Crowing

This weekend I learned to transition from bakasana to chaturanga. If you’re familiar with yoga, your lips should now be pursed in that “oooh” position. If you’re unfamiliar with yoga, you’ve already opened a new tab so you can look at a Buzzfeed article about the 21 cutest moments in marsupial history, because as soon as you saw the italics you knew this was going to degenerate into a yoga discussion. 

It’s possible that I could have achieved the jump from bakasana (a tricksy arm balance with a danger of faceplanting; also known as crow pose) to chaturanga (a punishment for triceps who’ve misbehaved) at any time during the six years I’ve been studying yoga. No one had ever tried to teach it to me in a classroom setting, and I had never tried on my own because it looks wicked hard. 

But I tried it on a lark. Or on a crow.  Aha! A ha ha ha ha ha!

…okay, apparently my puns don’t work in translated Sanskrit, either. Good to know.

SO ANYWAY I was in bakasana one moment and in chaturanga the next, and then the moment after that I was crowing (ah ha. ha. ha ha) about my success. And then I tried it again and tummyplanted. 

But I’ve tried it several times since, and I really think I’m getting the hang of it, and also my triceps are going to be super buff so that’s pretty cool. And then, bolstered by my success, I went for my crow-ning achievement, and there you have a pun that works on two levels. Or doesn’t work, rather. Anyway: I moved from bakasana directly into a headstand.

One of my personal yoga failings is that I can’t do a headstand unless I’m right next to a wall. After my hard work this weekend, this is still every bit as true. Nevermind that beginning yoga students often manage a headstand in the middle of the room on their first try: I cannot get away from that damn wall. 

But! After my hard work this weekend, I can do a tripod headstand without using the wall for support. It’s not as sexy as the standard headstand. It’s like getting to date the little sister instead of the girl you really have your heart set on. But it’s still an accomplishment for me, and managing to get myself fully inverted from an arm-balance starting position looked really awesome. Or so I assume. Couldn’t really see myself.

Couple of other cool things happened this weekend, so if you’re done looking at the 14 Hairless Cats That Look Like Vladimir Putin (that’s an actual link, click on it), you can come back and marvel at this:

 

Okay, on closer inspection, I’m thinking maybe it wouldn’t kill me to run a dustrag in my car now and again. Um.

Right! As I was saying, my car thermometer registered fifteen gorgeous degrees Fahrenheit this morning. With all due respect to people who are homeless or who cannot adequately heat their homes, I have to register my glee. This is how winter is supposed to start — and it’s not even winter yet!

This is why they didn’t cast me in Game of Thrones. “Winter is coming, tra la la la lolly!” is not the artistic interpretation they were aiming for. Some people really are very literal. Pity.

Also this weekend: I turned in an article a week before it was due. 

Also also this weekend: I had a delightful Friday evening. Not going to talk about it here, though. I’m going to hold those cards close to my chest. But without giving away details, Friday after work was the perfect springboard for a weekend that included being upside down and in pain in frigid conditions.

Hold on, that didn’t come across right at all.

Do-over: Friday after work was the perfect springboard for a weekend that included Amazing Headstands! and Strength-Building Yoga! and Seasonally Appropriate Weather, Tra La Lolly!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I’ll be spending mine right here, since I don’t yet have vacation days at work. Safe travels, and enjoy food and family.