The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali, verses 21-22:

21  For those who seek liberation wholeheartedly, realization is near.
22  How near depends on whether the practice is mild, moderate, or intense.

While this week has definitely been a busy one, my renewed daily yoga practice has remained consistent.  I think I’ve been on the mat pretty much every day but Sunday for almost a month.  Yesterday morning I did an hour and 20 minutes of Ashtanga Primary Series (skipping a few poses here and there I admit).  Tonight I went running for a half an hour and then did some nice and slow yoga stretching for about 45 minutes.  My body’s feeling really good right now.  I love running for its great cardiovascular benefits, but I also love that yoga doesn’t beat up my body quite as much.  I’m trying to find the right balance right now.

Sorry to all of you who read this blog and are beginning to realize that the blog’s becoming somewhat of a personal yoga journal rather than a place to find useful yoga information.  However, I do recommend checking out the constantly growing number of links to yoga-related websites and blogs that I find interesting.   Most recently I came across a yoga blog called Visions of Cody that has a weekly podcast and posts about yoga (usually).  I listened to a few of the podcasts and found them entertaining.

After Tuesday’s beginner Ashtanga yoga class at Practice Yoga, I got brave today and wandered into the Primary Series class. Now, I’ve read David Swenson’s Ashtanga Yoga book and screwed around with some of the short series stuff, but let me tell you, there’s a big difference between following in a book and having someone actually calling out the sequence. Oh my heck! I literally walked out of the yoga studio like a zombie. Although I tried to act as normal as possible when the class ended, I could barely put one foot in front of the other. I was like oh yeah, I’m cool, it’s all good, roll up my mat, where’s my shoes, grab my bag. But actually I was like holy crap, my legs are rattling, where’s the wheelchair, my throat doesn’t work, and I think I’m going to need a maximum dose of Advil tonight!

I bet I lost 10 pounds of sweat. Of course I forgot to take a towel so I spent about an hour ice skating on my mat. I about did the splits once on the puddles of sweat, which I guarantee would have ended everything, and I mean everything. Maybe someday I’ll do the splits, but not today. I definitely didn’t look graceful or lock every pose like a pro (in fact, after a while I couldn’t remember which leg I’d just stretched when switching to the other side after vinyasa, which I think was somewhat entertaining for the lady on the mat next to me), but I did have a great yoga experience. I think I’m addicted to Ashtanga. Thanks to the great folks at Practice Yoga for rekindling the fire. What a difference two classes can make.