Body is sore. Mind is too strong.

Ooohh I hurt.  I went to a workshop yesterday, with a teacher a really like.  He's not an ashtangi, although he did practice it for a  while.  He also comes from an Iyengar background, and he now has his own version of the 2. It could be called vinyassa, but I feel that doesn't do it justice as it is an incredbly precise, fluid practice that he teaches.  We started off by doing about 10 sunsalutes, then moving into uttanasana from down dog, then back to down dog, and repeated that twice more.  Each time different things emphasised.  And thats how it continued.  We actually did only a few standing poses, but each sequence linked them in a different order, and we did a lot of sequences. It was interesting because depending on how the poses were linked, different things were revealed in the postures. Such as?  Well, moving into trikonasana from warrior 2, really emphasised the opening in the chest, whilst moving into trikonasana from ardha chandrasana emphaisised the stability of the legs and the extension of the arms. After the standing we did handstands, then into backbends, then padmasana lifts, balancing poses then core work.  He had started off the workshop saying that there was going to be little talk, lot of work.  He wasn't kidding. 

I really enjoyed it, but don't know if I'll hurry back into another. It really messed with my practice today, and while it was an excellent workshop, there wasn't much I could take for my practice, or for my teaching.  I woke up today thinking, "oh, I'm not sore at all today.  I'm so tough...". But then I started my practice, and the first sunsalute was a joke.  Hamstrings screamed, I nearly collapsed in my first chatturanga, up dog was tight. No grace or elegance there at all. And I didn't rise to the challenge of just staying with my breath, as my body felt too heavy and lumpen to even assimilate the postures.  But I know that is just my mind mis-leading me, because in actual fact even the LBH's were ok. Funny the power of the mind.  I was convinced my practice would be heavy and unwieldy, and it was. I gave up on it. Bad lady.  I didn't stay in the present, and let my practice unfold. Instead, I projected how I thought my practice would be and stuck to that vision.  

I think my challenge is to quieten down my mind and focus. Not letting the mind run away from me.  I'm not very good at letting things unfold.  I like certainty. I guess that's the Tauras and the dragon in me.  I struggle with it.