Outdoor yoga

I’ve been thinking about doing my yoga practice outside for a little while now, and this Sunday morning I finally did it. I was a little nervous about practicing without the DVD to tell me what to do next. Silly, maybe, to feel the need the training wheels, but that need is part of the reason I wanted to do it.

I took my sticky mat outside and found a relatively even patch of ground. The outdoor cat thought I was there to give her pets and lovin’s, and I gave in for awhile, before gently pushing her out of the way. She moved to the folded blanket I use to ease tension in my back when I’m doing seated postures. I was not allowed to use it, so I managed without.

I managed a good practice just fine without instructions. I did some of my favorite poses, and the practice flowed easily. I think I was out there for about 45 or 50 minutes. I heard the sound of the cicadas over the noise of the cars on the highway. I saw trees silhouetted against blue sky. I noticed a wasp nest on a window frame (I should probably do something about that). The blue jay whose territory I was in scolded me from a fence post. Normally I would have no visitors (I live in the country somewhat separated from my closest neighbors), but this morning my neighbor came by with the tractor to mow the bull run. I lifted out of my seated forward bend to wave.

I was a very nice practice indeed. I like being able to move at my own pace without the distraction of the instructor’s voice. I want to become more comfortable practicing on my own. I feel like I can feel the pose more deeply, feel what’s going on inside. And practicing outdoors is a luxury, while the warm weather lasts. Soon enough it will be too cold to be outside.

Yoga practice update

It has been almost two months since I updated on my yoga practice, so I thought I should do that. I am still using the DVD Yoga For Every Body as the cornerstone of my practice. For the past two or three weeks I have been dipping into the “Intermediate” level sessions. These sessions are a little longer than the beginning level workouts (around 40-45 minutes as opposed to 20-35 minutes), and a bit more challenging. I’m pleased with my increasing strength and stamina, but I’m still taking things slowly, i.e., no power yoga for me yet!

I’m still practicing yin yoga once a week or so. Holding a forward bend or hip opener for 5 minutes makes me feel like a novice meditator. Thoughts swirl up inside and I feel restless. I try to breathe through the internal unquiet, but I know to accept the beginner phase for what it is. Eventually my thoughts will slow and be replaced by peace and calm. The presence of so many thoughts now lets me know how much deeper my practice can become. It is a good sign.

I have been doing more pranayama-based Kriya yoga in recent weeks, too. I’m trying to do 45 minutes twice a week. I figured if I’m going to be teaching it I should be practicing it regularly. It’s hard to explain Kriya yoga. It’s kind of like doing light calisthenics while breathing rapidly through your nose. It is calming to the thoughts and emotions, and cleansing to the physical body.

Except for the two weeks in June when I felt pretty run-down and tired, I have consistently been practicing 4 to 6 days a week since January. I’ve been keeping a variety to my workouts so that I don’t get sore or overtired. It would be nice to practice 7 days a week. A couple of those days would be very light practices, of course. The ways it is, without the schedule of work on the weekends, I am not disciplined enough to make it to the mat both days. I would like to change that.