Yoga Proof... it can be done anywhere

So yesterday I complained about my lack of yoga activity over the weekend while camping because of the cold... but then I remembered a 10 minute stretch of time on Friday that Grant captured on film... I mean CCD chip. We were walking along the beach at Sonoma Coast State Park and Grant got interested in some waves or rocks or something while we were waiting for the sunset. I got tired of walking around so I decided to "hang out" and just watch the waves. Grant noticed me and came by to see what I was up to, so I gave him a little show.

I have one yoga teacher who says that us westerners rush things too much. We jump into beginner yoga classes and try to do our best at some pretty intense and advanced poses. My teacher says that if we really want to get something out of poses like triangle (utthita trikonasana) we need to work on the basics for 3 to 5 years. One of those basic poses is squats, as shown below. But who wants to pay $15 a class to do 90 minutes of squats? It seems that yoga teachers have to encourage a variety of interesting poses because they need students. Thus we have one of the many yoga debates that needs to be worked out as we in the west figure out how the practice and business of yoga will look for us.One of the poses that is not basic, and is not something that I'm even close to doing fully yet is an arm balance called crane pose (bakasana). I got caught doing it on Friday, on the beach. In the full version of the pose, my arms would be straight and my knees/legs held easily at my sides. In this picture, I'm just struggling to find the balance point for my weight front to back.
My feet really are off the ground... if only a 1/2 inch... I couldn't hold the balance for very long on Friday although today I held it for a whopping 4 seconds!

Anyways, that's my proof... no excuses! Yoga can (and will) be practiced anywhere. It's just a matter of time until yoga weaves its way into you and places thoughts in your head. You'll catch yourself om-ing in the shower or at the ocean and even worse... you'll catch yourself breathing! Watch out!