Day 2: Letting go of my emotions

I woke up with no desire to practice. I was emotionally “not feeling like it.” I was feeling drained from the events of yesterday here in Manila–a hostage drama involving a bus of Chinese nationals, irresponsible media coverage (where have you seen media that *broadcasts live* every single police strategy employed, knowing that the hostage taker has a television on the bus?), and deaths.

But if there’s anything that life has taught me, it’s that it goes on, whether one likes it or not. So I hit the mat and practiced. Was distracted at the beginning, and I only had 30 minutes scheduled for today’s practice. I ended up doing 5 each of Surya Namaskar A and B, then going straight to paschimottanasana to hold for more than 5 breaths. (In the past, I’ve found paschimottanasana helps me let go of anxiety.)

As I stayed there, I noticed that my hamstrings and inner thighs were tighter than they were yesterday. Later in the day, hours after practice, it occurred to me that my practice has helped me become more aware of the subtle, day-to-day differences in my body, and how they are related to what I did or ate the day prior. [In this instance, I was surprised to realize that this morning’s unusual tightness of the inner thighs had much to do with having to climb multiple flights of stairs in (very comfortable) high heeled wedge sandals.]

From Paschimottanasana, I went to Janu Sirsana A, Marichyansana A and C, then on to the finishing sequence, omitting still the inversions because of my menstruation.

To get some more order into the days that I have less practice time, I researched David Swenson’s short forms. The 30 and 45 minute ones look perfect for those days.

Day 1 of hitting the mat and blogging about it

my mat

Slept fitfully last night–woke up at two AM for no good reason and took half an hour to get back to sleep–so I chose to be compassionate with myself and wake up an hour later than originally planned.

Which all worked out fine–I didn’t do the complete standing sequence/finishing sequence. As it’s the third day of my period, I omitted the one leg balances (I tend to lose a sense of balance during my period) and inversions.

I was very excited to wake up and practice today, I’m hoping to sustain the enthusiasm for practice. Have to learn to write about the practice though–it’s something I’m unaccustomed to as yet.

Starting a home practice

Hello, I’m bloodsugar and welcome to my practice journal.

I finally chose to begin a practice journal to help myself give structure to my practice of ashtanga vinyasa yoga. My on-and-off attraction to ashtanga in particular began about two years ago when my fiance’s cousin invited us to a free led/mysore class by YogaManila, and I have taken the sporadic Led Ashtanga class at PulseYoga.

Although I have had good experiences in both shalas/studios, I also had personal issues/qualms about practicing regularly in a shala/studio.

You see, I live in Metro Manila, the bustling megalopolis that is the capital of the Philippines. I work as an academic, teaching philosophy to students at a prominent private university. Although my income is well above minimum wage, and though I am part of a fairly large middle class that stabilizes the national economy, I also have some ethical problems with cultivating a studio practice in my context.

The price of one mysore or led class in Metro Manila is, on average, 500 pesos (roughly US$10). To someone working in a developed country, this sounds very cheap and affordable. Here, however, minimum wage is less than 400 pesos (US$8) a day. In that equation, a month of classes in a shala/studio would cost me the rough equivalent of a fellow citizen’s monthly salary. Though I consider the mind/body practice of yoga as part of my human flourishing, I also can’t stomach the idea that my human flourishing has to be accomplished at a cost that emphasizes the economic inequality in my country. Partly inspired as well by the philosopher Emmanuel Levinas, who asserts that one’s very existence is the deprivation of the existence of an Other, and partly inspired by the principle of ahimsa (or non-violence), I was torn by the paradox of how my desire to practice yoga perpetuated inequalities and deprivations.

Enter the cyber community of yoga. I don’t remember anymore how I discovered these blogs, but I began semi-regularly reading two blogs by two people developing their home yoga practice–Reluctantashtangi.com and Ashtanga Vinyasa Krama at Home. Through their blogs, I discovered that the practice of ashtanga yoga can be done at home.

It has taken me two years to begin this journey, but I think it has been worth the wait. I’m excited by the possibility of practicing daily in my home!