IAC World Champs

Awww...just look at 'em on graduation day, glowing with accomplishment, ready to head out into the great big world and, well, probably take a nap. They've earned it - let's just say that if we had a nickel for every chaturanga from these five over the last four days, we'd already be on a plane to Mysore.

Anyone who thought that the last leg of the Challenge would be a downhill coast has never been to K on Sundays. And we all have, so at least no one was under any delusions about how this run through Ye Ol' Primary would go. A great time was had by all: smiling, eye rolling, pleading - anything to keep from crying. One particular exchange, after Bhujapidasana:

K: Take legs to Bakasana...exhale Chatvari jump back...
*sounds of several bodies crumpling into piles*
K: Awww....too bad. Pancha inhale, shat exhale...

Shout out to our Iron Ashtangis: Brian, Jeff, Jen, Kathy, and Tracy! Shout out to our honorable mentions, attending three out of four: Jill and Ann! Y'all's crazy! Seriously, though, we couldn't be happier with they way these classes all went - double digit attendance each day (ok, so Saturday only had 9...but that's not bad when class includes, among other things, "floating" Dandasana)

With Ann's Garbha Pindasana "adjustments" making such a splash on the blogs, we can't miss the opportunity to say that if you're working on this one (in which you slide the arms through the legs in Padmasana), you can't help but take a little longer to get into it (at first) than is allotted during a led class. You're likely to barely get one hand through before it's time to roll. In this case, especially b/c there's not daily self-practice as there is in the formal system in Mysore, it's better to keep at it (getting the arms through) and just miss the rolling and maybe even Kukkutasana (or, just one roll back and then lift up to sync with everyone as they finish their rolling) for a few weeks/months and master getting the arms through, perhaps with the spray bottle, a strong adjustment, or both, until it becomes easier to perform quickly on your own. While this one, like any pose, will also benefit from home practice, in particular it takes being quite warmed up and sweaty, and you're likely to have quite a lot of each on Sundays, so take the time to get it down. This is a long-term process and don't forget that in Mysore they would stop you here each day anyway, until you'd gotten it. You can always add the rolling/floundering in a bit. You know who you are...and so do we.

Jeez...it's only the 5th and it seems we've already "shot the wad" for the year at tapas. What next? Oh yeah, get up tomorrow and do it all over again. And again. And again...

...see you in class...