I did the Five Gold Coins, the Eight Pieces of Silk, rather slowly.  Inhale on the expansion, exhale on the contraction. All very regular.  Boring, even.  This is what my lungs feel when full.  This is what they feel like when almost empty.  Full. Empty. Full. Empty.

By the time I got to the form, though, I was raring to go.  I mean, why wouldn’t you be? Topped off with energy, raring to go? And somewhere after the first few formalities I opened up the throttle and starting pushing to the limits of what was possible, in terms of speed… and… heel kick, followed by bend the bow…

I came down with my foot at a funny angle and I realized I couldn’t step onwards into the next motion, which for perverse reasons is called Bounce Baby On Knee.  It wasn’t possible to “do next action”, as David Allen might say.  Stuck.

Harumph.  I backed up a dozen postures, and started over again.Even with all the rushing at the first, it took me almost exactly the same amount of time this morning that it takes me most other mornings when I’m trying to do it slowly.  There wasn’t any point in rushing.  It was all going to take the same amount of time.

For the purposes of being a teacher, this is a good reminder in the first week of school to slow down.  The kids can’t absorb any more information than they already are, and rushing things now just invites mistakes later.  Better to keep it clear and slow, than fast and muddled.

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