Nov 6, 9:15

I missed class yesterday - some bad things were happening in my stomach for the first couple hours after I got up, and I didn't think I'd be able to make it through class. Got lots of rest and am feeling better today.

Claire taught today's class. The room is getting to be quite full for the 9:15s now; I guess that's a consequence of the colder weather. I had a strong class again, and didn't skip any postures - I think I am getting out of that habit, which is excellent.

I've read in a couple different blogs and forum posts lately ppl commenting on pushing the hips forward in the setup of triangle. I wondered if that could be the cause of the pain in my right knee on the second side of triangle, and concentrated on that today. I really thought about pushing the hips forward and squeezing my glutes going into the posture. No knee pain, though it could've also been due to a good set-up with the heel alignment. Will try again tomorrow.

I also changed my focus during the second part of Awkward today. For most of the standing series, my point of focus is my belly button (except for the poses where it needs to be my knee, and in Standing Bow, it is my forehead). My Awkward 1 and 3 are both quite strong, but 2 is very difficult for me. My legs start shaking when I am probably only 1/3 of the way down. Ida always says that if something isn't working for you, to change something and see if that works better. I have experimented a lot in this one - working on getting down further, then trying to get my heels up more and less focus on getting down, glutes relaxed or not, etc. However, today I decided to make eye contact in the mirror instead of watching my belly button (where I can also see my legs/knees). I think I got down further, and I was definitely higher on my toes. Maybe being less aware of what my legs are doing gives me less opportunity to stress about it, and then I can just move forward. Will keep trying this out for the next few classes, too.