Day 3 and the virtues of 'Golden Milk'

At 9 a.m. I did the same set of calisthenics I'd done on the first day, prior to this practice; essentially the floorwork and stretching I used to do when I learned to teach aerobics in the 80's from someone who so obviously must have done some form of Kundalini Yoga. Then I drank some 'Golden Milk', a recipe from Mahan Kirn Kaur Khalsa's "Bound Lotus: An Instructional Manual". The book can be purchased by accessing the site: www.boundlotus.com, as well as www.spiritvoyage.com. The recipe is as follows:

Golden Milk

1 cup milk (I use lactose-free skim)
1 cup water
1/2 - 1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ghee and raw cane sugar to sweeten

Cook the turmeric for 8 minutes in water. Bring the milk to boil. Add a tablespoon of the turmeric water, which can be kept fresh for up to one month in the refrigerator. Remove from heat and add oil and sweetener.

After drinking this I followed the stretches for the shoulders, hamstrings, hips, spine and thighs which Mahan Kirn gives in her book, along with The Basic Spinal Energy Series. As I did so I listened to Deva Premal singing the Mool Mantra.

Then, this time, as I prepared to sit in Bound Lotus for 31 minutes, I started with the left leg up first and my head bowed on two pillows, so I could continue to stimulate the pineal gland while not compressing my cervical spine. The left hip hurts so much that I thought it would be easier to do first. Not so. After 10 minutes, my original half-lotus with opposite elbows grasped and forehead bowed was simply excruciating to my hips beyond belief. I sat up and sat for the remaining 5 minutes on that side in half-bound lotus, grasping my right big toe. It is viable to move into variations of the pose, so I did. On the other side I followed the same pattern, but towards the last 3 minutes, my hand kept slipping, my face, back and nose itched like crazy, and I had to continually tell my rebellious mind "No!" as I sang along with the Ray Man Shabd to be able to finish. As I sat up, my spine felt free again, after being very stiff this morning. I listened again to the Mool Mantra in Shavasana, then had a other cup of Golden Milk to soothe my soul and loosen my joints, as turmeric is supposed to do. It made the whole practice seem almost as delicious as the milk! Almost.