Ladies in periods!

“Ladies in periods, don’t do this…” My class is a mixed one and everytime the teacher says this line, I grin inside. Until I had a child, I was terribly embarassed about all such things. Giving birth changed all that for me. And really, no one cares. Everyone is crunched up thinking about the next asana that will have them working hard again.
I decided to repeat yesterday’s sequence in my home practice today. The class went on to inversions as well but here is what I did.

Adho mukha Svanasana
Uttanasana
3 Surya namaskar cycles without urdhva mukha Svanasana and Chaturanga dandasana
Trikonasana
Ardha chandrasana
Virbhadrasana 3
Uttanasana
Parsvottanasana
Prasarita paddotanasana
Baddakonasana
Cross bolster Setuband Sarvangasana
Savasana

I found trikonasana and ardha chandrasana easier after the longish adho mukha Svanasana hold in the Surya Namaskars. I don’t know if it is a result of the sequence or just getting better as a natural progress. It felt easier today too.
I felt space in my middle in the forward extensions today. A new sensation. Usually, I struggle to get the pose but today was just about sensing and moving. My focus in trikonasana, ardh chandrasana and virbhadrasana 3 were to get the motion and landing right just as we studied in class. I can hear the strong assured voice of my teacher when I practise at home as I go through the actions. Perhaps I am doing something right if my sweating pattern is anything to go by.
One of the things I struggle with is how to keep the right side a little less hard working and loosen my left. I feel it in all my asanas but it is most pronounced in the standing ones. The right side is like a loose hinge, it just rotates out and I feel a lack of stability on that side. Out of balance. It is not just the legs, the entire left side feels shorter. I feel it in my paschimanamaskarasana as well. In Setuband Sarvangasana I see the disparity again as I look at my sternum. It is interesting to discover new things about my body and see how to bring a stability in it. The best part is that there is no despair about how much there is to fix but a sense of adventure about how much there is to unravel. Lot of questions every time I am on the mat. Somehow the answers come as long as I question myself. One of the teachers in training told me to keep my right foot turned and not rotate it at all. And that was a better pose with less strain and I could feel the back leg working.
Off to work now and see if I can keep that space I felt inside.

In gratitude for the blessings of yoga