At the end of the second week of the intensive, things are looser. Head stand has been achieved and held, although it did something funky to my shoulder (but that problem was already there, and anyway, it feels much better today). I got lift off in crane and held it. And I can pop right up into wheel and stay there without trembling. (Of course, I don't look anything at all like those people in the pictures back there. Holy shit.)

Breathing is hard to keep slow, and I use savasana as fantasy time. Today I composed a grocery list while lying there.

Lisa says yoga is about noticing where you are in the present so you can direct your future. Which is true: hunger = grocery list = post-yoga trip to the store. And truer, it’s cool to recognize corporeal fixations that mirror those of the subconscious. When I see how confined my usual movement is, it shows me how many ways I could be moving that I’m not. Ditto for the self-concept.

One thing I do to avoid pain is rest my weight on the outside edges of my feet. I have very high arches and my feet have always hurt when walking long distances, jogging, or biking, etc. I wear orthotics when I’m doing something active, but I’m not sure they really do the trick they’re supposed to anymore; I don’t notice a difference between when I wear them and when I don’t. So, in yoga, I notice that in every pose, my feet are ever so slightly pronated outward. When I compensate for that, the stretch hurts through the pulling of something long slacked. I’ve been working on that, gently pressing the whole of each foot into the floor, trying to reach the arch to the ground and then flexing my toes to strengthen the muscle there. It’s been cool.