Back to Mysore class

This week I turned a corner in my journey back to health after the brain surgery last October. I'd been to see a neurologist in Brisbane last week. He cut back the anti-seizure medication I've been on - thinking that this might help with the lack of energy I'd been experiencing for months. And it seems to have worked - I have been feeling a lot more energised since then!

And on the yoga front - ashtanga people will understand the lure of Mysore-style classes. Back in February when I had to give up going to Mysore classes in Suffolk Park (double whammy of a 40 minutes drive away coupled with a 6.30 start!), I at least knew there was someone giving ashtanga classes much closer to home, which included one Mysore-style class a week. So when my energy levels recovered a bit I knew I'd be able to go there. Which I did, but unfortunately that didn't last. The class location had to move and although still very local, it went down to 2 led ashtanga classes a week only.

So anyway, I suddenly realised I probably now had the energy for one or two early morning long drives a week, and on Monday I finally got back to Christian's class! Felt so great ... and hopefully my energy and determination will continue! 

(Note: did have the alarm set for this morning but didn't make it this time ... sigh! Will have to be next week but I do feel I'm on the road back!!)

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Recovery from the big op!

Today I finally did something I should have done ages ago. I went to the interwebs looking for information on how long it takes to recover from a meningioma operation. (See previous posts if you don't know what I'm talking about!!) I'd been told to expect to be tired for ages, and that this was normal for any brain operation. But - I'd been given a period of 3 months before I could drive again, and somehow I thought that once that 3-month period was over, I would be 100% recovered.

So I couldn't understand why I still feel tired a lot of the time over 4 months after the op. And, spilling over from that, when I've had a tiring day, if I'm not careful it can carry on into the next day. It's been an incredibly hot summer here, and I was wondering if that was the cause of the tiredness, but it didn't seem likely.

Just this week I've had to stop going to a 6.30am yoga class because it was a 40 minute drive away and I realised I just couldn't handle the early start + long drive. At least there is another Mysore class held locally once a week, although still a 6.30am start. And then yesterday in my singing class, (the day after a very tiring day in Brisbane) I once again came over all faint and had to sit down on the floor with a glass of water, feeling rather foolish! (And this is not the first time this has happened since the op!!)

So anyway, today I went to Doctor Google, and there discovered that it can easily take a year before one is completely recovered. One person quoted a doctor as saying 'the mean recovery time was 2 years'. Which means that 50% would take less than 2 years, but 50% would take more!!!

Rather than freaking me out, this was actually a great relief for me! At least this explains what's been happening to me, and I can feel fairly confident that 'this too will pass', if not for a few more months! I can live with that, and can make changes to what I'm doing re yoga classes and singing, to accommodate this. And even hope that eventually I will be able to go back to Christian's yoga class! 

Another update (No 3)

Another week, another update on my health! I think this past week has been a case of one step backwards, two steps forward ... at the end of last week I had a couple of days when I was really really tired. Collapsed on the sofa all day, no thought of doing any yoga, finding myself falling asleep around 7pm (!!) in front of the tv...

But things started to get better over the weekend, and I haven't actually felt anything like as tired since then. Of course, when I re-started yoga earlier this week I did have to start from the beginning again ... Surya Namaskar B is still hard (energy-wise) - and I think I'm just now back at the stage I'd got to ... in other words, 3 x Surya Namaskar As and 2 x Surya Namaskar Bs ... Its going to be very interesting to see what happens when I get to some of the poses that I used to find challenging - eg UHP (balancing!!), and Marichyasana C - will I still be able to bind that I wonder?! Well, hopefully I'll find that out in the next couple of weeks!!

Next week is my last 2 rehab sessions in Tweed Heads - I definitely think they have helped me a lot. And then the following Saturday afternoon I'm having an Alexander Technique treatment which should be really interesting.

And the singing, the choir practice (of The Messiah) goes on, filling a lot of my day, happily. Today a friend is coming round in the morning bringing coffee and cake (!), and we may do some singing too ...


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My recovery update (1!)

Well it's Friday and I've been home from hospital since Tuesday of last week. I'm still taking steroids each day (as well as anti-epileptic medication) but am slowly tapering the steroids according to a program. I will stop taking the steroids next week - which will be a big relief! I'm still having problems sleeping although it's not nearly as bad as it was when I was on higher doses!

And this week I started 4 weeks of physio / speech therapy up in Tweed Heads. Twice a week (Monday and Thursday) for 3 hours each time ... so far I've been pretty tired after each of those sessions, but it should get better! On Monday I went with my friend Victor, who just went and hung around in a local bookshop for the 3 hours. On Thursday I got a lift up with Victor, but then an old work friend, Beth Cavallari who lives in Murwillumbah came and picked me up from Tweed Heads and brought me home - after going out for lunch! That was great, and she's going to actually do the whole pickup / drop off for the rest of the (3) Thursdays.

However, like I said, I was pretty tired after all that - came home and collapsed on the sofa for the rest of the afternoon!

I'm also hoping to re-start my yoga practice in the next day or two. Probably just start with some sun salutes, and then gradually build it up. I won't be able to go back to class in Byron for another 2-3 months (ie. until I can drive again)

But anyway - right now life is sweet. I am very content pottering around at home and in the garden, and being taken out shopping or to appointments occasionally. No doubt as my strength returns I'll get a bit fed up, but that too shall pass!

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In my sister's footsteps

Last week I started going to the 7am yoga class, instead of the 10am one. I had thought it would be too hard to get up early and drive to Byron to do this, but of course I was wrong! Or the benefits far outweigh any difficulties! It now feels like I have the whole day in front of me when I've finished, rather than half a day! I managed to go 3 times last week, and this week I'm going to try for four. As I couldn't come on Monday, that does mean I'll have to get up early 4 days in a row, but I shall see how I go!

It also makes me think that perhaps it wouldn't be impossible to go to one of Dena's month-long intensive workshops (that she runs here at various times of the year). I had thought I could never do that, but ... ! Of course they are booked up months in advance, but I'll see what I think in a while, and maybe sign up for one for next year.

And I am so enjoying the choir, and learning some music theory. My life is quite filled with yoga and music these days ... Funny that. My sister (who died many years ago) used to be really into classical music (piano and flute) before she moved onto computers in the early days. And now here am I. First of all I got into computers and software (quite a long time ago) and then the internet, and now music and singing!!

Punchy title goes here!

Didn't know if I was going to get to yoga class this morning ... My pussycat Miss Squiggle used to be really good at coming back inside when I called her, but - I think she's started exploring a bit further afield (over the fence into the next garden!) so maybe she's out of earshot. Giving her the benefit of the doubt here!! But I won't leave her outside when I'm out so had to wait till she came back. Luckily she reappeared just before the latest time I could leave ... And I'll have to bear this in mind in future!


Look at her - butter wouldn't melt in her mouth!!

Last time I went to class (earlier in the week) Jack had me trying out headstand (which I've never done). I said I wasn't sure I would be able to, even with help - still not enough strength. And I was right, but for now, as well as doing that 'dolphin' preparatory/strengthening pose I'm going to actually make steps towards - hmm, getting used to just the starting position. I actually had no idea that my head was supposed to be on/touching the ground (or my hands). So even that seems very weird and difficult! Oh well, baby steps (as usual!!)

Am finally getting it together to organise my trip to the UK/Europe later this year. I'm going to do one of Dena's Bali workshops on the way. Which always involves a bit of backtracking - flying to Singapore or Bangkok and then back to Bali - have no idea why but it's much more expensive to do it in a more direct fashion. Just have to doublecheck with my sister in London that the dates are ok with her and then I can finalise the booking!

Oh, and I'm still having a lovely time at choir / singing! And learning SO much that I never knew (or had completely forgotten) on the 'technical' / Music Theory 101 level!! Perhaps I should rephrase that as discovering how much I didn't know, but need to! It's just great!!!

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Yoga and sunshine

Finally I made it to one of the Mysore classes at the Gold Coast Yoga Centre this morning. I've been going to the Saturday afternoon led Primary classes but for whatever reason it's taken a while to get to a Mysore class. And it was really great. Mark seems to be a lovely and encouraging teacher ... Every yoga centre is different - he told me he was happy for people to attempt all of primary, even if they hadn't done a pose before. (Of course in the led class this is what happens too.) So I'm just going to go with the flow and do this too. I've done/been given most (but not all) of Primary at some time. Although in the Brisbane shala, poses were taken away if you had an injury or something (as I often did!) and then it might be years before they were given back (if ever!)

Case in point is garbha pindasana. I used to do this years ago but - maybe it was when I got the meniscus knee injury, it got taken away and I haven't done it since then - probably 4 years. So when I started trying to do it again at one of the led classes I was completely hopeless! And I'm not talking about getting arms through lotus as I don't do lotus! It was the rocking round - I kept having to give up and move to the next pose in the led class!! Hopefully doing it in the Mysore class setting will give me the space and time to get it back properly again ... !

And also - Mark got my fingers touching in one side of Mari D! That hasn't happened since Hamish Hendry in London got me into that pose - again about 4 years ago! I was astounded!

It's a beautiful sunny day today ... hard to believe it's still 'officially' winter, although it gets somewhat chilly after the sun goes down. The Byron Bay Writers Festival is on this weekend - I'm going tomorrow for the day. My friend Victor is on one of the panels (on memoirs), and there are some great speakers whose sessions I hope to catch ... like Jeanette Winterson - I remember loving her first book Oranges are not the Only Fruit years ago ... Should be a fun day!

1st yoga practice at Dena's shala

I went to a class at Dena's shala yesterday for the first time ( except for one time I dropped in on one of her intensive years ago). She isn't teaching there at the moment, and even when she does, it's month-long intensives that I probably wouldn't be doing. But she told me I should go to the 9.30 class, sometimes run by Jack, and that she practices in sometimes. And that she would 'oversee' my practice.

Neither of them were there, which was probably a good thing as it might have distracted me!! And - this is the first time I've started as a student at a new shala. And my mind was full of worries about 'exposing' my pathetic practice! I was wondering if I should be listing all the poses I used to do until I got a meniscus injury 3 years ago, a lot of which have still not been given back to me ... On and on and on ... my mind is what's pathetic!! Of course I know that's not what's important, but it's hard to just accept and not listen! Christian, the teacher there told me to just do my practice as I'd been doing it at the old shala and we'd take it from there. I did put a couple of poses back in but mostly it's as it has been.

And it just felt so good to have got over that mental hurdle! Now he knows my balance is crap, and my strength is lacking, etc and I don't have to feel embarrassed any more ... I know, I know, I never did have to, but these are the mental burdens that some of us are burdened with!

So, all in all it was a lovely day! Plus I had my first visitor in the afternoon ... :)

Almost there ...

Have been keeping it very quiet (blog-wise) but I have paid everything for the Bali trip, and it's now just 2 days till I fly off!

My practice is definitely getting stronger - managed to get through a led series of sun salutes at last weekend's class which always has more than 5 of each! But for a reality check - I am only now just about able to grab a finger in Marichyasana A for goodness sake! I guess that's what 12-14 months away from yoga does for you, but ... ! In fact, I'm not even really supposed to be doing that - Richard hasn't given me that pose back! But I am practicing certain missing poses 'on the side' so I can do a more straightforward practice in Bali.

Today's my last day at work. Tomorrow (my normal day off) I will be supervising the arrival of a large (4,000 gallon) water tank to replace one that rusted away ... Luckily there are going to be 4-5 people to do the 'manhandling' of it! It will have to be rolled part of the way as after that water tank was originally installed, a row of golden cane palms was planted in front of it. They have gotten huge! I've had a couple removed and the others thinned out. So there should be just enough room to roll the tank between the edge of the house and the palms!! Fun ... must remember to take a photo!

Distinct lack of progress!

Well, despite my excitement and good intentions, I didn't make it to yoga class last week, and didn't again this weekend - sigh! I started feeling not good again and - well, just another of the obstacles that have been in the way of my yoga practice over the past few months. I did do a very short practice today, and am hoping to manage to practice a couple of times at lunchtimes this week. It's no longer as easy to practice at lunchtimes now - the place I have to go to is further across campus, and it's not always available. But never mind. Will see how I manage this.

I'm still thinking/hoping to go to Dena's Bali workshop in October  and it's probably a good idea for me to have something to work towards! I seem to remember that the first time i went to one (maybe 3 years ago) it really made me put more into my practice. Both the teachers where I go remarked on it ... :)

Apart from this, I've been doing a Coursera course - Internet History Technology & Security - and it's great! No coding, but lots of really interesting history of the internet stuff. Only in the 2nd week, but last week was all about Bletchey Park (UK World War 2 code-breaking) and Alan Turing. Really fascinating - I am loving it!! Well recommended - and it's online and free!!

And if you haven't heard of Coursera - just google it and/or MOOCs (Massive Open Online Course ... !) The big buzzword at universities at the moment!

Fingers crossed - back to yoga!

Finally! I can't (and don't even want to!) begin to work out how long it's been. And it's been just one 'interruption' after the other! At the beginning of May after everything that'd happened I finally made a start on practicing again, and made it to one class. A couple of days after that I started to feel like there might be something going on with my knee - yes, the same one I had that meniscus tear in, just a couple of years ago. And sure enough, after a couple of days the knee started 'clicking'!! Horrors!! Luckily I happened to look back in this blog to when that happened last time, and discovered I'd noted down something my osteopath had showed me - how to walk without letting the knee click.

The added freakout for me here was that my osteopath had just gone to Vietnam on holiday and I couldn't get an appointment for a couple of weeks ... Still, I did manage to get a cancellation for just after she came back. And she said that it wasn't a tear again, but something I'd done must have just twisted the meniscus a bit or something! And finally, after seeing her again today she said it's ok to go back to yoga, but very very gently and carefully!! As if I'd be anything else - well, at least to start off with. I do tend to get impatient with being (as I see it!) held back, but ... :)

But I'm so happy now! I'll do a very light practice at home tomorrow, and then go back to class on Saturday afternoon. And maybe, if all goes well, I might try and go to Dena's Bali workshop later in the year - beginning of October. But I'm going to wait and see for a while first ... :)

Smiley days ... :)

Coming home from my Saturday afternoon ashtanga class it was evening, getting dark, and when I arrived at the gate at the bottom of my drive there was a wallaby sitting halfway up the drive! It just sat there looking at me as I opened the gate, and only hopped off to the side after I drove in ... Made me smile - one of the things I love about living in a semi-rural area!

I'm smiling a lot at the moment! I'm feeling so much better than I was, and yes, my cough is definitely getting better. (Although people who are around me at the shala when I'm doing sun salutes/downdog may not necessarily agree!) Health (good health that is!) really has an affect on your sense of wellbeing ...

And also - I am going to be going part-time (4 days a week) from next year! I'm so excited! My boss said "Are you sure you want to do this?" when I asked him! Is the pope a catholic?!?!! (I didn't say that to him, but ... !) This is something that my mother was always wanting me to do, but I could never afford it. Now I can (or will) - thank you Mum! Ever since I moved jobs and campuses, all the travelling (1 hour each way) has meant my work day has been incredibly long, and I've had very little energy to do anything during the weekday evenings. Now things are going to change! I always knew that this time would be a period of change - and this is the start ...  (And another very big smile!)

I didn't mean it that way, but in retrospect the title of my last post (Life goes on) could sound a bit down, or negative ... So it's good to be able to write a really smiley post!!

Life goes on ...

Life goes on ... my yoga practice is coming back together, slowly but surely. Still only managing 3-4 practices a week at the moment but hopefully that will expand over the next few weeks/months. I'm not going to sweat it - I remember how surprised I was to discover that I had somehow ended up with a 5-6 day a week practice without me realising it! So that should come in its own time - when the planets align!  And as we're going through a spell of unseasonably hot spring weather (even for sunny Queensland, Australia!) I don't always feel like walking across campus in the midday sun to the space where I can do a lunchtime practice ⟨grin⟩

Still enjoying my Sunday morning yoga practices with Helen. Sometimes other friends join in, sometimes it's just us. Last Sunday Helen brought out a DVD that we used to use way back when we did Friday lunchtime yoga sessions at the University about 3-4 years ago. Really nice - set in a subtropical garden in Byron Bay - or so I've always thought! Anyway, it was lovely to see it again, and catch a few hints as I did my own ashtanga practice!

My health is inching its way back to normal. Still coughing but less, and I no longer feel like I'm operating at 80% or less!

Choir rehearsals for The Messiah started again this week. I was really reluctant to make the (rather large) effort required to get to rehearsal, but of course am really glad I did! To be honest I don't even know if I'll be able to sing in the concert - that all depends on how my cough is going then. There's nowhere to hide when you're part of a large choir sitting on the 'stage' in the Cathedral when you're not standing and singing your heart out! But even if I can't sing in the actual performance, I just love singing it and it's wonderful to be part of the choir going through all the choruses again ... Do hope I'll be able to sing though ... :)

Yoga and gardening

Finally, back to posting about yoga (and other "normal") life type things! It isn't like my life is really back to "normal", but things do seem to be sorting themselves out (overall).

Over the last few days I've been noticing I seem to be more flexible than before. Like my hamstrings etc. are lengthening. And this comes when, for various work-related reasons I haven't been able to practice as much. I mean - this past week I've managed one Mysore class (yesterday), one 20 minute practice of just 5 of each sun salute on Tuesday, and then I went to a vinyasa class at the uni gym on Friday. (and yeah, I know that this in no way counts as part of my Ashtanga practice but this is something I do occasionally!!)

I really wouldn't expect my flexibility or strength to hold together with so little practice - certainly hasn't in the past. But, not only has it held, I seem to be more flexible! Maybe (and of course this is what I'm hoping!) my body has decided to take a step forward! We shall see I guess ... Fingers crossed!

And today a friend came round for lunch and to help me make a fenced off part of the back verandah more escape-proof for Miss Sansa Squiggletail pussycat! So far so good, but until I can be sure she can't find a way to escape I'm not going to open up access to that except at weekends when I'm here.

And - a couple of days ago another friend gave me some broccoli seedlings to plant. So this afternoon I cleared out one of the overgrown veggie beds so I could plant them, and in the process discovered there were still some 'forgotten' summer veggies to pick ... :)




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Location:Skyline Dr,Kholo,Australia

Back to class but ...

I went to the Friday morning Mysore class this morning - a rare pleasure as it's on between 9.15am and 11.15am, and I'm usually at work. But really - how could I on the one hand know perfectly well when it starts and aim to be there by 9am. And then on the other other hand decide that 9am was the best time to leave home (knowing it takes at least 45 minutes to drive there)?!?!! Can I blame it on the drug I'm still taking? (Prednisone)? I actually sat in the car outside for about 15 minutes waiting for it to get to the "o'clock" before going into the class!!

Oh well!! I did a shortened practice - which I was always intending to do as I have also hurt one of my wrists doing some arm-strengthening exercises - triceps dips. (The amount of foolishness I'm having to own up to here is somewhat embarrassing!!!)

Has been really nice just relaxing at home, doing a bit of cooking etc etc. I met a friend in town for coffee yesterday and we did a little trawl round a couple of galleries which was nice. And on Sunday I'm going out for sushi and the movies with my friend Ross - we're going to see 'Salmon Fishing in the Yemen'. That was such a wonderful book, and the trailer for the film looks good. In fact I was reading that book when I was in hospital in 2007, and my haematologist liked the look of it so much he ended up reading it and several others by the same author (Paul Torday)!

And back to work on Monday ... :)

Pussycat and yoga updates

More pictures of the pussycat - here she is sleeping on my Gregor Maehle book! My Mum was up staying over Easter, and she has 'added to' the pussycat's name Sansa. This pussycat has a really funny tail - it curls right up and lies over her back - in fact it reminds me of a dog - like a Basenji or one of those Japanese dogs. And she constantly waves it from side to side! So Mum said - oh she should be called Squiggletail - and I'm now calling her Sansa Squiggletail!! It's kind of hard to get her to stay still enough for me to get a good photo of this wiggly tail - this below is the best I could do!



It's been a funny few weeks, yoga-wise. There were a couple of weeks when I only managed one practice a week - sick one week, and completely maxed out at work the next. This coincided with a sudden unexpected temporary closure of the yoga shala I go to. It's finally re-opening next Monday (after a month being closed).

Anyway, after the two weeks of one practice a week (my Sunday morning yoga saved my life!) I managed to re-start my lunchtime practices at work - but really noticed how my stamina had fallen away! And then Easter arrived along with my mother and all the required entertaining ... sigh. I think I managed to practice 2 times over Easter.

Luckily back to 'normal' practice again now! Though I still think that when I get back to class next week my core stamina will still be a bit down. Which is a pity as I had planned to re-start doing most of the poses that have been on hold since I did my knee meniscus injury last June/July (was it really that long ago?!) Now I'll just have to see how I go ... :)

Singing in Handel's Messiah

Last night I sang in a performance of Handel's Messiah, at St John's Anglican Cathedral in Brisbane with the Bach Choir. It was (again) such a lovely experience ... I didn't sing in it last year as I'd only just got back from overseas, and so missed most of the rehearsals. But this year, since I'd given up on my regular choir, I'd had it in my mind as my 'choir' experience for the year. And yes, sometimes it was hard to come home for an hour, and then drive back into the city to go to rehearsals. But it was so worth it!

I know pretty much all of the music now.The only chorus I still have a bit of a problem with is the final one - the Amen chorus. But I felt that I mostly had it! And it's so wonderful to come to the end of a chorus, and stop singing, then hear the sound echoing back to us from the cathedral's vaulted ceilings ... :)

Today my friend Helen came round and we practiced to the Mark Darby DVD. For various reasons, I hadn't been able to practice for 3 days, so it was really nice to get back onto the mat. I did a few poses that I'm not doing in class yet (ones that have been 'taken away' because of my meniscus injury and haven't come back yet). Some of them were quite good - others I could see I was a long way away from being able to do them again And in fact my knee felt a bit tender afterwards ... So I won't be pushing to get some of them back again yet!!

Wildlife etc.

This is a possum with her baby on her back, up in the rafters of my back verandah! They're mostly nocturnal, so you can spot them during the day (if they're not inside your roofspace!!)

I've had quite a lot of wildlife encounters in the last couple of days! On Sunday, as well as seeing the possums, when I was hanging out the washing I heard some scrabbling over the fence in the neighbour's garden. And there appeared a large rabbit (or maybe a hare) woofling around. It got to about 3m from where I was when it finally saw me. Sat there with its ears pricked up looking at me for a couple of seconds, and then leapt into the air and rushed off!

And then on Monday morning as I was having breakfast and getting ready to go to work, I heard all this squeaking outside on the back verandah. When I looked, there was a red parrot on the railing, pretty much demanding to be fed! So I grabbed some (very expensive, and oh so yummy!) maple granola and put a handful out for it. It sat there less than 1m away and then hopped over and started in! It seemed to like the granola as much as me... :)

Such a surprise at yoga class on Saturday - I got given Garbha Pindasana back! Really, I haven't done that for a few months, since before I had the knee meniscus injury. I also got parivritti parsvakonasana back too, so now I've got all the standing poses again. Seated is a much more patchy experience, but I know it'll come back little by little. I hasten to add that my GP experience is nothing like that of Kevin (globie.wordpress.com) ! I can't do lotus, so the only way I can attempt GP is with crossed legs, and no arms through anywhere! But it's maybe easier to get round that way, even though it might take more than 9 rocks ... <grin>

Back on track!

I'm feeling so much better now ... final course of antibiotics ends on Sunday - I don't really feel I need them but am taking them just in case! And I'm also taking Inner Health acidopholous to replace all the good bacteria killed off by said antibiotics. It really is so wonderful to be feeling healthy and with lots of energy again! You always appreciate your health so much more after a period of bad health!

And my yoga practice is all coming back too, after the extra restrictions of being ill and just unable physically to do much. I'm nearly back to my pre-Bali practice now. When I first went back to class (only last Saturday) I was put back on the restricted "post-illness or absence" practice that they make you do. But by yesterday evening I was given all my standing poses back, and just told to do the restricted practice to Navasana. Of course, even when I get all the pre-Bali practice back it will still be a practice restricted by knee meniscus issues, and I fully expect that to take up to a year to properly recover.

I just did a 35 minute lunchtime practice in the Uni pilates gym (my usual weekday practice location) and it felt really good! Still a bit wobbly in UHP (a fairly common issue for me anyway!), but I'm almost able to grab my toe in trikonasana, and my wrist in paschimottanasana. Feels very satisfying!

Some friends came over for brunch on Sunday. I'd originally invited them for lunch, but they suggested an earlier brunch. Turned out to be a really nice way to entertain friends, and still have time left after they've gone to do a few things in the garden, or wherever!!

And my only other news is I'm back singing with the Bach Choir, for their annual Handel's Messiah concert. When I gave up singing with my main choir at the beginning of the year due to lack of time (and a desire to give more of my precious time to yoga), I always said I'd try and do the 6 weeks rehearsal with the Bach choir to sing the Messiah. And I'm really enjoying it ... :)

Yoga and visitors

Yesterday I was just hanging out the washing while waiting for Helen (my yoga friend) to come and do a yoga practice with me, when I caught sight of movement in a shrub next to the house. This is what/who it was!! A young-ish carpet snake, happily curled up on top of some outside lights ...  I showed it to Helen - and we agreed that (speaking generally) we don't worry about snakes with patterns on them like this. It's the ones that are all one colour - brown or black specifically - that you need to be wary of!

We both practiced to the Mark Darby Ashtanga DVD ... I did some poses that I'm not supposed to be doing again yet (naughty!) Like mariA and B (but the easy version of B). And then Supta konasana ... and even shoulderstand. I was careful (very careful) about not doing anything bad to my knee, but it seemed fine! Some other poses - eg. Janu Sirsasana C and Triang Mukhaikapada Paschimottanasana (which name I had to copy and paste from a website - too long to remember!!) Anyway, some poses I look at and think - it may be a whole year before my knee can cope with that again!! But still, little by little it is coming back, and I am taking the opportunity to concentrate on other areas of my practice, so it's all good.   ( I suppose !!)

This weekend Maharaji is speaking at a 2-day event at Amaroo - it's 2 years since I last saw him! I am so looking forward to it. I've got people coming to stay for it too. My Mum is coming out of hospital on the Monday and I'm going down to look after her for a week. She could have come out on Friday, but I had to ask her to put it off till the Monday so I could see Maharaji ... Luckily she understands how important it is for me ... :)

And then when I get back from my Mum's it'll only be 3 weeks till I head off to Bali for Dena's workshop!