Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Jump backs and Zumba equal one tired mama.

Me tired.
The practice was good today. I was a little surprised, because for two days now we also do Zumba in the morning at work, and I feel mighty pooped afterwards. One of our summer students is getting a certification as a Zumba instructor, and he is instructing us for practice. He is great, and zumba is a lot of fun. Anyway, back to practice. So David tells me to get the jump-backs and jump-throughs straight (mine suck). I really did not want to let him know that it still hurts a little in my shoulder blade when I press down in a hand-standish position, so I was trying my best to emulate the motions without hurting myself further. Boy, I was tired by the end of practice! All that breakfast-induced power promptly went "puff" into the air. Well, I guess it is time for me to learn them, because they do separate the Real Yogis from the wannabes like me. But I am sooo tired now. It is only 3 pm, but I am ready to go to bed and sleep till tomorrow. Which is a dreaded Thursday!
Here is what Zumba looks like (taken from here http://www.clipser.com/watch_video/240349):



Monday, July 28, 2008

Highlights of the weekend

Busy, busy weekend. And yet very little accomplished. Not a good combination.
Anyway, this weekend was my one-year Mysore anniversary! I feel like a big girl now.
I also met Anna and Katie from New York. Both are so beautiful! Anna's practice is very elegant and fluid, and Katie's is pure power. I hope we'll have a chance to get to know each other better next time. :)
On Saturday I acquired a new skill. After locking my car key in the trunk, I learned how to break-in into the locked car.
Today's practice was very heavy. It might be the result of nervous eating this whole weekend. I am even afraid to get on the scale.

Have to work. Happy Monday to everyone!
:)

Friday, July 25, 2008

This week just does not want to end.

Very decent practice today. Keith gave me an awesome adjustment in Marichi D, I was able to bind my wrists and hold it for what is seemed forever. He also observed me doing my drop-backs/stand-ups from UD, so I guess there is a hope for me to get a new pose sometime soon.

I was teaching a class yesterday that I share with another teacher for the summer. I used one of the tricks I learned in Adrienne Reed's training (thank you, Miriam!). To distract people from the effort of holding garudasana for a long time, I made them turn their faces to each other and do the "lion face" - a loud exhalation with the tongue out and eyes crossed. Then they turned to the other side and did the same. It was a lot of fun, we laughed like crazy, but held the pose for much longer than usual. The students liked it a lot.

Lots of things to be done at work. There is not enough time in the day.I used to stay up late to finish things, but it is out of the question these days. I am not sacrificing the quality of my practice for work. I have my priorities straight.

Happy Friday!

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Swimming and yoga do not seem to mix well.

I did not make it to the shala today. Thursday is always the most difficult day of the week for me. In addition, a friend of mine invited me as a guest to her gym yesterday, and I swam for more than an hour, then spent time in a jacusse and sauna, and then swam for another hour. I love swiming, but do not get many chances to do it; so I guess I overdid it a little yesterday. Was dead tired in the evening, and simply did not wake up this morning. My alarm has a very low setting so not to wake up anybody but me, but I did not hear it all. Nevertheless, that extra hour of sleep did me a world of good, because I feel particularly fine (if a little sore) today.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Uninspired Tuesday

Practice today was not quite as strong as yesterday, but not too bad. It seems breakfast matters, after all. Keith managed to miss all my drop-backs and stand-ups. It looks like I am not getting my pasasana any time soon. I am so ready for it, though. I need to expand my horizons and discover brand new ways to injure myself. Oh, well.
The members of our lab visited my friend today at the hospital. She had the surgery done this morning, it took only 50 minutes. They did lumpectomy as opposed to mastectomy, because her third tumor turned out to be benign. Even better, her lymph nodes were clean! At last some good news here.

Have a great day!

Monday, July 21, 2008

Brand new week.

My practice always feels wonderful after a break. Today was no exception - it was soooo good to be back. My body felt both strong and flexible.There was a little twinge in the shoulder in Supta Kurmasana, but it is OK now. Urdhva Dhanurasana is my favorite pose from now on. Standing up was so easy, I have no idea why it was such a struggle to begin with. I was not even tired afterwards. Awesome.
There are two possible reasons for the strong practice. The first, most likely one, is the "honeymoon" feeling after a long break. The second one was that I actually had a breakfast before practice (for the first time ever). At 4:20 I had a glass of fat-free milk with Spiru-Tein shake (179 Cal, 14 g protein, 8 g of sugar). Practice started at 6 am, which gave me 1h40 min to digest. I felt it was not quite enough time, because I was burping a little and had a short-lived heartburn during the practice. On the other hand, this discomfort was very little, and if this is the price to pay for high stamina, I am willing to pay it! I need to investigate it further. It is quite possible that I am habitually crashing by the end of my practice and that is why I do not have energy for multiple UDs.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Monday!

Sunday, July 20, 2008

I am back!

I am home at last! The trip was wonderful, even though I managed to hurt my big toe and thumb in addition to my shoulder. Adrienne was amazing! She is one of those people who exude energy and share it generously with all around her. The program was well thought, organized and fun. There were five of us - elegant Genevieve, gorgeous Miriam, precious Jason and wonderful Adriana. The studies were very intense, but we managed to have a lot of fun in addition to learning. I think I laughed this week as much as I laughed the whole previous year. Unfortunately, we did not have time for anything else, so I still do not know anything about Tampa. I saw an alligator once, but nobody believed me. Oh, well, next time I will visit the beaches and roam the city.
I am going to shala tomorrow morning. It seems I have not been there for years, but it is only been three weeks. I wonder if they will take away some poses from me.
I will post some pictures tomorrow!
Mwah, everyone! I missed you all.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

I have not practiced for two weeks now and I can feel it in every muscle of my body. It feels like I am being embalmed or slowly mummified, stiffness setting in, freedom of motion going away. Sigh. But my shoulder blade is much improved, I think. The only truly painful motion at the moment is sneezing. The thing is that I am going to Florida this Saturday for Adrienne Reed's teacher intensive for a week, and I am hoping so much that I am not going to be incapacitated by the stupid shoulder! Because intensive it is going to be - 11 hours a day for 5 days in a row.
I am a little overwhelmed at the moment. In addition to work, I found myself in a sea of unfulfilled obligations, which are weighing on me like a huge boulder. Procrastination sucks!
My boss has multiple appointments every day for either MRI, a CAT scan, or a surgeon consultation. She also decided to start a blog, so I checked out the breast cancer blogs on the net. My God they are depressing! Not because the women are in a depressed state, no, the majority of bloggers I read exhibited an incredible strength of character. It is because that in that community of bloggers somebody dies all the time. There is always a tribute to one blogger or another, who died recently. I like Ashtanga blogosphere so much better!
Anyway, depending on the time and Internet availability at the training place in Tampa, I might not be able to post for a week or so. Please do not forget me!

Sunday, July 6, 2008

I am positively becoming a social butterfly

My social life perked up recently all of a sudden. On Wednesday I met Elaina, who were here for a work conference. It is so interesting to talk to a person who shares the same interests in life - neuroscience and yoga. Elaina came to visit me at NIH, we talked science a little, and then we went to the Great Falls park. It was interesting, we just met, but I had a feeling that we knew each other for a long time. She is wonderful! Very warm, intelligent and absolutely beautiful! Then Thursday was a blur of activities , including sending my husband to New York to spend time with our son and long time friends.

Friday - we met with Karen for another photo session and also went to the Great Falls Park (love that place!). When we were driving back, I noticed a note on my windshield. Good thing I decided to stop and read - turned out I lost my licence, insurance card and car registration; somebody found them and turned them to the visitor center, and the park person actually tracked my car on the parking garage and left a note. People are nice!

In the evening, I was supposed to meet with friends for a 4th of July celebration, and this turned out to be an unexpected hassle. The police blocked out the most useful roads and bridges and it became really hard to move around, especially for a directionally challenged person like me. We managed to have a great time nevertheless.

Yesterday, I stopped by to check on Tova. She moved and now they live in a lovely two-bedroom apartment. I am so excited to have her here!

Ugh, anyway, that is why I did not have any time to be here. I am not accustomed to too many days in a row of actually having social life. I am not complaining, it is just something unusual for me. Oh, and today after I teach a class, I am going to Karen's going-away party. It sucks that Karen is leaving. Anyway, can't deal with this now. Sorry for the incoherent ramblings! Here is a real (not social) butterfly from the park:

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

:)

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Independence day

For some reason, I can never get the fireworks right. Photographers, any suggestions?





Friday, July 4, 2008

Love my gadgets!

Tried my new camcorder with Karen - check out her astavakrasana A.

And B:

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Life is not fair

My friend, who is getting a divorce, has been diagnosed with breast cancer. It is ER+, which is a relatively good news. It is not known if there was a lymph node involvement. She is holding up amazingly well. But it is a very sad atmosphere now in the lab. We just feel helpless somehow. :(

 

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