When the impossible becomes possible...

"Practice, and all is coming," as Guruji was fond of saying.  And it's true.  The thing I love, well one of the many things I love, about practice is that it continually reveals new things and opens up previously closed or inaccessible territory.  It shows me the places I fear to go, the places where I feel comfortable, the places where I struggle, the places where I feel vulnerable and weak, the places where I feel strong and empowered, the places where I try to take the easy way out, the places where I hold myself accountable.  Today I went to a mysore class with a teacher I've never taken a class from.  I keep a solid, consistent practice at home every day, but I am ready to step things up and get more regular feedback from a teacher, so I've been checking out some teachers in town.  And the class was great.  Lots of little minor corrections here and there.  My balance was off more than usual, but that's ok.  I'm fasting and get dizzy and it's hard to balance, and so I am patient with myself.  And as I'm working through the seated postures, the teacher keeps an eye on me.  I get to the marichyasanas and bind just fine in all of them except marichy d.  He comes over to assist me, and with a little help, I bound marichyasana d for the first time ever.  And it felt so damn good.  And it was like a huge sigh for my spirit, having struggled with it for so long.  It is, arguably, the toughest posture in the primary series.  It is considered a gateway posture and is the peak of the primary series crescendo.  When I first started my ashtanga practice, I thought I'd never be able to get fully into that posture.  It seemed like totally off-limits territory for me.  There are a lot of postures like that, especially as you venture into intermediate and advanced series.  But after working at it every day for a while, I finally did it!  I also did chakrasana for the first time with help from the teacher.  I can't help but wonder what else I can do that I thought was totally impossible!  I like this teacher, it's like he knows what I am capable of more than I know.  I'll be going back to his mysore class twice a week.  The rest of the week, I'll keep working on my practice at home to integrate the feedback I get in class.  It's kind of amazing how much progress can be made with daily practice.  And it's remarkable how off I feel when I skip a few days.  There are no shortcuts or easy ways out.  There's no way to fake it.  It is a spectacularly awesome feeling when the once impossible becomes possible.  There is only practice, and through practice, all is coming...