Things I wish I'd done sooner...

Recently I've learnt some new face exercises that promise to lift, tone and reshape the face..well..what has all this got to do with practice?? First of all, skeptical as I was at first, face exercises work. Perhaps not as well as plastic surgery or botox (not that I'd know since I've not done any), but yeah..I've managed to see some nice changes in my face..a smoother forehead, firmer jawline, nicer eyes and better shaped lips...subtle..but it sure works.

The concept is similar to exercising any part of the body, work a muscle enough and with resistance..it gets bigger and stronger..or if you want to keep resistance low..at least it increases tone. Thats a concept I'm sold on, because I've seen so much change in my muscle tone and strength in ashtanga (for me anyway).

So I was thinking, how nice if I had understood this way earlier in my practice..I would have been so much stronger if I'd done somethings sooner instead of later. Its been 2 years 2 months since I've started ashtanga..and I now have a list of stuff that I would have done from day one..if I had the chance to start over..

1. Always use the chest and hip extension when working backbends. Don't let the feet splay. Keep the knees pointing forward and feet planted on the ground. Not doing this has caused me quite a lot of lower back and SI discomfort earlier in my practice. Lunges and quad stretches are great for getting further into backbending, its opened up my hips and stretched out my quads a lot.

2. Keep the hands planted on the floor and don't lift them up anytime. Not even in trini..especially not in trini I think. I learnt this from John Scott first and then from J. I think thats one of the first things thats helped me shift weight into the hands to help me with jumpbacks and jump throughs. If I'd learnt this earlier on, I think I'd have learnt the float much sooner rather than later.

3. Spend heaps of time sitting in siddhasana, sukhasana, doing the frog thing (its a torture I think) and doing a janu variation with the straight leg bent and facing inwards to improve leg behind the head. The janu variation thing really works, cause I end up in more or less with one leg just next to the ear or in front of my head just like when doing LBH. I did that for a whole year instead of janu shirshasana, sometimes with a block under the foot to let gravity assist in bending me forward. I think its helped immensely in getting me to the point where I can get the leg behind quite comfortably.

4. Don't jump back by planting the hands in front and hopping back. Put the hands right next to the hips and get through the arms to go backwards. Even if it means it's more a push yourself to stand up and then stepping back. This really was a bad habit I think, and one which I spent almost 1 year doing. It didn't help very much in terms of really learning how to go backwards..it probably helped with some arm strength but thats about it.

5. jump through with crossed legs, right from the start..or at least jump up, cross and sit down behind the hands. And even when landing behind the hands, squeeze through the arms no matter what. This is another thing that I think really helped me build strength. I used to jump through pretty easily with straight legs, but I realise now it seems to use more flexibility in folding forward, hips flexor strength and upper back strength than bandhas..

6. Backbends can wait if you are flexible...for me anyway. Being able to do tonnes of backbending seems to have effect of stretching out all the muscles I need to be strong to do vinyasa properly. Of course its glamorous to be able to put my feet on top of my head, but I think it certainly didn't balance out the front and back of my body..

7. Follow the vinyasa count..and enjoy the breathing. I think it would have made my practice much more enjoyable right from the start...instead of stressing out over getting deeper and further..etc etc.