Mula Bandha???

Todays practice was really a breeze....No I don't mean it was easy and therefore was a breeze. But it felt so nice that I can only describe it this way. It just felt extraordinarily smooth today. Yes the hard parts were still hard, and the usual suspects still proved difficult, but I didn't care, modified what I couldn't do (the usual Supta K, Garba) and it felt like I was floating (no I was NOT literally floating..that comes and goes..)

AND I think I discovered Mula Bandha! Erm I am not sure..since I don't really know how it is in the first place. I think I know what uddiyana is..but Mula bandha..I've never really gotten the hang of it..but today..for some reason I really did squeeze the area around the nether regions before doing the jumpthroughs and the landing was really really soft. I tried it a few times and it still felt so much lighter! And doing the same in my updogs were nice too...I really got to remember to squeeze more often. Why it helps, I have no idea. I mean I remember my teacher used to tell me that uddiyana bandha helps to connect the pelvis and ribcage to make sure the body doesn't move around like a bag of bones..but he never really explained mula bandha to me...

Besides that I did about 30 minutes of inversions before practice, mainly because I tend to skip headstands when I practice at home. And I really felt like doing some inversions today. So I did all those I knew..headstand, tripod headstand, pincha, handstands... Good thing is..I can balance in pincha..Well 3-4 breaths is not bad for me. Handstands..I also managed to balance for 2-3 breaths.. I reckon if I practice it everyday for the whole week..I should be able to do it properly soon. But I still can't get up with any semblance of control though..I think its like the kicking mule..the way I get up.

Also I got up from bhujapidasana today...into titthibasana..and then collapsed on the butt. Nevertheless its an improvement from the helpless heap I used to be..stuck on my head on the floor. I don't know how to stay up from titthibasana, back to bakasana and jump back. My jumping back is really useless..I can't for the life of me get my legs to shoot back the way I see people do.

Been going to the Iyengar classes at my studio recently. There are 2 new Iyengar teachers (K and A) at the studio and I was curious about what they had to teach. I only managed to get to the beginner classes, cos the other times were not convenient for me. So far...lots of alignment cues and props. I prefer K's classes so far, but I haven't tried their advance class yet, so I might change my mind. But I still miss my flow style teachers..B and S. I think I'm one of those people who need to move, move and move somemore. Staying in a pose for too long doesn't seem to appeal to me..even when I am really comfortable in it. Also my previous teachers had some Iyengar training before and did incorporate some alignment cues into the flow/Ashtanga classes, so Iyengar alignment wasn't really that new to me. S used to teach with quite a bit of verbal instructions as well. I read somewhere that most long term practitioners will figure out alignment on their own anyway..and I think its true. Even though I haven't been practising for that long, sometimes I just feel clear lines of energy (ala Erich Schiffman) and I know that I'm not that far off from what the pose is supposed to be...I'll update on how my more advanced classes with these new teachers will turn out soon...