Went to 4 o'clock practise today which i don't usually do, i hate walking home at night! It's too dark, you can't see the road, but I couldn't get to practise any earlier because of my obsession with ebay! Some yogi, huh? Aren't we supposed to be working on focus? But at least I made it to practise. And I forgot about all that ebay stuff on my walk anyway, so, onward young one and get with it.

Practise was great! During Paschimotthanasana, the Stretching Pose at the end, I really felt my lower back go down and my chest just seemed to go forward with it and for about a millisecond I *knew* I was gonna touch my forehead to my knees. What kind of animal skin is Bikram practising on when he does this pose on p. 200 of his new book? i know nothing about animals, fish, trees, nature really.

Anyway, I figure my practise can only get better if I come home and write down one thing about it, so why not start today?

The walk home wasn't even as bad as I feared, but why fear anything after such a good practise. And waiting for me by the Birdhouse was a package I wasn't expecting! A brand new copy of Autobiography of a Yogi and the Bikram's Beginning Yoga Class CD. How fitting is that? So that's where I am with my studies, just starting. I've been taking the Beginning Class for almost 2 months straight now, but got the CD in case the classes get too expensive. Something else I don't need to focus on. Well, it's either that or dumb things like why are there so many green m&ms in the bag tonight? But that's why I'm doing this, so I can focus on what's really important. So onward young one!

namaste,
mck

I really have fun during practise. Sometimes it's frustrating trying to get into these positions, or staying in them. But after that first bit of frustration, I'm back into having fun again. I couldn't stay in Dandayamana-Dhanurasana (Standing Bow Pulling Pose) at all today, frustrating but I still had fun. And then Trish shared something with the class from our conversation before practise and I felt connected with all my fellow practisers. namaste, mck

I love it when Courtney pushes me! What was it? It's not like she leads the class differently or anything. I don't know, the room seemed hotter than usual, but to me that's usually a good thing. Maybe not enough sleep? I really had to work to keep up, but, you know I loved it! Oh, what fun it is to be dripping sweat! And C also mentioned that you don't want to wipe away the sweat because it acts as a natural cooler. In other words friends, we love SWEAT! namaste, mck

Today was a first for me. I practised this afternoon to the CD. It was pretty much the same as class, except it prolly wasn't hot enough to really do it. i thought it would get warmer as I practised, but it din't and I prolly shouldn't have tried it in such a cool room, but I din't wanna stop after I had started. It was awesome doing the poses with Bikram leading them. This won't be the last time I practise at home, but I think a space heater is in my future. After that, I got ready and went down to the studio and practised a second time. The energy of the class was really positive, I was so glad I came. I thought I would be pretty worn out, but I made it through. Practise seemed to fly by even though it was the second time I'd done it. Definitely not the last time I double up! namaste, mck

I know that the title of this blog is asana daily, but in his first book Bikram says that only crazy people do yoga on sundays and I'm not crazy! namaste, mck

I need to get a space heater! I wasn't able to make it to the studio this morning, so I heated up the room again, but just like the song goes "it's not enough." Just cannot get my body warmed up enough to do some of these asanas. Could use some mirrors too, but I feel like my form is better with Bikram's instruction. Not that it really differs that much from what they say in the studio. I love that dialogue! namaste, mck

Ahhh, the sanctity of the bikram studio. The warmth! The smell! It was so crowded, my instructor was so cute. does it get better? it was so hot i could barely breathe! Why can't it be this hot all the time? I thought I was gonna die, it was that hot. Torture chamber indeed. I can't wait to go back. namaste, mck

Another new teacher two days in a row. Having a different instructor everyday is kinda cool. Afterall, it's not about the instructor, it's really about the asanas and you and your body, right? I guess that's why the dialogue is the same. Well, it works! I had an apple and too many peanuts about an hour before practise. Made more than a few positions difficult, but really made Dhanurasana (Bow pose) rough. I knew were I *wanted* to go, but I could only bend so much! Another large class too, but it coulda been hotter. ~m

Hard to meditate today. It was my granpa's b-day and I shoulda been having dinner with him, but here I am forgetting where I am in almost every posture. There's always tomorrow. ~m

Wow, we had 48 people in class yesterday! Pretty close to the same today, I would guess. I meant to tell the 2 people that I was practising between that they shouldn't apologize for bumping or touching me. In these crowded classes, we're going to be close. When he was young, didn't Bikram begin his practise in a class of 6,000? I like the niceties of the sorry and all, but it's not really necessary. We're all in this together, that's my motto. ~m

Last practise of the year! Was it a good one? It was hot that's for sure! I ran out of steam at the end! I couldn't believe it. There weren't even as many students as had been in previous days, but was it ever hot! Gotta love the way C cranks it up and pushes us! She is so great. I almost cracked and had some water towards the end of practise, I was fading so fast. Even the bottle against my head felt good. I just needed that little extra because today I was a little short. The good news is that there is tomorrow. ~m