I ended up practicing the First Series on my own in the private small room of the studio last evening, Monday, deciding to skip the 6:30 PM Vinyasa class. I was glad I did, feeling much better afterwards.

It was a weird practice in a way, where my mind and body kept going through various ups and downs. More like highs and lows, actually. My Kurmasana (Turtle: Seated arms stretched under spread legs) felt extremely tight last night, with my hams “bent out of shape”, pun intended. I saw in Kathy’s KJS blog this morning that she holds it for a count of 25 breaths, which is something I should start doing. Sounds like a recipe for loosening the hams that is worth trying.

Throughout the practice I was haunted by the eyes of those poor little cats and dogs that I saw on CNN’s Larry King’s show on Sunday night. They showed tidbits of a video smuggled out of China where they do unspeakable things to these poor pets just for their fur. It was very hard to watch. I have never before seen cats literally hugging each other out of fear. Kudos to Paul McCartney for canceling his concerts in China because of the video, which his wife is circulating in the media.

My friend W was telling me about their friend who’s a staunch pet lover, but who eats a huge steak several times a week. The word hypocrisy comes to mind in this case. Despite being a vegetarian, I’m not an advocate of other people not eating meat. To each his own. But how about doing it in moderation and in a more humane way.

Practice-wise, the plan for tonight is to shoot for a meditative solo PS practice at home, hopefully with a little less mind-agitation.