Tuesday 18 January 2011

A Cautionary Tale


I tend to sweat quite a lot during my Ashtanga pratice and, being 'follicly challenged', this sweat runs into my eyes which is both annoying and distracting.  To remedy this less than satisfactory situation I usually wear a bandanna when I practice. My current crop of bandannas were looking a little threadbare and so at the weekend I treated myself to a new batch. This morning, resplendent in my new head gear, I started my practice as usual, working my way through the standing sequence and into the primary series.

As I was reaching forward into Janu Sirsasana A, I noticed a droplet of bluish liquid next to the inside of my right knee - at first I was perplexed, but then I realised that this must have dripped from my head and taken some of the dye out of my new bandanna. This casual observation was immediately replaced by a second, far more concerning thought...that same bandanna, with dye running, was still firmly wrapped round my head.

Trying to stem the rising tide of panic, I duly completed my 5 breaths before getting up from my mat and walking to the toilet in as nonchalant a fashion as I could manage. Once there I whipped off the bandanna, looked into the mirror, and sure enough...my forehead had taken on the pigmentation of a smurf. Now in full on flap mode, I started to frantically wash my head in the sink - fortunately after 3 or 4 washes my skin had returned to its more customary pinkish hue and I was able to rejoin my practice, albeit in a somewhat flustered state.

So please heed my advice and learn from my mistake - if you're planning to wear a bandanna during practice, just make sure you run it through the washing machine a few times first.

Namaste.

YB

3 comments:

  1. For a second there I actually thought that picture was how blue your head got from the bandanna. Would be impressed if you practiced looking like that :)

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  2. That happened to me once. Blue too. A friend asked me if I was related to Shiva.

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  3. This is brilliant! I would never have thought of it either!

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