300 October 21, 2006

I’m not really a bowler, but I do enjoy it.

This is the 300th post since I started. Trip.

Home practice this morning revealed me as a delicate leaf shaking as if on the end of a small branch in a hurricane. No practice yesterday as I needed to stay in bed a longer. Practices the Tues and Wed were good- open, fairly strong. Not much sleep this week as new energy has brought some excitement on top of my regular responsibilities. Accordingly, plans last night were cancelled so I could stay at home alone, recuperating, getting to bed early.

So why the shaking practice this morning? Dunno. Nerves catching up with me for my week of madness. I told a friend last night that by the time I get used to the schedule of this semester, it’ll be over. Standard I guess. Tonight is a costume party in the west bay with other yogis and artists and goodness knows who else. Moon tomorrow gives me a less-than guilty feeling about playing tonight and sleeping in.

It’s been windy, and super hot, since my last post. Right as I was gritting my teeth for the coming winter, we have a week of Indian Summer. I’ll take it while it lasts.

My buddy Yoshi and I. Even tho I don’t have the earrings anymore.

Descent October 16, 2006

The sun is never quite as bright if it’s out. The back patio of Raliegh’s no longer gets sun because it’s at too low of an angle, even at noon. I’m just getting to the floor after standing poses before you can tell it’s getting light outside. The coming of winter. It’s the annual mid-October descent to cold, rainy, cloudy, dry-aired, dark Bay Area weather, collectively viewed by myself as hell. Vata season. Yuck.

Staying hydrated is more difficult simply due to how much less moisture is in the air. Time to invest in lotion.

I had planned to just do first series today since I hadn’t practiced in two days, but by supta konasana, I knew I was going to rock the whole thing. Awesome. Energy conservation attempts seem to be working a bit. The back is not quite to max lately, not surprising given that I’ve only been hitting 3-4x week since I took that week off a bit back. This week I intend to break back in to 5x. And that’s where it will stay.

I spent a good deal of time after laying down last night ostensibly to go to sleep fighting off the urge to do something which, though I’m not totally certain, I’m pretty sure is ridiculous and stupid. I’m going to have to consult with close souls to make sure that I am, indeed, close to going out of my mind.

It was a hard process to calm down from. Usually when I’m tired and it’s late and I get crazy ideas, I can’t sleep until I execute said crazy idea. Last night, however, after I asked for help with my dilemma and received a strange answer, I visualized curling up in Kali’s lap, my head on her knee, and I dropped off like a rock.

Divine Mother, I love thee!

Staying home October 13, 2006

Slept through my alarm again this morning, but not by enough to miss practicing. Lit the candles in front of Ganesha et al, rolled up the rug, put down the mat, and began in the almost-darkness.

I haven’t been keeping up with water these last days…I was shaky and my breath was off- vata imbalance. Yuck. I’ve literally been so stressed/busy that I’ve forgotten to drink water. I know. Lame. Fixing that now.

Co-opted VIII tomorrow night. If you’re curious what that means, just check the link over on the right there. I can’t believe we’ve done eight shows over the last two years. It’s been a great run, and I like to believe we’ve helped local artists connect with new audiences. If nothing else, it’s been a great series and it makes me smile to hear people talking about it, saying things like “Hey, when’s the next co-opted?” or overhearing others asking “Are you going to co-opted?” Gratifying. Co-opteds have certainly been a seed for many new collaborations amongst musicians, many new meetings of people from different walks of life, and personally, some exciting relationships. Overall, I’m incredibly proud of my buddy Paul and all he’s done for the community by being the driving force, and I’m honored to join him and Mike in producing it all. Just a shout-out.

Stay tuned for an upcoming promotional announcement regarding some cool stuff at my shala.

I leave you with a shot from one of my pet fascinations: pictures of glasses on tables.

Transparent October 10, 2006

Light seeping through with breath. Breath moving out with care. Careful not to overdo what is done.

Back at it today after three days off. Four practices last week. Full primary felt surprisingly strong today. Time to start splitting the series as my teacher suggested so that I have time and energy to work on second stuff again. Looking forward to that in the morning.

The sky has been having an identity crisis lately. It’s been hot the last three days, before that were the first rains of the season.

Website for our new shala: Here. I put it on the main site and it’s on the right over there…see? Pretty pic of my teacher on the main page….

KJS- your friend is here safe and sound and practicing like a champ- she’d make Eddie proud.

I discovered last night that I’ve been trying to reclaim a part of myself that is gone. It’s a weird thing to think that you’re trying to find something about you that you lost. Or at least has gone dormant. Or hidden. Or something. Anyway, I’ve been subconciously looking all over the place to find a way to bring it back…no luck. No wonder. Looking outside to find something that comes from inside is impossible. Duh. I just hadn’t noticed it until last night, so there. Now I’ve tossed that search to the frogs. Time to just be.

Which means almost crying in front of your TA out of sheer frustration from ineptitude. Taking advanced engineering classes without any of the prerequisites is highly overrated. It feels like asana for my brain- stretching and twisting and breaking in new expansion. Yuck.

Sparging the Holidays October 2, 2006

Back in the saddle. Last week was off due to the presence of midterms and an inordinate amount of germs in my lab. Considering I work with bacteria, that might seem a little weird, but everyone was sick and I was fighting something. I bucked it tho…maybe more due to my body determining my schedule than me: I set my alarm a couple times to get up for practice and literally slept right through it. If I can’t wake up to my stupid cell phone alarm, I guess it means I should sleep. Stress was at a red alert level last week. Barely made it through the midterms, but they’re done with for now.

Short home practice yesterday to get re-acquainted. Good partial practice this morning. Got to supta kurmasana and it was time to call it a day. Everything felt reasonably nice, but I could tell if I pushed it any further I’d be going too far.

Happy Dussera everyone! The victory of Rama over Ravana. That’s a good holiday to celebrate, certainly. It’s also a day to honor the Durga, which is also rad. And it’s Yom Kippur as well. The Day of Atonement- the last day to make ammends before judgement is sealed. Ouch. You have until sundown folks so if you have been putting off that pesky reconcilation you ought to have done, now is the time.