Figuring it Out

Well, throughout this process of easing back to and sticking with a regular self-guided practice, I'm finding some things out, but finding new questions as well.

First of all, at the very base level, this is an amazing thing for which I'm very thankful. There was a point not too long ago where I couldn't imagine doing a self-guided practice. I like having an instructor guide me. I like having to practice going along with a plan not my own and finding the most in it for myself. I like the exercise of not knowing what the plan is and diving into it with no reservations. That's a good thing for me to practice. I didn't trust my knowledge base or my ability very much. I wasn't sure about alignment and duration and such, and I sure as heck didn't know how I could make proper adjustments to whatever pose I was engaging if I couldn't see myself as a whole body from the outside.

Now that I'm past that point, I'm at another crossroads. I'm not pulling 45-75 minute sessions each day, but I'm doing 10 - 30 in the mornings, often with 30 - 60 minutes of DVD-guided yin yoga sessions at night before bed. Although I feel the benefits of those morning sessions, I worry: how well will I physically improve doing such short sessions? Physical improvement will surely take longer doing such short sessions. While the shorter sessions encourage me to use the time to listen to my body and feel which areas are requiring the work and get to poses that address those issues, what about the other poses that develop and enhance other portions of my practice? What about the other parts of my body that I should attend to so as to have a balanced physical body?

I don't have answers for those questions right now. All I know is that my legs and my lower and middle back are calling for a large portion of the attention.