Before I get into yoga shop talk, I want to take a moment and thank all of you readers who have been so supportive of the fun parts of my journey in Japan and also the not-so-fun adjustment period part that I experienced when I arrived at my university and Micah left Japan.  There are definitely things to be learned from all struggles in life, but one of the positive things that has been profoundly highlighted for me during my time here is how fortunate I am to have such a great network of friends and family who support me and wish the best for me during my time here.  I sincerely thank you all for your love and support and you motivate me to fully take advantage of the great opportunities that I have here in Japan.

And speaking of opportunities… on to the yoga post!  If you’ve read the previous entries about Japan, you know by now that the weather is here is unforgivingly hot and humid in the summer. The Urasa, Japan area where I am is slightly cooler than Tokyo, but the average temperature here (as Nodakademic noted in her comment a few posts back) is 88 degrees F and 85% humidity.  There isn’t a lot to like about this kind of weather at first… my methods of choice for coping with it when I first arrived were to a.) turn on the AC, b.) take a cold shower, or c.) all of the above.  But after having lived in these weather conditions for two weeks now, I have started to get used to them.  For example, my skin, hair and nails are loving the moisturizing / perspiring affects of the humidity.  Exercising outside feels extra cathartic with all the extra perspiration (so long as you stay plenty hydrated!)  And the best part of all… the heat and humidity is a perfect combination for facilitating a deep yoga practice.  Eugene School of Yoga readers take note: this is the promised land of yoga (#2 behind Mysore India, of course) during the summer months and you would all love practicing here.  I’ve done a couple of full practices here indoors (without air conditioning) and I feel so stretchy and flexible.  So stretchy in fact that today while practicing alone at the university gym, I was able to bind a yoga posture that I’ve been working on and getting assists into for awhile: Marichyasana C!

(No that is not a picture of me, but doesn’t she do Marichyasana C so well?  Thank you, random internet yogini, for your demonstration!)

The side that is pictured is exactly the side that I was able to bind today.  The first (the opposite) side is still a challenge for me to bind, but that’s okay.  I have the heat and humidity of Japan to thank for helping to warm up my torso and shoulders so much that I could do this posture today.  It took two attempts to bind this posture… the second time I thought: “Come on hands, find each other, you can do it…” and then they magically did.  Once they were bound, I held on for dear life and breathed into it for a few breaths and then released it, but I didn’t spring apart, as I normally do when I get an assist in this posture.

I’d also like to note that, unlike my usual attempts at practicing yoga in the afternoon a few hours after having eaten lunch, I didn’t feel like I was carrying a food baby around during this practice.  A highly unusual and exceptional piece of luck indeed, especially for this posture, which as you can see, involves a lot of twisting of the abdominal area and the “organs of elimination”.

Welcome to my yoga practice, second side bound Marichyasana C.  I hope you don’t disappear anytime soon, but if you do, that’s all right too.