I had breakfast with the kids this morning, drove over to school, waited with The Daughter until the bell rang. Watched The Son in a school musical presentation. I watched the whole thing even when I wanted to bail at 8:40 to make practice at 9... but I can't be such a horribly selfish parent that I don't stay after being in Seattle for a week.

In the end, I booked out of there and was there just on time. I did only first series today. I don't even have the nerve to stare kapotasana in the face. It really isn't the act of doing kapotasana anymore either. Kapotasana isn't even my last pose.. but, let's face it, when we have been disciplined enough and steadfast enough and clean enough to feel positive giddiness when facing "your pose" (Kapotasana for me, Dwi Pada for others and for others it is perhaps not the physical pose at all.. it's all about your yoga) that's when we know we are practicing the true physical limb of asana through ashtanga yoga. It's about the discipline to show up and act like a practitioner and the embodiment of the discernment that is required to do that. We all come and go... some less often than others... some people maybe never do. The recognition of the practice carries a lot of weight within.

I don't really lose flexibility anymore. I can still do all of first series -- except remember that little spill down the hill in Seattle from a few weeks ago? I still cannot do Janu Shirasana C on that side. Like my ankle seriously just doesn't go there. The practice is so much more than flexibility though.. that's the hard part for me. It's the strength that I struggle with.

I had a day today where I actually felt somewhat like I understood where I'm standing. Someone told me something this past week... that they recognized in me that I need to feel valued.

It is an interesting statement because this was applied to me in the context of how I feel about my professional life and my day to day work life. If you take the concept and translate it to other arenas of my life, it makes just as much sense. I always find the tidbits other people give me about myself provide so much insight.