NYPD Blues

Bikram yoga tip of the day: pavana muktasana wind removing pose. The object of stretching is pulling. Continuous pulling without interruption, without intermission. Get your neck long, each vertebrae on he floor, abdominal muscles pulled in, tailbone tucked. Watch your alignment.

Mother of a holiday

day 12 88 to go. Bikram yoga tip of the day. Savasana corpse pose. Raison d'être. Bitchy alert. Too much noise, water drinking be teen toe pose and Savasana. Remove one habit, let go of one twitch, forget about the water, the towel, the sweat, the hair, the thoughts, the skin, thoughts bubble up and are released without judgement. Breath in then breath out. Belly rise belly fall. This restorative pose will help you with the exciting spine stretching series coming up next. Now the show begins...

Face Caking

Day 10 90 to go had a fight with a frenemy over my refusal to dye my hair,cut my hair short or wear make up cake my face? Really... I am the most beautiful woman in the world , I am constantly surprised that not more people realize ths truth about me. i want to lift he veil from their eyes ( remove the bandages?) so everyone can see it. It's clear to me... Maybe I am a psychopath... Bikram yoga tip of the day: tadasana .. I love this pose it's magical two syllables TA. DA! We are at least 50 minutes into the class. Might as well hang in for the home stretch. This is you last chance to utilize the. Mirror o make the most of it. It's a gas gas gas gas....tree pose...Knees over 35. Use caution and gravity..not force. So many challenges in this pose. Keeping your weight spread all over your standing door. Dr acing foot must be straight toes to the mirror. You need to open your hips, loosen your shoulders, and not hurt your knees, while staying perfectly aligned on one foot and staying clam..... Sole of the feet should face the citing. Raised heel aligned witbyour felty button. Keep your neck long, keep everything stent relax your hip to lower your knee down. You need the mirror to check your ligament... Soon you will be CNN tucked on the floor,and your minds eye will be your on Y guide.....

The Unbearable Fatness of Being

Day 9 91 to go.  Two at San Carlos one at Seacliff and one at Castro.   Fell off  the  sugar and dairy wagon, and low and behold my weight loss halted. Sneezing commenced.  Chemistry.  I am 22% less of a person than I ws in December. I hope I left the 22% that was crabby.  Fat Chance. Re read Sugar Blues - Dufty and Preventing and Reversing Heart disease. Losing faith about reaching the promised land.

Bikram yoga tip of the day. Trikonasana. Triangle Pose. My challenge with this posture is getting the shin vertical- not getting a good triangle..getting the knee over the ankle is key. When you move your toe out, keep your eyes straight. Don't move your eyes when you move your toes. Keep your eyes on the alignment of your spine. Feel your feet move, move you turn your neck, turn your palms toward the mirror then turn your neck to poverty your shouted breath in tuen turn your body moving your arms like you are Carol Burnett dressed for a "Gone With The Wind" wind sketch...

Rediscovering Drugs

Day 8 92 days to go Bikram yoga tip of the day: Dandayamana Bibhaktapada Paschimottanasa Standing separate leg head to knee pose Coccyx to the neck, coccyx to the heels...ass awareness. 50% body fat, grabbing your ankles, with your butt kissing the sky, excuse me while I think to cry..."""...."""" whole body in one piece body moving in one piece...legs like lampposts, the object of stretching is pulling....if you store stress in you back, this pose is great...lift your hips to stretch your hamstrings. Think like a diver, and lead with your eyes..keep yours looking in between your fet where you wany your forehead to kiss the mat.

One armed bandit

Day 11 l 89 to go. Padangustasana toe stand pose.I have never ever ever. Ever down this pose in a class. Got Close at a posture clinic right knees, tight hips and bid abdomen hinder my efforts...my advice for this pose, have strong quads, keep your knees level...wish I was on my away to the costa rica training.......when I wish upon a star....

Expansion Joint

Day 7 93 to go

Colliding Galaxies Make Love not War - Hubble

Yoga Health Center San Carlos.  A silent class needed after the "melt down". Received a few warm (knowing?) smiles today. I attend San Carlos maybe 3 or 4 times a month.This studio is friendly and chatty but I know no one here.  Maybe they were being nice or maybe they recognized the "China Syndrome Gal" from Saturday. Adore a silent class. It allows me to gauge where I am in my practice. Only think about the best approach to pose and the best use of breath. How well have I  been paying attention? Who's words are running in my head for each pose? I like to hear the names of the postures and that is what we received in silent class today. I am still being too effected by what is going on on other people's mats. If they fall, I fall.  If they stop trying to go back in, I stop trying. I put myself close to the door today in case another melt down emerged. It did not. A great class, must do that more often.  I need it to keep the meltdowns at bay, apparently. 


Bikram Yoga Tip of the Day:Balancing Stick Tulandasana. When you raise your arms and interlock your fingers, engage every muscle from the floor to the ceiling. Start with your hands and feet always. When you step out make sure both your elbows and both your knees are locked. Before you tilt, check in the mirror that your hips are in alignment. Inhale and stretch everything. Exhale and pull, pull, pull. Pull your palms together, pull  your arms behind your ears, your  finger index fingers towards  the mirror, pull your back apart, pull your leg up, pull your toes to touch the back of the room. Check to make sure your extended leg is straight and not rotated, sometimes you need to rotate your foot, your ankle,  or your hip joint to maintain the correct hip alignment.  Exhale and pull you arms forward and your toes back.  Feel your vertebrae expand like the universe. 

China Syndrome




How to cook Chicken Kiev.
 First you heat the city to 2000 degrees

 Day 6  94 to go

Hanging out at  the ZPokemon Spa for the weekend. Out of town feels so good. The bees are busy in the Wisteria. The old dogs, sleeping on their sides, drawing up the coolness of the tile, waiting for the heat of the day to pass. It is quiet here, musical instrucments strewn about in every room, abandoned.  There are plenty of quail running around the front yard. The bees love the purple flowering bushes in the front, the grafted  fruit trees are flowering. Meant to get to the  7 am silent class but did not sleep well.   Went to the 9 am class in San Carlos. Feeling good about this challenge. And my intention of psychic support for MM in Teacher Training. (TT)  Bill was teaching.  I always come away with a new understanding of some aspect of a pose when I take one of Bills classes.  Super crowded.   The class has good synergy.  I have been struggling all week with my practice, literally  feeling like the best of my practice was melting away, not being able to hold a pose, needing breaks, thinking I might be at risk for a cardiac event.  My physical proof  of a dedicated practice evident only in the fact that I now possess  a firmer  handshake. Sadly, I can not remember the last time I shook any ones hand, though. If you cant do it on the Internet it is no longer meaningful. Handshakes were developed as sign of trust,  You exposed your vulnerable heart to a potential enemy in possession of  a sword or dagger. Thank god for dogs, they don't wield daggers. I want a tee shirt that says, "I have been doing Bikram Yoga for years and all I got was this firm handshake."  

 35 minutes into the class I started to have a full blown anxiety attack. By the time Jamushirasana with Paschimottanasa rolled round,  I had gone from crying silenting  to sobbing, complete with shaking and gasping for air. Trying, unsuccessfully, to keep it to myself. I  wanted to run out of the studio and scream at the top of my lungs:::::: AAAAAAIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEE ::::::::::

 Very embarrassing on a full studio class day. Must be my solidarity with TT.

Diaphram is key

Bikram Yoga Tip of the Day: Lie about who you are.  That way any story about the crazy old lady who sobbed in class won't be about you. Dandayama Dhanurasa Standing Bow Pulling Pose  Your weight should be distributed all over you foot. Today in class we were guided to hold our edge for two breaths, talked through the  inhalation and exhalation,  this helped deepen the pose without "muscling through."  As King George the VI said in the "The Kings Speech, " Let the microphone do the work."

Same principal applies. 

Oh Miss Crabtree ...

Day 5  l 95 to go

June Marlow as Miss Crabtree

 Anyone who wants to talk to me for 5 minutes takes up 45 minutes, and when I hang up I have another hours worth of notes and actions  to do.  Why this is I do not know.. It has something to do with the expansion of time in  a vacuum. It is the anti-spanx law of the universe. Spanx law:  An intractable object is impossibly contracted with unnatural force. A billion dollar company. Torture yourself for 90 minutes every day instead in one of Bikram's Torture Chambers.

I was all ready for the 9:30 am class. Sped through one very orange light, to get to the 11:30 am class. I  do not know the name of the teacher I will call her Miss Crabtree. She gave a great tip rotate your  thighs inward. Great tip, great instruction except for my button pushing item  she was a countdown counter. I want to get out of my head and into my body  counting puts me in competition mode which is 100% inside my head.  I hung in there but was cursing under my breath.  I hate countdowns in Yoga  in way that is not logical or healthy..I cursed under my breath, darted out nasty glances, and said "f***"  under my breath. I generally bolt from a class when someone starts counting down.  I need a silent class to shake it off. Someone out there is teaching these teachers to do countdowns.. it must be stopped! Or I need to get over it.  Today I had trouble with all the high blood pressure poses -backward bend in half moon, standing bow, balancing stick,  locust and camel... Hummmmm...Maybe I should pull out the blood pressure cuff machine and check things. I noticed today that people around me sat a  lot,  and the other side of the class they did not. Would I have stuck it out more  if  I was on the other side of the class room?   Will need to move my matt over there next time to investigate.  Were they sitting because  I was sitting? All belching during the floor poses. not charming. Where is all this air coming from?  I definitely have not eaten.  After class I sat for 15 minutes, drank a water, and never felt revived. I wanted to run across the street to the gas station and get a big gulp Coke. Not good for me, sugar is is forbidden. I did not do it, but I considered the hippie drinks Kombucha, sounds awful don't know what it is but is sounds like something you catch.. oh man I was out of work all last week with some raving Kombucha. There is also the coconut water drink option. I tried that once,  oh yuck sickly sweet..   I am ready for nap.   Still paying too much attention to what people  are doing around me in class.

Bikram Yoga Tip of the Day: Standing Head to Knee Pose Dandayamana-Janushirasana  Like all the postures in this series, there are many layers or parts to each pose. My approach is to try and master one part, then build on it. I have the beginnings of many postures. I cannot get webbed grip of my fingers under my feet with posture.Yet, I Lock My Knee. I pull up on my quadriceps and I  balance on one leg, I round  my spine over, interlace all ten fingers and with my lifted leg, try to lasso the ball of my fee.  this year sometimes manage to weave the bent knee in between two taut arms. Some times I hold onto my shin or my ankles. If I hold onto my shin, I do not round my back down and just keep my gaze forward into the front mirror.  This year, I have had fingers under the ball of my feet several times but the knee of the upraised foot was not always in the right place. Thrilling though, it really feels like progress.    I feel it in my back. Maybe I will be five six again one day.

Some Like it Hot

Days 3  4  96 Days to go 

110 degrees has pukability

Missed a day. Did doubles with Ana teaching both classes. New place in the studio and it was HOT. I melted and flopped and had to sit down.  Where did my Yoga mojo go? I felt okay about being in the first row and then I could not do every single pose each time, dizziness, the upchucking not upping...barely..  Still having camel problems,   I never had the traditional camel problems before and now triangle too, which used to be my go to pose for bragging rights, that and Tulandasana which I crazy love that pose... After class I was told it was a 110 Degrees in the class.

Birkam Yoga Tip of the day: Garuasana Eagle Pose. The pose and this part class of the class is all about sex and drinking- it's party time! Twist like Ropes the dialogue says, yet I have never ever seen a rope do anything on it own. A major compression of the main joints of the body, it is also cuts and releases blood flow to your sex organs. Feet and hands always I say, because they are the only parts of my

body that are getting strong so far. Keeping your foot firmly planted on your matt, with your weight evenly distributed over your entire foot will stop you from swaying back and forth like a Tokyo high rise mid- earthquake. This pose brings us 25 minutes into the class and the first offical water break. you just spent 25 minutes warming up you body? Are you thirsty, or are you bored, or are you just not willing to stay still and face yourself? Mountain pose it between every pose. Remain still without falling into a fidget habit, the quieter you remain in class between poses, the swifter

your practice will improve. This, for me, is  the real work of my pratice.

The Errant Onion

one tiny sliver

Day 2. Class 2.  98 to go I popped one tiny piece of a chopped onion in my mouth 2 hours before class. I was choking in pranayama breathing.  I  fell out of triangle, liquids wanted to flow up  in floor bow. I could  not go back in camel. Dizzy,  reguratating, not really an empty stomach. Not enough hydration. Every little piece matters.  I keep thinking I am strong, but missing 15 days, is like starting over.  Meet someone at the BYSC studio who did 150 days in a row since last July. I am inspired. I want to do doubles again.
Tonight was the 6:30 Class with Jay - a dynamite ( am I showing my age with this adjective?)  instructor. Clear instructions, good corrections .He made us hold things longer....I took a different spot up front and it was a H-O-T hot spot. We talked about TT. Jay also knew a spring yogi at TT -- from the Mission studio. Jay then taught the class likewe were at  TT. It was HOT!

For MM -I plan to show my solidarity and send good intentions  for you by going to class every day between now and graduation in June.

Awkward Pose

I will  attend the graduation ceremony mid June.

I Rise

Bikram Yoga Tip of the  Day: Utkatasana Awkward Pose. Let's talk about the easy part. I find I can't lower my so my thighs are parallel to the floor, but I brother  can I rise!  Like Maya Angelou . I rise rise  rise right up on my toes max-i-mum like a ballerina. I feel the front of my ankles opening up and my feet are getting so strong.   After years of yoga I have strong toes and strong fingers. Now, if only the rest of my body would fall in line.

Interfon Interference

Breathing tools

Two weeks of phlegm  & fever.
Two weeks  of rest and no practice. no blog.   Managed to get to an 11:30 am Saturday class. Not crowded, not amplified, lots of newbies on a sunny day.  Oddly dizzy class. Something set off my immune system and would not be stopped. Not breathing fully, only one nostril functioning.  I made it through the class with  minor  rest/breaks - my best effort today. A dear friend is taking off tomorrow for Bikram Teacher Training. A big adventure~!
 
Class was great.  I noticed today that I want to recognize people and I will think unknown people are known to me because they look like or remind me of someone I know.  Must be in our DNA to yearn to connect with others, or as the young people say -  be part of a social network.



Rhino virus as pretty as a panda

Bikram Yoga Tip of the Day: Half Moon Pose with Hands to Feet Pose- Ardha Chandrasana with Pada-Hatasana.  This is like riding on spring toy, you take your spine left and right then forwards and backwards with no break in between. See your throat when you look in the mirror. When you bring your arms up also open up your chest by keeping your tight arms by or behind your ears. LIFT LIFT LIFT, your whole body up - creating space between every vertebrae. Keep your whole body taut, facing front. You may feel like you are wobbling on a playground spring toy. Focus on keeping your body in one plane by  facing the mirror.  Take the stretch as far your breath will allow you. Breathe again and let your breath take your a centimeter farther. Every movement is a choice.  Let your body follow your breath.  Stretch your breath to stretch your body.

Intercostal highway

The Practice of a Practice.

  Pranayama Breathing. Standing Deep Breathing.  The musings on this blog are on the practice of  Bikram's Beginning Yoga Class-

a series of 26 breathing and asanas designed to be complete workout of your entire body in 90 minutes.  This is a beginners class and all are welcome. Follow along as best you can and pay attention to two things, what is being said to you  in class and what your body is telling you.   For my first year I tried to pay attention to my feet and my fingertips in every pose.  I know where my feet and hands should start and end up in every pose. I know where they go and I know where they are supposed to go for the perfect posture. And that is why I try and practive as often as possible to bridge the gap between what is possible today and what is possible tomorrow. Slowly working my way up to and my ankles and wrists, and now these parts are beginning to strengthen and become more flexible. This year I hope that my joints  will join the party and become stronger and more flexible, along with my lungs. When people ask me how long it takes to perfect a single pose, I know they do not get it, not yet.  The best part of yoga practice is the practice. 

Bikram Yoga Tip of the day:Pranayama Breathing Standing Deep Breathing.  The first thing you will do Warm up from the inside out with yhis deep breathing exercise designed to stretch your lungs, and oxygenate your blood, waking you up for  good work out and stretch. Your wrists, shoulders and neck get a good  run for the money, too.   Pay attention with your mind and pay attention with your body. Focus 110% and the time will fly by. 

Back in the saddle again

 Ears hurt

The big cosmic Joke is on me. I joined the BYSC studio because the instructors did not use the headset. Day after the clinic, first class back, formerly non headset wearing instructor has on a headset.  The universe and I are not aligned 


Bikram Yoga Tip of  the Day:  Kapalbhati in Vajtasana Blowing in Firm Pose. 

Marilyn has great intercostal muscles.

The very last asana of Bikram Yoga Beginners Yoga Practice.   Do not worry about breathing in, only concentrate on breathing out. Visualize your abdominal muscles bouncing or snapping off of your spine like an old paddle ball toy.

Expiration:
1) The intercostal and diaphragm muscles relax.
2) The ribcage moves downwards and inwards and the diaphragm becomes relaxed.
3) The thorax volume decreases, causing the air pressure to increase to above atmospheric pressure, so air is forced out of the lungs.
4) Expiration is a passive process- it doesn’t require energy.

All Day Old Bitch Yoga

Left at 8 am came home at 8 pm. Posture clinic at BYDC with the director of Bikram Yoga San Diego - Jim,  and help from a Bikram yoga champion,
name forgotten. My practice changed enormously this day.

Yet this all day posture clinic left me deeply depressed. 

Quite the opposite of  the Bill Graham Posture Clinic in San Carlos. This posture clinic has lecture the evening before.  I was not expecting 50% of the all Day Posture Clinic to be devoted to sitting and listening to stories.  I was not planning on sitting at all.  

 I was nearly naked and the room was not the least bit heated. San Carlos kept the studio warm at 85  degrees, so it was not hot but you were not getting cold. 

And we did not do many, hardly any, postures in the first three hours.  

Jim, who led the clinic, seemed to be an angry guy.

Most of the attendees were Bikram instructors, (people who have already drank the koolaid).  By the time we had a break, I was so offended by some things that were said in the room that I was ready to leave and go home.  When the break happened and everyone left the studio for the lobby, I hung back,di not want to open mycranky  mouth, I mgight  get be stoned to death, or drowned like a Salem witch.  

Here are some things that got me riled up at the posture clinic-

The biggest thing to get me angry was the Dr. Story.

1. A story about doctors- Jim said,"Doctors consider an operation a success if the patient dies, as long as the insurance company pays, and Doctors get to go out on their yachts".  I found this story highly, wildly offensive.

2. One of the instructors asked about a move that some students make in Pacshimitthanasa of grabbing their butt cheeks and moving excess flesh out of the way before wiggling backwards. Jim said this is wrong- just do the dialog.   I raised my hand and attributed this adjustment to The Hot Yoga Doctor.  (I have this book and refer to it often.) Anger from Jim, "I remember her from teacher training, she did not pay attention, She is no Dr,  she is a Dentist) Not advocating anything just trying to provide context.  Today in looking at this book carefully, I did not find this correction in her Hot Yoga Master Class Book.  This is a correction I and many others have read somewhere for people who are obese.  I need to retract the Hot Yoga Master Class book as the source of this correction.It must have come for a yoga forum.

3.   The dialog.  I am not fan of the dialog. What the hell is Japanese Ham Sandwich? It has meaning for Bikram, who spent time in Japan, but I have no idea what a Japanese ham sandwich is supposed to look like and I don't want to make my body into a ham anything. I am pink and round. Nuff said. Why not say Panini? That is squished sandwich I understand.  Plus, I hate sandwiches, ( exceot paninis because they are warm) Sandwiches are a ruinous invention that took away civility and heat from lunchtime.  The Ear of Sandwich reduced the lunchtime from 3 hours to 45 minutes, if you are lucky.

Jim was emphasizing that you must must must stick to the dialog, and not give any one specific person an option of adapting these beginning yoga asanas, not to allow the student to strive from some thing less than optimum form.
As soon as you give an student a modification, they will no longer try to do the correct posture. 

4. I am that person. I was shown a modification for final spinal twist, and I have been doing the posture in a modified postiion way ever since. At the clinic the Yoga Champion came over and helped me do it the right way, it was simple. I was embarrassed at how much time I wasted doing this incorrectly because I had been given an OK to cheat.

5. There were 22 people in the room and Jim had a headset on.  I hate HATE HATE headsets. When I read the clinic was at daly city, which has a large studio,  I almost elected not to attend because it would mean amplification.  Ican talk to 20 peole and not need a headset. The amplification which gives me a headache. Headsets are the instructors crutch. If there is only one person speaking, there is no need to amplification unless you intend for your message to be processes  as shouting. It is a mental assault,  psychological yoga warfare. Est-like training approach.  

I stayed after for a class, even though there was headset and the teacher,  Jim, when correcting people  over a headset, (why not just stick to the dialog,  as we are all being shouted at, at least shout at us with the same instruction) he  
called all the women sweetheart--( SH in the blue, in SH the yellow)
 but he did not call the men youngfella or boy..... 

The young champion kept saying have fun, it's only yoga, and then I realized, I was not having fun.  I was mad.  It's only Yoga,  I was hoping it could be something more.

I was hoping it would change me.  It has changed me, but not in the way that I planned.  This clinic changed me.  No matter what has changed, I am, and remain, one old bitch.

Bikram Yoga Tip of the Day: Embrace you inner bitch, if that is who you truly are.  Painting of me  as a young girl, killing a kitten.

Unattached to the outcome

It was raining. Ipad2 erases my posts.   Too lazy to drive to BYSC, went to BYC instead.

rainy spring day SF

There is synchronicity here and it's a smaller quieter studio. Maybe the folks who come come here are different. After year away. I noticed old regulars with greatly improved practices, nice to see after all this time away, good things happening to those who remained. Deal fell part today. Will I make to the all day posture clinic tomorrow?  Listen to your body-mind connection. My body mind connection is revolting.

the twist

Bikram yoga tip of the day: Ardha-Matsyendrasana. Spine twisting pose. What is lumbago anyway? Here is a cheat for this posture from a yoga teacher at San Carlos-  I can't set up my legs for this posture. Knees won't bend, hips won't both be on the floor with both legs bent. I still give my spine a helluva twist. I put one leg out in front of me. My knees are toast, so I extend one leg out in front of the body, and cross the other leg at the knee. This keeps my hips correctly aligned. Lift the spine up. If you have a a big belly make sure to lift it up and over your hips which could impede your twist, if your fat apron hits your bones, move the fat.


 Spoil sport alert.. do not believe everything you read. Or these days most anything you read.

I am so tired

Bikram yoga tip of the day: Janushirasana with paschimotthanasana head to knee pose with stretching pose. Once more time we are confront the concept of failure as the first option, not the last or final option. If you are big bottomed sweep the excess flesh away form your sitz bones, ( note this is not a bikram advice, this piece of advice comes from  the internet and I can not find the cource.)  Feel your bones grounding you. Use the pressure of the bent leg against the extended leg. Make your spine as tall as possible. Kee your feet straight, all 5 toes even to the mirror. Rotate your leg musles to flatten the feet. The rest of this posture is beyond me.

You two are an inspiration

Day 17 l 83 Days to go

I am suspicious of people. Especially when they open their mouths. Amazing words spill forth. One of my neighbors' little girl was singing a song to us this afternoon. We had no idea what, if any, language, she was using. It was musical. We loved it, called her clever and danced around in a hokey-pokey. 

It is always surprising the words that erupt from people's mouths.  Pot kettle black alert.  After class, I generally sit for 5 to 10 minutes, until I have stopped sweating, before throwing on my super hero costume and climbing into the getaway car.

Yesterday, some unknown (to me) person pointed at me and one another unknown (to me) person, both of us that cretin age  - and said, "You two are such inspiration".  We breathe. Whoop dee doo.

The only that could have made it worse would have been if they followed up with a presentation of some Kelly Ripa or Granny Klampett award.  Why were were we two an inspiration?Two unknown particles clumped together like random elements in a large synchrotron - whirling around - a particle nascar bumper car race. Generating momentary inspiration and flaring out like a Chinese new year sparkler. Huh? Way? Fat? Boy!

I want to be the anonymous person in the class, the anonymous person on line.  A random person with goodbones.

Bikram Yoga tip of the day: Sasangasana Rabbit Pose. Part of the spine strengthening series. Can't do this. I have a very strong back, and my lower back rocks the casbash, but upper back is taughter than the E string on harpo Marx's violin. My head does not touch my knees. My hips do not rise up.  I  tuck under and grab my heels. I think the bomb is coming the bomb is coming until it is over. Remember believing Soviets were not MADmen. Waiting under my desk for the silly duck and cover drill to all be over.

You talking to me? You are the only one talking...

Day 16  l 84 days left
BYSC had the instructor with the headset so I left before the audio assault began and went to Yoga Health Center in San Carlos instead. I know I am supposed to be open. Maybe next year. This year I choose to be small minded about amplification. It's old Opera house training. If Kathleen Battle could get her voice over an entire orchestra and clearly magnificently up to the patrons in the balcony, anyone with a diaphram and decent lungs in small room should be able to do talk at a whisper and be heard. No one else is talking. Why do you think we can't hear you? You talking to me? You talking to me?  Bobby D. rescue me. 

 People at the San Carlos are nice. Some are chatty and too busy inside the studio, They leave bottles of smelly stuff and people get up in the beginning, middle or worst of all, at the final savasana and spray, spray spray agent orange all over the place with no concern for those who are meditating. You spraying at me?  You spraying at me?  Sometimes I leave the studio and take my final asanana in the lobby and lose the heat, but skip the smell.

 Not quite the same thing. Why cant people clean their matts at home? Why provide distractions inside a studio? The studio here is  very narrow. There was a big puddle of sweat on the floor when I am in, yuk.  Luckily  there  was no one in front of me so I could position myself in front of Lake Ewie.   I do like this studio.  It keeps the students on their matt and has them turn rather than straddle their matts. This is much more hygienic.  I am surprised at how many people leave their feet off their matt. The floors are not cleaned between classes and if you sweat, you should keep sweat,and your feet, on your towel and your matt.  This class was not as hot as I would have liked. Instructor turned off the heat before we hit the floor. I am old and crave the heat to move my weary joints.  Instructor was soft spoken, and gave great instructions.

Yoga Tip of the Day: Utrasana Camel's Pose. Why  they call this pose Camel I do not know. 

 A stretch of the front of the body. It can bring up dizziness, nausea is common and emotional feelings. Don't worry, just see it and let it go.   This pose is good for what ails you, flushes blood to the kidneys, stretches your front, which never gets stretched in the world of computers, driving and couch potatoing.  Start kneeling with your knees and feet 6 inches apart. Place your hands on your lower back, push your hips towards the mirror, past your knees. Elongate your spine and neck, allow your head to release all the way back so you see where the wall meets the floor. Drop your hands to heels,  one and a time and open your chest to the ceiling. Breath and stay here. 

International Womens Day

Attended the 2012 International Women' Day Summit And Awards Luncheon. Inspirational people doing amazing things. Its good to get in a roomful of amazing people from time to time and see what the clever people are wearing. Man of the year went to San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee. Best speaker was Zoe Dunning, Retired Navy Commander of DADT Fame - very funny.

9:30 BYSC Class was amplified so I left. What a waste of an hour, to and fro-ing.  As far as I can tell there is only one who uses the microphone and speakers to "shout" at quiet students in a completely silent room. 

Amplification in such small spaces is an overly aggressive  teaching tool. And it hurts the ears, its good to avoid as much artificial sound as possible -  no stereo, no ipod, no  ear buds, no concerts or shows with any amplification.   

 Maybe sabotage is in order.

Yoga tip of the day: Ardha-Khurmasana Half Tortoise pose   It takes a minute to get heels to hips and  the back straight. Stretch your spine from hips to fingertips. Keeps your palms strong, squeeze our arms to your head, forehead  then  pinkies fingers touch the floor.  Work your palms forward and your hips back. Keep your shoulders away from your ears. Don't round. Keep your back arms and chin straight. Childs pose on steriods.

glamour puss vs. glamour pussy

What a difference one letter can make.

I forgot I was a registered Republican until I received a letter today from Anthony W. Parker,  Treasurer of the Republican National Committee.  Some Republicans (not me), insist on inserting themselves where they just do not belong. Maybe the want to put the Pope up there, too. So many scary,wrinkly old white men, trying to control the gateway of life.   If you google Popes' vagina something comes up. Who knew?

Republicans believe in the right to life, up until you take your first breath.

           After that, you are fair game.

 No one shoot treat killing human beings as sport. How horrifying to pose with a dead person as if people are safari trophies.

  

Yoga Tip of the day: Supta-Vajrasana, fixed firm pose:  During the set up, it is most important to get your heels to touch your hips. This will keep your knees from twisting.  Trying to go past the set up, without correct alignment of hips knees and feet, may cause injury. 

Dimples of Venus

 8 l 92  days left.

 BYSC.  No heart in the class.  Worry on the mind.  Did the late night class  make me fretful about a daytime class?  Work weighs on me and I was not focused. The mind interrupted the practice mentally. Not in room, not in moment. Each posture was a struggle to come back to center. I rested mostly, doing one set and attempting to quiet the mind. Kept losing my balance, my place  in the class, in the body,  in the mind.  Each class is very different
Went through the motions. Kept the breath active. Stayed in the room (!) and walked out alive. Felt like a newbie.

I am not a Baptist and that is not me on you tube.

I have very pronounced Dimples of Venus. I thought everyone had big  dents in their lower back.
 I was in an ER. The ER Baby Doc on duty asked if the dents in my back were due to damage from a beating. 

I began to think someone dented my back with their boots.  It was just my pronouced Dimples of Venus.
 I read somewhere recently,  if you have Dimples of Venus, you are at higher risk for obesity.

Who knows what is true. Republicans? Scientologists? (holy crap, Batman!)  Muslims? Me? I don't believe in Newt Gingrich or Tom Cruise, ( vote Newtie he is a cutie! Open marriage, line up if you want to love him madly) Plus-  I don't claim to know anything about birthing any babies.

 I think Doctors don't know what they are talking about 50% of the time. (or more if they are over 45.)  I 100% love Doctors  50% of the time.

Life is a coin toss. Eat vegan, if you can learn to, lots of greens, nothing from a box and nothing delivered to you to eat through a car window is really food,  it is really poison. Meditate a lot. You are going to die anyway. You are what you eat. I's rather be kale than than a cow,  yes I would, if I could,  I surely would. Hopefully it might be less painful  to die if you are healthy, but that to is a coin toss, too,   A good heart attack will  take you on it's first try.  So maybe eating cows and dairy is the  best way to go. Karma is bitch.   Bitches are purposeful creatures that create life and are super tough. Life is all about Dogs and Bitches to me. Too  mcuh time spent with breeders.

Yoga tip of the day:Dhanurasa Bow pose. Why teachers use the image of wheel  when talking about legs is beyond me. The last of the floor spine strengthening series. Reach back and grab the outside of each foot, two inches below the toes. Keep the knees and feet as close together as possible and make sure that the wrists are falt and straight. Kick back- pushing the legs up and into the hands. Keep lifting and roll so all you weight balances on your stomach. Keep the knees about hip width (6") distance apart.

 doing something I shouldnt in the dark

Day 7 l 93 classes to go

Late class.  8:15 pm!  I am usually asleep, or doing something I really shouldn't, by then. A nice way to end the day. BYSC. My main objection to this studio  is that is is a tad too dark,  Not as bad at night, as you dont crave the few silvery rays of natural light that make it 10 feet into the studio.  Lighting could be a tad brighter.  Ana's class.  She is a great teacher.  

I never met a locust and I  never hope to see one.  But I can tell you anyhow, I'd rather meet than be one. Locust pose is the one pose that still feels really bad. The dreaded floors series, designed for alien bodies, or if  these poses are for people, the next question becomes: where did I really come from? I can't get my hands flat on the floor, my wrist scream in pain. Yet from time to time, I can get both my legs way up, as long as I am not tired. It is easy, if you set up correctly and don't mind wrist pain,  form is everything and there is little mirror help from here on out. The locust pose improves the most with daily practice. During the floor series you can not see and copy the advanced students. Poses are shorter and you really work deep.


Yoga tip of the day: Salabhasana Locust pose.  Get your shoulders down,  really tighten your legs,  knees quads, abs and gluts,  tilt your pelvis, so it is easier to lock your knees and move the leg as one component.  Push down and forward on your arms and shoulders, at the same time use your back strength to lit your leg, up and back lifting in a straight line from the hip joint.   Make sure your quads abs, and gluts are fully engaged. Don't break your wrists.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Why?

Day  6 l  94 to go
I did Hatha yoga back in the 70's. When I was living on the farm I tried to maintain my practice from memory. Cobra  pose I practiced often as it was easy to remember. A cousin has photo of me giving yoga lessons to my young nephew outside on bright English August afternoon.

My lower back is probably the strongest part of my entire body.  Could be why.

Yoga tip of the day: Bhujangasana  Cobra pose. Lie on your stomach, arms relaxed at your sides.  Place the palms down on the floor, fingertips beneath your shoulders. Keep your arms close to your body.  Inhale as you start to slowly arch your back. Arch your neck back, look up and back wit hyour eyes. Open you chest with your lower back muscles.  Keep pelvis, quads tight, legs locked one solid structure from pelvis to the top of  the toes, flat on the floor. Lift your palms one inch of the floor. The cobra needs  no hands.  Use your lower spine muscles, not your arm strength,  to raise your self up and down like the Queen of de Nile.

Teacher training

41 year old married high school teacher   leaves wife and kids

 for 18 year old student.

Its hard  to tell who is the bigger fool in this photo.

Day 5  l   95 to go

Another assistant bites the dust, leaving the company to become a Bikram Yoga Instructor -Studio Owner.  She is a funky door fan. So I made her promise to try as many different studios/instructors as possible in town before she goes to teacher training.  We went to BYC my  favorite **  studio (and the BYC is the part of the name of this blog)  in town for the 4:30 pm. 

To sum it up neatly Funky door is Bikram  as BYC is Yoga. Great, great, great  class.  I have always been a fan of Lamotts' teaching style, but this class was A-MAZ-ING. Not too crowded, not too hot, just right.  Everyone  settled into the right spot, there was no jostling or shuffling to to get a piece of the mirror, an excellent tool for form.  Everyone just naturally made room for each other.  I think this is what I enjoy about this studio above all the other Bikram classes.  The student this day here synced up and practiced as one class, one group.  The instruction was terrific.   I discovered the instruction has gotten even better than when I practiced here last, about a year ago.  A very detailed class, and the whole class was in unison for the entire class.  The class was great as students brought a sharing mindfulness in the studio.  Rare in bikram,
 great in yoga classes.

(** allergies to fragrances.  This was a one hive class.)

Yoga tip of the Day: Pavana Muktasana Wind Removing Pose. Release The Old Farts!  Supine spine, eyes  gazing down your chest pull the cervical spine flat against the  floor.  Pull in you abdominal muscles,  tilt your pelvic floor  to press your tailbone flat against the floor.  Pull on your legs using as much bicep and coracobrachialis muscle strength as you can muster.  Keep your shoulders down and your elbows by your side. Let your hip joint release as your pull your leg. This  action strengthens the spine and compresses the colon. 

 where ere ye be, let yer wind gang free.. .

Dead Elephants in Cameroon

Day 4  l  96 to go

Why anyone would purposefully kill elephants is beyond my comprehension. 

Yoga tip of the day: Savasana,  The Corpse Pose. Keep the bosy still and the mind alert.  Keep the head straight, relax the jaw, cheeks and mouth, spread the collarbones out to the sides, relax the fingers and the centers of the palms, relax the top of the thighs and tilt both legs to the sides equally. Allow your eyeballs to sink deep into their sockets.

Don't think about dead elephants in the room.

Post Oscar Buzz

Day 3 l 97 to go.


Oscar Sunday popcorn overdose.
Monday morning blahs and a sugar hangover.
 Cocaine, cocaine running round my brain.
diet is a rememberance of impulse control past.

 Face  flushed  red red-  allergies  fully revived in living color.

Now is now.

San Carlos Health Center -  early morning class pre commute.

Yoga Tip of the day: Tadasana tree pose. The last moment of confidence melts away. The dreaded floor series is coming. Calm the breath, another adductor stretch.  I can't do any part of this simple pose. Lowering the shoulders back and down helps in opening the chest, aligning the hips.
One day, a knee will lower and point down, flamingco-ey.

Yoga Bee Hive

Day 2       98 to go
'

Its 6 pm and I am sitting down to my breakfast, my lunch and dinner all at once, as I kept missing morning classes due to email, work and inspections.  And I ran into one of my favorite people in the grocery store! Yay, Good day. Instructor talked every single micro second of the class.  That is good and bad.  And one of the people who worked at the studio came in one minute before the class started and put a mat down right in front of the student next to me. This was after I just asked another person who came in and put their mat own 100% in front of me if they could move a little which set of  off a mini shifting of everyone mats, the random yoga worker bee  came in and plopped a toweled mat down 100% in front of the gal next to me, the gals who was so nice and offered to shift to make room for me so I could get part of the mirror ws now 100% blocked by an empty mat.  Yoga Bee told us we needed to move our mats so  Yoga Bee could make room for a student  not even in the studio.

 I pointed out that she could move the latecomers' mat to another spot that did not block anyone as a courtesy to the people who were already in the studio.  This is a big pet peeve of mine, like the prodigal son,  concessions at the expense of  the dependable people in favor of the flakey latecomers.  

 Yikes... Me and my big mouth. Everyone got disgruntled. 

Yoga Tip of the day: Trikonasana Triangle Pose. Improves stamina. Works the adductor muscles. Think ice skater or ballroom dancer moves.  A favorite pose, it takes strength. Everyone can master this standing pose. Keep your trapezoids  from rising up  when you stretch your arms out. REALLY stretch your hands and palms across the chest to finger tip to fingertip strong.  Keep your  eyes to the mirror. Do not turn your head when you turn your foot. Take a moment, rotate your arms and palms towards the mirror before you tilt your body to stretch your arms up and down. Place your chin so it is touching the upwards shoulder.  You will feel powerfully  awesome.