Bad Yogi

I've been a bad yogi.

Saraswati was giving 2 led classes, one on Saturday and the other today. And er... gulp, I didn't go for either!

In my defense, I was "listening to my body" and needed to take my rest day on Saturday. Then one of my friends from Singapore arrived this morning to stay a week with us, and I had to wait till she turned up to the apartment.

OK OK, by the time she arrived, I still had an hour till Saraswati's class and could've made it. But she wanted to go for yum cha, and how could I refuse. (Kelly hates yum cha so I hardly ever get to indulge!) So umm... I skipped Saraswati's class to go for yum cha. Eek.

And I had TWO lotus-paste with sesame dough balls in all their DEEP-FRIED glory (amongst a bunch of other bad things, but that really took the cake). Mmmmmmmm. There is A LOT of starch and gloopy, gelatinous goop in yum cha. I think this was officially my LAST MEAL with refined carbs until I start Wednesday's detox. (I'm trying to remain guilt-free, as you can tell).

So after rolling ourselves out the restaurant (Regal Restaurant on Sussex St, in case you were wondering. Lots of good vegetarian options, surprisingly!), we decided we HAD to go to this afternoon's Mysore class to redeem ourselves of all that badness. Thank goodness KPJ Yoga's got a packed schedule of classes now! ;p

Then I found out that TODAY WAS SARASWATI'S LAST CLASS!! I thought she'd be teaching up until Tuesday, but turns out she's still in the country but will be playing tourist rather than teacher. ARGHHHHH!! I missed her last class for yum cha. Jeepers! Bad yogi. So that pretty much wraps up my Saraswati series I suppose... Hrmph.

On another note, I can't remember when the last time was that I'd practiced in the afternoon/ evening. It was quite a refreshing change! Suddenly, the poses all seemed easier coz I felt so much more limber. I still had to be bound into Supta Kurmasana but MAN OH MAN, it felt so much easier with less resistance! The only distracting thing was the kids having a piss-up on the opposite balcony. I used them as my drishti point, and somehow Ujjayi breathing while watching someone smoking has a very strange effect on your psyche (I am also an ex-smoker. It confused me.)

I did 5 unassisted dropbacks today. Only coz the first 3 were so-so. Actually, they were crap. The first one, my hands landed REALLY FAR AWAY. And on the next 2, my head grazed the floor on the way down. No, it wasn't a full-on headbutt, I just hadn't straightened my arms enough. Since I wasn't pleased with the outcome, I went for another 2 and they were much better - felt a lot deeper, making the standing up a lot easier too! (Yes! No teacher to help with the standing up today!)

I still feel like a newly-born elephant trying to walk when it comes to dropbacks/ standing up. It's the most ungainly, inelegant struggle. Very unpolished. Slowly, by slowly...

Today, my friend sent me this picture. You might know him too. (not the... er... model? in the picture, but my friend). [EDIT: This friend would like to remain anonymous!] ...I suspect it might be a picture too brazen to post for the average yogi. Here's where having a friend like me comes in handy. HAHAHA.

I thought it was an excellent reminder that even bodies who've been kissed by God still struggle with the perfect backbend. He has Imaginary Stilleto Syndrome (ISS) and the calves that go along with it. Oh, and did I mention... he's got skimpy yoga shorts, too? (Hehe, I'm on a "bad yogi" roll)