Oct 28, 9:15

Today was the best class I've had in awhile. I really tried to focus on my breath and not be distracted by all that was going on around me. It helped! Class went by faster, poses were easier, and I didn't sit out anything today, which is a bad habit I have been falling into over the last couple weeks.

At my old yoga studio, just before Pranayama started, most of the teachers would say "Find your own eyes in the mirror. Concentrate. Meditate. Let's begin." Here, the class starts with "Toes and heels together; let's begin." I think I am going to start giving myself that reminder before every class. I think I need it.

You know when you feel something different in your body, or hear something in the dialogue for the first time (even though it has been there forever), or just have something "click" for you? I had two of those moments today.

The first was in Standing Head to Knee. This pose has been a long struggle for me. It took me 8 months to be able to consistently lock out my knee and kick out for the first time. That may have been the happiest day of my life, seriously. However, holding that kick then became the new struggle. Today I was in the first part of the posture, holding my foot from underneath, and I suddenly realized I could kind of rotate my hips/stick my butt out. Not sure yet if this is necessary, but as soon as I did it, I felt like I was letting something go. Also, I am able to kick out now and hold for about 5-7 seconds before I need to go back to the first stage. I have been staying after class to practice this one, and I can often hold for at least 10 seconds, and even bend my arms down and start to round in for head to knee. I thought it was something in my focus after class that I needed to try to find during class. However, today when I practiced after class, I noticed my whole form is different when I kick out then - my arms look like a different angle to my body, my back is straighter, chest lifted more. Maybe I am letting go of whatever it is in my hips after class in order to get the different (and I am sure, better) form? I will experiment during the next few classes, and will try to talk to a teacher about it after class, too.

Second change today was in triangle. After a long struggle, again in this one I have seen a lot of improvement. I actually have a pretty solid triangle: I can see the triangle shape, my hips are way down close to the floor, thigh bicep is parallel to the floor, knees over toes, etc. However, when I do the first side, everything is good. When I do the second side, I often feel some stress on the outside of my right (straight leg) knee. I have figured out that I think I am moving my heels out of one line when I transition from one side to the other. I have started practicing closer to the side mirror lately so that I can check out this alignment in the mirror, and it has been helping, but not consistently. Anyway, today I was on that side of the room, but closer to the back and I couldn't see the side mirror (door in the way). I looked down and tried to make the adjustment on my own. I had a pain-free triangle. Yay! Hopefully I have made the progression from mirror-check to self-check, and soon can do feel-check without looking down. (My favourite teacher ever used to tell me not to look down at my feet in triangle and the other postures in this part of the series - he said looking down blocks the airway, so to look forward in the mirror instead to make sure all my breaths were full.)

Also, the studio sent out an apology last night to all of us that practiced at the noon class yesterday. Apparently they have talked with the school as well - not sure that they will be welcome back.

I'm still enjoying a bit of a yoga high from class today - I'm counting on it carrying me over until tomorrow!