Approximately 7 or 8 weeks ago first, slight & subtle signs of allergy appeared: slight wheezing in the breath, itchy eyes, itch throat. Until then, practice was regular and on gradually increasing in intensity and vitality. At that point I decided to stop the intesifying exploration and moved into a holding pattern. I was ancitipating the arrival of more challenging allergy symptoms and aspiring to stay as long as possible with a soft and containing relationship with practice.
Shortly after that I experienced a drop (with no noticeable allergy symptoms yet) in the quality of practice followed by a surprising recovery into a stable and vital practice. The overall framework of the practice has remained unchanged, the closing ritual has evolved. This is the asana part of the practice as it was until ~ two weeks ago (when the allergy symptoms did appear):
| Standing | TOTAL: 40 breaths | ||
| tadasana | R4 | 10.2.10.2 | 4 breaths |
| uttanasana | R2+S2 | 10.4.12.6 | 6 breaths |
| parsva uttanasana | R2+S2 / – | 12.4.12.8 | 12 breaths |
| trikonasana (uddhita + parivrti) | ALT4 + [ALT4 + S1] | 8.2.10.2 | 12 breaths |
| utkatasana + ardha utkatasana | R6 | 8.2.10.2 | 6 breaths |
| Kneeling | TOTAL: 6 breaths | ||
| adhomukha svanasana | S6 | 8.0.10.0 | 6 breaths |
| Lying | TOTAL: 16 breaths | ||
| raised leg variations | 10.2.10.2 | 8 breaths | |
| dvipada pitham | R2 – S4 | 10.2.12.2 | 8 breaths |
| Inverted | TOTAL: 14-16 breaths | ||
| sarvangasana | S10-12 | 8.0.8.0 8.0.10.0 8.0.12.0 |
10-12 breaths |
| halasana | S4 | 8.0.10.0 | 4 breaths |
| Backbending | TOTAL: 20 breaths | ||
| bhujangasana | R4 | 8.0.10.0 | 4 breaths |
| bhujangasana + bent knees | R4 | 8.0.10.0 | 4 breaths |
| ardha salabhasana | R4 + S1 | 8.0.10.0 | 8 breaths |
| salabhasana (incremental) | R4 | 8.0.8.0 | 4 breaths |
| Seated | TOTAL: 48 breaths | ||
| dandasana | R2+S2 | 12.2.12.2 | 4 breaths |
| janusirsasana | R2+S2 (midrange + micro) | 10.4.12.4 | 12 breaths |
| matsyendrasana | R6 | 8.0.10.0 | 12 breaths |
| mahamudra | R12 / – | 4×12.2.12.2
4×12.4.12.4 2×12.4.12.8 |
20 breaths |
At the enf of April, my teacher advised exploring a 1:2Pranayama ratio – and this was the practice I settled on:
| 8.0.8.0 | x6br | prailoma ujjayi |
| 8.0.16.0 | x6br | pratiloma ujjayi |
| 8.4.16.4 | x6br | pratiloma ujjayi |
| 8.4.16.8 | x6br | pratiloma ujjayi |
| 4.0.8.0 | x6br | pratiloma ujjayi |
| 4.0.4.0 | x4br | ujjayi |
I also practiced a peak of 8.8.16.4 and a few times felt comfortable exploring 8.8.16.8 … but usually that was too much. Soon after the initial signs of allergy appeared I gave preference to BK and settled on the above routine.
A separate chanting practice during the day has grown to cover Yoga Sutra chapter 1 sutras 1 – 22. I have started revisiting a study of Samkhya. Though both of these activities are fragile in the presence of allergy.
That asana sequence held up surprisingly (to me) well up until ~two weeks ago – when more demanding allergy symptoms kicked in. In past years, allergy symptoms eventually (sometimes instantly) collapsed my practice. However this year, in addition to some “natural” medicinal supports, I am also taking antihistamines with the intention of using them as a support to allow me to be in a continuous relationship with practice. The asana part of the practice changed gradually (though fairly rapidly – over a period of ~10 days) and is now settled at this:
| Standing | TOTAL: 22 breaths | ||
| tadasana | R4 | 10.2.10.2 | 4 breaths |
| uttanasana | R2+S2 | 10.2.12.6 | 6 breaths |
| parsva uttanasana | R2+S2 / – | 10.2.12.6 | 12 breaths |
| Kneeling | TOTAL: 6 breaths | ||
| cakravakasana | R2 – S3 | 10.0.12.0 | 6 breaths |
| Lying | TOTAL: 16 breaths | ||
| raised leg variations | 10.2.10.2 | 8 breaths | |
| dvipada pitham | R2 – S4 | 10.2.12.2 | 8 breaths |
| Inverted | TOTAL: 8-10 breaths | ||
| sarvangasana | S6-8 | 8.0.8.0 8.0.10.0 8.0.12.0 |
6-8 breaths |
| halasana | S2 | 8.0.8.0 | 2 breaths |
| Seated | TOTAL: 24 breaths | ||
| dandasana | R2+S2 | 12.2.12.2 | 4 breaths |
| janusirsasana | [R2+S2] + (midrange + micro) + S4 (static mahamudra) | 10.2.12.6 | 20 breaths |
In Pranayama the 1:2 ratio was too demanding (I was able to hold it for a while, but felt it depleted and unsettled me) and so I switched to a 1:1.5 ratio instead:
| 8.0.12.0 | x6br | pratiloma ujjayi |
| 8.0.12.4 | x6br | pratiloma ujjayi |
| 8.4.12.4 | x6br | pratiloma ujjayi |
| 8.4.12.8 | x6br | pratiloma ujjayi |
| 8.0.8.0 | x6br | pratiloma ujjayi |
| 4.0.4.0 | x4br | ujjayi |
It takes longer (2+ hours instead of 1) than usual for my morning breath to settle and allow for good practice. I feel grateful to have access (established before allergy set in) to good BK and (still!) to shoulderstand (sarvangasana) – both offer a space of dee[, quiet energetic settling.
I have felt a change over recent years in the dance between practice and allergy. I attempted to create a kind of chart to illustrate the changes I have felt. I tried to chart my experience of the past 3 years + a more general impression of how it was it years before that. This is what I came out of that experiment:
In the past I used to crash quickly … practice would quickly deteriorate (sometimes even sharper than the green line indicates … there could be a triggering day or event … and I would collapse) and be away from practice fo 8-10 weeks. In recent years the crash has been delayed and somewhat softened … but still I would hit rock bottom and be away from practice for quite a few weeks. This year (so far) practice, as a whole, has held up much better (even though the end of May felt like a sudden crash).
I then decided to look with more discernment and resolution at the different aspects of my-self. I felt that different qualities were affected in different ways and at different times:
This graph shows:
- When the initial dip took place everything was affected.
- That the an overall sense of vitality was slowest to recover and has now been most impacted.
- I feel tired in body and there is a (relative) sense that flexibility has been replaced by rigidity. I felt that my body held up fairly well up until the end of May … then there was a rapid and noticeable diminishing.
- My focus and attention feels diminished … but not like it was in past years. The quality of presence in sitting after practice comes and goes but has not been what it was a couple of months ago). In the past I would not have had the capacity to write this post at this time.
- Breath has fluctuated but remained mostly at my service.
I am glad to be able to continue to be in a meaningful relationship with practice. It would not be possible without the help of the anti-histamines. I am curious how the coming weeks will be, the quality of recovery that will follow and how this will echo into future years.
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