Still so many hangups

Am now half way through a five-day long yoga workshop on "alignment and energy in Asana"/ Iyengar Yoga. Despite it not being as intensive as the Ashtanga workshop I took several months ago, it sure is no walk in the park. Peter Scott is the instructor; he's been teaching yoga since 1982 and is a living proof that practising yoga can make you look young! His teaching focuses on the "mid-line" -- that the spine should stay long and stretched in most poses -- so to facilitate energy flow and openness in breathing. Which is interesting ... cos I thought alignment was about anatomical/physical alignment; in Iyengar Yoga, it is more to do with alignment for energy flow. So, for instance, in the class that looks at forward bends, we practised the rotation of the inner/outer arms and inner/outer thighs,the rotation of the hips, the tucking in of the tail bone ... or to ensure of a straight spine, which in turn makes the various asanas more effective. There is CONSTANT engagement of the muscles so am quite tired, physically, after 12.5 hours of practice over the past three days.

Again, there were poses that I couldn't do because of my stiff lower back and hips. A teacher told me I should STOP dwelling on that. He said I should start imagining myself being able to achieve these poses, that I am flexible, and also wishing others the same (don't get jealous of those who can put both their legs behind their head!) Well, I don't think I get jealous but I certainly get frustrated. The teacher (who is very flexible and he is a bloke) also said Ashtanga Yoga can REALLY open up the body ... hmm, not exactly what I wanted to hear but ... ... Oh well, we shall see. 

In the meantime, I really was hoping I could put Tactics Ogre down (at least for awhile) but somehow I'm still playing it. I actually downloaded the demo of the latest Final Fantasy game, "Type-0", but although the graphics is really stunning and it looks like an interesting game, it is in Japanese and it's another hack and slash game that will give me another pitched nerve ... so, def. won't be playing that. So I've decided to returned to TO and do the first half of the San Bronsa Ruins, get one of the four Wind Instruments before, oh yes, returning to the Palace of the Dead for some seriously top-weapon farming ... the second half of the Ruins apparently is, apparently, SO difficult I need to further upgrade my team; it's pretty strong now but not strong enough ...

Just got a rare drop (for the Divine Knight class) so the grinding/farming/obsession/addiction continues ....