Downward Facing Gracie

Over the course of the past five days, I have not been posting my running progress, primarily because there hasn't really been anything to report that deals directly with "running," other than my efforts to be more disciplined in my diet. The exercise of documenting every detail of which, at this point seems to have given me enough "data" to make some personal suggestions and goals. So, while not running, I have been doing work toward improving my overall health, and thereby indirectly "training."

This break from the streets has been spent, among other things, doing a little reading around running and returning to my yoga tapes. Today, just as in the previous four days, I awoke at 4:50 a.m. and worked through a short (14 min?) series of poses (note the archival photo from a few years ago to the right--what was I thinking?) with my "video-yogi" Rodney Yee. Stepping into the Twenty-First Century, I practiced with the recently purchased DVD transfer of a golden "oldie" videotape. While the poses covered in the series are not too challenging, I have been patient with myself in honoring the process even if I am not posing as Yee does on screen.

Our family dog, Gracie, has also sought to lend a paw by carefully placing herself in the roles of both "challenging prop" and "mirror" during some of the mat work. It does make me giggle when I try to attempt a "good" downward facing dog pose with my upward facing pup sniffing my face my face, or as I am attempting to maintain a level of posture while sitting, seeing her stretch in an upward or downward dog pose.

Breathe in, breathe out... YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!