So so practice...nothing much new happened. Still at eka pada...right leg stays behind under all circumstances..thats good. Left leg is still stiff..and insists on slipping off - both sitting, bending and lifting.
I figure it just needs to catch up with the right side. I've lost my jumpback abilities...today. I think it comes and goes based on how much I activate the bandhas durng practice. If I happen to use it correctly and strongly enough, the contraction stays, and my lifts are much stronger I think.
Thats all really. Very tired now though...going to bed;)
Friday, May 23, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Jumpback!!!!!!! Well,sort of..
Wheeeeeee!!!!!!! I did it..hahahha...I did some sort of jumpback today in mysore class!!! OK, its not exactly how I see the pros do it..but I kinda lfted up into lolasana and just went back!... I skipped the tolasana part though..I don't know if thats crim, but to me..its a jumpback and I'm sticking with it!!!
And I did it without really meaning to do it in the first place. I had meant to just lift the hips up and kinda bunny hop back, but the feet came up and I just swung back..it wasn't that hard...and I actually managed to do it a few times before getting stuck again. I can't for the lfe of me swing from tolasana to lolasana and then jumpback though, I just have no idea how thats done...YET.
I do find though that perhaps my abs are getting a little wee bit stronger, especially on the right side. I can feel it much much more..not much feeling on the left side though.
So I suppose my jumpback project is working! I've been diligently doing the lift up, swing, and bunny hop thing since J told me to keep doing it if I ever want to jumpback. I think it kinda works!
D also noticed that I was stronger today. I haven't practiced with him in a mysore class for 1.5 months! He said it must be all the crossing feet and lifting up attempts. He even tried to get me to jump into bakasana b today..which was a rather sorry sight I would think..I managed to get into some tuck handstand thing and fall on my arms for 1 second before collapsing. I specifically asked D to stand around just in case I fell..which I kinda did all 3 times I tried it.
Other than that, I lifted up out of ekapada today on the right...thats a first! I've never managed to lift up with the leg behnd my head..today it felt really comfy there, so I did it. The left side slipped though when I lifted up. AND I can stay there without hands nows..at least the sitting up part, both sides...
I'm feeling pretty darn good today. I just need to keep doing all the abs stuff I've been doing though, otherwise who knows where the bandhas will disappear to...
And I did it without really meaning to do it in the first place. I had meant to just lift the hips up and kinda bunny hop back, but the feet came up and I just swung back..it wasn't that hard...and I actually managed to do it a few times before getting stuck again. I can't for the lfe of me swing from tolasana to lolasana and then jumpback though, I just have no idea how thats done...YET.
I do find though that perhaps my abs are getting a little wee bit stronger, especially on the right side. I can feel it much much more..not much feeling on the left side though.
So I suppose my jumpback project is working! I've been diligently doing the lift up, swing, and bunny hop thing since J told me to keep doing it if I ever want to jumpback. I think it kinda works!
D also noticed that I was stronger today. I haven't practiced with him in a mysore class for 1.5 months! He said it must be all the crossing feet and lifting up attempts. He even tried to get me to jump into bakasana b today..which was a rather sorry sight I would think..I managed to get into some tuck handstand thing and fall on my arms for 1 second before collapsing. I specifically asked D to stand around just in case I fell..which I kinda did all 3 times I tried it.
Other than that, I lifted up out of ekapada today on the right...thats a first! I've never managed to lift up with the leg behnd my head..today it felt really comfy there, so I did it. The left side slipped though when I lifted up. AND I can stay there without hands nows..at least the sitting up part, both sides...
I'm feeling pretty darn good today. I just need to keep doing all the abs stuff I've been doing though, otherwise who knows where the bandhas will disappear to...
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Pure torture...and no, its not part of practice..
No class today..D's on leave or something..thats close to more than 1 and half months that I've not had a single mysore class with him. Plenty of classes across the causeway though.
My current routine after finishing off whatever pose I feel like doing last, since there is no way I can last through primary and up to eka pada in second on a daily basis, is to do some crim shoulder stretches. I lie on my stomach right up to a wall with my head touching it, a block lengthwise between my hands against the wall and work at moving my armpits towards the floor. Its more of a torture than anything I'm actually doing during practice. I feel like my left shoulder, and armpit, are cramping and about to tear off or something...Then I move my arms up the wall so they straighten, and work on stretching something else in the armpits.
I suspect that the torture comes from both my triceps and the lats which are tightening up like crazy lately due to my jumpback project. Yup, more on that later. I've been noticing the backbends getting rather uncomfortable lately, and suspect its got a lot to do with this overbuild I'm getting in the shoulders and arms. I try to stretch them out in downdog as much as I can without collaspsing into my chest, which usually takes way too much bend, but it seems that with bent arms its a totally different dimension.
I've also taken a page out of the yoga journal article on propping up backbends, so have incorporated some sort of hip flexor cum quad stretch with a block propping up my sacrum and one leg tucked under and moving towards the hip, and the other bent. Its not as intense as supta virasana, but it seems to do a fairly good job lengthening the quads. I then finish wth my favourite stretch, putting a block under my thoracic spine and lying back over it like some version of matsyasana, but with virasana legs. Its a delicious stretch, I love that one.
Been doing this past few days and backbends have definitely been more open an lower back friendly as a result.
On to the jumpback front..its getting a little bit better, in the sense that I can kinda consistently lift and swing..but still stuck with the feet hitting the floor and then hopping back to chaturanga. I got a mp3 of Duncan Wong talking about vinyasa and jumpbacks/jump throughs. Its got some good tips and I've kinda been trying to put some of the stuff to work for me, ie:
1. Squeeze the inner heels together to activate bandha (I think it helps in downdog)
2. Lift and lower from a quasi lolasana (meaning my legs don't leave the floor) to bakasana to simulate the jumpback action. I do this before the surya namaskaras cos I find it seems to activate my core better, and makes me more lifty in the jumps.
He talks about some other stuff as well, but I can't quite remember the rest, got to listen to it again.
Other than that, I've been doing what J told me to do, ie:
1. tuck to get through the jumpthroughs instead of straight legs,
2. lift the hips high even if I get stuck on the floor halfway back and then bunny hop back.
3. Press hands down in trini and push into the floor to jumpback, elbows straight, and only microbending when I land, so I don't collapse all the way into chaturanga which I normally do.
4. Lift hips high while getting out of bhuja and swinging back without the knees on my legs in bakasana. I actually find this one much easier to do than bakasana actually. By the time I get to bakasana, I'd be worrying about losing it there, by skipping the perch and just hovering near my arms, its way easier to control my landing. I'm surprised J told to to just go straight back..hahaha..he probably thinks t'll make it harder for me..not the other way around;P
Thats all for practice notes...off to bed now.
My current routine after finishing off whatever pose I feel like doing last, since there is no way I can last through primary and up to eka pada in second on a daily basis, is to do some crim shoulder stretches. I lie on my stomach right up to a wall with my head touching it, a block lengthwise between my hands against the wall and work at moving my armpits towards the floor. Its more of a torture than anything I'm actually doing during practice. I feel like my left shoulder, and armpit, are cramping and about to tear off or something...Then I move my arms up the wall so they straighten, and work on stretching something else in the armpits.
I suspect that the torture comes from both my triceps and the lats which are tightening up like crazy lately due to my jumpback project. Yup, more on that later. I've been noticing the backbends getting rather uncomfortable lately, and suspect its got a lot to do with this overbuild I'm getting in the shoulders and arms. I try to stretch them out in downdog as much as I can without collaspsing into my chest, which usually takes way too much bend, but it seems that with bent arms its a totally different dimension.
I've also taken a page out of the yoga journal article on propping up backbends, so have incorporated some sort of hip flexor cum quad stretch with a block propping up my sacrum and one leg tucked under and moving towards the hip, and the other bent. Its not as intense as supta virasana, but it seems to do a fairly good job lengthening the quads. I then finish wth my favourite stretch, putting a block under my thoracic spine and lying back over it like some version of matsyasana, but with virasana legs. Its a delicious stretch, I love that one.
Been doing this past few days and backbends have definitely been more open an lower back friendly as a result.
On to the jumpback front..its getting a little bit better, in the sense that I can kinda consistently lift and swing..but still stuck with the feet hitting the floor and then hopping back to chaturanga. I got a mp3 of Duncan Wong talking about vinyasa and jumpbacks/jump throughs. Its got some good tips and I've kinda been trying to put some of the stuff to work for me, ie:
1. Squeeze the inner heels together to activate bandha (I think it helps in downdog)
2. Lift and lower from a quasi lolasana (meaning my legs don't leave the floor) to bakasana to simulate the jumpback action. I do this before the surya namaskaras cos I find it seems to activate my core better, and makes me more lifty in the jumps.
He talks about some other stuff as well, but I can't quite remember the rest, got to listen to it again.
Other than that, I've been doing what J told me to do, ie:
1. tuck to get through the jumpthroughs instead of straight legs,
2. lift the hips high even if I get stuck on the floor halfway back and then bunny hop back.
3. Press hands down in trini and push into the floor to jumpback, elbows straight, and only microbending when I land, so I don't collapse all the way into chaturanga which I normally do.
4. Lift hips high while getting out of bhuja and swinging back without the knees on my legs in bakasana. I actually find this one much easier to do than bakasana actually. By the time I get to bakasana, I'd be worrying about losing it there, by skipping the perch and just hovering near my arms, its way easier to control my landing. I'm surprised J told to to just go straight back..hahaha..he probably thinks t'll make it harder for me..not the other way around;P
Thats all for practice notes...off to bed now.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Amazing stuff..
I was across the causeway again due to work commitments...and of course I went to visit my favourite teacher there..(actually my one and only teacher there.;p)
I had the most amazing jumpthrough EVER. ONCE only..but unforgettable..For some unknown reason, I was getting some pretty good hang time in my jumpthroughs recently since J mentioned to me to pay attention to where my hips are in space before landing..I've also had to jumpthrough cross-leg instead of straight because J said I was being lazy and taking the easy way out by doing them with straight legs...I manage to get through sometimes..and other times crash between my hands.Anyway since I was paying much more attention to getting high enough and then swinging through..on Wednesday morning while at the shala, I got to a point where I felt pretty good balance..but instead of gong down, I decided to stay up longer..so I contracted my abs, pushed into the floor..and I swear I just floated up in slow motion into a tucked handstand. Its not that I've never done a tuck handstand but the speed was so incredibly slow going up, it felt like floating in space....I managed to swing through after that pretty ok..but it was that hang time that was just SOOO amazing.. now if I can only do that again..sigh.
J decided to ask me to try getting into supta k sitting up. After my usual supta k, he got me to put my left leg behind the back. Then after a few breaths he got me to change to the rght sde. That wasn't a big problem since I've kinda been doing ekapada with D already anyway. Then he asked me to put both behind my back..and I got the left side behind..and then tried bringng the right back..and rolled over like a dead bug...hahahha. After that he decided to help me by standing behind to give me some support. I can only get the left side secure..once I try to bring the right side up, I get kinda stuck, and he had to help me out to get it back. Anyhow J said I should try this way going forward..after supta k on a normal day, do eka pada..then dwipada. He said I am open enough to do it..just need to keep the abs in to make sure I don't topple..I've not managed to get into it on my own at all so far.
I've been pretty inspired lately about my practice..after the JC workshop and now J's mysore classes..I've had quite a bit of overload of info and also lots of fresh inspiration to work on my practice...;)
I had the most amazing jumpthrough EVER. ONCE only..but unforgettable..For some unknown reason, I was getting some pretty good hang time in my jumpthroughs recently since J mentioned to me to pay attention to where my hips are in space before landing..I've also had to jumpthrough cross-leg instead of straight because J said I was being lazy and taking the easy way out by doing them with straight legs...I manage to get through sometimes..and other times crash between my hands.Anyway since I was paying much more attention to getting high enough and then swinging through..on Wednesday morning while at the shala, I got to a point where I felt pretty good balance..but instead of gong down, I decided to stay up longer..so I contracted my abs, pushed into the floor..and I swear I just floated up in slow motion into a tucked handstand. Its not that I've never done a tuck handstand but the speed was so incredibly slow going up, it felt like floating in space....I managed to swing through after that pretty ok..but it was that hang time that was just SOOO amazing.. now if I can only do that again..sigh.
J decided to ask me to try getting into supta k sitting up. After my usual supta k, he got me to put my left leg behind the back. Then after a few breaths he got me to change to the rght sde. That wasn't a big problem since I've kinda been doing ekapada with D already anyway. Then he asked me to put both behind my back..and I got the left side behind..and then tried bringng the right back..and rolled over like a dead bug...hahahha. After that he decided to help me by standing behind to give me some support. I can only get the left side secure..once I try to bring the right side up, I get kinda stuck, and he had to help me out to get it back. Anyhow J said I should try this way going forward..after supta k on a normal day, do eka pada..then dwipada. He said I am open enough to do it..just need to keep the abs in to make sure I don't topple..I've not managed to get into it on my own at all so far.
I've been pretty inspired lately about my practice..after the JC workshop and now J's mysore classes..I've had quite a bit of overload of info and also lots of fresh inspiration to work on my practice...;)
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