Tartan Yogi

I went to a Highland Games at the weekend and watched lots of enourmous muscle bound guys throwing cabers about, and also hammers. It was quite awe inspiring. There were runners and Scottish country dancers as well, a really good day even if I did almost get sunstroke, you wouldn't think it was possible in Scotland in September, but the weather has been very good.

There were a team of shinty players from California there who I was chatting to and they were asking me all about Edinburgh. One of them asked if I ever worried about the castle being a terrorist target, I had never really thought about it to be honest. Although I suppose it is really as it is an iconic Scottish building.

Also due to my 'ladies' holiday' I didn't practice on Sunday and yesterday (although I had a crim practice on Saturday), so am looking forward to tonight's class. I am really beginning to like mari D, oddly. I think it is because I am almost there on my bad ankle side, I am so close to getting my bind back.

In other news I am very close to agreeing my time off to go to Mysore early 2007. OK, I know it is a while away, but really it is something to aim for and to plan and I really can't wait.

Am having some sort of 'moment' I think, am much more into home practice rather than at the yoga centre this week. Maybe I am just working up to be a hermit or something. It would be quite nice to live in a cave somewhere and just do yoga all day. The husband might object to being made to live in a cave though, life is so unfair!

I had a good practice on Wednesday at home following the Richard Freeman primary series, but he goes really really slowly, was quite nice to change pace though. You don't realise how fast you go sometimes in a mysore class. I much prefer the John Scott DVD pace, but unfortunately I seem to have filed it into the wrong DVD box and can't find it.

In other news I am totally failing on my drink less coffee regime. I will try harder over the weekend. It just tastes so damn good!

I had a no yoga day yesterday as I went for a massage and interestingly the masseuse asked me if I had been doing more headstands than usual, which I have, well trying too anyway...apparently it is stressing my neck muscles so I need to get my teacher to have a look at my form as I try to go up. I wonder if maybe it is because I am doing, say, three or four attempts to get up into a full headstand and sometimes fall out of it. Maybe the falling is the problem! When we did headstands in class on Tuesday, I was useless. It was funny because the girl next to me who I chat to sometimes fell out of hers at the same time and we looked over at each other and said at exactly the same time 'I hate headstands'. It is nice to know I am not alone. Maybe I need to do some more practicing against the wall, will I ever get this pose?

We are off for an Indian meal tonight (post-practice, naurally!), I have been reading about idlys and am desparate to try one. Maybe I will have to see if I can make them at home.

I finally did Mari D on my bad side, I was assisted, but still I did it and my ankles didn't break or anything. I was so happy about it I even did a headstand (against the wall!) at the end of my practice instead of conveniently forgetting.

Was a good class actually, wasn't feeling particularly inspired before I started, but once I had got into seated postures it all seemed to click into place. Funny thing is this yoga lark.

Some of the teachers are off to the Yoga Show in London at the weekend, am most jealous as I want to go. Maybe next year. Will have to make do with staying at home and doing some practices at home. Must try doing some more headstnd practice as I almost balanced yesterday after I got up with the help of the wall.

Man, I was stiff yesterday. Yoga is evil! Might have to get the husband to rub me with deep heat to try and get my muscles to a normal state. Or a radox bath might do the job. Shame I ran out of tiger balm as that would do the trick nicely.

Am going to a led class tonight, which will be nice after a Mysore class and two home practices this week. Although I won't get the chance to do Mari D as the teachers often don't do it in led classes. Oh well. Maybe we will get some groovy backbends instead. I have been sneakily doing ustrasana in my practice at home, even though it is a second series pose as it feels sooo good.

In other news I finished reading Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, I really enjoyed it. It is a great meandering book, reminded me a bit of a stream of consciousness book called Highland River by Neil Gunn that I read at school. Must read something mindless like a Jilly Cooper book now to balance it out.

We had a manager here from our main office today and he spied my yoga mat bag and asked why I had brought a tent into the office with me. When I explained what it was he said he had thought about doing yoga so I said he should definitely try it. He is an older gentleman so I was impressed he had thought of trying it. It always interests me how people react to the idea yoga. My sister told me the other day she wanted to join a gym that did yoga, but with some cardio too as we all know yoga isn't very athletic. I laughed and said she had obviously never tried a 2 hour ashtanga class! I would much prefer to do yoga than running on a treadmill, and I have tried being a gym bunny but yoga does it for me everytime. It draws you in and makes you want to carry on forever.

Am having a bad week already as my stomach has been really bad since yesterday. I wonder if it is something I ate, am going to take it easy in practice today as twists might be a bit of a nightmare.

On the up side am off from work for most of the week so might get to go to some morning classes. I really did try at one time to make it to morning classes, maybe it is time to try again especially considering the morning mysore workshop I have just signed up for!

I have been reading the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying and it has oddly coincided with my Grandmother being in the last stages of her life. It seems she will not be here for much longer.

There is an excellent section in the back of the book with two case studies of two people going through the process of dying and reading them has made me really appreciate the message that everything changes and that death is a process in the same way that birth and life is. My husband pointed out to me that I keep returning to read this book, he thinks I am obsessed with death, really I am interested in knowing about it and what happens. I would rather be prepared for it and know what is going to happen.

And the important thing is that if you acknowledge that nothing stays the same and change is the only thing that is certain, it makes you approach things in such a different way.

I mean, does it matter if I never manage to get a certain posture? I think the issue is one of intent. I think I have been practicing with the wrong intent, I wonder if it is apparent to teachers how you approach your practice. I suppose it must be really, to a good teacher anyway.

So anyway I practiced a good five times last week and am happy I am managing to consistently practice this much. My next trick will be to keep it up and to really enjoy the Matthew Sweeney workshop, am going to have to practice getting up early in the morning, oh no! I have been practicing in the late morning while I have been off from work, but not at the crack of dawn. Apparently (or so I read somewhere) habits take about three weeks to form, so I will see how I go for the next few weeks...

Autumn has really struck Edinburgh, there is a nice chill in the air and I am beginning to gravitate towards hibernation. As a result I haven't been to the yoga centre all week in favour of home practices and am really enjoying them. It is good to practice without adjustments sometimes and I am really working on Mari D and headstand is coming along too. Maybe they will be my nemsis poses no longer.

My Grandmother died on Tuesday so I am going to go home and spend some time with my parents. She was the last of my Grandparents to go so it really is the end of an era. It might also explain why a bit of introspective practice at home has done me the world of good.

I also found out that there is going to be a second series workshop in the centre, the criteria is that you can get into urdhva danurasana so I think I will go, it will be good to concentrate on backbending for a couple of days, even though it is crim to be practicing these poses having not finished Primary yet. I think I will go by the David Swenson theory that you need to be able to go through the whole Primary series, without necessarily doing all the poses fully before moving to trying second series. And after all it will only be up to kapotasana, rather than those crazy leg behind the head poses!