Today, I flipped over while jumping forward from downdog to uttanasana in the suryas..I guess I lifted the hips too high and it sent me into a handstand...except I overbalanced and crashed...on my ankle. hmmm...Now's I'm left with a mildly traumatized left ankle..and I think I may have to spend some time modifying all my lotus poses again..shucks. I do hope it will get back to normal asap.
So..nothing much else to report..especially since my practice today was cut short as I felt too traumatized to do a whole lot after that..
But I did get to thinking just now about my lack of strength and bandha control..especially when it comes to stuff like handstands and arm balances. It also occured to me that people tend to get either stronger or more flexible in their practices based on who they practice with..in addition of course to native strength and flexibility.
I mean..in my rather limited exposure to other studios and teachers..I've mostly worked with teachers who never really emphasized the strength part in practice. Back in the days when I attended classes by Sivananda teachers years ago...we never really did any arm balances or chatturangas. It was always mostly about stretching and more stretching.
Then, I went to Gym X, which was ewhere I met my first Ashtanga teacher, R..and he did do quite a bit of chatturangas..but I certainly wasn't taught bandhas etc..So most of the emphasis was again on flexibility. When I met B, who was my first mysore teacher..although he had beautiful bandha control and was really strong, he ALSO never emphasized strength stuff..nor did he tell me to work on it.
Then now I go to D's class..and he's much more concerned about me building up my strength and bandhas..and of course J, who was hell bent on my jumping back from the very first time I landed up in his shala.
I couldn't stop thinking that if I had met D & J first, I might have worked much sooner on developing my core strength..but perhaps at the expense of flexibility. I noticed that people who come from the nearby Anusara based studio to my studio..are usually very strong...although perhaps not of extreme gumby persuasion. So I just think that it is really important WHO you learn from..as different teachers will emphasize different aspects of the practice..and we end up working on and therefore getting better at the things our teachers teach most.
Well I guess this is getting a little long and rambling...so I'll stop here and go nurse my ankle now..hopefully I will be ok to attend tomorrow's mysore class..
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Time for me to chime in. I've been practicing since 1999. Ashtanga on and off. Currently, I'm not practicing Ashtanga. But until recently, I never specifically on strength. Its been more about "general" flexibility. But ashtanga has certainly made me quite strong. Coming into handstand without kicking up has always been part of my practice whether I'm in an ashtanga phase or not.
But during the past few months, I've very much been focusing on increasing muscle mass along with keeping my flexibility. I've been doing a 30-45 minute weightlifting session. Immediately afterwards, I'll do a 45min -1.5 hour asana session. I practice this at least 3 times a week. In doing so, I've had to give up ALL ability to bind in the Marichyasanas, and I've also had to give up reverse prayer hand position. My bandha awareness has increased. I'm happy to say my backbending has gotten much better and my dropbacks and standups are much more controlled and fluid now.
So I would suggest if you are interested in building your strength, you should start out very flexible first. Because you will certainly give up some of that flexibility (can't have everything). But if you work at it consciously, you can have a pretty even balance (no pun intended).
Hi Idoru,
thanks for your thoughts. You have a very intense workout. Weights AND practice??
My problem is that I'm already extremely flexible..(well mostly, except for externally rotating my hips), so I think I do need to balance that out with some strength.
I'm working on those things now, and I guess it has crossed my mind that I might get stiffer with all the lifting up I've been trying to do.
Anyhow, thank you for the tips. Now if I only can get that darn jumpback...;)
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