'Twas the week before Christmas...

I met Beth on Wednesday night for a run. We tried a different route and went up Heather St to King Edward and then followed that to Arbutus where we turned and came home. The loop was between 5 and 6 miles and had more hills than the routes I've been running recently. I managed to come up with some pretty convincing excuses to get out of running on several occasions this week, which is ridiculous since it only hurts me in the long run - literally and figuratively.

On the other hand this has been a good yoga week. Not sure why it was any different than previous weeks, but for some reason my practice felt very connected and grounded. Maybe it's the weather or maybe it's the time of year. This morning I went to Mysore for the led class (I've been practicing at home for pretty much all of October, November and December) and then joined the Ashtanga Yoga Vancouver group for their annual Christmas breakfast at the Naam. It was really fun and nice to socialize outside of the yoga room.

There is no clinic run on this coming Sunday so Nicole and I had planned to do the run Saturday morning. She's fighting a cold right now (get well soon!!) so depending how she feels we may or may not meet up. I'm still going to try to get in the scheduled 13 miles, which probably won't be as enjoyable on my own. I'm still looking forward to it though, which is strange since I dreaded most of the weekend long runs when I did this marathon training business before. I'm thinking about heading downtown and doing a loop around Stanley Park, then staying on the seawall and running around False Creek before coming home. That should be pretty much exactly the right distance. I'll have to be sure to load up my ipod before I go.

That's all for now! I'll try to post again before Christmas, but if not I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!

Friday night breathing

Ran ~3 miles (30 minutes) last night just as the sun was going down. It was chilly but felt very good.

After my run I went to a pranayama workshop put on my some guest teachers at my yoga studio. Pranayama is one of the 8 limbs of Astanga Yoga (Ashtanga means 8 limbs so it's really 8-limb yoga). The limbs being Yama (moral codes), Niyama (self purification and study), Asana (postures), Pranayama (breathing techniques), Pratyahara (sense withdrawal), Dharana (concentration), Dhyana (meditation), Samadhi (contemplation).

It is said that asana, which also can be translated as seat, is intended not as a complete practice in it's own right, but a tool to train the mind towards stillness and focus and open the body to make sitting for long periods of time somewhat comfortable. The 8 limbs are generally approached in order, with the first four more accessible than the remaining four.

It seems as though the asana practice made an easy transition from the east to the west, but the other limbs got lost somewhere along the way. On the other hand, asana practice in India is somewhat rare, with more emphasis being placed on the rest of the limbs.

Anyway, we were told that pranayama is a very powerful practice and is best done under the guidance of an experienced teacher. We were led through 4 basic, "entry level" exercises. It was very calming and energizing at the same time, very balancing. Will I make pranayama part of my daily practice? That remains to be seen.