Timer on…
I had to do the 15-minute version again today because I had NACL stilting in the evening, and then we went out…which is important, in my book of how to be a successful theater person…go out, have beers (if you drink) and chat…it makes the work better…
So…I had two hours of training today (yoga and then stilts), so another 15 minute practice was not a big deal, plus we had a half hour of yoga before stilts, so…it kind of works out. We also did stage combat on stilts, so…I getting a “practice” in somewhere.
Plus, as of last night, I think if I have to do a shorter version of the “practice”, the 15-minute version is much more satisfying than the 30 minute version. So…it’s either the hour version or the 15-minute version.
I thought I might explore some of the themes in the practice, today…the main positions in this practice are back bends and twists…So…I think I will discuss twists…
According to THE YOGA HANDBOOK:
“The autonomous nervous system: Spinal twists revitalize the nerve ganglia of the autonomic nervous system, which run from the spine to the periphery of the body. They exert a greater influence than any other group of postures of the autonomic nervous system, particularly on the vagus nerve. This has a calming, soothing effect on the body and mind; it is energizing on a physical as well as a subtle energetic level.”
“The autonomic nervous system is controlled in the brain stem and the hypothalamus and is responsible for all functions that are carried out largely without our conscious control. Such functions include digestion, respiration, glandular hormonal secretions, the heartbeat and blood circulation, and the functions of the kidneys and the liver.”
So…if the twists have control over things that my brain makes “work”, but carries it out (largely) without my conscious control, then that is where the love is, and it’s not surprising that the chakra for these poses is Anahata/The Heart chakra. My heart cannot be controlled consciously. A medium told me that once and that I should be more careful in my choice of friends because many of them wanted me to “control” who I fell in love with and that controlling love was impossible, so, maybe, this whole “ritual towards a method that guides me to love and acceptance” is just stupid because there is no way I can control the feelings that show up…but…maybe the practice towards this IS the ritual…that is, the acceptance that I cannot control this journey, but I can just keep “preparing”…
I’m not sure what I mean by any of this, so…I’m going to let the timer stop me…
1/30/16 – Days 30-31
Timer on…
Last night I got home around 11:30PM, which meant I was going to have to do another 15 minute version…I didn’t want to…I wanted to do the whole sequence, so I decided to go to sleep and pull a double-header the next morning, which, I did…
I did the full sequence with all the variations of the poses twice, therefore, it was the 1-hour version two times, and it did, indeed, take 2 hours, but it was lovely, and totally worth it.
I’ve been watching the Ken Burns Baseball Documentary series and I’m on Inning 9 (my favorite number, incidentally) and I hit the history of baseball, where I’m, actually alive…it was lovely to meditate on that today as I pulled a metaphorical double-header of a yoga series. I could meditate on how the Yankees were doing around the time I was conceived and born, and I could imagine how my Dad was feeling as a new father, and the success of his Yankees during the 1976-1978 season. I could meditate on my father and brother’s connection to Pete Rose, and the betrayal they felt when he was proven guilty. I could meditate on my brother’s love of baseball, my father’s love of baseball, and the fact that, even though my father has passed, my brother is the best person to take his place. My brother often thinks that he didn’t live up to my father’s high expectations, but he’s too close to his own failings to see that he loves baseball (just like my father), he loves cars (especially the ’68 SS Camaro that was meant for him, just like my father), and he cares for his family and would drop anything to help them (just like my father). I will be honored to be walked down the aisle by my brother. I had forgotten how much of my childhood is marked by memories of me and my brother and our love of baseball. It was the connecting element in our family with our father. I was the more bookish child, but I wanted to please my father by being just as strong as a boy, and so, I idolized my brother and wanted to do everything he did. I asked to play baseball on his T-ball team, when I was 4 years old, and the story that is told is that I hit the ball, barely over the T-ball foul line, and that I ran so fast that people were surprised I could run that fast (for as small as I was). I made it to the base, despite the expectation that a little girl on a boy’s T-ball team would be unable to do so…they thought they were just humoring me. However, I only went on to prove that I didn’t really understand the game, yet. I took one look at 2nd base and thought, “That’s just silly…why does anyone go to that base, first?” [On a side note, I’m sure it doesn’t surprise anyone that I wasn’t a fan of rules even at 4.] So…I had decided that I would run across the pitcher’s mound to 3rd, fooling everyone and cutting down the time it took to go home. I was livid when I was thrown out, and I had my first tantrum with the umpire and the coach. I don’t remember even walking off the field…I remember refusing to do so because I was adamant that I was “safe”. Anyway, for a day of breaking the rules of the 38 Day Journey Towards a Ritual Towards Matrimony or Love/Acceptance is only par for the course of my record in any game…
Some exciting things happened with the lengthy version of this practice today:
- I was able to do the full pose of Hanumanasana/The Splits on both sides. I’m pretty sure that I have not done The Splits with my left leg in front since I was (maybe 10 or 15). I remember having trouble with that side of the splits in dance and just did the right side, when having to show them or add them to a piece of choreography. I have been able to do the right side, periodically, over the years with some time spent working on that leg, but I never attempted the left side. For the past 30 days I have practiced this pose every day and today my core/my muladhara chakra (my crotch) touched the floor on both sides and I was able to bring my hands to prayer pose instead of balancing my legs on the ground. It felt amazing. It was a surprise and I didn’t expect it to happen. I suppose the easy metaphor here is that love is like that…that it shows up, when you least expect it. So…my joyful monkey leap to enlightenment…happened today…
- Parivritti Trikonasana (Twisted Triangle) has also been a difficult pose and I haven’t been able to put my hands down flat. The first time I did the pose today, I was able to put my fingers flat. The second time, I struggled with balance, so I couldn’t, but…it was lovely to experience this pose with more points on the ground. I hope to repeat that, in the coming 7 final days…
- Eagle/Garudasana: I have mentioned in a previous post that I expected that I would never be able to feel the quote on the little card, which is, “My consciousness soars to boundless heights,” because I found it really hard to have consciousness in this pose because it is just difficult to stay “focused” and “conscious,” while balanced and wrapped. It will be a good day, when this pose will feel balanced. Well, it felt balanced today on both sides…enjoyable… I feel like this version with it length and its poses allowed my mind to get out of the way and let me feel “balanced”. My acting preparation has always been that way: that is, I have to get my mind out of the way of my work, in order to enter the character. I suppose I should have known that this journey of 38 Days would only be successful when I do the practice in a long version that forces fatigue and bliss from allowing my mind to get the hell out of the way.
Well, it has been an exciting day, and a totally unexpected one seeing as how I have a lot to do today in preparation for my next metaphorical child: RAGTIME THE MUSICAL, which I cast yesterday and will begin rehearsing Monday. This is an enormous undertaking, and, I think, it is important in any ritual to know that things will get in the way of that ritual being “pure” or “blissful” and, yes, the next week, that I have left of this practice will have its final test: surviving the monster that is rehearsing RAGTIME. I hope I survive…
Timer times two: out…