New Mid-Year Resolution or Oh My Gash These Jump Through Things Are Demoralizing

Okay, I have to admit I have not kept up very well with a recent resolution I made for myself. Several weeks ago I was sick with a hardcore fever and in the last few days of the sickness my dear partner took me to the beach to help cure my ails. While relishing the blue of the ocean, the refreshing salt in the air and the warmth of the sun I felt better in those moments than I had in the past several weeks! Of course as soon as I stepped out of the water I was back to blowing my nose every five seconds and wanting to conk myself out and escape from all physical sensations - lets just say the ride home was no fun, but still totally worth it for the moments of pure relief in that healing water.

In my blissful state of floating in that supportive ocean I decided I should try focusing on a more advanced sequence of yoga for my personal practice. I decided I would try sticking with this asthanga primary series that everyone's always talking about ;) When I first started learning yoga I taught myself from books when I was a teenager in highschool and the first book that changed my life was Journey Into Power by Baron Baptiste. His catchy inspirational phrases were exactly what I needed to hear in that time of my life and the power series he developed held just the right amount of challenge. Since then of course I branched out, completed teacher training, and tried workshops and classes in several different styles and traditions. There are still more I would like to experience but I know that when it comes to my own personal practice I gravitate back to the power series I first learned. 

I decided want to take it further now. I have an old print out of the primary series and found a video of the full series being done so I got a chance to see what the transitions were between postures. And HOLY COW, I now see why this "jump through" thing is important for this series. It's the transition between EVERY pose and every SIDE of every pose...okay, well not quite, but it seems it's done a hell of a lotta times!! Yikes! My first time trying to follow along with the video on youtube I realized this was a good decision since I can not do a jump through to save my life right now, and all this time I thought my upper body was moderately/decently strong. Nothing like yoga to bring your perception and expectations of yourself to a new place. 

So this resolution to work on the primary series will be tailored to what I am looking to improve upon: upper body strength, core strength, and balance. Oh and stamina. Yes. The last time I practiced the series I had company and it made a world of difference. When I practice by myself I realize my attention span is pretty short. But with my yoga buddy to join me (thanks Charlotte!!) we pressed on and did wayyyy more. Still didn't make it through every single pose, but then again I find doing four prasarita padottanasana and four paschimottanasanas and three janu sirsasanas a bit excessive in the hamstring department.

Today I have a free afternoon so I am going to plow forward (ah ah, plow pose! get it? ahhhhh) and attempt to get even farther through the series. I am NOT looking forward to my frustratingly clunky, floppy, uncoordinated jump throughs, but as Baron Baptiste said - do not despise the days of small beginnings. We all start somewhere.