From Liz: Fointing, Pointing and Flexing

That is a great read and a good link. And it makes me ache for that teacher-student relationship even more. As much as I love self-sufficiency and alternative guru figures (online community, yogic literature, dvds), it's just not the same. I just am not sure how to cultivate the consistency and trust that you need as the basis of a solid bond.

[This also calls up some class issues: who in our society can afford there very own teacher? It's so hard to cultivate that kind of rapport in a group class.]

Not much going on practice-wise. Thanksgiving drives me into maintenance mode. If I avoid full on gluttony, I feel like that's my asteya for the month. It's a time for harmless play, minor investigations. For instance: a brief meditation on my feet.

They are the base of standing poses, the final expression of my legs in seated poses. They are bones, muscles and tendons, encased in skin and toenails of which I take haphazard care. When over-pointed, they cramp. When over-flexed, they lock my knees. So, I'll "foint." It goes by many names, "barbie foot" "yoga point," but for my purposes, I prefer "foint." It sounds like a bodily function, and I'm a fan of the un-lady-like. It is the midway expression between the two more extreme foot positions: extend your foot and pull back your toes. It keeps the front of the leg engaged, and a slight tone in the calf muscle, but extends the hamstrings. Try it in a seated forward bend. I'm going to give it a go in inversions too.

Next: in praise of my finger-tips.