Today was a good day. I managed to go to a guided primary series class downtown — it’s about a thirty minute drive but the kids’ school is right on the way, so the timing worked out perfectly. I hadn’t been to a led primary class in several months so this was just the kick in the butt I needed. Unfortunately, my back was killing me from the first Surya Namaskara A so I couldn’t jump back or forward, or do chatturanga. I couldn’t manage backbends at all so I did a sort of modified bridge, really working my legs. Shoulderstand was also out of the question but I did a very intense tataka mudra (I think that’s what it’s called, like Stiff Corpse?) where I concentrated on the breath and activating the bandhas. Headstand wasn’t happening either, so I just came into the “prepare” position, resting on my tippy toes. Heck, that’s actually harder than just doing a headstand. All in all, even though my back hurt, it was a good class and I think I’ll make a habit of going on Tuesday mornings.
Rushed home, showered, had some cashews and dried cherries (yum!), took three Advil after looking longingly at YogaSpell’s leftover Vicodin from a muscle problem, but since I’ve only ever had one Vicodin in my life and have no idea how my body reacts to it, I decided not to risk it. Plus I didn’t think it would be cool to show up to work with kids strung out on Vicodin. Got to school, observed the Spanish class I’ll be helping with, headed over to Panera Bread for some soup, did some research and scribbled some notes on My New Project, then went back to school and picked up the kids. And then…homework, fencing, soccer, dinner, and here I am.
Whew.
My back feels better, so I guess yoga is actually good for it. Duh. As my teacher says, the only time you can’t do some kind of yoga is when you’re dead. I just need to keep reminding myself not to have an all-or-nothing mindset, not just for yoga, but for pretty much everything in my life.
