Jumping back on a Mysore rug

I've been cheating, huh. Flying though on my Jump backs.....well actually sliding through my Jump back and especially my jump through. You too? Still there's been an improvement, up until a couple of months ago I couldn't jump through on a sticky mat with or without the coating of sweat. But my little toe still brushes along the surface of the mat and I've even resorted to a quick spray of water before the first couple of jumps when the mat is still dry. Even gone so far as to roll around the mat like my chinchilla trying to transfer the sweat from my body to the mat, The shame of it! But no more, no mas , time for a Regime change. This is due to my visit to the Shala for the first time Sunday, jumping through and landing on my sweat soaked mat sending a shower of my salty toxins to every corner of the shala. A rug is called for.


I bought a Mysore rug about a year back one of those black red and yellow Shiva trident rugs but never really used it, looks nice though. Trying to get the hang of it this morning. My regular jump back bunches up the mat and my jump through rubs the bottom joint of my little toe raw. Around the end of the practice I started to adjust it about right. My legs are pulled in tighter and the feet don't move forward as much as I start to lift off. I'm just about clearing the mat, enough not to bunch it up anyway. Think this will be a good thing, get out of my bad habits. The video is from just after this mornings practice.