Yes I did it. Twice! Totally unexpected considering all my attempt with blocks have failed. Did a led class with C, I don’t normally go for her classes. She’s not really an ashtanga teacher, much more iyengar based I think. That’s my impression anyway. I went yesterday because I am teaching an Ashtanga class this Sat at the gym and I wanted to get some instruction ideas.
So it went well. When we came to tiriang mukha, she asked us to jump to land with one leg in virasana, and I managed it on the right. Then the next 2 seated asanas, she asked us to jump through, and I did....straight legged!! Not sure how, what, why etc. I did feel however my bandhas engage quite strongly though as I bent my knees in downward dog before jumping forward. I also felt my elbow feel a little strain as I was coming through, like I twisted it or something, so I stopped doing it after the second time. Anyhow, I think I know what to do to get through now. WOO HOO!!
On another note, I think I sprained my ankle doing marichyasana B..its not serious or swollen or anything, just a little stiff and achey. Hope it goes away fast..
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Week after Chinese New Year...
Well I haven’t been posting for a while. Been quite busy with the Chinese New Year holidays and so on. Anyway, whats new? There was no mysore class last week so no new updates. I have been practicing on my own on those days I have not made it for classes at the studio.
My jumps from downdog to uttanasana has been consistently floaty …I can’t remember if I have mentioned that before. In fact I can land with my legs pretty much straight..its the coolest feeling to be so light. Somehow if I bend my knees all the way to the heels, I seem to be able to engage the bandhas when I launch myself off and allows me to land softly. Also the recent jump backs in my Surya Namaskaras have actually caught some air and I can stay a split second longer than the usual crash back on my toes chatturanga.
I figure this has to do with my concentration on core strength lately..navasanas, crunch..navasana..crunch..etc. Also the straight leg lifts into headstand and lower back down to ground. Besides that tolasana lifts between asanas, uth plutih. And I reckon the most effective has been piking on my exercise ball. Bhujapidasana, titthibasana. I am stronger..but I think not strong enough. I reckon to get the jump through and back, I need to be able to do the L-plant and lolasana. At the moment, nope I’m not there yet. But I am working on those things…
I’ve also discovered that perhaps along with this core strength, I have gained much more stability in balances..garudasana, hasta padangusthasana, vira III etc.This is really cool..I’ve always used my flexibility more than my strength in asanas..this recent strength and stability is very new to me. And I am quite inspired to improve this side of things to catch up with my flexibility.
S says I have a nice backbend..she mentioned it last night again in hatha class, cause we were doing all sorts of eka pada rajakapotasana variations. I’m not really that impressed with myself though, my back is pretty bendy, although I’ve lost some of the flexibility through years of unuse. I was way flexible in my younger days. I haven’t tried grabbing ankles yet, and I don’t think I should do it yet until I have better control of my back muscles, but I don’t think it is something unimaginable.
B tried to put me into kapotasana again last week in another hatha class. No go, my shoulders just refused to open up, but that was also partly because B didn’t spend anytime opening up anything before throwing that one out. Actually I didn’t try to get in at all, and stayed in a sorta supta virasana, but B came and lifted me up by the waist, and told me..”you can..you can….” And well I was sort of goaded to try it, but in my attempts to lift myself higher I grabbed his arms instead..so he gave up and asked me to just grab my knees and pull. Anyway after that I felt a little disappointed, because I have definitely done kapotasana before with S, and that time I could get the feet and put my head between the feet, except my face was mushed up against the floor. S told me my backbend was nice, but I need more opening in the upper spine, and I think she may be right.
Other than those things, I don’t have that much more to report. Supta Kurmasana seems to be getting worse for some reason. There were times when I more or less could bring the feet together and almost bind in front of my head by myself, nowadays though my hips seems to have locked up again…and the feet just feel like lead over my shoulders…sigh..
I think the problem could be my pelvis does not tilt when I externally rotate my legs. Baddha konasana has improved recently. When I am warm enough, I can bring my stomach on my legs and forehead on floor with some brute force using my arms. But I find that when I extend the legs further in front, there is a different pull maybe in the hamstring area that doesn’t occur when my legs are straight as in kurmasana.
I figure working on baddha konasana and tarasana consistently should help, but I don’t know and have got to experiment with that.
Tonight I am planning a self practice session, but maybe slower cos my knees are a little bit cranky from yesterday’s quad stretches…Did I mention that I got the job with Gym X?? Just part time now, but potentially full time in the future. Well I am glad…it s aplace to start after all!
My jumps from downdog to uttanasana has been consistently floaty …I can’t remember if I have mentioned that before. In fact I can land with my legs pretty much straight..its the coolest feeling to be so light. Somehow if I bend my knees all the way to the heels, I seem to be able to engage the bandhas when I launch myself off and allows me to land softly. Also the recent jump backs in my Surya Namaskaras have actually caught some air and I can stay a split second longer than the usual crash back on my toes chatturanga.
I figure this has to do with my concentration on core strength lately..navasanas, crunch..navasana..crunch..etc. Also the straight leg lifts into headstand and lower back down to ground. Besides that tolasana lifts between asanas, uth plutih. And I reckon the most effective has been piking on my exercise ball. Bhujapidasana, titthibasana. I am stronger..but I think not strong enough. I reckon to get the jump through and back, I need to be able to do the L-plant and lolasana. At the moment, nope I’m not there yet. But I am working on those things…
I’ve also discovered that perhaps along with this core strength, I have gained much more stability in balances..garudasana, hasta padangusthasana, vira III etc.This is really cool..I’ve always used my flexibility more than my strength in asanas..this recent strength and stability is very new to me. And I am quite inspired to improve this side of things to catch up with my flexibility.
S says I have a nice backbend..she mentioned it last night again in hatha class, cause we were doing all sorts of eka pada rajakapotasana variations. I’m not really that impressed with myself though, my back is pretty bendy, although I’ve lost some of the flexibility through years of unuse. I was way flexible in my younger days. I haven’t tried grabbing ankles yet, and I don’t think I should do it yet until I have better control of my back muscles, but I don’t think it is something unimaginable.
B tried to put me into kapotasana again last week in another hatha class. No go, my shoulders just refused to open up, but that was also partly because B didn’t spend anytime opening up anything before throwing that one out. Actually I didn’t try to get in at all, and stayed in a sorta supta virasana, but B came and lifted me up by the waist, and told me..”you can..you can….” And well I was sort of goaded to try it, but in my attempts to lift myself higher I grabbed his arms instead..so he gave up and asked me to just grab my knees and pull. Anyway after that I felt a little disappointed, because I have definitely done kapotasana before with S, and that time I could get the feet and put my head between the feet, except my face was mushed up against the floor. S told me my backbend was nice, but I need more opening in the upper spine, and I think she may be right.
Other than those things, I don’t have that much more to report. Supta Kurmasana seems to be getting worse for some reason. There were times when I more or less could bring the feet together and almost bind in front of my head by myself, nowadays though my hips seems to have locked up again…and the feet just feel like lead over my shoulders…sigh..
I think the problem could be my pelvis does not tilt when I externally rotate my legs. Baddha konasana has improved recently. When I am warm enough, I can bring my stomach on my legs and forehead on floor with some brute force using my arms. But I find that when I extend the legs further in front, there is a different pull maybe in the hamstring area that doesn’t occur when my legs are straight as in kurmasana.
I figure working on baddha konasana and tarasana consistently should help, but I don’t know and have got to experiment with that.
Tonight I am planning a self practice session, but maybe slower cos my knees are a little bit cranky from yesterday’s quad stretches…Did I mention that I got the job with Gym X?? Just part time now, but potentially full time in the future. Well I am glad…it s aplace to start after all!
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Standing up! Yippeee!!
YUP. I can stand up from UD. Last mysore class, I stood up 3 times,I think unassisted, because I didn't feel B pulling me at all. 2nd and 3rd time I was SURE he didn't help, but well yeh he was standing next to me.
Dropping back is not hard to do...so its not been a big challenge for me, perhaps if B asked me to hang with straight arms I might be in more trouble, but well..on the backbends front...I am A-OK;)
Other than that, I got a little irritated with B because he kept coming up to me and poking my ribs in during class. In downward dog..headstand, warrior I...well..sorry but it is very distracting to be poked in the ribs when ashtanga is suppose to be a meditative practice! He told me that I tend to pull my shoulders back a lot and stick my ribs out, but I dunno..its really natural for me to do that..trying to pull it back in seems more like rounding the back than anything else...so well yah that was little sore point during class.
Other than that the usual suspects when it comes to some striving..supta K - for some reason has gotten tight again and hard to bind feet on top of head. Garba and bhujapidasana has mostly been feeble attempts on my part..and nope didn't do Setu Bandhasana.
I don't know if I had ever mentioned this, but I have never done a full setu bandhasana before...ever..First, it looks scary to me. I think my neck is too delicate to take the weight. Also....well when I first started mysore, B taught me pose after pose...all the way to supta konasana. After that, I basically just did all the rest myself..although not given to me, but I figured they were not hard anyhow, so no big deal. But I always saved setu bandhasana for that last pose that I would be given...so its kinda corny and sentimental, but in a way I am waiting for it to be given to me...
In a way you could say its not logical, considering I do dropbacks and standing up..which theorectically comes after Setu Bandhasana...but I don't know, I just never added it.
Recently, I have been wondering about second series...yes greedy me. Haven't even got a clue as to how to do Bhuja, garba and setu bandhasana properly and I am thinking about second series...
But thats the thing, I think in a way I am almost ready..just a one or 2 months? I don't know..mostly B agrees with my self assessment..even if I don't tell him about it..Lke the time I thought it was time for me to stand up, he really taught me, when I thought he should teach me chakrasana, he really did...and when I was ready for more lotus closings..he taught me..without me even asking...Its like its pretty obvious when my body is ready to move on, and he sees it too..
So now, I am thinking of second series..and my gut feel is that it will be soon...I don't think B will necessarily make me perfect primary before moving on..but it would actually be good if I improved some stuff first...
1. Vinyasa
2. bandhas
3. supta kurmasana - hips and hamstrings
4. garba - hips
5. Bhujapidasana - core
6. navasana - core
7. baddha konasana - hips
oh shucks now that list it out...its quite a lot innit? Anyhow I kinda feel that most things are almost there...1-2 months??? We will see...
Dropping back is not hard to do...so its not been a big challenge for me, perhaps if B asked me to hang with straight arms I might be in more trouble, but well..on the backbends front...I am A-OK;)
Other than that, I got a little irritated with B because he kept coming up to me and poking my ribs in during class. In downward dog..headstand, warrior I...well..sorry but it is very distracting to be poked in the ribs when ashtanga is suppose to be a meditative practice! He told me that I tend to pull my shoulders back a lot and stick my ribs out, but I dunno..its really natural for me to do that..trying to pull it back in seems more like rounding the back than anything else...so well yah that was little sore point during class.
Other than that the usual suspects when it comes to some striving..supta K - for some reason has gotten tight again and hard to bind feet on top of head. Garba and bhujapidasana has mostly been feeble attempts on my part..and nope didn't do Setu Bandhasana.
I don't know if I had ever mentioned this, but I have never done a full setu bandhasana before...ever..First, it looks scary to me. I think my neck is too delicate to take the weight. Also....well when I first started mysore, B taught me pose after pose...all the way to supta konasana. After that, I basically just did all the rest myself..although not given to me, but I figured they were not hard anyhow, so no big deal. But I always saved setu bandhasana for that last pose that I would be given...so its kinda corny and sentimental, but in a way I am waiting for it to be given to me...
In a way you could say its not logical, considering I do dropbacks and standing up..which theorectically comes after Setu Bandhasana...but I don't know, I just never added it.
Recently, I have been wondering about second series...yes greedy me. Haven't even got a clue as to how to do Bhuja, garba and setu bandhasana properly and I am thinking about second series...
But thats the thing, I think in a way I am almost ready..just a one or 2 months? I don't know..mostly B agrees with my self assessment..even if I don't tell him about it..Lke the time I thought it was time for me to stand up, he really taught me, when I thought he should teach me chakrasana, he really did...and when I was ready for more lotus closings..he taught me..without me even asking...Its like its pretty obvious when my body is ready to move on, and he sees it too..
So now, I am thinking of second series..and my gut feel is that it will be soon...I don't think B will necessarily make me perfect primary before moving on..but it would actually be good if I improved some stuff first...
1. Vinyasa
2. bandhas
3. supta kurmasana - hips and hamstrings
4. garba - hips
5. Bhujapidasana - core
6. navasana - core
7. baddha konasana - hips
oh shucks now that list it out...its quite a lot innit? Anyhow I kinda feel that most things are almost there...1-2 months??? We will see...
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Dropbacks are addictive?
Mysore class tonite. Great most of the way...didn't get much adjustments through the 1st half..except B came to pull me even deeper into Mari D. Recently my binds have been reeealll tight, and I can even catch my shin with the non-binding hand. I don't know where that came from, but when I reach around, there's my shin...
So all went very well until bhujapidasana, which at the moment I can ge the feet through but head is nowhere on the ground...always feel worn out by this one...I guess my bandhas are still not strong. Kurmasana was good since I get into it by via a tithibasana kinda entry and work the shoulders well behind my hamstrings before sitting down. But I told B not to bind my feet in Supta K today...cos the back is still kinda troubling me from last week. I think I could have done it pretty easily, but dont want to risk an injury again.
Nothing new about the rest of the sequence. Baddha K was good on my own, stomach on feet, forehead to floor, and B came and ironed me even deeper. And dropbacks were great! In fact B didn't really want to help me dropback cos I think he knew I had a bit of back problem (I think he must have guessed) since I didn't do Supta K. Anyhow after getting up (with help from him) and 3 rounds of UD from the floor, I was too psyched up not to dropback..so I asked him if I should. So I did it..mostly me I think..and it was pretty easy. Getting up was good too, and B asked me to just come up immediately, with 1 breath. I kinda did it quite well. I could finally feel my legs working!;) In fact I would have liked to continue doing the dropbacks, it was just so natural...B wants me to take my arms overhead next time directly from standing. Think he meant that..am not sure. But I still like to warm up and open up from the floor first. 3 times arms overhead, go down and pop up....hmmm...easier said than done though...my standing up still a little bit dodgy.
So besides that...well..Gym X wants to send me to Taiwan to teach in Gym X in Taipei! I told them my mandarin is crap though...so no go. The guy who interviewed me said that if I don't go for this one, wil have to wait for a while before they can take me...shucks..
This weekend I am planning to send my resume and pics to all the gyms in town. I need to get out there and start teaching if I am ever gonna become a teacher! I know I can do it..I am sure I can DO IT!!
So all went very well until bhujapidasana, which at the moment I can ge the feet through but head is nowhere on the ground...always feel worn out by this one...I guess my bandhas are still not strong. Kurmasana was good since I get into it by via a tithibasana kinda entry and work the shoulders well behind my hamstrings before sitting down. But I told B not to bind my feet in Supta K today...cos the back is still kinda troubling me from last week. I think I could have done it pretty easily, but dont want to risk an injury again.
Nothing new about the rest of the sequence. Baddha K was good on my own, stomach on feet, forehead to floor, and B came and ironed me even deeper. And dropbacks were great! In fact B didn't really want to help me dropback cos I think he knew I had a bit of back problem (I think he must have guessed) since I didn't do Supta K. Anyhow after getting up (with help from him) and 3 rounds of UD from the floor, I was too psyched up not to dropback..so I asked him if I should. So I did it..mostly me I think..and it was pretty easy. Getting up was good too, and B asked me to just come up immediately, with 1 breath. I kinda did it quite well. I could finally feel my legs working!;) In fact I would have liked to continue doing the dropbacks, it was just so natural...B wants me to take my arms overhead next time directly from standing. Think he meant that..am not sure. But I still like to warm up and open up from the floor first. 3 times arms overhead, go down and pop up....hmmm...easier said than done though...my standing up still a little bit dodgy.
So besides that...well..Gym X wants to send me to Taiwan to teach in Gym X in Taipei! I told them my mandarin is crap though...so no go. The guy who interviewed me said that if I don't go for this one, wil have to wait for a while before they can take me...shucks..
This weekend I am planning to send my resume and pics to all the gyms in town. I need to get out there and start teaching if I am ever gonna become a teacher! I know I can do it..I am sure I can DO IT!!
Saturday, February 3, 2007
Body of a 17 year old..;)
Last Thursday's mysore was fun. Although Supta K is still frustrating me. B put me into it via a flat chest and stomach to floor Kurmasana. He took quite a while to iron me flat and I know he likes to see me that way before moving to bind my hands and feet.
Anyway from there, everything was fine until he bound my feet behind my head and my upper back felt really bent! Usually I have a little discomfort in the lower back, but after the pancake session, it seems he worked all the kink out of the lower back and it was then my upper back that was taking the bend...shucks..anyway for the last 2 days I have had a little soreness and stiffness there...sigh ...but am fine now..
Besides that I did some pretty much unassisted dropbacks..although B stood by to make sure I don't crash..but I think that was pretty much me..he told me it was nice. Standing up is a different animal altogether..B tried to make me believe he did nothing to pull me up..but I called his bluff anyhow. It was so bad, I almost fell backwards because I had no lift in the quads to pull myself up! and then when B pulled too hard I ended up crashing into him...I seem to have my work cutout for me standing up in UD...I am thinking of trying to get used to the feeling by bending backwards a little way and pulling myself up in self practice at home..will report on progress.
Besides that B taught me chakrasana...I should have been doing that in mysore all along but have always been a little chicken to do it..cos I didn't want to look foolish or break my neck. But B seems to have had enough of my chickening out recently..so he more or less made me try all the stuff I always skip because of "time contraints" or "injuries". So I did chakrasana (which was NOT pretty) and urvdha padmasana..somethings I never attempt in class. He also tried to make me do headstand away from the wall, but that didn't work. I can balance pretty well, can lower and lift my straight legs, and can do ardha dandasana..but I refuse to leave the wall..Any insistence from my teachers that I had no need for the wall has so far been answered by a stony..upside down..silence..;P Well alright I will leave the wall soon...just not in a hurry at the moment!
Recently my lifts in uthplutih has been great and it is paying off in all my lolasana lifts between sides. I can feel it becoming easier and I can actually stay put for a second without sorta jumping up and down the way I used to do them. Navasanas have also been REALLY stable and easier. I am beginning to think my bandhas are getting stronger! In fact in another class, I did some jumps from downdog to uttanasana and I could actually land almost feather light..and it was throughout the class mind you! But unfornately after I haven't been able to duplicate the effort...shucks! But my extra effort recently on the core has definitely paid off.
Padmasana..ahhh..another recently comfortable asana for me..I could do it before, but with my extra effort in baddha konasana recently, my hips have opened up a bit and makes lotus much more comfortable..yippee!!
So..many interesting developments lately...although I kinda have been a bit lazy blogging this..;)
I hope to continue reporting all these wonderful things happening to my body...and as a side effect of yoga..hehehhe..I recently took a finess test and have about on 18.8% body fat...no wonder my pants have all gotten looser...and it seems I have a body of a 17 year old in terms of fitness and muscle mass..thats what the fitness evaluator thingy said when I stood on it..;) Ahhh...the wonders of Yoga...
Anyway from there, everything was fine until he bound my feet behind my head and my upper back felt really bent! Usually I have a little discomfort in the lower back, but after the pancake session, it seems he worked all the kink out of the lower back and it was then my upper back that was taking the bend...shucks..anyway for the last 2 days I have had a little soreness and stiffness there...sigh ...but am fine now..
Besides that I did some pretty much unassisted dropbacks..although B stood by to make sure I don't crash..but I think that was pretty much me..he told me it was nice. Standing up is a different animal altogether..B tried to make me believe he did nothing to pull me up..but I called his bluff anyhow. It was so bad, I almost fell backwards because I had no lift in the quads to pull myself up! and then when B pulled too hard I ended up crashing into him...I seem to have my work cutout for me standing up in UD...I am thinking of trying to get used to the feeling by bending backwards a little way and pulling myself up in self practice at home..will report on progress.
Besides that B taught me chakrasana...I should have been doing that in mysore all along but have always been a little chicken to do it..cos I didn't want to look foolish or break my neck. But B seems to have had enough of my chickening out recently..so he more or less made me try all the stuff I always skip because of "time contraints" or "injuries". So I did chakrasana (which was NOT pretty) and urvdha padmasana..somethings I never attempt in class. He also tried to make me do headstand away from the wall, but that didn't work. I can balance pretty well, can lower and lift my straight legs, and can do ardha dandasana..but I refuse to leave the wall..Any insistence from my teachers that I had no need for the wall has so far been answered by a stony..upside down..silence..;P Well alright I will leave the wall soon...just not in a hurry at the moment!
Recently my lifts in uthplutih has been great and it is paying off in all my lolasana lifts between sides. I can feel it becoming easier and I can actually stay put for a second without sorta jumping up and down the way I used to do them. Navasanas have also been REALLY stable and easier. I am beginning to think my bandhas are getting stronger! In fact in another class, I did some jumps from downdog to uttanasana and I could actually land almost feather light..and it was throughout the class mind you! But unfornately after I haven't been able to duplicate the effort...shucks! But my extra effort recently on the core has definitely paid off.
Padmasana..ahhh..another recently comfortable asana for me..I could do it before, but with my extra effort in baddha konasana recently, my hips have opened up a bit and makes lotus much more comfortable..yippee!!
So..many interesting developments lately...although I kinda have been a bit lazy blogging this..;)
I hope to continue reporting all these wonderful things happening to my body...and as a side effect of yoga..hehehhe..I recently took a finess test and have about on 18.8% body fat...no wonder my pants have all gotten looser...and it seems I have a body of a 17 year old in terms of fitness and muscle mass..thats what the fitness evaluator thingy said when I stood on it..;) Ahhh...the wonders of Yoga...
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