happy set

this little guy in the right corner represents how i am feeling today. he was part of the "happy set" at the coffee shop i usually sit at after yoga, usually to get a latte & the fromage (their take on the bagel & cream cheese-a soft lovely roll stuffed with cream cheese), but today, i got "happy set" because it included coffee, & i wanted to take a photo of him. i feel this way because the flu did not stay with me long. i credit "mom"-yasuko, emi's mom, for helping me with my speedy recovery. when i fell ill, she was quick to throw me in bed & administer fluids-teas & dakara-lemony soda water, & yesterday, when i was ready to eat, home cooked udon (!!!) with egg & everything! & a rice beverage for upset tummy-sort of like baby food-thick, weird, tasteless, odorless. than a huge chunk of natural brown sugar (?) all the while talking full-on in japanese to me, as if i am understanding, which i feel like i can, but i really can't. i have to admit, i love the mothering. my mom passed several years ago, and never liked to cook anyhow, so i'm sort of in the middle of a fantasy at the moment. i got an offer to move into an empty apartment in shibuya 5 minutes away from the yoga studio, but after thinking about it, i declined. i think i would miss mom, mom's food, mom watching korean movies, talking to me in japanese, watching strange japanese television. something special about it.

i got to the studio without a problem, a short practice, but good. these days, it's all about the quality, not the quantity. doing pranayama helps deepen my breath & have a better yoga session. something sorely lacking with the students both here & at home is attention to proper breath. most can breathe correctly on the exhale, but aren't taking in any air at all. "sniffing" on the inhale for 2 counts, deep ujjai exhale for 7 counts. this is not good. it should be equal, and much more attention to the inhalation. that is what oxygenates the blood. i can only breathe with the students & hope they catch on, because it's very difficult to teach. even in the west. most people spend most of their time on the acrobatics of the asana & very little time on breath, bandhas & dristi. which is a shame, because the student is only cheating themselves. yoga feels SO much better when the attention to the breath becomes #1, followed by bandhas & dristi, only asana coming out of these first 3 factors.

lots of progress in class. slowly slowly slowly.

all is coming.