Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Private and surgery

First off, my little Rockefeller is having surgery on Thursday. All this talk of Mercury in retrograde has me nervous about it but it's supposed to be fairly simple. He has a mast cell tumor on his eyelid. It sounds more gross than it is, basically a tiny patch about half the size of a dime on his eyelid is a teensy bit swollen and all the hair has come out. It changes in size and shape according to the allergens in the air and his excitement level. The vet did a needle biopsy on it and deemed it 'suspicious' so it needs to come off. Because my ex is a painful bastard, that's all the information I have (even though I'm paying for half the surgery, HELLO). Supposedly he keeps his eye and eyelid? Hopefully he doesn't look too funny when he comes out, not that we care but I don't want people to see him and be grossed out or feel sorry for him. He's such a happy lovey little dog. Mama's boy! Our bigger worry is that Rufus will be without his brother all day on Thursday. This doesn't sound like a big deal except Rufus is a very insecure pug. I mean, like, when he gets separated from Rocky or either me or my ex, he CRIES. LOUDLY. And it's annoying. He's going to annoy the crap out of my ex's wife. I'm ok with that, tee hee. She's kind of a bitch to me. And to my ex, if you must know.

Here is a picture of Rocky with his tumor. You can see on his left eye (to your right) the eyelid is swollen and you can see a red spot.



Here's my baby boy as an overgrown puppy:



Play with me mommy!!!!!!

OK, so the private with Teacher. It was pretty weird. I've only ever done a private by accident, like when no one else showed up to class but me. It's very disconcerting to have someone stare at you like that for over an hour and a half. Here are the highlights:

1. Must practice more consistently. The current goal is to do three days a week full practice and at least two more days a week surya namaskara and more if possible.

2. Finishing postures (sarvangasana, halasana, sirsasana, padmasana) are the most important ones. I must work toward 25 breaths in each. Bah!

3. My breath is GOOD. If I just stay with what I have for that, and work on the bandhas and dristhe, I'm doing what is supposed to be done.

4. I should be doing all of primary, even if I modify. There's no reason to stop. I am perfectly capable RIGHT NOW of getting my toes up off the floor in bhujapidasana.

5. Must 'take rest'. I hate savasana but apparently I must do it no matter what. Again, BAH!

6. I should 'sit' either upon waking up or just before going to bed. A little meditation. I'll buy that.

And here's the stuff that I'm putting on the shelf for now:

1. Eating meat creates some kind of acid that will prevent me from binding easily in the marichy's. Um, yeah, we'll see.

2. I can get my toes up off the floor in bhujapidasana. Whatever!

3. I sleep too much. The fact that I sleep more than 8 hours on a regular basis (I'm a 9 - 9.5 hours a night kind of girl) is part of the reason I have such a hard time relaxing in savasana. Teacher cited some recent sleep study or some such. Um, again, doubtful but I'll take that under advisement.

So, those are the highlights. My current plan is to do this maybe twice a month. It's EXPENSIVE, not that Teacher isn't worth it but who has the money to pay someone to teach them privately? Oh yeah, rich people. And I am not rich.

21 comments:

Kevin said...

So, in general, the advice is to move further in to the cult to be a successful and happy cult member... Interesting...

LI Ashtangini said...

Well DUH!!!!!!! What did you THINK the advice would be? Silly man! And speaking of cults, you have joined one yourself by purchasing that TOY for a laptop. So no more derogatory cult talk from YOU, my friend!!!!!!!

crankyhausfrau said...

oh! good luck to baby boy! that picture of him with the toy is too fucking cute!
and it sounds like teacher was positive about your practice! we knew you had good breath, huh? if you have that, everything else will come with practice. i think good breath is the hardest.

LI Ashtangini said...

He is a very cute, very smart, very spoiled little doggie. It is my very favorite picture of him.

Anonymous said...

Maggie had a mast cell tumor removed (the first time it grew back, and the second time it didn't). She is TOTALLY FINE, the margins were clear, and she didn't lose anything. Rocky is going to be awesome, I know it!

LI Ashtangini said...

Yah, mast cell tumors are usually no big deal, and are quite common in Bostons. The real issue is the location. They won't be able to take the surrounding 'good' tissue out to prevent the regrowth like they normally would. So it has a more likely chance of coming back. We'll see how it goes. Poor Wooooofus all alone all day. And poor Rocky-doodle all alone at the vet all day. Mew.

Anonymous said...

Mew! Can you be with them? Mew mew?

Carl said...

Why do you hate savasana? It's the best feature of the practice! All the other parts of the practice are just preparation for savasana.

Anonymous said...

I hate savasana too. I can do it in self practice but just for a couple of minutes. Feels like total waste of time when I have so many other things to "do!" But in vinyasa classes where they force it upon you, I get into these transcendental states where I have these enormous conversations with my head.

Yoga Chickie said...

The meat thing is true true true. C can tell when I've eaten meat (only ONCE since I've been practicing with him, but still, it was that obvious). I think the deal with meat is that it is much more taxing on the body to digest meat than it is to digest not-meat. If your body is going to be working on processing animal flesh, then it isn't going to be relaxed and open. Also, meat is acidic, which makes the joints sticky. Try a day, or even HALF a day of just eating green foods - try "Green Machine" by Naked Juice, and sip it all day. Greens are alkalytic. They make the joints nice and juicy. Give it a try, and you'll see what I mean...

Anonymous said...

But even if that's true, the bigger question becomes, what's more important - to eat what you truly enjoy, or to be at a certain place in your practice. If you really want a steak, tofu just isn't going to cut it. I used to be a vegetarian, so I know!

I don't have any problems with openness or flexibility, and I'm a carnivore. My flexibility didn't decrease once I went back to eating meat, as a matter of fact it probably grew, because it gave me the energy that I needed to get on the mat.

Chris' advice may be true for some, but it doesn't hold true for all.

How's Rocky? Hope all went well. : )

LI Ashtangini said...

Carl, savasana is hard for me. The only time my monkey-mind is quiet is when I'm MOVING. So right when I stop the moving, the mind gets going again. However, I did do a little 'rest' this morning after a brief practice, and tried the technique he gave me. Was ok, I'll keep at it.

I was vegetarian for almost a year a couple of years ago. It doesn't work that well for me and I have mild blood sugar issues. I don't eat a whole lot of meat, and I've actually been cutting back on what I do eat. However, I am more 'protein-smart' this time around so I'm better at getting my protein elsewhere. We'll see how it goes. Sounds like malarky to me though, I know plenty of people who have advanced asana practice (third and even fourth series) who eat meat. Not a ton of it but they eat it nonetheless.

If I DID stop eating meat, it would not be to further my asana practice but as more of an environmental issue.

chitta vritti said...

i love savasana! i love the whole finishing sequence and savasana is kind of the ultimate reward :) has actually helped me calm down my monkey too. keep at it, good girl!

eeyore said...

brave wooooofus! and brave you! privates. you and madonna, i think the only private sharath has ever given was to madonna. it sounds really good, now i wants a cheeseburger, but haven't had one for almost, no, over two years, i'm still stiff as a board and cannot bind myself in mari d. i still eat fishes, maybe i should cut-out the super ugly ones, like grouper:)

crankyhausfrau said...

grouper may be ugly, but it is tasty. just goes to show ya.

alfia said...

Good luck with the surgery! I hate it when our babies get sick. And good plan of action!

eeyore said...

well cranky, if you like grouper, i like grouper. basically i want to be more like you.

crankyhausfrau said...

yeah, then eat more grouper, cause yer gonna have to fatten up a whole lot :)

Anonymous said...

love everywhere! woofus? rocky? snoopy,shibas?

armani said...

I'm impressed you can get that much sleep! Wowzers. Who needs savasana?

Yoga Chickie said...

Of course, everyone has their own experience with meat/no meat/some meat. But it works for some people, for sure, just as surely as it doesn't work for others. There is a sizable group of people out there who believe that one's practice improves when one makes certain changes to one's living habits. Of course, we all know that there are intermediate and advanced practitioners out there who do not shun meat and other acidic foods.

It's one of those things that your teacher tells you, that you either listen to or not.

Congrats on the almost lease!