From here via Leigh

I consider myself not-oh-so-this-is-so-cute! person. OK, I had a pink phase for a while.. But come on this is just adorable. 


I have been practicing intensely for the last days. My legs are shaky, muscles of shoulders are rebuilding. I am quite tired. Glad tomorrow is full moon- which means a Yoga-Free day.  


Happy during my practices. Did a full primary series yesterday. Added couple of vinyasas between the asanas. But reluctant and lazy today. A short practiced happened... 


We went for a walk in the afternoon. All of us were so lazy. We hardly pulled our selves from all day sat around cuisine and from our cozy warm kitchen. I would have liked to say it energized me, but no :) I am just as lazy as the minute I woke up. But we have this beautiful photo now. Photo credit: My mother.. In it: Me and my sister..

Today

Picture from here

Amazing sports day. I feel good and tired. We woke up early and went to the university for some paper works, registration, paying, receiving :) So anyway we ended up finished with everything and having nothing to do by 10 am. Went to Bebek of course, then had a latte, chilled for a w-h-i-l-e! And finally I made myself go to swimming in the university's pool, after an uphill walk from Bebek to Etiler. There should be a cable car between this line! It would make millions in a year.

Mark Spitz! Hero of the swimming :)

I think Yoga and inhaling exercises somehow improve your performance. I swam front crawl for 10 laps! As I continued after the 5th lap, quite surprised and not breathless, I had no idea that I was destined for 10 laps! :)... It felt really good. I did some warm ups and couple of asanas as well.


Now I will be working on the foreword -finishing touches for real!. I wish I could send it today or tomorrow.

Paschimottanasana and anger management

When I was an ambitious basketball player,  we used to do  these stretching thingies. One of them, now I know as paschimottanasana, where you try to catch your feet with your hands, was an impossible position for me. I could never get how people could grab their feet so easily.

Over a year now, not that I can only catch them, I can also straighten my back, be comfortable in that position and let my neck relax...

All these years of doing these intense competitive/ team sports I did not even think whether I like them or not. Just couple of years ago I realized that I do not even like basketball. I played 12 years and was quite  good at it. I was quite good at every competitive sport I tried actually...Now I wonder: could that be because I had this built in anger in me? I was the perfect competitor: Ambitious and angry

Now, I can let go off my anger in situations where I want to hold on to it so badly. I used to believe that being angry was giving me strength, power... I do not think that anymore..It worsens the situation and makes one more and more fragile everyday. Although I know that,  letting the anger go is still hard. I had to lock my self in a public toilet today and -weeping -begged for it to leave me alone ..

I believe that our emotions and asanas in Yoga revolve around each other and help themselves in turns. The more I let go off the anger the easier I can straighten my back and my head gets closer to my feet. The more I get closer to my feet the easier I let go off the anger...

It's more then "letting", you have to work hard for it to go away. I am  hoping that one day it will be quite natural for it to leave me just sooner...

Namaste...