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scoping
hello blog. i'm not sure what to write about when i haven't been able to go to do yoga. it's not a serious cold, just some congestion. ha! but it has to leave the body. so what am i doing in the meantime? let's just say i'm scoping out things. cheers!
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write your own ticket?
i have a cough and a sniffle, though i don't have a cold. maybe it's allergies. so i skipped yoga practice. if any cybershalamates have some insight on what is the meaning of the expression "write your own ticket" can you share? or perhaps you know the origins of this expression. i heard it first when i moved to Indiana in 1973 to go to college. it was given in the context of, "if you get this degree, you'll write your own ticket." its meaning was explained to me, but it really doesn't make sense, does it? who writes his or her own ticket? is it in the context of writing a laundry list of things you want, and somehow they are going to be miraculously provided? i don't think you will find the answer in the website - write your own ticket dot com. maybe it is now an old fashioned expression, along with words like copacetic and skedaddle.0
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Mysore practice Miami Beach
it was nice to practice Mysore style in Kino and Tim's shala yesterday. i gave Kino a hug. i practiced behind Greg N. i'm sorry i didn't get to visit with him - i didn't even know he would be there. he practiced in front of me (got to see his Mayurasana rendition.) our practice near each other will have to substitute for a "hello". Tim was leading the class and Kino was helping adjust. the room was completely full; probably there were 20 or so people.i learned a lot. i'd like to study with them more in the future if the opportunity comes up. it seems that one's rendition of just one asana is the sum total of what every teacher has told you about that asana. maybe you refined the placement of the hands with one teacher, the dristhe with another, the breathing coordinated with movement with another. well, for Utthita Parsva Konasana i learned from Tim that the pelvis girdle needs to stay open, parallel to the lentgh of the mat, not closed/rotated towards the front. with this openness, you then lunge to the floor. for the following asana, Parivritta Parsva Konasana it is OK to close/rotate the pelvic girdle towards the front. with his assistance i had a good opening.
In Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana, he commented that my hamstrings are short, so to lift the leg way up, in my case, is cheating. it's more important to concentrate on keeping the standing leg straight and the extended leg straight. i tend to bend them. shoulders back, no asymmetric contortion to the shoulders. with his background in dancing, he is able to point exactly where in your body one is falling out of alignment.
i asked him if it was okay to do my usual half Primary, half Second practice of Sundays. he said it was OK. later, though, he asked me where officially i was stopped in Second. boy, i have to do my best flamenco footsteps around that question. with Springy Sitarist i'm at Dwi Pada. with Seven Petal Lotus i do the whole Second Series, (and, gasp!, I didn't tell him, the first three of Third.) i'm an ashtanga rebel, but SPL has seen my practice 4 years.
i'm amazed at Tim's adjustment in Ustrasana because i was able to internalize the adjustment and comments. plus what i learned i carried it on to Lagu, Kapo and Beyond. (By the way, that's a new yogic slogan, a la Bed-Bath-and-Beyoncee, Lagu-Kapo-and-Beyond.) where was i? oh yea, Ustrasana. he said to lower the back, rotate the pelvis down and forward, rotate the sitting bones downwards, thighs engaged and pushing forward, butt muscles relaxing, hands on the hips, chest girdle lifting, hands to the feet; the palms of the hands grip the heels of the foot. When coming back up, hands return to the hips (I didn't know that), then you lift up.
Kino assisted me in Supta Vajrasana. she was wondering if i could hold the bound feet. typically i can. because of the holiday noshing, i gained a few pounds, so i lost the grip. she helped me with it. i need to get into my good CRON behavior this week.
after I had reached Baradvajrasana, T. asked me if i had done Bakasana. i had, but he asked me to do it again. he told me that in the exit you shoot out the legs back right to the floor. you don't hold them. i guess you land right on your toes instantly.
i still haven't come up to standing from Urdvha Danurasana on my own. i practiced pretend dropbacks. T. helped with the assisted drops, telling me to extend the hands that are in prayer quickly to the floor once i saw the mat. everyone in the room, regardless of practice level, got assisted in dropbacks - even inflexible people. T. said that he realized i was there for a short visit, but that if i was working with him in the room, he would have me concentrate in Urdva Danurasana on extending and straightening the hands way up, extending and straightening the feet up, pushing the chest towards the arms. we practiced that three times. this, he said, has to be in place well in advance of coming to standing from UD and dropbacks.
during the closing sequence, i was doing about six breath counts in Salamba Sarvangaasna, Halasana and their next of kin. he asked me if i had counted 10 breaths here. oops, no, i cheated, i said. he says that in the closing sequence it's important to hold the breath a minimum of 10 breaths. the function of the closing sequence is to calm the heartbeat and make the body's main organs to work correctly, to calm the central nervous system from the stress of the yoga asanas in the middle of the practice. so one should plan enough time for a correct closing sequence. if you don't plan enough time, you take some of the stress of the middle of the practice into the day.
it's amazing i learned all that yesterday. i understand that Kino and Tim plan to be in SF next July the 4th at our shala. if you have read this far, sorry for the long post, i just wanted to record the things i learned.
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Miami Beach nite pictures
i did what tourists do, photograph the old well-lit art deco hotels along Ocean Drive. while on the way there, someone asked me which direction Collins Avenue was. i directed him towards Alton Road. when i realized i had sent him in exactly the opposite direction, i ran back to him to tell give him the correct directions. since we were both going to Collins, we chatted on the way. it turns out he had been in the military infantry, had been shot and now was considering career options. he was interested in historical renovation of buildings, so i offered him some advice regarding that. one should not lose these opportunities to meet other people and help or be helped. 
on the way to The Tides
The Tides, or should that be pronounced, "da toides" in your best NY accent?
the most photographed hotel. can you name it?
city hall lit at night
OK, sorry to put this ugly thing up here. but i snapped the picture because it makes me wonder how, in a city that prides itself in architectural beauty, where it is difficult to get past the construction permit folks, how do they get away with installing these pimple like dishes right on the exterior wall? if these thingies are getting their signals from the heavens, which is quite far away, what difficulty is there in putting them out of site on the roof of this three story building? i'm sure they would still function. someone would probably dismiss my complaint by saying the codes are different as respect temporary (non permanent) installations. the problem is that these so called temporary installations will probably be defacing the building for a looooong time.0
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practice and the shala
the led class was very nice, properly counted and called out. my body was a bit sluggish, to the point that I would have wanted to stop at baddha konasana but it felt good to finish the practice. the shala is very beautiful. i wish i had the inspired way that (0v0) talks, as when she said that the AYSF studio practice space felt like being inside a whale. well, practicing at the MLC studio isn't like being inside a whale. i just like the many wonderful touches. first, the floor. oh! bamboo planks probably floated on a cushioned underlay. the main practice room windows have frosted glass up to about 5'-2", clear glass above. they face north, which in the harsh light of Miami Beach, the light that comes from the windows is always very pleasant. there are a lot of pictures of Guruji and of a swami, i think. (i'm swami-naming challenged this week). the reception area is very welcoming, with two very large sofas that could probably seat 12 calorie restricting yogis at one time. the bathroom has all kinds of aromatherapy diffusers. the changing room has a shower. the floor and walls are finished in beautiful stone. there are some comfortable benches. on the walls of the bathroom and changing rooms are beautifully framed mandalas, and framed pages of Sanskrit chants. i'm sure there is attention to feng sui and probably to Hindi vastru throughout. i have studied feng sui, but not vastru, so i'm not sure about the latter. the picture above is of Lucy, Lucas' mom's cat. below is Mali, who likes to sleep in this basket.
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restorative yoga class
i sneaked a led restorative yoga class in today. it was led by one of my earliest hatha teachers. i found out her asana teacher is Iyengar. she also follows another guru for spirituality, but i'll botch up the name if i try to come up with it. she says there is an ashram of his followers in SF. well the class felt perfect since my routine had been interrupted. it was like doing most movements i typically do, but with the aid of bolsters, blocks, straps, the wall, and rugs. tomorrow i may take an ashtanga led class and Sunday do mysore. at least those are my plans.0
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more Miami Beach pics
i walked to the Boardwalk on 21st st up to 40th along Miami Beach. the light was ideal for photography. it turns out i have to miss Tim's Mysore class tomorrow because the friend who invited me to Miami on the basis that I helped him with the design of a vacation house could only see me exactly at the same time as the class, 8:30am. oh well. so here are more pictures. i lived here 4 years. being away has sharpened my observations of the city. Miami beach is inspiring architecturally.
to the right of the second umbrella there was a ferrari parked. i almost took a picture of it but then asked myself why? it was parked in front of a real estate office. the next ferrari i saw was parked in front of a hotel, and the next in front of a restaurant. i bet the owner uses a different car to buy groceries and lives in a condo nearby where he doesn't have to spend a lot of gas to get to. the real estate market here is suffering, so why not drive a BMW to work?
an architectural statement in glass block. doesn't make a lot of sense, but it's eye catching.
a very beautiful and light screen treatment of a facace.
the undulating stair exit to the convention center parking lot. i used to put my car there during hurricanes.
Frank Gehry designed the New World Symphony building which is under construction. San Francisco Symphony's Michael Tilson Thomas is the artistic director. 
the Delano and the National hotels.
the skyline at sunset.
a building with interesting shapes under construction where previously there was an uninteresting one.
the shapes should be interesting even to people who usually don't pay attention to architecture.
this reminds me of something Louise Nevelson said: "that chair isn't so hot, but look at the shadow it casts." at sunset, even architecture that is uncomplicated looks pretty in the light.
the colors are amazing. when i lived here and needed to sort out things in my life, i would come and walk this boardwalk and go over my thoughts. these days Buddhist meditation seems to do this for me in SF, or a walk in the forest in the mountains.
i wasn't going to post this picture, because i find the architecture a bit kistchy. but going along with the Nevelson statement, i can see the beauty in the job they did illuminating it. i enjoyed viewing a great spectacle with 100 Spanish artists there once. it reminds me that this city is very culturally developed, despite it feeling primarily like a beach town.
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walk to shala
Happy Thanksgiving, y'all. I'm grateful for my family, friends, colleagues, cyber and real shalamates on this Thanksgiving. i walked to Kino and Tim's shala after enjoying some strong Cuban coffee and smashed bread. Tim was at the front desk. we had a nice chat. i think i overheard Kino leading a class. but i was late for that one and since it is a moon day, there is no Mysore practice. so I could practice Mysore style with Tim tomorrow and Sunday morning. i missed seeing Greg N., who is away visiting family. i asked for recommendations to vegetarian restaurants. the shala is spacious and beautiful - bamboo flooring, contemporary furniture, aromatherapy in the air, a Buddha statue gracing the space. i remember many years ago eating at a restaurant in the same space. walking back i stopped by Wild Oats Market, now owned by Whole Foods. i bought ingredients for a pottage, which i prepared. yum.
here are some pictures of multifamily residences, on the streets going to and coming from the shala. one is quintessential Miami Deco, kitschy too, when you look at the flamingos. the other is quintessential Miami contemporary low rise residential style. i also saw a lot of people running, going to the gym, or walking their dogs. it reminded me that when i moved here i was able for the first time as an adult to take control of my weight and exercise consistently. it's nice that people attend to that here.
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miami cell phone
i had made plans back in April to go to Miami Beach during Thanksgiving. i'm writing from my friend's computer. i might be able to practice at Kino and Tim's shala. i'll have to check the schedule for the weekend. it seemed that most people traveling for the holiday were students going to see their families, and a lot of foreigners passing through Miami or visiting. what the papers said about lighter travel this Thanksgiving could be true. there were seats available in the plane. there was not enough staff at the self service counter at the airline when i checked in.ahem, i think it's probably appropriate to make this observation regarding my cell phone service, because the problem is quite constant. my cellphone service was Big Company, which was bought by Big Southwestern Company, which became The Original Name in Telephone Company. well, i used to accept their routine offer that every two years you could get a new phone if you renewed for a 2 year contract. a year ago, i did not renew he contract. guess what happens to me without fault, regardless of whether i originate the call or someone calls me? at about exactly 30 minutes into the conversation, the call is dropped. after reengaging the call by dialing again, the call is dropped at 15 minutes intervals. i timed it today. now, wouldn't that say to you that Big Phone Co. would like you to renew the 2 years contract, accept their offer of a new phone and then your calls won't be dropped? Because why otherwise would they offer lousy service, in a competitive market? i thought that my phone was defective. so i bought an identical one. then i thought the battery was bad and was causing the call dropping. so i replaced the battery - twice. but still the dropping occurs. ahem. is that a concidence, or is it planned?
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lentil-carrot-mushroom-sweet potato medley
i prepared a vegetable dish yesterday that is actually tasty, with a nice texture and flavors. the ingredients where:six mushrooms, sliced thinly
one carrot, sliced thinly
one sweet potato, sliced,
1/2 cup lentils, (approximately)
dehydrated garlic
dehydrated onions
dash cumin
dash of salt and pepper
1 large vegetable boullion cube
i placed the vegetables in a pot, adding sufficient water to cover them and added the seasonings. i set it to low and let it simmer about 20 minutes, until the vegetables were cooked and the lentils had absorved most of the water. this is good with barley or rice.
