Astanga, Day 3

An incredible difference.
It certainly has to do with mental state, because my class yesterday was wonderful, and I may have had some soul stirring going on as well. I came to the mat today straight from the acupuncturist (whom I adore), and earlier than usual. I think my home practice would be much better if I could just start an hour earlier every day.

My body felt good today, from the get-go. Chaturanga felt good, up-dog felt good, down dog felt good. And the more I did the other poses in the series, the better each vinyasa felt. In fact, I stopped to check the time today, after doing the series through Marichi's twists, and realized that I had gone much farther in the series in just an hour than I had on Monday. Because I had meditation group this evening, I skipped to bridge and upward-bow, and then finished for the evening. Sometimes dinner is yoga too :)

Even though the flow is a little choppy, as I am still learning the sequence, being able to perform them with the correct breathing and with some reasonable pace while my body still feels great is a really amazing process. I did find today though that I am a total space case when I am doing this practice. Especially during the beginning salutations..I get into a groove and then all of a sudden find myself in down-dog just chilling, and completely forget where I was in the sequence. Or I will think of something I need to do right about the time I come back around to a samasthiti, and nearly step off the mat to go do it! Focus. This practice will clearly also be an exercise in focus.

My David Swenson book was delivered today, so my next practice will have the benefit of some real guidance. I'm looking forward to that.