When I was young I was quite athletic and had muscular legs. My father referred to these, not meaning to be unkind, as my “tree trunk legs.” These trunks are still with me and not serving me particularly well in my practice. I am far from what I would think of as athletic these days, and age mixed with laziness has not been kind to my lower half. I certainly don’t want to get into excuse making or whining, but certain poses seem significantly easier with less meat on the bones. For example, binding pipe cleaners would be much easier than logs.
This brings us to this mornings practice. The room was quite a bit chillier than I would like and I could barely get a sweat going. My current dread pose is utthita hasta padangusthasana. I had no real beef with it until the last few practices, and now suddenly I await it with a bit of the uh-oh feeling. This morning I got an assist, which sometimes is awesome, but sometimes makes me feel a bit called out in my suckiness (is this my yoga inferiority complex coming out again?). The issue is not so much flexibility, as strength. I struggle to bring my leg up higher than my waist while maintaining my balance in the forward fold. I had a tough time holding my bind in Mari D today, which I think I’ll blame on the room temp. My jump back after bhujapidasana was quite crap. I am also having a tough time with my hamstrings in supta kurmasana. I was being pulled and squashed into the full expression of the pose in Toronto, but the assists are les forceful at my home studio. This means that I’m struggling to transition on the floor with a bit of assistance and it’s not pretty. I got to practice my new poses today! Which brings me back to the tree trunks. Oh, garbha pindasana, you are just not made for the meaty woman to do easily. I can get one arm (either, I tried both) through my lotus (with much water spritzing) but no way is two happening. I can envision this becoming frustrating, but for now I’m just laughing at myself. Dropbacks- I love them!! I am not doing them solo yet, but I will. Today’s back bends felt great, which was an awesome start to the week.
I’m so happy the practice room has no mirrors so that I never know what I look like and can just be thrilled with the picture in my mind.
thealmostyogi 
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