A brief pause to come up for air

I haven't been outside in the daytime for three days, our posture clinics are moving at a crazy fast pace, we started anatomy class on Monday and I feel like information is just flying in one ear and out the other, and the yoga classes just seem to be creeping up in temperature day by day.  Did I really pay money for this?  No, I'm not hitting a slump yet, just realizing that things are going by way faster than I would like.  It is hard to "practice mindfulness" in the midst of this frenetic pace we're being put through, though I know that we are charged daily with accomplishing this very task.

On a positive note, I've delivered, with varying degrees of success, two complete postures thus far!  That is very exciting news if I avoid thinking about the other 24 I have yet to memorize.  Sigggggghhhhhhhhhhhh.  Fortunately I think my brain is finally getting on board with the memorization process and I can visualize myself chugging along nicely through these postures as the days go on.

In other news, I am dealing with a rather persistent back injury/issue that cropped up sometime last week and has held me hostage since that time.  I had one massage with a fabulous sport-oriented massage therapist and I'm booked in to see him again on Saturday, which is one of the main thoughts that gets me through each class.  Any posture that involves pulling on the heels or foot to stretch the lower back is fairly well out for me.  Or, at least I have to mitigate how far I go into the posture.  The pain seems to radiate down my leg as well which makes any hamstring stretch all kinds of fun, even with the heat of the room loosening it up.  Still amazingly tight and in a state of spasm despite the heat.

Interestingly enough, this injury has tremendously changed the way I practice.  Even though I've heard it a thousand times, it didn't really hit home until I was trying to work out how to deal with this injury in class.  Turns out that tightening and lifting the abdominal muscles really does allow the lower spine to relax and stretch without engaging those back muscles and causing pain during those very pulling postures that are bothering me.  So I've been tightening these muscles like crazy all during class and the difference is tangible.  I'm able to get just a little bit deeper without hurting myself, and if I feel even the slightest pinch back there, I can come out safely and with control using those abs.  And as an added bonus, my core is becoming much stronger than it has ever been.  Bring on the sexy abs!  Ok, maybe not really sexy, but at least strong.  Some people have 6/8/10/12 packs, but I'm convinced that I have a uni-pack, single serving.  I've never seen definition there on my belly and if I looked down there one day and happened to see bumps like that, I'd suspect some sort of communicable disease before new definition in my "rectus abdominis" muscles (thanks Dr. P!).

And now some random pictures:

Adrienne, Dia, Kara

Dia and Adrienne in Balancing Stick

Dia and Mike Salsa Dancing

The salsa dancing was a random event last Saturday at Monsoon Cafe in Santa Monica, but such a nice change from the forced confinement of the hotel.  It was such a blast and I ended up going with a woman who taught Salsa for many years and two people who were relative newbies.  So fun but not sure if there will be time for too many of those nights for the next few weeks.

Now off to brush up on Eagle and get some rest for tomorrow when we will do it all again!  Whose crazy idea was this anyway?