Mental Phlegm Bombs

It has been a while since I have posted on my blog, and I apologize to those who have enough interest in my life to read my e-dribble. I still have no internet at home, so Starbucks is where I will have to go for now. Maui is wonderful and I love that I am here. I will post pictures soonish.

Since I have posted last my Ashtanga practice has improved vastly. I attend class at HYZ (house of yoga and zen) almost daily, I have missed class(not practice) a few times for a monthly staff meeting where I work, Flatbread in Paia.  I went to a kirtan event with Krishna Das last month which was awesome! It definitely has me singing in my truck way more often, and occasionally parking it in lotus and chanting at home.

My asana practice continues to improve. I have been practicing 2nd series more often than first it seems. I can occasionally do Dwi Pada(2 legs behind head sitting up) without Nancy/Casey's help, and yes there is a teacher/assistant named Casey.  I am pretty close to being able to hold Eka Pada(1 leg behind head) without my hands.  Sometimes I can put my legs in lotus without my hands in Urdhva Padmasana.  I was able to thread my arms through in Garba Pindasana today, and Casey was able to push me into Marichyasana D.  I feel like I have been making leaps forward the last few weeks.  I started practicing Guruji's Pranyama, and am up to the first 3 parts.  I have been coughing up some serious stuff lately, maybe the Pranyama is cleaning me out even more or something.

Today in class at one point I started coughing, and Nancy mentioned that I should leave class next time so that I do not disturb others, apparently 5 people stopped their practice, maybe they should work on their pratyahara. She also tagged on a joke about me and another guy who has been coughing/phlegmy lately that the whole class heard. That said it was a pretty horrendous sounding series of coughs. After the scolding and little joke I was very upset. I was very wrapped up in thoughts from shoulder stand on, and it even followed me to work.  I thought about just standing up and leaving class, I contemplated whether I should continue my practice with her at HYZ.  One little comment had me devastated. First I was somewhat angry, then just hurt, I thought about leaving her shala to proverbially shake my fist in the air in anger, and going to one of the many other world renowned(maybe just western renowned) ashtangis in Maui.  I thought about ending my Ashtanga practice and finding something else altogether, as sometimes Ashtangis blow my mind with their ego(me included). I thought about practicing at home until my phlegmyness subsides, mostly so I would not be in the position to be part of a joke and so my presence would be missed. Basically I was upset, and I knew very early on in my thought process that I was the source of the negativity I attached to the comment, and could not even fathom moving on from HYZ or Nancy.

Yet still I sulked and mentally ached to show them(I am a jerk).  I moved on at some point in between making lemonades, smiling at customers, and being a part of the endless sassy give and take between coworkers.  I decided to let it go, to do nothing, to know that it was my own ego/monkey mind reacting, and that I needed the ego bruising in some way for my own practice. While I do not feel like there was a huge revelatory moment there, I feel like I was able to plant a seed.

What that seed will blossom into I do not know, but I know it will help me with my goals. Every day* after I practice asana and pranyama I chant the student teacher mantra, and afterward I pray to become a better person, better man, better yogi, and find the state of Samadhi. I feel like this little seed will help me with the goals of my prayer. One day I may need another teacher, but for now I am so happy with Nancy and my own progress.


*not Saturdays or Moon Days

Scooters and Sunshine

I have been attending classes at the house of yoga and zen, Nancy Gilgoff's shala, very regularly.  Nancy has been in Japan ever since I started attending, but returns on the 19th. My practice has been continuing very well here, and I am starting to learn 2nd/Intermediate Series. It is much easier to motivate myself to do 2nd with a teachers help, and the previous 'am I doing it right' stuff is gone. Everyone at the shala seems to joke about how 2nd series brings up lots of emotional stuff and to warn friends you will be cranky.  So far I have not really experienced this that much, I have not noticed myself being that cranky, but then again I do not have anyone to be cranky with or about(no friends and no job here). I enjoy 2nd quite a bit, to be able to get into Dwi Pada, Eka Pada, and do drop backs is a ton of fun. One of these days here not too far away I will be able to do these things without adjustment.  I have continued to do my Nadi Sodhana Pranyama after class, and do a few sun salutes and Nauli before going to class.

So far I have gone to many 'application drop-off/quick interviews' and hope to hear back from one of the myriad of restaurants I have applied at. There is a lot of competition on Maui for a gig, it is paradise you know. A job will be nice and will definitely help stop the bleeding of money, losing my debit card also helped with that. I hope when I scooter my buns home I find a new debit card waiting. Oh yeah it has been a while since I blogged, my car broke, got a scooter, working on the car, and really loving scootering around. I already fell off of it, so I have crossed that bridge and come out alive, just a skinned knee.  Well I am gonna jet from the Starbucks(no internet at home) and head to the beach. I am sure I will blog more soon, remember to have a wonderful day.

Plays well with others

Today I attended class at the House of Yoga and Zen. Nancy is out of town til October, she has the very capable Casie(said just like my name) substituting for her. There were 3 of us today. It was nice to jump in with out a huge class as it has been a while since I have taken an Ashtanga class or even practiced with others. I definitely think it was one of the best practices I have had in a long while. It is amazing how the presence of others and a teacher can nudge you forward. My hammy still feels agitated, but was hardly noticeable during the class, I did a couple of sun salutes and nauli before I went to class, which also may have helped with the hammy and the good class. Afterward I applied for a gig at a restaurant, did some general shopping in town; I purchased shorts, board shorts, and a haircut.

I put the board shorts to good use at a couple of beaches around Paia, did a little swimming, boogie boarding, and body surfing. Watching the youngsters boogie board was definitely cool, they do some amazing things. Overall a great day capped off with some bed time tea. I hope to hear about a place to live tomorrow after yoga practice, hooray for yoga community.  I am super thankful to have such wonderful family and friends, for a great yoga class, for Mana foods, and Maui in general.

Smells and Soft Landings

Yay! I am in Maui, I was on my mat at 6:10am, and generally very happy to be getting my morning practice back. Just finished practicing full primary, 10 rounds of pranyama, and a few minutes of pratyahara.  I feel awesome, and it appears my little hamstring hitch is starting to subside. I still felt it today, but not nearly as much as yesterday. I guess 7 hours of flying, Ramaswami's lotus variations, and a little evening walk has me almost normal.

My first impression of Maui has been amazing. The breeze, the smell, and the sun are amazingly inviting. I had a soft landing at the Rainbow Surf Hostel, which is nice but a touch pricey for a hostel($30) not that there is a better option.

My todo list:

Breakfast
Beach
Find out how to get some cash
Call some folks about a car
Buy a car
Find a job

I am sitting waiting for the flight to Hawaii, we are about to board but I want to get a post going.  This last week was tough to find places to practice, I ended up skipping a day and doing several shortened practices. I was pretty cranky the day I didnt get to practice, but i the afteroon I realized I needed to move on and either find a spot or move on cheerfully. I moved on cheerfully and my day was pretty awesome. The road trip was good, it was nice to see some other parts of AK other than the Coastal area. Even at Zach's I was only able to do full primary once. Somewhere along the way I think I hurt my right hamstring.  It does not feel bad during the day, but is tight when I practice, and the first few sun salutes I have to move kind of carefully, but after a little while it gets warmed up and I can move pretty well.  I just really hope this clears up in a few days, and doesn't persist.

AK picture dump

My work at the lodge in Alaska is complete, bartending/waiting tables was alright. I made some good $ which helps with lots of stuff. I woke up very late today, set an alarm but apparently did not set an alarm, so I am respecting the moon day and abstaining from practice, will do a couple of suryas and nauli though. I have mostly packed my stuff, have two distinct piles, going to maui and not. Before I go to Maui I am headed to the Old Denali Hwy, which should be really awesome. Finding places to practice while doing that may be tough but I guess I shall see. Pics to come.

A few days ago I hiked the Harding Ice Field Trail, which was spectacular. I have some pictures from that as well as a hike to Carter/Crescent Lake. Carter/Crescent:

Harding Ice Field Trail:

I practiced primary series, alternate nostril breathing(10 rounds), nauli, and did one japa of Aum. My right nostril was a little clogged during nauli despite using my neti pot before practice. Last few days I have been doing handstands after Navasana Uthpluthee(pushing up), I am not even close to pressing up to handstand.  I do the press up then I cross through and do a handstand from forward bend hopping both legs up. I am definitely getting better control, and have been able to hold it for 5 breaths at least once each practice the last few days.

Consistently adding pranayama to my practice has definitely been good. I just recently started doing 1:4:2:1 ratio of breathing in padmasana at the end. I have been doing it on a 5 count. Typically I have been doing 10 rounds of alternate nostril, sometimes 20.

As far as other parts of life I have been having some man issues, enough to cause me to do only 3 of each surya and nauli on tuesday and see a doctor(actually a PA). I am hoping it will go away in a few days, but if not I will have to see someone else investigating this possible commonality with Lance Armstrong.

There has been a serious case of the 'don't give a shits' running around the restaurant these days. It has been mindblowingly slow, and everyone seems ready for the season to be over. I am definitely ready to get on my way and head for HI. Figuring out exactly what I am going to do has ended in just surfing the internet a couple of times. I have some cool pics to post will get to it tomorrow, and one of the fortunate parts of the slowness is I will have 3 days off, so I plan to go to lost lake, a glacier that has some ice caves, and the harding ice field.