Class 3

Outside 55*F
Inside the Studio 93*F


Two days in a row, good for me! One% closer to arching into a camel, aka ustrasana.

Sixty minutes seemed to go by pretty fast while we down-dogged, planked, dolphined, crocodiled, etc. Didn't feel the exhaustion like I did during my initial week. The studio was slightly crowded and the view of myself in the mirror was just inches from a super limber twenty-something year old. May I repeat? Super limber. This is one of the lessons we get the opportunity to learn in yoga: to embrace our differences. In yoga we learn to value what we can do and are encouraged to accept ourselves, our bodies, our limits. I found my eyes watching her and my mind making comparisons. How unfair.

In the 1980's, I had been exposed to amazing collages in and on the album covers of a punk band from San Francisco called The Dead Kennedys. At the time, and as long as art has been around, many people were into creating satirical and political posters, t-shirts, and wall art. Collaging was another art form of the anti-establishment movement. For an assignment in school, I made a collage based on one of Aesop's fables but since there are over 655 fables, I cannot remember exactly which one right now but the moral of the fable was that there will always be better and lesser persons than yourself. I worked hard on that collage and I got an A. "There will always be better and lesser persons than yourself." I struggled for many years with my own acceptance and understanding of this Universal Morality.

From The Eight Limbs, The Core of Yoga by William J.D. Doran, one of the five Niyamas is as follows:

Santosa - Contentment
Modesty and the feeling of being content with what we have. To be at peace within and content with one's lifestyle finding contentment even while experiencing life’s difficulties for life becomes a process of growth through all kinds of circumstances. We should accept that there is a purpose for everything - yoga calls it karma – and we cultivate contentment 'to accept what happens'. It means being happy with what we have rather than being unhappy about what we don't have.

In conjunction with the fable and the Universal Moral of Santosa, I am working on not comparing my practice to any one else's. I have only been practicing yoga for a short while and I am very good at many asanas and not very bad at others. When we watch others, our confidence can waver but comparison is in my mind not my heart. Standing next to this young yogini, I felt pangs of something akin to jealousy but it was more like amazement. I want to attain the flexibility she has, the control, the power. On the other hand, I am so happy to be where I am, my practice is moving forward and I am always getting better.

I saw Michael this morning. I stopped to say hello and admitted that I wouldn't be in for class since I was watching the World Series. We both want the same team to win. That was good to hear. I don't want to be in opposition with my instructor!