a man can walk, they used to say.  In that case, where are all the souls?  Left behind.  They wander here and there, slowly, dim lights flickering in the marshes at night, looking for us.  But they're not nearly fast enough, not for us, we're way ahead of them, they'll never catch up.  That's why we can go so fast: our souls don't weigh us down.

French Toast Eating French Toast, and Thai Yoga Massage

Homemade by manfriend Benjamin.

Headed to Chiang Mai, Thailand this weekend in pursuit of a long term visa for China and research of Thai massage schools. Any one out there have any recommendations? I've heard good things about Sunshine, Loh Kroi and Pulse..

Live Your Life on the Tightrope

If you haven't already, watch the movie Man on Wire.  As a yoga practitioner, I felt inspired by watching someone follow a force he could not resist onto the tightrope.  There, concentration, passion, and awareness make simple motions meaningful again.  Philippe Petit kneels, lays down, salutes, simply lifts a foot, and we are breathless watching.  

The movie offered an answer to a question I sometimes ask myself about yoga- WHY?  Why obsess over these strange positions that have questionable practical function in everyday life?  All you have to do is sit there and you can become enlightened.  Or if you're in it to get in shape, why don't you just go for a hike or hit the treadmill?

But I realized watching this movie that yoga is about learning to live on the tightrope.  The phrase yoga teachers so often repeat, "find your edge," sort of means step out on the tightrope! Follow the pull of that force telling you to shift your weight from the edge of the World Trade Center's roof to the rope (resistance is futile...haha sorry).  Find the place in you where you feel alive and let that rule you and nothing else.  Maybe you're just sitting there in zazen, maybe you're in urdhva dhanurasana, but Why has nothing to do with it; you do it just Because.

Share Your Practice!

Making a yoga video is the least scary way I've found to practice being a yoga teacher.  I get to teach AND I get to edit out my mistakes!  Kira asked those of us teacher training grads who've already made videos to help inspire the others to do the same.  In case you haven't seen them, here are links to Casey's and Lisa's really awesome videos:

Lisa - seriously, please watch the baby video.  so cute.

Casey- incredible, one challenging pose after another, done effortlessly

Ok, everyone else, it's your turn! 

P.S. For some reason blogger cuts off the edge of the screen.  You don't miss out on much but you can see the whole screen if you click on the video and watch it from the YouTube site.