Better than TV

Recording my yoga practice is a new fascination.  I get to watch a stranger doing yoga. 

And how weirdly eerie it is to critically observe my persona from an outsider's perspective (the hair is gross, so is the green top, the posture could improve, the face resembles a cadaver...etc...), and yet have access to that stranger's inner world and an intimate knowledge of their entire life and psyche.
I observe the transitions between poses (graceful and meditative), I see what areas of the stranger's body are open or blocked, I notice when short cuts are taken, challenges avoided, where the practice ebbs and flows, deepens or becomes shallow. 

I watch it all objectively as a yoga teacher would watch a student and make suggestions on alignment, how to untwist the torso so they don't fall out of Vashisthasana B again, how to adjust the arms and legs slightly in Uttana Padasana so they are parallel, where the body needs to release more in a twist, or the chin to draw in...overall how to soften and enjoy the practice yet maintain the steady glow of tapas.

What is important about this is that viewing my practice has provided renewed inspiration and passion for it.

For the practice on Saturday afternoon I chose Week 45-50 from Iyengar's Light on Yoga course as a very rough guide, not attempting, or even considering attempting the entire sequence from start to finish.

I set the laptop up to film, then turned inwards towards the practice.

Afterwards I made a delectable raw salad for dinner and ate it while glued to the replay, critically evaluating my yoga practice, enjoying my Saturday night yoga entertainment.
Eccentric behaviour????

From Wikipedia:

According to studies, there are eighteen distinctive characteristics that differentiate a healthy eccentric person from a regular person or someone who has a mental illness (although some may not always apply). The first five are in most people regarded as eccentric:^[6]

• Nonconforming attitude
• Idealistic
• Intense curiosity
• Happy obsession with a hobby or hobbies
• Knew very early in his or her childhood they were different from others
• Highly intelligent
• Opinionated and outspoken
• Unusual living or eating habits
• Not interested in the opinions or company of others
• Mischievous sense of humor

I can unashamedly admit to having all those traits, except for 'opinionated and outspoken'.


The poses:

Headstand and a few variations
Shoulderstand and a few variations
Supta Padangusthasana
Anantasana
Vashisthasana A and B (I fell out of B on the second side)
Paschimottanasana and Parivritta Paschimottanasana
Janu Sirsasana and Parivritta Janu Sirsasana
Krounchasana
Akarna Dhanurasana
Padmasana with a twist to each side
Baddha Padmasana
Yoga Mudrasana
Matsyasana
Uttana Padasana
Supta Virasana
Baddha Konasana
Ardha Matsyendrasana
Marichyasana C
Urdhva Dhanurasana x 2
Paschimottanasana
Savasana

Vashisthasana A and B (falling out of B on the second side due to an obvious torso twist)

Matsyasana and Uttana Padasana