6 things
wildlife along the roaring rapids of the mighty san lorenzo! this was during yesterday’s storm. no kidding, the water right there was about 10 feet deep. now it’s dry (sorta) to where the scraggly trees in the background are.
how do you pack your bag for bikram? hopefully, your mat isn’t already in the car, ha ha. in order to make sure i don’t forget anything, i remind myself, “you need 6 things for bikram.” one by one and in no particular order, i gather:
1. shorts
2. towel for my mat
3. towel for my body
4. plastic bag for my wet stuff
5. water bottle (right now i’m rocking the cool one mei gave me!)
6. yoga mat
that’s my exact routine to make sure i have all my stuff. it’s kinda ocd, but so am i. my red yoga mat has a black tag sewn on it, so i have to practise with the tag facing down and to the back of the room. my yogitoes present a curious problem because of the tag on the bottom and the dot on the top. i like the dot to be at the back of the room, but i get irked that the tag on the bottom is at the front of the room. once the dot wears off, i can rotate the yogitoes so the tag on the bottom is at the back of the room, but until then i’m bugged.
i had an interesting start to my class today because i walked in as class was starting and i still hadn’t set-up my mat and towels. i din’t bother with unfolding and all that jazz because i din’t wanna miss out on my pranayama. the opening breathing exercise sets you up for the rest of class, so it’s important. i din’t realize that my mat was the wrong way until we got started. so, get this, during the forward bend warm-up, i’m rearranging my mat. so distracting, sorry room, but there was no way i was gonna practise with the tag on my mat facing up. it gets covered by the towels, but i still know it’s there and it bugs.
wanna know what else? the people i practised around din’t have their mats close enough to the mirror to make it a real front row, so, yes, that bugged me the entire class. the mats weren’t in the right spots! i know i’ve still got a long way to go mentally, but at least i’m able to acknowledge that i need to let go of stuff like this. despite all these distractions, class was totally ruling—one of the benefits to getting stuck on the cool side of the room! see you tomorrow ~m
Tags: animals, bikram yoga, inspiration, leica, nature, santa cruz photographs
January 21st, 2010 at 9:18 pm
Haha! I thought I was the only freak who has to have the dot of the yogitoes at the bottom! I put my heels together on it during the savasanas! It’s my “center” ;-) ~M~
January 21st, 2010 at 10:06 pm
when i used yogitoes, i liked to have the dot at the front of my mat. i sort of thought of it in terms of having my head at the front of my mat in savasana and thought the dot should be at the front, too. but now i use my breathe yoga mats every class. they must be placed with the “rabbit flap” at the back so that i can use it for rabbit. i forgot a towel for my body last week when i practiced with my mom and i had no cash. i was so happy when i was able to bum $2 from her so i could get a towel and take a shower! gotta love bikram for making you appreciate the simple things in life like towels, a cool breeze, water, etc :)
January 22nd, 2010 at 7:24 am
i feel so “unalone” — I too like the dot at the bottom.. Until I talked to M I had no idea anyone else thought even remotely like I do.. :-) Such a great blog.
January 22nd, 2010 at 8:15 am
Isn’t it funny what we fixate on? My “dot” is in the front of my mat. I look at it going down into toestand if I’m far enough back on my mat. :)
January 22nd, 2010 at 10:41 am
D & I are laughing! Funny blog that is making me laugh at myself and my obsession with my ” furniture has to be placed on my imaginary lines”! (I have carpeting.) And, I can tell when their not on the lines!
January 22nd, 2010 at 12:57 pm
Funny post. I think we all have our little things we have to have “just so”. Go help me if the design on my mat is faced down on the floor! Never! At least your are acknowledging it…the rest will just come. Happy practicing!
January 24th, 2010 at 7:55 pm
both my mares are doing it right because they’re doing it like i do!
mish, stop doing it wrong!
so funny, i was on the floor wishing there were lines on the floor so people could know they were doing it wrong! the lines are there even if we don’t put them there like les nessman used to!
luv to see you trace!!