Pincha Mayurasana = Pinched Nerve

Is it me, or is the similarity between the two names a little too close?

Pincha Mayurasana, Feathered Peacock Pose, has been my everest for 7 years. A few weeks ago, I went to a class in San Luis Obispo. I've always been underwhelmed with SLO yoga. It was always a little too slow for me, too boring. But in January, I read a teacher's bio and was intrigued. I went to his class. And he was awesome. It was a slower paced class, but completely challenging. The peak pose that he chose happened to be my everest. I don't know if I fnaly reached a point in my practice where it made sense. But between the way that he described it (bring your shoulders into your back, then melt your heart down) and the fact that I had Ryan's voice in the back of my head a few days eariler ("you know, in handstand, you're not quite straight...I think you need to bring your legs further over") - well, it finally clicked. And I held it for 6.5 seconds. And a week later, at home, i did it for 13 seconds. I ran to the phone and squealed into it as Ryan picked up. He was a block away from home, so I made him count as soon as he got in the door. I held that sucker for 23 seconds! I was one excited girl.

I've been practicing it since then. This last Saturday, I got a little over-zealous in practicing. And I pinched a nerve. My shoulder, neck, and trapezious have been a wreck for the last two days. I find it soooooooo amusing that the sanskrit name sounds so close to "pinched."

And yet, through all this pain, I can't wait to start practicing it again.

A desciption of how to get into the pose, courtesy of Yoga Journal:
http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/1711

I Need a Name

I've been a horrible blogger lately.  And since we don't yet have kids, I thought I'd try turning our blog into something that is consuming me right now.  Last weekend I finished up yoga teacher training!  Fully certified!  I started teaching two classes / week on February 1st.  Starting next week, I'm adding a third night / week.  All vinyasa flow classes right now.  In March and April I'll be getting my aerial teacher training certification.  It's an exciting new chapter in my life!

What's not exciting?  "Nikki's Yoga Blog."
I need ideas... :)

Mike & Natarajasana

My brother-in-law's first foray into yoga.