Day 3, The Wall...

Here's me hiding out at Caribou Coffee over the lunch break. Admittedly I'm starting to hit a bit of a wall today. Mentally my brain is so busy trying to digest all that it's taken in thus far. Physically my body is tired. Not sore really. Just tired from short nights of sleep, a different daily routine, and from hours of sitting on the floor learning sprinkled with some asana here and there. Really, other than the great, mostly asana session with Jason Crandall this morning, I haven't done much asana. But enough (and with focused attention to specific details) that in combination with everything else it's contributing to the general fatigue. Part of my practice today involves being compassionate and mindful about where my being is today and not pushing too far. Sometimes in the excitement of a class of 75, lead by a nationally (if not internationally) know yoga teacher, that task can be a challenge.

Speaking of my physical being, yesterday after my session with Julie my hips felt amazing. As I was walking out to the car last night I realized for the first time in many, MANY days, I didn't have ANY sciatic related pain. That has remained the case for thus far today as I stay mindful about honoring my body's needs.

Last night's keynote with Rodney Yee was amazing and too brief. Because of the short amount of time he was scheduled, his talk was a little all over the place as he just touched on the points he wanted to share. He did spend a majority of his time talking about his involvement with the Urban Zen Foundation...which I hoped would be the meat of his speech. I'm so inspired by the amount of collaboration one sees anymore between traditional western medicine practitioners and institutions and the alternative/complementary personal care world. I believe that connection is going to be an important aspect of turning around some of our health care issues in the west to involve a broader picture of the whole person (including those in that person's support circle) in care practices. It's an area that greatly interests me. An area and a field of work which is always in my mind when I'm considering the direction my professional endeavors are headed. I think it's safe to say it will be a field in which I will be growing into for years and years to come.

This morning started a bit earlier as sessions today got underway at 8 instead of 9. My first session of the morning dealt with yoga therapy applications in relationship to the low back, sacrum, and hips. It was taught by another P.T./yoga teacher, Emily Large. Emily is trained through the Viniyoga school of yoga founded by Gary Kraftsow. We again talked in a very pointed way about anatomy in relationship to special concerns of the focus area. Our practice time included a simple clam shell exercise to help strengthen the piriformis muscle (an external rotator of the hip) which my Mom first showed me a couple years ago. Emily provided great information and I look forward to the email follow-up she promised post conference.

My second session of the morning was with Jason Crandall. Jason has studied mainly under Rodney Yee. Since Rodney's videos are what started it all off for me, I felt right at home with Jason's style. He has that same thoughtful, encouraging, warm and welcoming tone of voice. He is very thoughtful with his words and pays attention to details without being fussy. Our practice today was about finding the balance in all our poses between effort and ease. It was thoughtful, yet challenging. We flowed, we flexed, we opened, we even balanced on our hands (which usually scares the heck out of me but Jason's approach was so thoughtful with so many places for feeling "success" that I ENJOYED the challenge.) I experience probably the most comfortable Wheel/Up-ward bow I've ever lifted into towards the end of class...3 times! I would could see myself practicing regularly with Jason if it wasn't for the fact he's in San Fran...and I'm in Iowa. Bummer.

My final session for the day is with Seane Corn. A detox vinyasa class. I have a feeling a fair number of twists are going to be involved. I'm hoping lunch is well on it's way through the system by the start of class!


namaste