A social practice !!

Ended up practicing with B yesterday afternoon, Monday, at 5 PM in the studio, just the two of us. It started out great, with solid Ujayyi and bandhas, even though it took me a bit longer than usual to get warm. I normally only do 3 A's and B's, but had to do 5 each to get that blood flowing. The cold weather along with all the Christmas food/laziness must have contributed to that.

Once we got to the First Series postures, we started having all these conversations about alignment and form between postures. It was nice to share ideas about the practice with her, especially that she's a physical therapist, but it took the flow out of the practice.

It felt like we were taking a break between each asana, which can be quite bothersome for Ashtangis, since we have that old school type A working out mentality. All that left-over drive from years of running and hitting the gym is hard to shake off. We had to rush towards the end since people started coming in for the 6:30 PM Vinyasa class.

As a result of all that catch up I had to do at the end, I had to skip Sirsana (headStand) and the rest of closing. Not even time for a Savasana (Corpse). That's the price I pay for all that verbal exchange that took place.

We're supposed to practice again at 5 Pm today, hopefully with less chatter and more focus on the flow.
I also need to see how my R. knee fairs today since I popped it again yesterday in Mari D. It had been behaving nicely for the last couple of weeks, but must've pushed it a bit beyond its injured limit in yesterday's practice. Oh well! Can't let my guards down and must know when to stop pushing. Easier said than done in this case, with little warning before it pops.