Friday, July 24, 2009

Eating out is scary.

For lunch my lab decided to go out to California tortilla place, one of the favorites in the area. I tagged along and gave in when we were there - got myself a regular vegetarian burrito with spinach, chips and salsa. Ate a half of the burrito, but finished the chips, because salsa was outstanding. Back to work I discovered that California tortilla had a very nice nutritional calculator on its website. I looked up my lunch and nearly fainted. My half burrito and chips amounted to 858 calories, 25% calories coming from fat; plus double daily dose of salt. My stomach feels the weight of the food even now, an hour after lunch and a 30 min walk back to work. I think, I satisfied my craving for cooked food for a long time now. The salad choices were not much better from the nutritional point of view, either.

This Sunday I am going to Minneapolis, MN for a week-long immunology training. It is going to be grueling - 8 hours a day of lectures, with small breaks here and there. I did not find a studio with Mysore practice there on-line, please correct me if I am wrong. I think I will splurge on illegal intermediate series practice at my hotel. They also have an Olympic-size pool there, so I better not forget my swimming suit.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Friday, July 17, 2009

Magic of adjustments

The first forward bend in a sun salutation confirmed what I felt since I got up this morning - my body was stiff and sore. My hands could barely reach the floor. Normally I very rarely feel stiff, but this morning it was epic. Sun salutations A did not resolve the stiffness, neither did the first B. On the second B Keith gave me a rather strong adjustment in a downdog, I even whimpered a little. But then it seems something clicked and the stiffness was gone! Like magic. Anyway, I am re-developing my appreciation of Keith's adjustments. David does not adjust me much anymore, just occasionally barks something like "Alfia, moolabandha!" or " You are not breathing, just making sounds like you are!". It is OK with me, probably means that I am doing things mostly right. Keith, on the other hand, always gives me at least some adjusts, even if the pose looks OK. In Prasarita C he manages to get my elbows touching the floor and boy that feels good. Yesterday he gave me an awesome assist in pasasana, rotating my torso so that my back ended up on the knees and I was nearly squarely facing the ceiling. Aaaaah! He also loves giving people nice squish in seated forward bends. Maybe because he himself has "runners" hamstrings? In any case, I am not complaining. Thank you, Keith!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Kapotasana is looming over me.

I took a break yesterday, sleeping in and taking it easy the whole day. My bone-deep exhaustion the day before rendered me useless both at work and home. Today I felt vastly better, came to practice and plopped my mat right in front of David. Normally I kind of hide in the dark corners of the room, but this morning I felt perky. This perkiness was rewarded with 2 new poses - Ustrasana and Lagu Vajrasana. Now, I vaguely remember there was time in my life when I was craving new poses and was moaning and groaning about not getting them all the time. Now, when I feel old and tired, when my practice is so long that it zaps the energy from my body for the rest of the day, it seems that I am getting them practically every day. I guess this is the secret to getting new poses - you need not to want them!
Lagu vajrasana kicked my butt. I did try it at home before and used it as a tool to strengthen the necessary muscles for coming up from UD; but I never managed to bring my head completely to the floor. With David, however, there is just no middle ground, need to bring head down no matter what. Sure way of getting the quads of steel, I guess. On the bright side, there is no way I am getting to Kapotasana any time soon, since there is a long way for me to work on LV. Whoo-hoo!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

I should just keep my mouth shut

Was talking to Sarah on Sunday, marveling at the fact that I was completely injury-free. Then in the evening I hit a door frame with my left hand, hurting the thumb. Could not do anything in the morning. Went to work, surprised that my allergies were acting up badly. Turned out - not allergies, but a cold. Maybe flu. I was in complete denial. I eat right, do yoga and wash my hands religiously - how can I possibly be sick? But fever in the evening, Tuesday spent in bed, and being barely able to move on Wednesday left no doubts. Practiced today, but it seems that the practice took all my energy away, and I am in a zombie-like state. Why have I ever uttered those words on Sunday?

On a plus side, my thumb had a chance to heal. :)

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Then and now.

Oh, Liz, I can't believe you made me do that!
Ugh...

Ok, me at 7:


Tha little star on the school uniform - an affiliation with a junior political organization "Oktyabryata"

Forty years later (yesterday, 4th of July celebration):

Yeah... The only things in common then and now - messy hair and clothes. :D






 

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