Between Ease and Effort

Wow..I'm posting here...haha

2009-09-14T23:34:00.001+08:00

Wow its been a long time since I last posted. And its been a while since a serious practice...BUT...

I did practice a little the past few weeks. About a quarter of what I used to do..but still..its something.

So lets see..my weight is fortunately back to pretty much normal;) YAY!
My practice however, is really way way off..but can be expected after months of layoff! Apparently I can still get my legs behind my head quite well..endurance is shot to pieces, can still jump through, can't jump back. Hamstrings very tight, but I guess nothing that can't be fixed with a few more practices. My backbends..now thats a completely different story, my psoas are unbelievably tight..which is something new to me, since backbending and front body openness has always been my forte..but thats taken a whole dimension backwards from not doing much yoga for months. Quads are super tight..can't really relate what I've done to get that...can't be the swimming I've been doing lately..?

Anyway..since I'm kinda back here..I'll update on my clawback journey into Ashtanga after the long layoff..it will be interesting to see how it will be this time around..;)

Taking a break

2009-03-22T12:37:00.002+08:00

I've not posted an update for a while. Main;y because I'm taking a self imposed break from Ashtanga right now. Before I go into detail on this, I was in Singapore recently and went to see J. Had a decent primary series practice with him considering I've cut down my practice to maybe once a week. He told me my current lack of motivation was common, and that just like a relationship, once the first bloom is over, we got to work on it. He was extremely encouraging and wasn't a all surprised about my condition.

Anyway I didn't go into detail with him about why I was demotivated, but I'll come clean here. This might sound controversial but I believe all the daily practice has been aging me..and fast. I lost quite a fair bit of body fat the last 2 years, and being in my early thirties, I believe the body no longer loses fat where I want it to lose. I noticed that unlike in my youth, when the fat would go from the hips and butt and jawline, now I lose my bust, my cheeks and under the eyes.

The past few weeks after cutting down a lot on my practice, I look a little more healthy and less skin and bones, but I also notice the weight distribution is coming back a little differently than before...mostly going directly to the hips..and not much to other places.

So...because I have always been vain about my looks..I need to back off and see what I can do to restore myself. It might sound silly to other people..but this weight loss and aging is really getting to me..and before I can come back to the practice..I need to deal with it.

Getting back to Basics..

2009-03-01T14:48:00.004+08:00

I've not updated my blog for a loonnnggg while. So here's the latest on what I'm up to practice wise.

I've recently lost some interest in making progress in my poses..I think its gotto do with not having a permanent teacher to go to, my wrist injury and general laziness. Nevertheless, I've still been practising..and my recent focus has been on getting a few things right.

I realised that most people who had a strong practice usually had a great chaturanga..something I can't quite claim to have. I've never really spent a lot of time analysing my chaturanga, until I looked at myself in the mirror and noticed that unlike those people with the "strong" practice, I don't usually have that nice 90 degree angle with the arms. Now I've heard conflicting advice from my teachers...some said bring the chest close to the floor, don't bother bout the arms..some have said keep the elbows right above the wrists etc.

I've been spending lots of time doing that, and I think it now looks reasonably 90 degrees (my arms)..and I think its working my abs a lot more. I hope that this extra effort will help with my bandha building...The one thing that is very helpful for me when lowering down is to concentrate on pushing forward slightly with my toes. This article was extremely helpful...

http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/208

Gong Hei Fatt Choi!

2009-01-31T01:30:00.002+08:00

Happy Chinese New Year! This is my first post in year 2009 and the first in the year of the Ox. Wishing everyone good health, prosperity and happiness!!

Have been soo lazy with the blogging lately...I think its reflective of how lazy I've been with my practice as well.

The wrist has improved alot and I'm back to doing the usual arm balance and jumpback stuff. Definitely a whole lot weaker than before though..I can hardly do a jumpback without my feet dragging the floor anymore...but then I suppose I should just be thankful that I can still practice despite the wonky wrist.

No new poses, no progress and I think I've actually not done any second series poses since November when I had the wrist accident. I've also spent about 1.5 months not really doing chatturangas and updogs either to baby the left arm.(I put my knees down)

Anyway I suppose I can spend this post updating on all the stuff I've regressed on..but its kinda depressing, so I think I'll just say that I'm ready to get back into a more serious practice and hopefully get back into shape..

The only good thing thats happened recently is that I've managed to regain a good few pounds from not practising and also pigging out from all the year end parties and Chinese New Year visiting etc. That itself I'll bet contributes to harder jumpbacks..but hey, I guess I can't have everything. I've been obsessing about my weight loss since a few months back cos I think it makes me wayy to scrawny and my face too haggard...now thats a good thing thats come out of this..getting fatter;P

My poor wrists...

2008-12-14T15:07:00.003+08:00

I've abused them again and again the past year or so..and they always come back and nip me in the butt.

Well anyway, I didn't update on this, but while jumping into eka pada shirshasana in a led class (my teacher actually told me to work at jumping straight into it!), I pretty much crashed into my left arm, jarred the wrist, and have been suffering some sort of tendinitis since then..about a month now.

So its been month of handicapped ashtanga lately. I tried to get back into the arm balances and jumpbacks after 2 weeks, but it felt too sore to handle it. anyhow I'm now left with stepping back and forth, and just pushing myself up and sitting down for the jumps.

Obviously, without the heat I get from vinyasa, i've been relatively stiff. Since I no longer go to D. no one is giving me new poses. J is too far away to see me consistently. Z teaches everyone en masse...primary and second. So thats the place I'm at progress wise.

I'm hoping that in another 2 weeks, I'd be better cos I'm planning to go down to visit J beginning of next year..

Fat is good...I want it back!!!!

2008-11-02T15:28:00.006+08:00

I have pretty low body fat. 2 years back I was around 18%. Now, its probably around mid to low teens. Besides yoga, I don't do much other exercise, I did almost try a triathlon, but gave it up cos I thought it tightened me up too much.

Anyway, now that I don't have much fat, I really want it back..I've been eating quite a bit, and supplementing with fish oil and other stuff to make sure I don't have too little fat in the body, but the fat ends up going to the wrong place..;(

My weight it exactly the same as before, the only difference is that I've managed to replace it with muscle mass..and whatever additional weight I put on ends up where I don't want it (ie the hips). I don't know if this is a natural part of aging, but I suspect that losing too much body fat is NOT a good thing..and I really wish I had not.

Anyway, I'm contemplating cutting down practice more to see if it helps me get back to what I was before, but at the same time, I'd miss my practice so much...I wonder if this is a sign of ashtanga addiction...

Anyhow, this is a strange post I guess, but it is related in part to the physical changes I see taking place in myself (I suspect because of my practice) and I think it does have a place here. Not everyone will have the same problem as me I guess, some of my friends don't seem to lose much weight despite practising like a fiend, but I have a naturally high metabolic rate as well, which compounds the issue.

So yeah, I want my fat back, even if it makes lifting up and arm balancing much harder to do!

Things I wish I'd done sooner...

2008-10-22T23:33:00.002+08:00

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.

At the shala..

2008-10-15T22:44:00.002+08:00

I was across the causeway the last few days for work and also took some time off for a holiday there. Spent a good deal of money on all sorts of clothes, skin care stuff, yoga tops etc;P

Anyway, I didn't check whether J would be around..I'd assumed that he was, but turns out he was in Mysore..he did come back though 2 days later and so I only got to go for 1 class with him.

Anyhow, there wasn't anything much that he worked on with me..I guess most of the stuff he taught me I already do..just a few things which I'd list later. We did have a rather dramatic time grabbing ankles..which is seriously intense..but doable. He was trying to make me grab without putting my hands down, which was a horrible experience and felt like my shoulder was gonna pop out or something..he said I was much closer when I was hanging back then when I put my hands down. Anyway I told him it was too much, so we worked at walking the hands in. that was alright..but still was intense..jeeezz..apparently my shoulders tend to turn out, I reckon because shoulders were tight so he told me to keep them pointing straight ahead as much as I could.

As for other stuff, well...the last time I went to him, I could get into dwi pada sitting up and then into supta k...but since I've not actually practiced it much at home, I just got into from the floor...he didn't seem to remember that..so he let it pass. Otherwise I though he was picking on all the stuff he never picked on like putting my chin on shin in ardha baddha padmotanasana (which makes me lose my balance), shin to the floor in bhujapidasana (which makes me feel like smashing my face)and telling me not to bend my elbows in my jump backs..

Apparently, unknown to me, I tend to bend my elbows too fast in all my jumpbacks..whether from standing, sitting or even bakasana. He wanted me to jump back into a plank instead of chatturanga. Hmmm...to tell you the truth, I always thought I keep my arms pretty straight...I thought I did keep my arms straight after that, but according to J, I was still bending them...I got to bring back the mirror and look at myself when I practice to know..he said I'd have far more control if I kept my arms straight..sigh..thats what happens when your teacher was a gymnastics coach...he expects us to do gymnastics stuff as well...I'm sure this is one of those gymnastics thingys..not bending the elbows...

OK..I have a confession...I complained to J that he wasn't giving me poses...but to be honest I know he's not supposed to teach beyond primary..but there were people at the shala who practice beyond primary series..so I more or less told him I'd progress myself if he wasn't giving me poses (I know..I'm a greedy, grasping girl hungry for new poses;P) I didn't tell him my other teachers teach me second series though..cos he's been on my case about practising with too many teachers anyway. Anyway my ploy didn't work...J told me instead of asking him to teach me a new pose..he'd rather I go read the sutras...sigh...he's been saying that to me for ages...its VERY frustrating!

Anyway, we also talked baout Mysore..and J asked me when I would be going..so I said I'll go someday..just that I haven't saved up money to do it. I guess I may go someday...

Self practice notes

2008-09-12T00:04:00.003+08:00

Had a great practice today and yesterday. I've gotten rid of the mirror that I have in my room that I look at too much most of the time during practice. There is a difference...I can feel it. It makes my practice so much more centred and internal. I think I need to ban mirrors from now on...;)

Due to pure laziness I've been stopping mostly at the end of primary series..I do add in some quad and shoulder stretches and loads of UD to make sure I don't lose my backbends though. Facing kapotasana on a daily basis is a little too much for me to handle..so I skip;P

Instead I've been doing an assortment of crim arm balances like parsva bakasana, koundinyasana etc. I figure it could help my bandhas..who knows.

I've realized something lately about my jumpbacks though..which is pretty close to a revelation to me. Its probably pretty obvious to everyone else, but for the perennially bandha challenged person like me, it was quite a discovery. Now..I've managed on occasion to somehow or other jumpback from sitting. Other times I just lift and swing..hit the floor and then bunny hop back. Recently though, I remembered J said to me to keep pushing the hips upwards even if the feet hit the floor, and I end up almost standing up before hopping back. Well, I've been doing that whenever I get stuck and really lifting the hips and pushing the hands downwards.

So...the past 2 days, I've kinda built some muscle memory into the body to do that under all circumstances..whether my feet hit the floor or not..and I've actually managed to FLOAT my jumpbacks!!! I mean I managed one of those actual floaty ones ala Lino Miele instead of the quick and dirty swing and throw myself backwards variety of jumpbacks...HOW INCREDIBLE IS THAT???? I mean I never thought I'd be able to come close...Of course I can only do that once or twice before getting stuck again...but this is a start and I'm really excited!

So I figure that appears to be the answer to my short arms and long torso problem. I've always thought to squeeze myself into as tight a ball as possible to swing through the arms backwards...now I realise if I can get the lift upwards, the length of my arms don't even come into play..its core strength/bandha. So THATS what they are talking about...how come it took me so long to figure it out???

Losing too much weight again..

2008-09-03T11:05:00.003+08:00

Thats what I think Ashtanga is doing to me...;(

I'm one of those skinny women who can't seem to put on weight as it is..now I'm losing too much for my liking..

Seems like since I've put in all those jump backs (or my best rendition of them) into practice, I've been putting on bulk in the arms and shoulders and abs...but losing it where it counts;P Now this might be fine if I had much to spare, but the only place I've got some spare meat is in the hips and butt...

I'm now trying to cut down on the vinyasas a bit, and eating like a horse just to see if it helps me bulk up more. I can see the bones sticking out of my ribs and collarbones and shoulders...ewwww...

Well I know, this is not a blog about my how I look and Ashtanga, but its a real bummer for me, and I'm pretty darn vain. I don't see how some people can practice just as much or more than me and still remain quite curvy all over while I'm kinda wasting away...

Recently I had dinner with a whole bunch of people who practice and one of the girls had lost so much weight that she looks positively sickly. I'm really afraid to look like that.

On the other hand, obviously with weight loss, its much easier for me to lift up etc. Yes the jumpbacks have improved, and so have jumping back from tithibasana. I have to admit its fun to lift so high up after bhuja and supta k into titthibasana/bakasana and then jump back. I've seem to have gotten a whole lot better at doing that action.

The other day, my new teacher was trying to get me to jump back from upavista. I don't usually do that exit, cos I always just cross and lift. But he asked me to just press down after urdva upavista konasana and lift up. It was good (by my standards). I got my hips up almost into a handstand!!! but once I pull them back from there into bakasana, I fell out of it... I never thought I could do that though.
It always looked to much anti-gravity for me to pull off.

Everything is a little stiff and weak these few days because its the time of the month and I'm also easing off everything to hopefully not have to look like a walking skeleton.

No progress in any poses...but lots of muscular development in the arms and abs like I said. I can pretty much see my six pack....which to be honest wasn't what I was hoping to achieve...think its a little too much for a woman. I prefer a much softer look...

Fun, fun and more fun...;)

2008-08-19T13:37:00.005+08:00

I don't think I've updated this, but I've had a hell of a lot of fun lately at my new practice place...in fact I'm sorta feeling a little guilty thinking that way..

I went to a led second series class...and wow! I did karandavasana!!!! with help obviously from my new teacher, I'm gonna call him Z . I miraculously balanced my pincha in the middle of the room, which I've never been able to do for more than a few seconds at the wall, and actually lotused up my legs!!! I don't know what in the world possessed me. It was like my body was on autopilot, and when Z said jump up, I did that, and when he told me to lotus my legs, I did just that! He did lower me down to karandavasana, which I held pretty well, and then lifted me back up again.

Obviously I'm not at the point in my practice right now to tackle this pose..but its great nonetheless to do it in class. I also managed some rather pathetic attempts at all the headstands...but gosh that was FUN!;) Z also did a round of handstands with me during the surya namaskaras... He just stood in front, told me during trini to bend the knees and lift, and just flipped me up to handstands. What a rush! I can't lift myself right now...but I'm pretty sure I can do it...one day;P

On another note, I did go back to D recently, and he helped me jump into Bakasana B. He helped me a bit with the lowering to arms, but i think I kinda know how to do it now..just need to perhaps be strong enough to slow down my descent.

Its been loads and loads of fun..;)

On the gym ball..

2008-08-08T00:27:00.003+08:00

Thats what I've been up to lately...besides practice that is.

I've been rolling on my trusty gym ball;) Its a miracle invention when it comes to strengthening the core, me thinks;)

I haven't been feeling that much work going on in the abs for a while, save for when I crunch myself up to jump back maybe...but this is a different kind of tough..

So lets see, I like to do some variation of plank on the ball, arabesque (sp?) which is when u lift one leg off while balancing the other knee on the ball in some sort of quasi plank pose. Lift up to pike from plank, lift up from some bakasana position into a pike, headstand and move the ball around with one leg...wheeeww...and its super fun and pretty challenging..

I started this a few weeks back and my koundinyasana I and II have improved immensely, I think its all that core stabilization going on from all this. In fact I jumped out of koundinyasana (the twisted one) and that was sooo fun to do..I think the ball must have activated some deep forgotten muscles in me that made arm balancing so much better.

I'm actually starting to enjoy arm balances nowadays..although its really the saddest part of my overall practice. I've always been the bendy girl who can grab my heels and bend in most directions..but can't do much arm balancing..the tables are turning now...hahhaha...and nope, don't feel like I've lost much flexibility except the left shoulder is getting a little tight.

I'm thinking of adding some twists, parsva bakasana variations to my ball regime if I have time, think it'll tone up my obliques;)

3 August 2008 - Led Primary

2008-08-03T15:37:00.002+08:00

I went to a new place today. Pretty inspiring. People were obviously seasoned practitioners and I saw some amazingly floaty practices..

My own practice has been a little bit stagnant lately. I'm still at ekapada. My usual mysore class is not on the menu, I suspect for a while cos of some troubles happening at the studio I usually go to. I don't want to go into that issue, as I think its got to do with all the ugly side of business...even if its a yoga business..

I don't think I've made much progress lately, but did manage to tweak the left leg in eka pada shirshasana, cos I tried to get into it without enough warm up. Its alrite now. I have managed lately to lift my hips pretty darn high in titthibasana, and think I owe it to J using his finger to prod my low belly and encouraging me to lift from there. I can't remember when I went to him, think it was the beginning of last month. From there, I managed a rather nice fold back into an arm balance for a second and then go back to chatturanga. Since that time, I've been pretty able to lift the hips, but the folding back part still is a hit and miss.

Jump throughs were getting pretty nice and floaty lately with crossed legs except that I jumped so high that I almost fell over..and since then my body has been holding back and stopping me midpoint and I end up lading not that gracefully. It seems to me relaxation is very key to nice vinyasas.

Jump backs are a still a hit and miss. When I don't think about it, I usually do much better. Occasionally the bandhas kick in own their own and I get a big float back, other times I still end up touching the floor and having to do a major crunch to go back. Nevertheless, they seem to be getting much better. J is right...the less I think, the better the practice..

Teachers...

2008-07-12T00:26:00.003+08:00

I have a major gripe...which I've never mentioned here...but feel very much like doing today. Someone mentioned to me that I go to too many different teachers. This person also seemed to think that I will not be able to progress unless I declare myself as so and so's student and stick with one teacher.

I don't know what to say about this. I personally think its very unreasonable to expect me to practice only with one teacher, especially since I live in a place where I have hardly any access to good Ashtanga teachers. Who am I supposed to go to for adjustments, advice and community, if I have to limit myself to only practising with just one teacher??

In a way, I feel almost obliged to comply with this, or risk not being able to move forward in my practice. On the one hand I respect this person who said this to me very much. On the other hand, I am left feeling a little disappointed that I am hearing this from this particular person.

I personally don't care if my teacher is certified/authorized or whatever, as long as I learn something useful from them, I consider them my teacher. And in this case, the only real guru of Ashtanga is Pattabhi Jois and everyone else is simply teaching HIS teachings. So why is there this exclusivity thing going on about who is whose teacher etc etc. If all my teachers have been to Mysore and studied with Guruji, then all they are teaching are his methods, and no one should or can claim that people that they teach can only practice with them and no one else!

I guess being exclusive to one teacher may be the case for someone who has access to many shalas and hops around those different shalas..but I haver NO access...and ANY teacher is better than none...

Sigh..this is putting a dampener on me at the moment..and although I know it will pass, I'm still feeling rather troubled by it right now..

Just the breath..

2008-07-01T19:43:00.000+08:00

I've never been that attentive to the breath...but lately, because of my wrist injury, I've had to slow down everything alot..and sometimes even resort to lowering down all the way to the floor and not do chatturanga etc. The wrists are much better now, but these few weeks has been a great opportunity for me to observe my breath.

And surprisingly, I found that I really enjoyed my breathing. I never realised it, even when J pointed it out to me..but my breathing is really pretty smooth, deep, long and even. I noticed it a little after John Scott's workshop, but didn't pay that much attention to it, but now that I've been really counting my vinyasas, there is a huge difference in the way I breathe now and back when I just started.

I think I owe it very much to John teaching me the vinyasa count and counting us through the led classes. Now, I'd practice with his DVD once in a while too, and it really seems to make a lot of difference in the pace and depth and sound of my breath.

I'm talking about this mainly because I'm down with a bout of cold rite now, but I still practiced the last 2 days through my runny nose, and it felt so darn good, like the ujjayi breath was cleaning out my lungs and sinuses. I've been feeling the breath much more recently in my back body, and I feel that it has as much effect of stretching out my back as actually doing an asana.

Another part of ujjayi that is helpful is that when I breathe and not think too much about anything, the practice becomes smooth and very flowing. Almost floating. I didn't feel tired out nor feel strained in the poses...and this was despite getting back into all the chatturangas, vinyasas and arm balances.

One thing I can't seem to get though, is coordinating my breathing with vinyasa. I mean all through the suryas, its very natural. When it comes to jumping through, I always feel wayy stronger jumping on empty, which J told me is definitely a nono. I can jump through on inhales, but the lift is not as strong. I'm not sure if I'm missing something here, but my connection to uddiyana bandha is way stronger when I've just exhaled.

Jumping back, which by the way I think I've kinda figured out (because I did it again!!! yippee!) I lift on inhale and exhale back to chatturanga. That seems to work pretty well though.

About jumpbacks, I did them again yesterday! hehe. Not the floaty variety, but I think the key is to lift to lolasana and then bend the elbows so that the hips lift to counterbalance the head and shoulders, and then my legs just go back without that much strength involved. I know its probably not the best way to jumpback, but for the time being I'm pretty pleased with this discovery;)

Gonna skip practice today cos its ladies holiday and the cold is still pestering me, so will take a rest.

It just goes to show..

2008-06-22T22:45:00.003+08:00

that you can't force anything to happen, if it is not yet time to happen...

Erm..I'm talking about my jumpbacks...and the sore wrists I've been getting since getting obsessive about them. I guess I should have known better than to keep subjecting the poor wrists to repeated strain..jumping back, jumping through..and the other stuff I've been doing to work on vinyasa.

I've had to skip teaching one of my more strenous classes, missed out on going to J's shala, while I was down there, and modify my own practice at home so that I skip the chatturangas and plop down on the floor on my belly instead. Its a real bummer, but it does teach me to pay more attention to my body and not treat it like crap.

I reckon I've got to keep up my modifications for a while..maybe a few weeks to get the wrist (right side) back to normal. Its not really killing me, but there is a persistent achy feel to it both during and after practice, and I reckon that can't be good.

I skipped mysore last Thursday, cos I was in Singapore for work. Wouldn't have been much of a point going anyhow, since I'm a little handicapped with the wrist anyway.

At home, I've been able to still do a modified practice either on my fists, or just not taking much weight in the hands when the wrist is in extension. I think I tend to lean my shoulders too far forward when jumping back which puts the wrist into more than a 90 degree extension. So I've had to cut that all out for now.

My leg behind head is getting seriously better lately. I reckon its because since J taught me to get into supta k via dwipada, I've put in a lot more effort in doing ekapada each practice and sitting for a while there, before attempting to put myself into it. I still can't do it on my own, though I did it while I was at the shala. I have to admit that being in a mysore class, especially with J teaching, seems to allow me to do some seriously difficult things easily. Only problem is that once I'm practising again on my own, I lose whatever it is I could do in front of him. I must REALLY be an exhibitionist or something...

I really think that my bandhas are stronger lately, even if my arms and wrists might not be. I can feel a lot more ease in all sorts of stuff that involve them, lifting up, floating back (from standing only..not sitting, headstands. Its all thanks to practice and more practice. Nothing really works except consistent effort I guess. I'm waiting for the day when I can consistently nail my jumpbacks instead of miraculously being able to jump back a few times, and then lose it altogether.

Thats all I have to say this time around..hopefully by my next post, the wrist would have improved..

Practice notes..

2008-06-15T00:30:00.002+08:00

I've been using a block, and socks to slide myself back from dandasana to plank..and back again. I figure its a pretty good exercise, since I can't do a proper jumpback anymore. I just do it about 5 times before practice..just to get warmed up. I'm sure everyone's noticed my obsession with jumpbacks lately..well its true, I'm trying very hard to do whatever I did a few weeks back to jumpback. And since I can't do it, I'm hell bent on trying to get it again.

I figure that at the moment, except for my lack of core strength/bandhas or whatever, everything else is going pretty well. My flexibility is great, backbends are good, leg behind head is going fine..I just need that little bit more of strength to even things out.

I feel it'll be some work for me, since strength is really hard for me to build. J says everything tends to get into my flexibility, and I end up not needing to use strength whenever I can get away with it.

Sliding is getting pretty easy to do nowadays..now if those feet will just leave the floor, I'd be flying back;P Also since I can't lift my legs off my legs in bakasana, I've also done some extra curricular work by adding a tripod headstand into my practice on top of shirshana A. I just tip over on my head and rest the legs on my arms, then lift them up and down from there. Sometimes I lift from there into bakasana. Its a fun little sequence to try anyhow..and I've even done some eka pada bakasana thingy from there. I think it might help my bandha control...but I'll have to watch and see.

Well, what else have I been trying..lets see. I've been watching this on youtube..

Its fascinating me..might try some of it...

Those elusive bandhas...

2008-06-10T00:12:00.002+08:00

Haven't logged in lately to update..so here goes..

Went to J's shala about 2 weeks back while I was on a trip. Had a pretty nice practice with him. Got into Dwipada by myself too...after Supta K, I did the eka pada prep on the left side..then J told me to just go for it. He helped me the first time..and it was so easy..that I tried it on my own twice after that..unbelievable..my hips seem to have opened up exponentially lately...and I haven't even made that much effort in that department!!

J told me my practice was really beautiful...up to maybe half primary..he's never seen me breathe so well..and been more focused...and then after that he said I went totally down the drain...That was mainly because I was so tired out by all the lifting up and jumpng back..that I was all too glad to sit up and ask him questions after that. I asked him about bandhas...and didn't get an answer from him..seems he doesn't really teach bandhas...only technique. Told me that when I get it..I'll just know..no need for explanations. I told him about my miraculous jumpbacks as well..which has since disappeared again and has yet to make another appearance. He told me to just stop thinking so much about squeezing this or that muscle..and just breathe. That was really all I could get out of him regarding bandhas...

My dropbacks are getting deeper lately. I can get my hands to about 2 inches from the feet. Still need J to pull my hands to ankles though.. I asked him if he thought my shoulders were tight, but he said he didn't think so. I do feel however, that tight shoulders are one of the things hindering my ankle grabbing...

I've been puzzling over this bandha stuff lately. Especially snce my miraculous jumpbacks...and now their disappearance. Perhaps J is right, the more I think about them, the more they elude me. I always though of bandhas as physical contractions..but J said they are also about prana and energy. I'm not too sure I get that bit. I mean I know the theory about the locks sealing prana and directing them up the sushumna etc. I've just never put that much thought into that..I always saw it as a way of accessing core strength. Now I'm not sure what it is anymore. I'm not even sure that few times I've been able to do some amazingly light jumpthroughs and backs, if that is bandha, or sheer strength thats driving it.

I have however felt some physical sensations that I associated with bandhas. It always felt to me that mula bandha feels like some sort of spring attached to my pelvic floor, that kinda gave me this lift in the jumps. Uddiyana, I think felt like some warm heat in the lower belly, and is usually accompanied by the drawing in of the navel region. It definitely feels like they help in holding me up when I need to slow down my vinyasa...I thought that was a straight forward enough way describing them....now though I'm not too sure if this s really bandha..or is it just stronger abs and pelvic floor....maybe there is some prana thing I'm missing here...???

I have been thinking of getting the book Moolabandha..cos J recommended that I get it...perhaps I'll get it through Amazon and see it helps solve this puzzle for me..

Mysore 23 May 2008

2008-05-23T00:17:00.003+08:00

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;)

Jumpback!!!!!!! Well,sort of..

2008-05-15T23:30:00.004+08:00

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...

Pure torture...and no, its not part of practice..

2008-05-08T23:47:00.004+08:00

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.

Amazing stuff..

2008-05-02T19:30:00.003+08:00

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...;)

Stiff, stiff and more stiff...

2008-04-24T00:27:00.002+08:00

I got to say..all this lifting, handtanding, jumpback, jumpthrough business is making me stiffer than a plank...

Not that I can actually do them properly;P But the attempts are killing me. Did I mention I lifted myself off the floor while at J's shala?? Well..I think I did..I'm not even sure, cos J was teaching me how to float back from standing..and he said to "unfold" the body from trini to chatwari in the suryas..so I was managing quite well at taking a little hop and unfolding back from there...but he kept standing in front of me saying "unfold..unfold..unfold.." so I tip toed and I think my legs just left the floor and floated up.. I actually have no idea how it happened..all I know was I was dangling with my feet off the ground and didn't know what to do from there!!! it actually felt just like liftng into a headstand with straight legs!!! I got to admit I collapsed after a few seconds though cos i kinda tossed my legs back and fell on my knees..hahahhah

Anyway after that, this lifting ability has totally left me.. I can't for the life of me do it now in my pathetic attempts at home!!! arrrgghhhhhhhhhhh...and I am stiff as ever from trying...I actually think its got a detrimental effect of my backbends...my upper chest which is usually pretty bendy has been kinda stiff and unmoveable lately..;P

J taught me a very great way to drop back too..and I'm not sure I dare to try it at home...it blardee intense...but it lets me drop back to about a few inches from my feet. My usualy drop backs are about 1 foot away from the feet..We were trying to get my ankles while I was with J..and I got them..with his help on the right and on my own on the left side...but he said I didn't understand how to work all the bend out of my upper back..which is apparently very open, which was why I had a hard time getting my ankles myself..so he taught me to drop back with my hands open and thumbs almost in the armpits. Then he made me peel myself back, and opening the chest up and squeezing the shoulder blades together to get as much bend in the upper chest as possible, then he let me drop my arms back to hang...and still keep lfting the chest up to the ceiling..I literally could feel my whole spine peeling backwards..and it got me to within 1 hand away from my feet from dropping back..and no walking hands in! Its amazingly intense and soo cool! J said I should just keep reaching for my ankles everytime I go back..cos I SHOULD be able to do it easily..and yet I'm not using all the bend I have in the chest..

Anyhow I'm a little chicken to do it myself at home..no one watching to make sure I don't topple over...I gotto psyche myself up to do this..otherwse I'd always have to wait to get to some shala to do it...

Anyway did learn some other interesting stuff while with J..I'd post them later..cos my stiff trapezius and lats really require some stretching now..

Knackered again....

2008-04-11T23:10:00.002+08:00

I'm back.

Wow I've been doing a whole load of Ashtanga lately...workshops..mysore classes...phew..

I managed to go to J for 3 mysore classes while in Singapore. Loads of interesting techniques I got on floating, lifting..etc etc. Its soo tiring..

I actually wrote a longgggg post on this trip. But I'm not going to publish it...J mentioned some things to me that I don't feel very comfortable talking about..yes its about my practice..and its about following the system..and your teacher...but I don't quite agree with what was said..so I'm having a hard time applying and reconciling it to my own practice.

Anyway...just some bits I would talk about...J said I should start reading the sutras seriously because I've reached a stage where I should have a better understanding of yoga besides the poses. I guess it makes sense. I've never mentioned to him before that I teach. I think that would come with too much unnessasary(sp?) expectations. He also said that I have strength now...so hurray. I still don't have enough understanding on how to apply the bandhas..(fair enough).

OK...its been a long day flying back from Singapore..so I'm gonna stop here..

Off to Singapore..

2008-04-04T15:39:00.004+08:00

Hurray!

My Singapore trip became a reality much sooner than expected. I've some meetings and training in Singapore next week Monday to Wed..so I'm staying on till Friday...YAY!

That means I'm gonna definitely have time to visit J while I'm there...I'm just a little bit nervous cos he did tell me the last time I left that he'd know if I'd been practicing what he taught me when he sees me next..and honestly..I've not been making that much effort with my jumpbacks;P He was harping on it over and over while I was last in his shala...

Anyhow he told me that I can only start second series with him if I can jump back from bhujapidasana and supta k from bakasana..and that has been kinda easy for me lately..so I don't think he would hold me back this time.

D isn't the strictest teacher around...so I get to move on even when I futz through the stuff I can't do..but James is seriously much more strict and demanding..I like it much better though cos I know I WOULD progress that way...

OK looks like if I'm lucky I might actually squeeze in 4 mysore classes and 1 led class with him..hope the work stuff doesn't run overtime!

Knackered...

2008-04-02T22:56:00.003+08:00

Thats the word...

5 days with John Scott...and I am realllyyy knackered...

Hmm....it was a fun workshop..only dampened by the misleading marketing the studio put up that it was an intensive teacher's training...well..John set it straight...not teacher's training...just advanced course...I don't feel any different about it...but it kinda made the whole thing a little sour because some people who came had he impression it was a real teacher's training...I guess its quite right that there can't be a teacher's training in 5 days!!..

Anyhow..on to the fun bits...we did 2 full led primary series classes...and daily vinyasa technique classes..and 1 mysore style class. Sad to say I bombed out of the mysore class early...not really because I was "knackered"..but because John said to concentrate on a point of focus..and when you lose it, to stop and lie down...so I took it very literally and stopped when I couldn't concentrate on my breath anymore because of all sorts distraction around me..turns out everyone else apparently could focus really well..and most finished the whole series. I was not too disappointed about stopping cos i got to watch all the great adjustments John was giving to people...but when he took a few people through the backbending with tic tocs I regret not finishing off and doing backbends with him...shucks.

The led classes were really fun..and intense cos there really was no time for the usual futzing around I get to do during mysore like wiping the sweat and tying my hair etc...it was non stop..and fast!!! and felt REALLY great;)

What did I learn? Well..basically I think I got the hang of the UP after utkatasana..which I never did..except when James asked me to do a bakasana instead...and I kinda know the technique for the up after warrior 2..but flop when doing it...somwthing about what he said about tranferring weight into the hands and bending the knees and just falling on the hands after utkatasana really worked in getting me to spring up into a balance point..so cool!

hahah..and I've been applying that up into my surya namaskaras as well..hahahha..its fun to kinda bounce up into a half handstand in the surya namaskaras...Also we got to try jumping through directly into pursvotanasana..that was really fun too.

All in all...really fun..but I think next time..I'd rather spend a few days in Singapore with J than in a crowded workshop...its got nothing to do with John's teaching...just that I think I'd learn way more by doing than by theory...I guess its all about practice..practice and more practice...

Think I'd start planning my trip to Singapore soon....

Its been a longggg while since this lazy blogger logged in...

2008-03-26T15:23:00.003+08:00

Soo...I'm back..

I realise its been too long that I've not updated. Problem is I've reached some plateau of sorts...not that much to update.

Still stuck at ekapada shirshasana...I'm still having a hard time keeping my left leg behind without hands...so I guess thats where I'll stay until things pull together..

In the meantime, I've a workshop with John Scott this weekend!!! YAY!!! I'm a little worried though cos I'd expect he would expect quite a bit from us..and I heard even my teacher D will be attending..hmmm..guess I'll hideout behind him if necessary..hehehe

Practice at home is so so...mysore has been uneventful too. I kinda get through primary series quite smoothly..except the problems sometimes with supta K..which is still inconsistent..I bind my hands easily..but getting my feet behind my head while on the floor is a prob still..I can more or less get them together in front...but its also a struggle since my torso is soo long my head always gets in the way. Most of the time, my teachers will have found their way to me before I'm properly crossed and pulled it behind the head..I've put my chin on the crossed feet before cos there's no space to cross my feet in front...so that remains a bit of a sore spot in my primary series.

I've recently found it easy to put the hands through for Garba, strangely enough. Its definitely not from weight loss since I've put on about 2kgs..the weight gain hasn't affected my practice much at all..its only played a part in making me self conscious about my puffy face..but thats a whole other story.

Also, rolling up into urdhva paschimotanasana is happening to me relatively consistently now..so I can't say there are no improvements at all. Jumping into bakasana B is not happening though. I have no idea how to do it. I do think my bandhas have gotten a little bit stronger..jumping back out of bhujapidasana and supta k is happening consistently..although there is a bit of a thud going on.

I did a body composition scan recently. Apparently I've grown 2 cm btw..think my spine has elongated..I'm now 169 cm!!! I guess yoga really can elongate the body! I just hope my spine doesn't get any longer..cos that would make my torso even longer than before!!!*gasp*

I also find it easier to lift up and sort of tilt my butt back as if to jump back..but thats where is all stops and I gotto use my toes to propel me backwards from there. According to my body composition test, I've a pretty underdeveloped trunk...musculature wise...sigh..time for lots of pilates to build up the core...I'm giving that a go when I have the chance to make it for a pilates class and see if it'll build up my abs more...

Mysore Feb 28 2008

2008-03-02T14:35:00.002+08:00

Didn't do my usual split..finished primary and went up to Laghu before calling it a day. Went well though..no hiccups..was pretty strong...

Jump back from bhuja - ok
Supta k - ok
Jump back supta k - ok
jump back from sitting - still not even close
garba - hands could not get through and didn't bother trying to do it..
rolling up from to urdhva mukha pashimotanasana - did it quite precariously..yeah!

all in all..satisfying practice..;)

Lazy blogger...and even lazier practice

2008-02-23T23:10:00.002+08:00

Hmmm...seems like I've disappeared off the face of the earth...by the amount of posts I've been making!

Its Chinese New Year and I've been spending more time eating and lazing around than doing yoga..Naturally my flexibility is shot to pieces and my skin is suffering as well...I've just discovered a brand new wrinkle by the side of my nose........sob sob sob..

Anyway, there hasn't been any classes during that time anyway..so I've not been attending mysore for TWO WEEKS!!!! While I was there this Thursday, D asked me what why was I SO STIFF???? well I just told him its because I 've not been practising... I could feel his disapproval while tying me up into Supta K..hahah

No new pose...and couldn't reach my heels in kapotasana either..even my twists are horrid...I actually had a hard time binding pasasana...I also wonder if this has to do with all the running I've been doing lately to prepare for my power run in April...just 10 k, but I reckon I can't make the triathlon yet in April ..so might as well do a 10 k first.. It could be the reaosn for my new found stiffness besides not doing enough practice..

Anyway..I've been doing my best to practice past few days to make up for things...hope to get back on track soon....

Eka Pada shirshasana

2008-02-01T15:10:00.000+08:00

This is getting a little too intense for me....I got this last nite....very unexpected...I'd thought D would wait for me to gain at least some proficiency at bakasana B...

I can sit up with hands in namaste on the right side easily..bending forward the leg keeps slipping off..and D held it in place for me. Left side was not so pretty...I can get it back quite far down my back..but sitting up requires a huge amount of abdominal effort...so D stood behind and tried to straighten my back and keep the foot in place while I put my hands together..bending forward is terrible..the leg just keeps slipping and D held them for me.

There's not pain anywhere..and except for slippage I'm quite comfy there. I suppose if I put some effort into doing this pose more often, I could do it in about a month or 2...bakasana B though..is still a whole new different ballgame...sigh...

I was more than open last nite..especially in my back..I swear I felt open enough to walk my hands to my feet..I think its got to do with the fact that I am premenstrual...it makes me EXTREMELY flexible..hormones..;P

Scaryyy..

2008-01-18T00:03:00.000+08:00

I tried dropovers today...wow that was really scary!!!
D told me to try coming into a scorpion handstand today..and I was scared stiff and could only manage to plop down into UD..he was holding my hips the whole time though. Nevertheless it was fun and scary all at the same time!

I am still riding the high from that experience..and just had to blog it here..

Anyhow its put a large smile on my face..I feell YOUNG!!!! hahahah..coincidentally..today (well since its past 12 am my time) is my birthday...and strangely I feel like a kid again despite getting older..hahahhah

Now I just have to contend with doing it every week!;P

More poses!!!!

2008-01-11T19:21:00.000+08:00

Oh My.

I got bharadvajasana and ardha matsyendrasana...hmmm...with a missing bakasana b in the middle though..hahahahah

D was feeling all too generous this Thursday and decided to give them to me (skipping bakasana b). I asked him about my total inability at bakasana b, and he said to make sure I work on a tonne of navasanas..and I may eventually be able to do it. Soo...in a very criminal way, I've earned 2 new poses..but I don't feel too great that I'd skipped the hard one.

I guess to make myself feel better, I'd better make sure I work on bakasana b on my own. I'm gonna surf the green board now and see if there are any tips on how to do that pose..

Just getting on the mat..

2008-01-09T14:21:00.000+08:00

There hasn't been that much to blog about lately. Happy 2008 by the way!;)

I've recently started running...just the treadmill though..I want to try my hand at a triathlon sometime this year. I reckon it might make me a little stiffer than normal, but I run for just 20 minutes, then get down to practice. It hasn't seriously impacted my flexibility so far, just a slightly longer time to warm up the hamstrings and noticeably tighter right quad when I do my lunges.

Practice has been ok. Its really much easier to just get on the mat nowadays than suffer the discomforts and stiffness of not practicing, so its not too hard a motivation to get down to practice. Breakthroughs..? not much, but its quite easy for me to get through primary nowadays on my own, so I throw in an assortment of second if I feel like it...

I know, I know..I'm supposed to practice all the way to bakasana..but I really don't feel like it most days and just either finish primary or skip some of the last few poses and do some second series. No wonder there isn't much improvements;P

One thing I've been able to do recently is work out how to balance my handstands and forearm stands. Just a few breaths, but at least I think I know what needs to be done. First thing I always have to do it straighten my back and eliminate any curves in the spine..it helps a whole lot. Then its reaching the feet wayyy up into the air. Those things helped tremendously.

Also because my shoulders seem to be tightening a whole lot of the left side, I've taken to doing more UDs...3-4 at the wall using blocks stacked at an angle and then another 3-4 without blocks. It feels like heaven...I need backbends so much nowadays..it just feels delicious;) Mmm...I think UD is a pose I've grown to love more and more.

My new pose

2007-12-20T23:45:00.000+08:00

I got bakasana today. Thought I'd better update else I'm really gonna just forget to blog and leave out all the important landmarks...

Not b, just bakasana a of course. D asked me if I thought I could jump into it..and I told him I have NO IDEA HOW....

Recently I figured out how to whip back from tithibasana into a quick bakasana and back to chatturanga when coming out of bhuja and supta k. I think its a bit of cheating, but at least it gets me out of the pose efficiently, instead of being pearched precariously on my arms and not knowing if I can get my hips high enough to jump back from bakasana.

My back was nicely open today and getting my heels in kapotasana was really easy, my backbends have been behaving well lately..I hope it stays that way.

I think I will be taking John Scott's class after all..have to see if my allowance is coming though..heehhee..will update later..;)

Lazy blogger I am..

2007-12-09T12:42:00.000+08:00

I figure I'd better update my blog..its been a while I reckon...

I've just started teaching in a new studio..its a beautiful place..very spa like environment, but everything is so new and there still aren't a lot of people who've signed up at the place..so thats not a whole lot of classes going on. Hope it'll pick up soon.

On to practice. Pretty good going. I can do supta vajrasana holding on to my toes now with D's help...although I still lose my grip sometimes. I've also managed to jump up into a handstand with both legs and control recently, though I don't know what I've been doing to help that develop. Coming down is still crash and burn, I can't control the descent at all, except when I drop 1 leg at a time.

My Supta k hasn't been up to scratch now for a few weeks. I think its got to do with the fact I've too many poses to do and I don't put enough time into holding the poses that lead up to supta k...my hips are less open and translates into big probs with the binding. So I've had to practice eka pada again recently which always helps open my hips for supta k..I slip it in when I get out of kurmasana, insted of doing supta k.

There's not a whole lot more to say, backbends are fine, except bhekasana because for some reason find it really hard to bring my feet close to the floor. My quads must be really tight..although I don't think it has ever affected my backbending..gotto concentrate on supta virasana more often I guess...

Thats about it..contemplating taking John Scott's 30 hour intensive come March next year, but its expensive and would mean I need to make some sacrifices...gotto weigh up the pros and cons of giving up clothes, shoes and beauty treatments for a while..haven't decide yet though..

Supta Vajrasana

2007-11-15T22:40:00.000+08:00

My new pose today. I'm beginning to think that D is giving me too many..its kinda hard to practice on my own already..and now I have a bit too much on the plate in second series...

My practice has been sucking big time lately. I had a nice time at conference last week..got to go to Dharma Mittra's class, Lance Schuler, John Scott (!!!) and a couple of other teachers. I learnt quite a bit from John..went to all his classes..the dynamics of flight, the machine body, cultivating the practice etc etc. Am thinking of doing his 30 hour intensive next year in late March.

The things that I got from John Scott's class that I think could help are:

1. When jumping from downdog to either sitting or uttanasana, first look between the hands, look to between the feet, and then up to navel. Keeping the rounding of the back, then prepare to jump forward. It works really well at keeping the bandhas in place and makes my jumps very light and floaty.

2. When moving the legs into lotus, first lift the leg and externally rotate without the arms. After that use the hands to receive the feet. This makes lotus far easier to do because the muscles used to move the feet into position would be tired out with the lifting effort and hence will be able to relax better into the lotus position.

3. Keep slight bend in knees when moving into poses like triangle, reverse triangle and parsvotanasana.

Overall, I just loved practising with John..its awesome to be in the presence of such an experienced teacher.

I also had fun in Dharma Mittra's class, although the one I went to was actually a Q & A kinda class. We got to pick his brains on all sorts of issues..from how to improve the practice, how to meditate, and things like are there demons and evil in this world.

As for mysore class today, it was quite a disaster practice wise. Am absolutely surprised whenever D decides to give me a new pose recently..My personal practice has been choppy at best, I still haven't been able to shake off the recent personal stuff thats been happening. Its no wonder I felt as stiff as a board today and weak as well!

Couldn't get my heels in kapotasana, no bind in supta K, even my mari D bind on the right kept slipping! Jumping back from bakasana was NOT happening. You could kinda say it all went pretty south...

Nevertheless, I wasn't expecting that much from myself..so I was just glad I made it there and practiced..hopefully I get back in the groove soon..

Haven't been blogging...

2007-11-03T21:58:00.000+08:00

I think I've not been doing much blogging lately...

Just for the record, last week's mysore was ok, not great, no new pose after kapotasana, but all doable although a little stiff in the hammies..

I have been doing practice lately using David Swensen's DVD..can't really concentrate if I don't have someone telling me to do it at the moment..so David's at least keep me practising...lots of stuff going on in my life..as I mentioned a few posts ago. This time I think things have settled in...the new person in my life turned out to be "not" the new person in my life..don't you just hate it when you get all engrossed..thinking you might have found someone you are into..and they turn out not to be what you believe them to be?

Anyway the good thing is that I don't seem to have lost too much in terms of my asana practice. Kapotasana is pretty good..I can get the ankles on my own..drop back, get up etc. Recently I think my hip flexors have really gotten longer due to all the lunges that I do..so its taking a lot of stress off my lower back. Thats great to know.

Otherwise nothing really new to report except I kinda cracked my right hip doing eka pada shirshasana despite not being warmed up enough..so am paying for it with some slight pain in the hip..hope it goes away fast.

Kapotasana

2007-10-26T01:14:00.000+08:00

Kapotasana today. I got it finally;)

Practice going well despite a recent setback...but am certainly back on track now;) Its nice to be myself again...;)

Not much yoga..

2007-10-13T14:37:00.000+08:00

I haven't done much practising lately...managed to practice maybe 2 times since last class..had mysore class last thursday and bumbled through it as best as I can...

There's been a tonne of stuff going on in my personal life lately...and its kinda distracting me from all the yoga...I broke up with my boyfriend a few months back..and suddenly find myself back in the single scene after quite a while...lots of drama...and lots of different people appearing in my life recently..its kinda messing with my peace of mind..

My ex was a really nice guy, but I really couldn't go ahead and marry him..he is quite a bit older than me..and was looking to settle down and have a family..and it just freaked me out so much, I couldn't continue being with him..but the single scene is full of minefields...I met someone a few weeks back..he reminded me so much of this guy I was madly in love with back in my early 20s..that I couldn help feeling like this was the real thing...unfortunately..he turned out to a controlling, judgemental and critical character...and I didn't realise this when I first met him...

To cut a long story short..I've had some sort of whirlwind romance of sorts that just fell to pieces days ago..and I'm left in some sort of daze right now...

So yoga has taken a backseat amidst all this drama...I really need to get back into my groove...perhaps the best way to get this off my mind is to jump into practice..I don't know...I wish life is not so complicated...

I've lost my jumpthroughs..

2007-10-05T16:26:00.000+08:00

Yup..yesterday's mysore class proved it..I've been thudding, sliding, crashing..but definitely not floating through..hahah

I reckon its got to do with my lack of psoas strength lately..boths sides have been acting up big time. I can only hope for a quick recovery soon.

Yesterday was a surprisingly fun class for me despite the lack of jump throughs and bandhas. I asked D to put me into supta k sitting up..and we failed;P I got the right side up with no probs but I couldn't lean forward and get the left side as well. In the end, D asked me to do yoganidrasana instead..and that was surprisingly easy. However trying to roll me up into supta k was useless and I just got into titibasana and jumped back (crashed) from there.

I also got up from lahguvajrasana pretty easily and was kinda expecting a new pose (heehee) but D decided to make me do laghu 5 times...up..down..up..down...and by the fifth time my thighs were burning...but I think I got the hang of it now.

Today I went D's class again...and dropped back into kapotasana...yayyy!!! I've never had the guts to drop back this way, but after the laghu episode, I gathered enough courage to give it a go..and I did it...granted..I didn't drop back and grabbed my heels..but that will probably have to take some time..

David Swenson and John Scott all in a day;P

2007-09-29T20:59:00.001+08:00

haha..I wish! I mean their DVDs. My order finally arrived, so I watched these two senior teachers do their thing on my laptop just now.

I got both David Swenson's first and second/third series..and its really eye opening watching third series. Its definitely gravity defying. I don't know if I'd get there...well probably one day in the far far future maybe. I loved David's encouraging words and pacing. I have fast breaths and his counts were comfortable for me. He's also very comforting and encouraging..asking the viewers to take things easy and concentrate on the breath.

John Scott on the other hand has a more clinical approach to the way he teaches..on this DVD anyway. And I found myself giggling over the way he likes to say "inhaale.. exhaaaaale..." Anyhow again its eye opening to see how he practices and all those handstand vinyasas.

I practiced primary along with David's DVD. Its great..and I think it might be the one I'd most like to practice with in the future. I've also got Richard Freeman's as well, but Richard although gives some great alignment and tips, has a pace thats WAY too slow for me.

On another note, my classes today at the gym were great! I taught a hot class in the morning..which is very beginnerish, and then a flow/vinyasa type class after. I love teaching this particualar flow class, mainly because the people who come are already very experienced and have been practising for a while. I'm really honored that they decide to come to my class, considering that I'm such a new/junior teacher. These people have amazing abilities, and I get to do all sorts of stuff in class that I typically cannot teach in other classes, even if they are flow or Ashtanga classes.
Ahem..and since my recent "almost" proficiency in koundinyasana, I also decided to teach it as an option in class today..good thing I didn't fall out of it while demoing;P However, I'm running dry in ideas on new stuff to teach nowadays, especially since the run of the mill stuff has been taught over and over already. Got to find some new material soon...

Okie, I'm going out karaokeing tonite..so my post ends here...

Arm balances and inversions..

2007-09-28T22:34:00.000+08:00

Went to D's class today. Its one I try not to miss cos I'm forced to do the stuff I don't really like...inversions and arm balances. Strength is not my strong point, so I usually have to put in lots of concentration and focus to nail most of the poses.

Considering my recent psoas injury, I think I did pretty ok, sticking my balance in pincha and handstands for a decent couple of breaths. I even managed to lift the right leg off the floor in koundinyasana B, the splitzy thing which has always been a major pain for me. I couldn't lift the left side at all though, but then my left side has always been harder to do..just like in koundinyasana A, I had to keep working on the left side way after I could lift on the right side with no problems.

My back hasn't been behaving too well lately. I have this SI problem on the right which gets aggravated everytime D decides to sit on my knees for bhekasana. I might have to tell him to back off for a while. I didn't feel like doing kapotasana today although I know its part of the standard menu in this particular class that D teaches. I stayed in some supta virasana/matsyasana thingy hoping D will just leave me alone, but of course he came over and hoisted me up into a majorly backbend and put my hands on my feet. No heels...and I haven't attempted the heels since B left many months back. I reckon I'm not at the pose yet in the series, so no rush to go for it now..besides the time I did get my heels, I felt a major crunch in my lower spine, so I reckon I may have to work a while on opening my shoulders and hips a little more instead of taking everything in the lower back.

I signed my contract with the new studio...starts in December..I'd be teaching 30 classes a month for them part time. I'm gonna miss the Yogaworks training which the studio is fully sponsoring for me...and its starting next month. I can't do it cos I'm working 2.5 days a week at my proper job..and I really am not ready to quit and teach full time. Its a shame..but what can I do??

I'm gonna plan my classes for tomorrow after this post, I reckon I'd like to theme my class around backbending tomorrow..just for a change..

Mysore 27 Sept 2007

2007-09-27T23:08:00.001+08:00

I've really been neglecting my practice lately. Had to go down to Singapore for work earlier in the week, and only practiced yesterday on my own after almost 3 days of nothing..No wonder I'm stiff as a block today..I could barely grasp my fingers in pasasana..and that has not happened for a good while..

Good news is that I have recovered from my psoas injury, and can do utthita hasta padangustasana C again..(or maybe D ..I don't know..its the one where you release the hands and stand with both hands on hips and straight legs). I couldn't straighten my legs in both that and navasana for a few days cos I think I had a case of psoas tendonitis or something along those lines. Anyway my jump throughs sucked today because I think my psoas were still slightly weaker than normal..and I made quite a few thuds while jumping through..but I reckon its better than not being able to do it at all.

Also I had a good time crashing on my stomach jumping out of bhuja and supta k. Gosh when am i ever gonna be able to do that properly??? D just said to me...more bandhas and pull in the abs...sigh..easier said than done!

And worse still I just COULD not get up from laghu at all! it was quite easy last week and during practice at home, I made it up with no problems..but today it was all in vain..cos I absolutely felt stuck to the floor.I did stick a nice balance in my handstands today..stayed there a couple of breaths.

All in all..it was a pretty dismal kind of practice...but I feel pretty good anyhow..just getting through it. I suppose thats the price to pay for not practicing..regression. hmmm. I just suppose I have to put in a more consistent practice if I want to improve...I'm gonna aim for a 5 day week next week if possible...hope that things will return to normal soon enough..

Mysore class 21 Sept 2007

2007-09-21T01:15:00.000+08:00

I spent the whole class modifying poses today. I accumulated a whole bunch of injuries the last week, including a bruised elbow from slipping from the stairs, and a strained psoas after attempting a jumpthrough. No jumpthroughs or navasana today, my psoas was just too weak for it.

I did my "split" today and went on to intermediate right after supta k. D taught me laghu vajrasana today. It was fun..and I did come up..but I admit I used my hands to pull..hahahha...I told D this and he told me not to cheat next time..so we'll see if I'll be able to get up without pulling.

I hope my psoas heals soon..I'm really not used to not being able to jump through and all the other stuff..

Back to almost normal...

2007-09-13T23:49:00.000+08:00

Alright..I'm back to normal. Maybe its because it's back to class..or whatever..anyway..am feeling quite strong and bendy today. Got through most of class uneventfully. However, for whatever reason, couldn't get my feet together for supta k, and D had to do a bit more squashing then usual to get me to bind..and even then my left ankle hurt (old injury) and we let it go for today. I've been pretty consistent with supta k recently so that was a step back..hmm.

Jump backs from bhuja and supta k are still mighty clumsy and feels like a tonne of bricks. Got to work on that more.

I got ustrasana today. Again I seriously wasn't expecting anything this week. I just got dhanurasana last week and I roll about like a beached whale to get into the parsva thing. I guess D didn't see that..and deemed it fit to teach me another pose. To be very honest my first reaction was.. "oh gosh my practice is gonna take FOREVER.." BUT, D told me to skip the primary poses from supta k onwards next week to go directly to pasasana..so in a way I guess I've kinda split..although the real reason is that my class is only 1.5 hours long and I really have no time to finish in that amount of time, so I guess splitting is the only way I've time not to rush through all my finishing poses to finish.

Overall, I feel great. Am glad I've shaken off the lethargy.

p/s: I've finally order David Swenson and John Scott's DVDs. Am excitedly waiting for it to arrive in the post. Can't wait!

Getting lazier...

2007-09-12T00:10:00.000+08:00

Feeling really stiff and weak. Its been a few days of the same lethargic feeling..and along with it, the body has become pretty unbendable as well. sigh.

Not only did it feel like my muscles were stretching like dried up rubber bands..and I also lost my connection with the bandhas the last few days. No idea what the problem is..except lack of sleep cos I need to get to work half and hour earlier than before. and teaching too many classes perhaps.

I think I need a new challenge of sorts in my practice. I've been slacking and cruising along almost on autopilot lately, eventhough I'm weak and inflexible. Jumping back is still not coming..and I've kinda let the idea go that I'll do it in the very near future..so for now its just lift, pull ass through and bunny hop back.

OK..just to inspire myself, I'd like to do:

1. Eka pada (no hands!)
2. pincha mayurasana
3. Galavasana
4. Jumping back
5. koundinyasana II

probably will work on it after my backbends...

Dilemma

2007-09-08T18:05:00.000+08:00

I'm in a bit of a bind..I just got another offer to teach..one that I can find hard to say no to..I mentioned some time ago that I went for an interview with a new studio thats gonna be set up in town..well I got the job..

Problem is, I just took on another 5 classes on top of my normal 2 at the gym, cos they have a new centre and needed someone to teach. Also, the guiy who gave me the clases were really nice to me and kinda have always looked out for me while I was teaching there. But the new place has great potential, slightly better pay per class and also offers a full scholarship for a Yogaworks teacher's training (of course that means I have to work for them for 2 years if I do it.) I even get a monthly education allowance to attend workshops and conferences etc. Its a hard choice..and I got to reply by Monday..sigh.

Other than that its tiring to teach 8 classes a week. Luckily I have time off between classes as they are usually staggered in the early mornings and evenings. It also kinda saps my energy for my own practice..no wonder some teachers say they find it hard to concentrate on both their personal practice and teaching.

Other than that practice wise..still no improvements in jump backs. Stuck where I was..which is lift, swing..get stuck with feet on the floor..and bunny hop into chatturanga. I did realise recently I can lift into a L-plant position though pretty easily. It surprised me too, cos sometime ago, the idea of doing that seemed out of this world for me..and now I can just do it. Surprising! No other inspiring breakthroughs though..

Mysore 6 Sept 2007

2007-09-06T23:45:00.000+08:00

Still lethargic..and it shows...Anyway I still managed to get through practice ok. Although I bombed a few vinyasas..and only got 1 leg through..hmm.

I could also not get a clear connection with the bandhas today..and now I am beginning to be aware that somedays I have a very clear connection with bandhas, and I usually feel much stronger and more solid, while on certain days like today, I just didn't feel much at all. I don't know why, but I speculate its because I have a bit of gas today (haha..a bit too much info maybe)..and it messed up my bandhas a little...I crashed on my stomach while jumping out of both bhuja and supta k today, those 2 jump backs arew pretty indicative of my level of bandha control on a given day..

I got dhanurasana today though..with the parsva thrown in. I was seriously not expecting anything new for a while..cos my bhekasana hasn't really improved much at all. So when D told me to do 1 more today..and to get into dhanurasana..I thought he was asking me to get into urdvha dhanurasana..and I got on my back to push up..and had to be told that its the bow..not upward bow...shucks...he must really think I know nuts about sanskrit...so anyhow..I don't particularly like this pose..I don't like the getting the legs together part..nor the rolling to the side thingy...

But well..I guess getting through the series is pretty much like getting through life..sometimes there are things that aren't easy or enjoyable to do..but still got to do it to get to the nicer stuff that you want to do...there really is a lot of parallels between life on the mat and real life...and I am happy to say that I'm realising some pretty important lessons here that I think would help me deal with the other stuff in my life..

Lethargy

2007-09-05T16:52:00.000+08:00

These past few days I've been pretty lazy practising..
I can't seem to get back into a very enthusiastic mood to practice..so I just skip poses and vinyasas etc..and basically do a sandwich practice of sorts.

Its also got to do with the fact that I've started to find primary series not as taxing as it used to be..not that I'm saying I'm good at it..but I guess it doesn't seem to drain me much anymore..and the few poses of intermediate that I do are not particularly difficult at the moment. I'm still working on jumping back.and that takes up most of my energy.

Also I have recently taken up another 5 classes at the gym..which takes up quite a bit of my energy..so I teach 8 classes a week..on top of working 2.5 days at my "proper" job. Its quite a nice arrangement..and I'm quite lucky to be able to work that out with my boss. Maybe all the teaching classes are burning me out..I don't know.

I taught a hot class at the gym this morning. Its too slow for my liking..but we have a fixed lists of poses to do and I had to make sure everyone was in the pose long enough so that I could stretch the class up to 1 hour..26 poses..no vinyasas. Its really veryy slow..I am not sure I'd like to attend such a slow class given my very fast 5 breaths..

Anyway have another class shortly..so going to get ready. Hope this lethargic feeling will pass soon.

Mysore 30 August 2007

2007-08-31T15:47:00.000+08:00

Its been slightly more than 1 year since my first mysore class. I just realised that yesterday...I started mysore sometime in August 2006..and now its 2007!

I had a wonderful class..(full moon maybe). Everything was pretty good..even vinyasas from Uttanasana back to chatturanga in my surya namaskaras suddenly got lifty instead of jumpy (but VERY tiring to do). I jumped back from both my bhujapidasana and supta K bakasanas, although clumsily. Dropping back and standing up is getting really fun. I didn't think that I would say this, but primary series is getting pretty comfy for me.

I'm still at bhekasana now, and I'm not really in a hurry to get anywhere else. The ankle is still a little problematic, but on the mend. My feet still don't touch the floor in bhekasana..and I asked D if they should..and he said I should work towards it. There really isn't any big issue with my practice right now except for jumping back from dandasana. I don't expect I will be lifting and jumping back so soon..so thats going to take a while.

I don't really have a whole lot to write..just wanted to write about my class like I always do. Oh and another observation I have is that I have stopped sweating much nowadays..I don't know if its the weather (it was cool last nite)..or I'm improving..

Today's class

2007-08-25T01:10:00.000+08:00

So today was D's inversion mania flow class. I haven't been there for a few weeks. Nice.

Usual sequence..but the good thing about a predictable sequence is that I know what needs work and can gauge if I am making progress.. And apparenly there were improvements..yay!

I got into koundinyasana I both sides for once! I guess my stomach crunches and oblique work has paid off, and on the right side..I was so stable, it felt like I could stay there forever. Left side was harder, but I could lift my leg off the floor and straighten them..and thats an achivement for me.

I still can't get into version 2 though..where you are in some sort of split..I can't seem to get my elbows near the hips, which I think is a major help with balance. Apparently, it was brought to my notice lately that I have relatively short upper arms..and that makes things like mayurasana and this kind of balances tricky because I'm not in the right position to leverage my body. I found this out from one of my teachers - C. However I don't think that means I can't do the pose..just that it will make things a little harder.

My balance was not great in pincha mayurasana..and I guess it will have to be my new project now..to try to balance there. I absolutely held my handstand today though..I'm not sure if it was because my little trick with the tapping the back thigh worked..or it was just a fluke. I stayed there for quite a few breaths..I don't know how many..perhaps 6-7?? Anyhow it was long enough for me to notice that it felt absolutely weightless, that my legs were squeezing in towards the midline..and that it felt really easy..hahah..well for that few seconds anyway! D just came by and told me to stay there and not move;)

Kapotasana was also surprising easy to get into today. I didn't get the heels no doubt..but walking the hands in to my feet was much easier than the previous few times.. We did that 2 times today. Cool.

Nothing else was really new today, but I enjoyed it nonetheless because I don't usually do much arms balances on my own..this class is a great palce for me to get some practice in doing them. Generally I think I did pretty well;)

Mysore class 23 August 2007

2007-08-23T23:16:00.000+08:00

Mysore again today. Ankle still hurts, so modified a few ankle intensive stuff..mari B & D on the left..supta k (or rather left that out entirely).No new pose..and no new progress..still felt great after class though..did a couple of handtands..and D said they were good..but my balance is still bad..and I keep wobbling around..apparently the balance has a good deal to do with focus..and D kept asking me to look at a point on the floor and concentrate hard. He did say my alignment is good..and my body is nicely stacked..I just have to keep it more stable..

I was tempted to try this new tip I found on handstands..and later heard on an mp3 from O2 Yoga teacher Mimi Loureiro..who said to try to tap the back foot onto the top leg to help with balance..but its rather crim to do that in mysore..so I didn't. I might try it tomorrow at home.

D sat on my knees again for bhekasana..and its not fun to be pinned down on the floor in that position..however once he got me to relax the shoulders and he did the work of lifting my shoulders back..its quite comfy actually.

Didn't have any other memorable moments in class.although I noticed I've been able to slow my breath down quite a bit recently..and not zoom through as fast as I usually do. It makes the suryas much more relaxing..but I also seem to sweat less..hmm..I'm not sure if that is good or bad..

On another note..I went for an interview recently with a studio which is going to be newly set up in town. I was actually asked to take up a full time teaching job there..but I told the interviewer I just recently changed jobs..and would have to take a while to ease into being a full time teacher. There's also a great TTC offered..but I'll only have the details next week..and will post on that later..

Led primary

2007-08-22T14:09:00.000+08:00

I went to a led primary series class yesterday. Haven't been to one in ages. It was alright, except that I was really not used to following the teacher, C's count. Thats the difference between mysore and led. Once you get used to following your own breath, its just not fun anymore to have to wait for instructions.

Nothing very interesting happened, except that I got my feet binded in Supta K with hands binded, but my head had to rest on my feet instead of behind the feet. Like I said my torso is too long to curl under, so unless I get it behind my head, I'm always ending up with the feet too close to my head to cross in front.

I've been consistently getting into eka pada shirshasana lately, at least right side with minimal fuss. I can sit pretty comfortably with hands in namaste in front. I'm waiting for the left side to get loose enough for me to try dwi pada, cos at the moment the left side is still exerting a lot of pressure on my neck and threatening to slip off but I feel it shouldn't take that long cos my hips have been really loosening up. I think the most helpful thing has been getting comfortable in tarasana with the feet in front of my head, sorta like a loose baddha konasana. Thats helped me immensely with foot behind head.

On the jumpbacks front, there has been not much progress. My lifts are getting a little easier, but its still not helping in swinging back into chatturanga. I end up hitting the floor all the time and then having to hop back from there. But I guess its just a lot of practice..and I think I will one day be able to do it.

I have an interview with a new studio afterwards to demo some teaching and also do some asanas for the interviewer. I'm gonna warm up after this to make sure I can get into stuff without heat afterwards. We'll see how that goes.

Not really Ashtanga related post..

2007-08-17T23:56:00.000+08:00

Didn't practice today...had to do some socializing cos I'm trying to avoid becoming an Ashtanga hermit..cos I'm too obsessed with practice..hehe.

I'm starting a new job next week..which requires a bit of travelling around Asia Pacific. I hope that still leaves me time to practice, and also teach some classes. My future boss (well actually my ex-boss as well, since I've worked for him before) has already arranged my training in Singapore in 2 weeks time. I'll certainly try to sneak some time in to visit J again if possible. The good news is that I'm not going to be working a 5 day week on this job. I told my boss-to-be that I want some flexibilities so that I can teach yoga..and surprisingly he agreed to it..so its a cool arrangement that I can live with.

The ankle was bothering me a little today, especially since I spent my whole day tottering around in high heels. It also didn't help that there was a strange guy trailing me around during lunch time when I went shopping at one of the malls..hmmm. I had to walk real fast to try to lose him. Anyhow, he managed place himself right next to me while I was in Borders..and I really thought he was a little pyscho, but he said hi to me..and I guess he was just trying to hit on me..hhahah. Nope, I didn't flirt back..I'm not too used to being picked up in bookshops...

I bought an ab wheel today..Its one of those things you use to roll about on the floor to strengthen the back, arms, shoulders and abs. I'm hoping to try it out after this to see if it works...I will report back soon.

Mysore Class 16 August 2007

2007-08-16T23:40:00.001+08:00

So..I DID make it to class today..ahem..its once a week..if I miss it I'll have to wait another whole week to do my practice in class! I have to say I do much better in class compared to home practice..must be the exhibitionist or competitive nature or something..but anyhow..I always try to do my best while in class..and it usually works well.

No new pose today though..I would have guessed not, since I had to modify all my lotus poses and also avoided D's adjustment in Supta K cos I told him my ankle can't take it. I also had to modify tiriang mukha and bhekasana cos the position of my feet stressed out my ankle.

Well nothing really stood out except for some reason my dropping back and standing up was extremely smooth going..and I just didn't want to stop at 3..and went and did maybe 6. It just felt really easy for some reason today..D stopped standing around to make sure I don't crash in my dropbacks today..so I went ahead and took liberty at doing a few more. I feel like asking him if he can help me out with my ankle grabbing...J gave them to me while I was at his shala in Singapore...but I never mentioned it to D..(I'm not sure if its valid since J isn't my main teacher..and I should by right trust D's judgement instead since he is the one teaching me consistently..) So anyhow no ankle grabbing for me..and I doubt D will ask me to do it..since he has NEVER asked anyone to try it..

My teacher was also teaching the strong guy I mentioned a few posts ago to press up into a handstand with straight legs. Good god..how do you do that? I think its gonna take me forever to lift my feet off the floor..But D kinda just lifted them almost as easily as going into a headstand! Sigh...

I hope my ankle recovers soon..cos it is a pain to have to modify so many poses..and next week I have a demo for a new teaching job at a studio..and I do hope my ankle won't be a hindrance then.

Crashing out of a handstand

2007-08-15T23:14:00.000+08:00

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..

11 August self practice

2007-08-11T21:12:00.000+08:00

Practice was nice today, though I did venture off the usual series and did some experimentation. One thing I've observed lately is that I no longer need to do warm up stretches before hand to get comfortable in practice. Last time, because of my stiff hips, I've always had to do some hips opening like sukhasana or sit in pigeon. Now I can start surya namaskaras and that warms me up enough. Perhaps with more backbends added to my practice, I may have to work on shoulders and quads in the future before starting, but at the moment, I'm happy to report I can stop the futzing around and just start.

I got into eka pada sirshasana on the right, and could sit with my hands in namaste in front of me..without holding! Bending forward, I still had to hold on tight though. The left side was not so great though..I still had to hold on to prevent the leg from coming off both sitting and bending forward. I also did dwi pada viparita dandasana today.

I also went and did my few second series poses..cos I reckon I need to do bhekasana to help with my ever stiffening hip flexors and quads. I've never managed to get my feet to the floor in bhekasana. I don't know if I can go forward without getting the feet to the floor. D sat on my knees the other day in mysore class and pulled my shoulders back to open the chest. I reckon that did something to my SI joint. But I feel fine today though..no serious problem.

Also I don't know how come I could get into a pretty decent dwi pada viparita dandasana today. Usually my shoulders are a little too tight to achieve much height in the backbend, but today was nice and open..and I swear I looked like that woman in YJ..(yup..i bought myself a huge mirror and put it into my room to view myself..vain and narcissistic..) I was pretty impressed with myself!

Anyhow, jumpbacks are still more or less where it was all along..which means they are still sucky. Anyhow, I'm doing them as best I can...hopefully it starts to get better soon..

Mysore Class 9 August 2007

2007-08-09T23:39:00.000+08:00

Today's practice was dedicated to my dog, who after 10 years with us, had to be put down yesterday due to some serious urinary problems. I hope he will be a good boy wherever he is now and rest in peace.

Despite having a really bad night last night, thinking of my dog, today's practice was really one of the best I've had in ages. Although I did manage to tweak my back on the right SI area...its still kinda achey right now. I think it was from being adjusted in Bhekasana..which I got today. It did cheer me up a little.

Anyhow I don't know what happened but I was incredibly strong today (still no jump backs though). Everything felt really lifty and solid, and my jump throughs were so floaty I was kinda impressed myself! I did crash on my face in the bakasana after Supta K though...despite being "impressively" strong by my standards ;p anyhow D said that its coming along...

And of course I got bhekasana today..which was most unexpected..considering I just got the two salabhasanas last week. I thought I'd have to wait a few weeks for anything new!

Knees, lifting and backbends..

2007-08-06T23:40:00.000+08:00

I tweaked my left knee...I don't think its very serious..but I can hear it clicking when I bend it..There's also a pinchy feeling when I bend it.

I hope it gets better soon...I reckon its because I did samakonasana in class today..hatha class in the studio. I haven't tried it for a while..and who knew I could sink all the way to the floor..I was surprised too..BUT..when I was getting out of it..I had to prop myself up on the elbows to get up..and I think I did something to the knee while squirming out of the pose..hmmm...

I have been practising primary the past few days on my own. I can jump back from bakasana pretty consistently now..Its strange that just a few weeks ago I was completely clueless and now its actually quite fun to jump out of it. I've also been really doing my take it up lifts in nearly every vinyasa. Very tiring, but its getting easier to do now though. I just do not believe that I can't do this, when some people make it look so effortless to lift up and jump back. I am sure that one day I WILL do it!;P

I just have to say that my backbends have been pretty comfortable lately thanks to some research stuff I've been throwing in before practice. I've been really stretching out my hip flexors via lunges, and tucking the tailbone under to get to the top of the thighs, and also lying in supta virasana before practice, because my hip flexors were tightening up a lot. However this seems to really pay dividends when it comes to backbends. I notice it makes it easier to keep my feet parallel in backbends, and I can extend my hips more..and also keep the bend from going all the way to my lunbar too much..

The other thing that helps immensely are the shoulder stretches I've been doing lately..rotating my arms with the strap, and also dropping from urdhva dhanurasana onto my elbows to try to work my upper chest and shoulders. It really does work..backbending have been pretty comfy lately..

Mysore class 2 August 2007

2007-08-02T22:57:00.000+08:00

Was really tired out today. Bandhas disappearing everywhere..even my flexibility was a little suspect...actually found it hard to bind Supta K again! Thats not happened for a few weeks already!

Its THAT time of the month for me...nevertheless, I went ahead for class..and the result is a noticeably weaker practice...it REALLY does make a difference. I never really realised that all this while, I guess mainly because I didn't practice so consistently last time..but now, I can really tell that my strength is much weaker while menstruating. Odd though that I was also stiffer than usual though.

I got the 2 salabhasanas today..yippeee!! despite bombing out all the vinyasas. BUT I did jump back from bakasana on the way out of bhuja..;) So maybe D was a little impressed that I made some progress and decided to give me a new pose...or perhaps because the class was so empty today..that he didn't have a lot to do..and decided to give me a new pose.

Anyhow..I've been doing salabhasana for ages..since I started yoga..so this definitely wasn't difficult. Keeping the feet together is not that fun though..my hamstrings had to work quite hard.

Skipped handstanding though cos I was really tired out by then. I also got to talk to D about the state of my (non-existent) bandhas. He said to do lots of sit ups and concentrate on the navasana lifts. All my teachers are agreement with one thing...that I have weak abs...;( And even though to me, I've made some noticeable improvements compared to 1 year ago..its really still sucky at best. D also demonstrated jumping back for me, cos I told him I recently was taught to wriggle my butt back to jump back..and I asked him if that was the only way to practice jumping back..and he did the perfect jumpback for me to see..of course..but I couldnt do it at all. No help there...seems the only way to do it..is to ACTUALLY try to do it badly until it gets good..

I'm quite excited...I wonder how long its gonna take me to get to kapotasana?? I've always wanted to do it officially...but it seems to be taking forever to get a new pose..Anyhow..J told me while I was at his shala that I will get seriously stuck after the first six poses of intermediate because of my lack of bandhas...I don't know why he said that..maybe to make sure I work on bandha building in the meantime..I do know for sure bakasana is probably really unmanageable for me...but thats really too far off to think about now..

Oh..I've been walking back and forth through my arms yesterday to kinda do my vinyasas cos I was too lazy to do the lift up...it actually takes effort to walk my feet back and walk it back forward between the arms again...I had to really shorten my torso to get through...I reckon I should do that as part of my vinyasas sometimes because I think its better at building bandhas than my straight leg version. And obviously since I can't jump back anyway..this is a good "cheating" alternative..;)

My Favourite YouTube Videos

2007-07-29T12:36:00.000+08:00

28 July 2007 Self Practice

2007-07-29T00:12:00.000+08:00

I jumped back from bakasana today.

I reckon this is momentous enough to me to blog about...so I had to write this.. maybe really insignificant for people who have never had any issues with bandhas..but this was BIG for me!
I did it in the bakasana J made me do after utkatasana. I tried it a few times after that, and managed to get back...but it was not as good as the first time..which means to say that I got all the way back, but landed either on the top of my feet or on my shins..but bottomline is I got back all the way to the bottom of my mat!!! YIPPEE!

I think its about lifting the hips high before jumping back...and getting my toes to touch in bakasana and lifting it way up to my butt..it makes a big difference...now I just have to make sure I end up in a high hipped bakasana everytime..

I am beginning to believe that I can do ANY asana...with practice;)

Jump through with crossed legs..;)

2007-07-27T23:29:00.000+08:00

Yes..I did it...;) a little backward maybe...since I've been jumping with straight legs from the start..but I managed it with crossed legs for the first time today!!!!

Seems to require a bit more bandhas than my straight legged version...and straightening the legs from there into dandasana is much harder to do...BUT..I DID IT! YAY!;) Actually I wasn't even attempting it in the first place..I just forgot to straighten my legs on the way through and ended up scrunched up into a ball getting through the arms..and hey..that was it.. I did try it a few more times..and it is harder work..but I still generally prefer the straight leg version...just feels much smoother and lighter...Am sure J would disagree..but hey he's not around to watch my practice..;P

I also managed to do lolasana for the first time without blocks. Its bloody hard work...I think the hamstrings have to work quite abit though...unless I'm doing it wrong and its not supposed to be like that. What gave me lift was mostly abs, arms strength..and contracting my hamstrings like crazy to lift the feet off the mat...its much much much harder than the normal cross feet lift up version.....I wonder if this will help me with jumpbacks...??

Nothing else is new..I was trying out all sorts of stuff today instead of doing primary series...did koundinyasana..the twisted version..and still can't scissors my legs on the left side...and then I tried the koundinyasana splits version..and couldn't even lift my back leg off the mat..Jumping back from bakasana is still a huge no-no for me...I always crash at the same spot..about halfway back and on my knees...

Was extremely adventurous today..and did kapotasana as well...walked my hands to the feet and got it pretty ok...like I said the last time..my shoulders are stiff..and I knew I was taking all the bend in the lower back as usual...other than that..it was respectable by my standards..didn't get the heels though..

I've also decided that I need some new research poses to try now that my hips have opened up a bit..before this I'd always worked on my hips so I could get into supta K..lately supta K is getting much better..so I reckon I need a new project...

I think perhaps some additional core stuff and shoulder work would be perfect..since I reckon those are problematic for me. Perhaps more lolasana, bakasana, stomach crunches and tolasana would not hurt..and I also found some pretty interesting shoulder stuff in Erich Schiffman's book which involves using a strap to hold on to while rotating the arms...I might give those a try.

Mysore Class July 26 2007

2007-07-26T23:39:00.000+08:00

My teacher is back. So class was on as usual. Quite a few new faces..replacing my familiar regular classmates. Don't know where they went..

There was this incredibly strong guy practising next to me in class with unbelievably strong jumpbacks. I was green with envy. He still had to drag his feet a little to get back, but after that..it was WHOOSH..hang time in the air..then incredibly soft landing. Now WHEN am I gonna get to that stage??!!!! Besides that he was pretty flexible as well, although there were some poses he was still a little stiff at. Noticeably the backbends...I wonder if there is a correlation between strong bandhas/stiff backs and weak bandhas/flexy backs...??

On my own practice...hmm..I lost my jumpthroughs the first couple of times..landing with a big thud..but then I decided I wasn't gonna let the bandha boy next to me hear me crash land...sucked in uddiyana..and managed some respectably soft landings after that.

I was nice and open throughout though..hamstrings, hips, backbends..all went well. Binded the tortoise over the head (with minimal help from D..and he crossed the left foot over right instead...??) and lifted into dwi pada..got back to bakasana..and couldn't jump back. Bhuja was good..went down, came up..got back from the whole tithibasana/bakasana thing..and jumped back 1 foot and landed on my knees...OWW..

Everything was good except my jumpbacks..they suck..they STILL suck..and I wonder how long they will continue sucking?

No new pose..I think D probably has the same criteria for me for advancement in second series as J has...jump back from bakasana. I don't know how long this jumping back business is gonna take...gosh I do hope its not going to be a longggg timeee....

Taking a break

2007-07-23T20:50:00.001+08:00

Hmm..I'm skipping practice today..I reckon I already don't observe moondays and 6 days a week practice and practice almost daily, so perhaps I need to give my body a break. I really should start observing moondays etc. Its not that I'm tired out, but I've recently lost a lot of weight..from my own and everyone else's observation. I'm not stick thin, but my pants are definitely loose and baggy now...

Today I bumped into someone who asked me if I'm ok, cos I lost so much weight since the last time I saw him..I'm not particularly obsessed with my weight, but seems if everyone is saying this, I might really be overdoing things and need to take some days off.

Just went to the scales...hmm..according to the scales, I'm about 117 pounds, about 53 kgs..which actually is not much different to how much I've weighed most of my life...and at 5 feet 6, I think I'm normal, its just that I seem to have lost a lot of fat and put on muscle... wow who knew having muscles instead of fat makes one look so much thinner!

So anyhow, apart from this weighty issue, my practice last few days has been so so. No progress yet with jumpbacks..from sitting or from bakasana. However, I remember the days when I couldn't get down in bhujapidasana and when my feet couldn't get through the arms, and I thought I'd never be able to do it, and now its kinda easy...surely if I could get past that, the day will come when I can also jump back!??

I'm going to do some internet research now and see if any of the message boards have good tips for me for jumpbacks...

Jumping back is soooo hard....

2007-07-18T22:30:00.000+08:00

My teacher is still injured, so no mysore tomorrow. Bleecckk..

Anyhow, I've been pretty consistent with practice the past few days, trying hard to incorporate J's comments into my home practice. However, my wrists are hurting even MORE than they used to hurt before...even with the clawing thing that I do with the hands that J showed to me. Sigh...my wrists are really small and weak...I wonder if we can build muscles in the wrists..??

Besides that, I've tried to lift and pull my butt through on the jump backs as best I can in the vinyasas..its REALLY tiring. I bet this is contributing to my wrist aches. I'm guessing that I look horrible doing it..I get stuck with my feet on the ground when trying to swing back and end up having to walk my feet backwards and then hop back from there. J told me to do it everyday for the next 3-6 months and do it at least 300 times..;P hahaha..actually 3 hundred times is not a lot..I think if I jump back after each seated asana per practice (including between sides) I'd be doing over 25 per practice!!! That works out to only 12 practices...hahhaha. He said that I just need to be able to do it properly once...and then it should be easy..BUT I think it probably will be closer to 3000 times before that one time ever happens.

Anyhow..I think I made a mistake with my last post..J said I can do second series once I can jump back from bakasana on the vinyasa out of bhuja and supta k...not jumpback from dandasana. He also gave me an extra bakasana after utkatasana to work on, so that I can try and jump back from there too.. I've been cheating on those jumpbacks by using a gym ball which I straddle and then practice rolling from plank to bakasana and then lifting my hips high into a mini criminal handstand and then rolling back from there.. its tough work!! even with the ball I'm feeling my stomach work overtime to keep myself up. After a few attempts with the ball I did try the actual jump back from bakasana..and I managed to hop maybe 1 foot backwards..and crashed on my knees..jeeez..

Also I've lost my jumpthroughs in the process..if sooo frustrating! I was jumping through really great for the past few weeks and then now its back to crash landing! I don't know whats the problem..except maybe I've been forgetting the "Mona Lisa" smile thingy that Richard Freeman recommends doing..Also..I DO think one big difference between the times I can float and the crash landing has been my gaze...if I drop my head just when I am jumping and look down..the hips move in a nice arch up, which makes the vinyasa floaty...and when I land, I lift my head up and I float...when I don't do this..I crash. I KNOW there is a difference, but I can't seem to duplicate this when I consciously think about it...its only when I have completely no thoughts when jumping through that I can land reasonably well..

Anyway I'm not supposed to practice my straight legged jump throughs anymore according to J. Its apparently not much of a bandha builder...

I do wish we had a shala here that I can go to...it would be great! I learnt so much stuff from J..it would be really fun to practice with him more often..also he's very funny..in a "tough" kinda way..ahhaha

I went to my Iyengar class at the studio yesterday. I missed K's class last week because I was in Singapore. It was fun with chairs, blocks and straps as usual. Also we got to do handstands..I've never had him teach handstands before..I had a good time helping my partner who has never kicked up into handstand, get up there. K is really funny as well..he is soo serious sometimes that it just cracks me up!

Wow...first time in a real shala!

2007-07-13T18:03:00.000+08:00

Yup I went down to Singapore and went to a real shala for the first time. My arms are hurting so much from all the "attempted" jumpbacks that I'm planning to skip practising today and give myself a break...

There are 2 shalas in Singapore and I wasn't sure which one to go to. Nonetheless as luck will have it, I could only find the phone no of 1 of them. So I ended up in Shala ____.

I certainly have no regrets..I learnt a whole lot from J who teaches there. I'd already expected that he would pick up on the fact that I have lousy bandhas...but he went at it with a vengence...and I had to attempt each and every jumpback with earnest..instead of cheating my way through them..The cool part was that he pulled me back from a lift up 5 or 6 times..and got me through my arms..to sort of throw me back to chatturanga, so that means I can ACTUALLY do it..if I had the strength. I'd always suspected that my long torso and short arms meant jumping back was next to impossible.

Besides that he did the same assist for me in all the tithibasana and bakasana jumpbacks ..and it feels really cool. However, I really don't know how I'm supposed to do it on my own...I also learnt that I'm putting too much weight into my wrists, and was told to claw the floor to activate my arm muscles so that it gives more support to my forearms and wrists. Its really great stuff, cos no one's ever told me that before..and I hope it'll help fix my wrist problem.

Also..he told me that I should try to jump through with crossed legs instead of having them straight..apparently I'm using my ability to fold myself into half to help me get through and not using any bandhas...shucks..just when I've managed to do it really softly and with control..J said it looks beautiful..but doesn't help to work on my bandhas at all..so my homework is to work on doing it with legs crossed.

Other than that..he helped me walk my hands in to my feet in UD yesterday. Amazing, I've never tried it before. Didn't attempt any ankle grabbing though cos I was so shocked at feeling my own feet I think he thought better than to have me do anything more. But it wasn't that bad..I felt a bit of pinch in the lower back, but it wasn't as intense as kapotasana..the intensity was more in the chest and shoulders, rather than in the lower back. J said I should start working on grabbing my ankles..and then the knees and then my own butt!! Unfortunately though, I doubt D will be so adventurous with me in mysore..he is rather conservative when it come to backbends. Other than that, J taught me to lift my chest while dropping back, which I have to say makes the drop back feel extremely good. And even the standing up felt much better and lighter when I lift my chest. Very cool..I will definitely incorporate this new tip into my practice!

Lots of interesting tips I got from this trip. I did have to forgo some shopping excursions to make 2 trips to class while I was in Singapore. Well worth it though!

So generally, J says I have absolutely no control over my bandhas (ok..that bit hurt a little..because I thought I did have some control!). He did say I had strength that I don't know how to use, and instead use my flexibility in everything I could get away with. I had some miserable attempts at jumping back which I'm sure looked really bad...like I had to drag my ass through my arms to get the feet through, but still no light at the end of the tunnel as to how to swing back gracefully. So J told me to focus my attention on jump backs..and I shouldn't do second series until I could do that. Ahem...I'm certainly not going to tell D that..I'm gonna hold on dearly to my 2 second series poses!

Anyway I went through the whole primary series on Tuesday, and didn't get stopped. Yesterday though J told me to work on all the jumping back and I was so pooped by bhujapidasana that he told me to just do backbends after that. Apparently I have no issues with the asanas as far as he is concerned. The fact that I had a hard time crossing my feet in supta k was not something he was very concerned with. He just told me my torso was long (common Asian trait it seems) and that I should instead work on dwi pada, because its pretty impossible to cross my feet when my head is in the way while I'm on the floor. Hmm...problem is I'm already struggling with eka pada...let alone dwi pada!

Overall, I'd love to have the opportunity to practice with J again. I'd definitely try to make another trip down to Singapore..but not in the near future. Anyhow J says to do my homework on the jumpbacks, and that should help with my bandha control..I'm taking that to heart and really make an effort there and see if there will be any improvements..

Oh..and yes..I have to gloat a bit cos he told me I did very well..and I can be very good (I guess provided I learn to use my bandhas!)

2007-07-09T00:22:00.000+08:00

I can't add a title..whats wrong with Blogger??

I don't know what I've done to the template...I can no longer enter anything into the title field...its irritating me no end...

So backbends workshop this morning...well..it was ok. I kinda know most of the stuff about backbends that our trainer talked about..mostly about internal rotation of the legs, using bandhas to support the backbends, softening the ribs in so as not to arch too much (well..this one I learnt from the same trainer in her previous workshop). What was interesting was that in UD, we were told to do it with arms the same way we do downward dog. I've never really done it the way that I was asked to do anyway, with the elbow eyes pointing down to the floor in downward dog. I've always kinda ignored it and down it the way I like which is to have my elbow eyes pointing a little bit more the the side than downwards. Anyhow, apparently this was not a good way to do it, and we were to do the same in UD. The elbow eyes pointing straight to the front. I don't find it very comfortable to be honest, and it doesn't seem to give my shoulders much of a stretch...I've really got to research this and see if thats the way people do UD.. None of my mysore teachers have ever corrected my arm positions for UD...

Other than that, not that much else was really a revelation. We got to practice some backbends..of note padangusta dhanurasana, which was fun to do..and loosened up my back so much that when I taught my class at the gym this evening, my back felt really loose and bendy.
Overall, it was good to have a review of all the concepts involved in backbends...it was only a 3 hour workshop, so we didn't get to cover much about inversions, except handstands. But most of the handstand concepts I had already learnt from my other teachers, so it wasn't very new to me.

2007-07-07T14:04:00.000+08:00

Looking forward to my backbending workshop tomorrow morning with the same Aussie teacher from my anatomy workshop. Its focused on backbends and inversions only, so I'm quite enthusiastic to learn what I can from it.

I've totally butchered my Ashtanga class at the gym today...I've turned it into a flow class, with no further resemblance to Ashtanga...I feel bad...but my students don't really appreciate the Ashtanga sequence much..and have been asking me to teach them new things...so I caved into popular demand..so..its now hatha vinyasa..and I wish the gym would just change the name of the class for me.. but the class went down well..I think people at the gym crave sweat and variety..and its difficult to keep people coming back if I don't go by popular demand..sigh..

Other than that, I'd also like to report some strange things happening to my abs. They are much stronger..as in suddenly very much stronger to the extent I can actually feel them pulling me up in things like crow and side crow and jump throughs etc...and my psoas is tightening up like nobody's business. I'm wondering if these 2 things are related? I've never had much luck with abs strength...but this recent development is really interesting.

I'm going to Singapore next week. I've emailed a few shalas there to ask if they would take me in for a day or 2..hoping for the affirmative...I've never practised with an authorized teacher..so it would be so cool if I had the opportunity. No reply yet though...

No class..

2007-07-06T00:10:00.000+08:00

No class today as my teacher has injured himself...I've heard conflicting stuff about him injuring his ankle..and someone else saying he injured his back...anyhow..bottomline is he is injured and out of action at least for a week or so....hmmm..

So...I went for a fitball class instead..hahha. It was quite fun. We did a tonne of core related stuff on the gym ball, and things like side crow, crow, kneeling on the ball, pincha and vrishikasana on the ball.. it was cool! I actually find it much easier to do the arm balances on the ball, it gives just the right amount of support..and still feels like I'm actually doing the pose..I did fall on my face a few times though..

But anyhow, I missed primary series, so believe or not, I came home and went through half the series up to baddha konasana. I don't feel too tired out either, cos I skipped my vinyasas sometime during the marichyasanas. And of course with a loony smile on my face all the time because I've decided that there really IS something to this smiling and mula bandha connection. I think it makes everything lighter somewhat, especially vinyasas. I can't put my finger on whether its enhancing mula bandha or whatever, but there is a difference. Richard Freeman likes to say that its to keep the palate soft, but I don't know if that has anything to do with bandhas.

I've got to admit that its either this smiling thing working, or my core has definitely become stronger recently. I've also gotten a lot more awareness of the abdominal area, like I feel my muscles much more, not only when practising, but also during the day..when I'm just sitting or walking around. I'm also happy to discover that I didn't feel strained doing all the core stuff involved in the fit ball class at all. It was relatively easy, and I'm sure this would not have been the case if I did not practice ashtanga.

I also got into eka pada shirshasana today for fun. I almost binded both feet and hands on my own today in supta kurmasana. I could feel my fingers just brush, and my feet were crossed in front of the head. So, I couldn't resist sitting up and getting the leg up behind my head. Its actually getting easier. The right leg stays there pretty well, I can almost feel that I can soon remove my hands. The left side is still tight, and needs my hands to hold on tight otherwise it would slip off my back. I think the key being that my hamstrings have lenghtened a little while in external rotation and the hips are more open. Before this I'd always thought it was the hips that restricted me, but I realise that a big part of the problem was that my hamstrings were tight when my legs were externally rotated. It has no problems with straightforward forward bending though...I think (and I'm keeping my fingers crossed) that I'm pretty near opening up the stuff that needs to open to do leg behind head properly, if I just work on it consistently enough.

Also all the forward bending in primary series has done some evil stuff to my hip flexors. Its chronically tight. I have to stretch it out now and again throughout the day otherwise it seems to just bunch up around my hips. And the handstands have gotten to my shoulders..and I can feel the left side tightening up whenever I do downward dog and UD. I reckon I really need to start some more backbending practice to counter all the forward bends and handstands, otherwise I might start sliding in the backbends department. D is nowhere close to giving me any pf the backbends from second series at the moment. It doesn't seem to strike him that I should progress..hmmm.

So, I think I'm going to add some crim backbends into my home practice..perhaps ustrasana and bhekasana, and also viparita dandasana for my shoulders. I've tried viparita dandasana before, but find that I have really little mobility in the shoulders...it wouldn't hurt to keep working on that..

Smiling and mula bandha??

2007-07-03T23:01:00.000+08:00

I came across a post somewhere about smiling and its connection with Mula Bandha. I also have Richard Freeman's practice series, with him advocating "smiling softly to yourself" while practising. SOOO...I smiled at myself throughout practice just now. AND...I actually think it helps my Mula Bandha!!

I don't know if this is purely psychological or if it actually works, but I think it does..it certainly didn't make things worse. So everytime I jumped through, I smiled at myself..luckily no one can see me when I practice, they might think I'm a loony. And my jump throughs were nice and soft. I am not sure if that was due to my overall stronger abs and pelvic muscles or the smile added and extra oommpff..

Anyhow, its a very subtle contraction that I feel when I "smile", as opposed to the strong pelvic tuck that I have been doing to make sure I have mula bandha "on" before this. It was reaally fun to try out today and I guess I'd be doing quite a bit of smiling in practice in the future ;)

Fell out of scorpion..

2007-06-29T21:23:00.000+08:00

I fell out of vrischikasana today in class. It was pretty terrifying. I thought I was going to break my back...but fortunately I'm fine now with no apparent damage done. I was at D's class today, its a kinda advanced flow class, but not that flowey cos mostly everyone had to migrate to the walls for most of the inversions.

So like the last time, we did all the usual suspects for inversions...handstands, forearm balance, headstands and also D's favourite stuff ..arm balances like koundinyasana and bakasana etc. I've found out that I can only balance one side in koundinyasana. I think my obliques are stronger on the right, and it was pretty easy to twist that way but on the left, I could hardly lift my feet off the mat, let alone scissors them!

Other than that D introduced scorpion today..and my back was pretty bendy from doing UD and kapotasana mid way through class so it was WAY too easy to bend my back and have my legs collapse all the way to the floor from pincha. Unfornately it was also so WAY bendy I had no strength in the core to get them up from the floor. So D came over to try to lift my hips back up...and as things will have it, I fell over on my side in the same deep backbend..and for a second there thought I'd done it and broken my back...but well..nothing seems to be wrong..I don't even feel a twinge now in the back...luckily. D told me after that to just stay with the feet on the wall...I think I must have scared him too;P He said my abs were too soft ..(ie weak I think..but he was too polite to use that word..)

Other than that kapotasana today..hmmm..as usual I can get my head all the way between my feet, but I couldn't get my hands back to the heels..only mid foot. My shoulder is really really stiff...I can't seem to eek out any bend from them and have to rely on the hips extension and bendy lower back to get into all these backbends...I reckon its really a waste because my upper spine is actually pretty bendy as well..but because my shoulder can't rotate around, I can't really use that bend much at all...when I got home just now, I went straight for my block and did some shoulder stretches with my elbows on the chair and head hanging down like this one. It felt like my deltoids and triceps were going to snap.

Sigh...all things considered..I wish I could get my abs stronger quicker...it always seems to be the thing that gets me into trouble in poses....

Fatigue..

2007-06-28T23:15:00.000+08:00

Its been a long while since I've felt this tired during practice. I think perhaps practicing during the "time of the month" may have something to do with it. Anyhow either that or my before class shoulder stretches weakened my triceps so much that my arms couldn't make it through the vinyasas sometime during the marichyasanas. I've not felt this fatigued since my 1st few mysore classes last year!

Anyway as things will have it, when strength gives..I always seem to gain some extra flexibility..so I was extra flexy today, it felt like I could more or less slide into my poses. Kurmasana and supta k was good. In fact I could finally lift into dwi pada and stay there for a while nicely bounded. I lost that ability for months before this, always having to unbind when I lift up. Dropsbacks were also extremely smooth going, I could bend all the way back and not bend my knees to reach the floor though standing back up was a little dodgy though.

But the bandhas and arms strength sucked. I was shaking in handstands and dropped down in ardha dandasana..also a first in ages!

Mixed bag though this practice was, I feel pretty good now, if a little tired out. What am I saying..I always feel good after practice. Still no new pose though..I think maybe D is really serious about me nailing my jumpbacks from tithibasana before giving me anything new. I don't know. As far as I know, my "holes" in practice now are mainly the jumpbacks, and garba. I still have a pretty spastic garba at the moment, arms can't seem to get through all the way to elbows, and hands reaching my face. Supta K is actually pretty decent recently.

So..I'll be patient and wait. Krounchasana is a comfortable place to stay at right now..second series backbends can't be THAT far away...now if only my strength returns soon..

Anatomy workshop Part II

2007-06-24T22:31:00.000+08:00

I did gain some interesting insights into my own body in this workshop, among them:

1. Strengthening opposing muscle groups can help the muscle we want to target relax more. I kind of know this, but I always thought of it as contracting the opposing muscle group.

2. My internal and external obliques on the right side is much stronger than the left, which explains why I always twist better on the right than the left. I've never really thought about it, but it struck me while listening to the trainer that was why I always seem to need more help twisting to one side than the other.

3. I walk with my feet turned out slightly, which could be the reason my external rotators are WAY too strong and results in all the hip tightness in any kind of external rotations.

4. My adductors must be too weak. This could be the reason I flop so easily into upavista konasana. However strangely enough I think my pectineus is way too tight which is why my knees still stay up in baddha konasana if I don't spend some time pressing it down.

5. My right hamstring is looser than the left, which could be why my right quadriceps is soo much tighter than the left one. All these imbalances are sooo strange..

6. My habit of arching the chest so much may be the reason my back flexion is very limited. Also I think I don't really know how to engage my upper abdominal muscles because I spend most of the time arching and hence not working the abs in that area. It could also be the reason I have extremely weak core strength.

Soooo...considering I seem to have a huge bunch of imbalances, I guess I'll have to work on my left obliques, strengthen the adductors and stop arching the chest..

Anatomy workshop

2007-06-23T21:15:00.000+08:00

Wow am I tired today. The workshop started yesterday evening, and will continue over the weekend. This morning I had to teach my class at the gym, so didn't get to go, but was there since after lunch till 5 pm.

Most of the stuff covered on bandhas I kind of know already, but its good that its been clarified altogether in a class. Only thing I find a little unused to is the way the trainer said to do downward facing dog. I've always done it with a slight internal rotation of the legs and feet, but apparently we should remain in neutral and not inward rotate. Also we were told to do downward facing dog without lifting the sit bones too high as that will not allow mula bandha to engage...I'm pretty much used to the lift the sit bones high version. Also I feel that by contracting the bandhas so strongly in downdog, my back was actually rounding instead of lenghtening....I'm not too sure what to think of this..

Other than that I did get some useful teaching cues to that I could include in my classes. As for so other things like not lifting the chest in poses, because this will not be good for breathing, I'm again not sure what to think...I've been used to a diet of being told to lift the chest by almost all my teachers...hmm.

What I did find quite interesting was that the trainer's comment that most yoga teachers and practitioners tend to have flattened thoracic spines. I'm one of those people with flattened spines I think. I have a very curved lumbar spine and a straight thoracic spine as opposed to the convex shape that most people have. Over the years of yoga somehow I think I've learned to stop standing by jutting my ribs out and swaying the back, but my upper spine remained very straight and doesn't really curve forward much. In fact I recently discovered that this was abnormal because 2 of my teacher's commented that my back doesn't round much and looks really flat in flexion. This apparently contributes to my problems with lifting in arms balances like bakasana, tithibasana, and even forward bends like supta kurmasana and karnapidasana. Apaprenly other people can round their backs very easily and I can't.

I've actually tried to do the back rounding thing more often recently, with poses like the hare pose, and karnapidasana. I'm not sure if my spine is permanently flattened..its would explain why I have a good time with backbends but not flexion of the spine.

More updates tomorrow...

Mysore 21 June 2007

2007-06-21T23:29:00.000+08:00

Fantastic! Really nice practice today. Still haven't earned a new pose though..hmmm.

Lets see..I can float, I can get up from bhuja, I could more or less toe bind my supta K, what else could I possibly ask for??? Well, of course a nice jumpback would be even better, and getting a more steady stand up from UD..which has been inconsistent lately, and being able to roll in garba with my hands all the way through instead of stuck halfway....

Anyway, I'm optimistic..small steps will get me there I'm sure. Handstands were off today though, I just felt like I had no strength in my arms to carry me. I think all the jump throughs must have tired me out. Did I mention I can do it softly now...I think I recently discovered mula bandha, which has helped me a lot in jumping forward. Hasn't helped the jumping back much though.

Also I'd admit I was a little drishti challenged today. I was watching one of the guys I always practice with in class, as in we are always in class together..do a dropback;) His first dropback apparently, and I was quite excited for him. D had to hold on to him quite a bit, but he definitely did it;) YAY. He's really dedicated to the practice, and I have seen so much improvements in him, in fact compared to me, since we started mysore the same time, he has improved much more than I have. He started off really quite stiff, and now he's really so much better, today I saw him put his hands on the floor (well almost) in Prasarita C. And his balance in handstands and pincha (crim...we throw that in after handstands) is so much better than mine, I'm jealous! I'm amazed at what practice can do to bodies. Less than 1 year of mysore and self practice has really brought us a long way..

So anyway, I've an anatomy workshop tomorrow, am looking forward to it. I hope its good.

Coincidence?..more psoas tightness..

2007-06-21T00:13:00.000+08:00

Strange...there is a post on yoga.com talking about psoas tightness, just when I'm having this issue. Today the tightness was bad, so I went into the toilet at work to try to stretch it out...

I found that doing a pasvakonasana type pose, really stretching the hand 45 degrees forward and pulling the side of the body long was really helpful in relieving the issue. Gonna do that one more time before bed tonite.

Iliopsoas tightness

2007-06-19T23:22:00.000+08:00

I don't think I've mentioned my recent iliopsoas issues. I'm pretty sure it must be the iliopsoas, because I feel this achiness from my illiac crests down to the tops of my thighs..I don't think it can be any other muscle.

I'm convinced its because of all the forward bending that I do in primary series, and the long holds I put in for supta kurmasana (or my pathetic version of it).

Anyway I've been doing crecent moon lunges a lot lately, without much success. I find that lyiung over my gym ball is a good stretch for that area, especially when I move my head all the way to the floor when lying over the ball, and also strewtch the arms overhead. My 5 UDs wok wonders though...I've been holding them much longer nowadays as I feel they work exactly into the area. Thank gawd there's something to relieve the achiness.

Its much worse when I get u from sitting for a long time or when I get up from a deep forward bend like baddha konasana or supta k. Seems its much worse when my legs are externall rotated when I bend forward.

Hope this thing resolves itself soon..

Doing primary with my DVD..

2007-06-17T14:43:00.000+08:00

Yes..its fun to be led by Richard Freeman;) I mean his DVD ;P

I practiced yesterday along with his DVD. Its refreshing, as I haven't been to a led class for ages. It also slowed me down a lot..usually I move very quickly through the series, but Richard's pace is wayyy slower than how I normally practice. I also find that the things he says makes much more sense now that I have been practising for a while. Previously I always thought he was speaking in Greek because his descriptions of actions are very flowery.

Also for jump thoughs, I'd always jumped on empty, meaning no breath, but in the DVD he says to jump on the inhale and it feels very good, almost like riding a wave of breath, like some people mention. No wonder I have not felt like that on jumping through previously. Very nice to get that feeling.

Ok, am going to sequence my class for this evening now. Hatha yoga at the gym. I really have to remember to slow down a bit for that class. I get the feeling I'm always rushing through things, especially in this class.

June 16 2007

2007-06-16T15:42:00.000+08:00

I've been a little out of action the last week. I have this persistent flu which is kinda a pain...running nose and watery eyes etc. Skipped my mysore class on Thursday..although I really wanted to go. Practiced yesterday though and found that my whole body was stiff as a plank througout. Seems that not practicing for a week can make one forget bandhas...hahaha..in my case anyway. I landed with a huge thud on my but in most of the jump throughs..and couldm't even balance in bhujapidasana on the lift! wow. never thought one week of relative inaction could be so detrimental. However, it did make me realise how important it is to keep up the practice.

I felt great after practice though. I could hear pops all over the body as if my body was tied up in knots after the lack of practice too. I did do some asanas and attended a vinyasa class during the week when I wasn't feeling too sick, but apparently that doesn't help me unknot as primary series does.

Anyhow towards the end, my UDs were strong and I could feel myself getting back to normal. Its really a revelation to feel how different it is when you don't practice and when you do. Makes me more dedicated towards making it a point to practice 6 days a week as much as possible.

Today's class at the gym was great. Even though I woke up stiff as a board, and thought I'd really demo badly, my poses were fine. Also my students told me my instructions were very clear and helpful. I'd like to credit that to my recent Iyengar classes though, because I learnt quite a few things about alignment which was really helpful and which I couldn't wait to share with my class.

Inversions and arm balances

2007-06-12T23:14:00.000+08:00

I went for a vinyasa class today, turned out to be an inversion and arm balance mania class, which I nevertheless enjoyed. Lets see, we did everything from headstand, forearm balance, handstands, wall squares, one leg up wall squares, bakasana, koundinyasana I and II and side crow. Then kapotasana and wheel, with our chests pressed all the way to the wall.

Wow, I haven't had such a tough class since...forever! D really surpassed himself today. Hahaha..am really glad I went though. I really need to be pushed to do things like inversions and arm balances. They are not my forte..I'm more of a forward bend, backbend, twisty type who has a a pretty decent amount of flexibility, but not a lot of strength. So I was pretty pleased with myself for doing the poses pretty well, I must say.

I've recently been able to balance much better in the handstands/forearm balance department. I think the key being muscle memory attained by sneaking in a few seconds balancing here and there. After that, my body seems to adjust and know better what to do in those upside down situations. I DO however collapse into my lower back a bit, which I also used to do in headstands. Bandha issue I think..my bandhas are sucky.

I also got my feet in kapotasana, but felt too stiff to move my hands to the heels. I think I need a tremendous amount of warm up to do that. I wonder if I would be able to do it when I finally work up to kapotasana in intermediate..? As in without all the research poses before hand. I've figured out that my backbends work much better with some quad stretches before hand and also shoulder opening. Without those warm ups, I tend to take all the bend into my lower back, which I reckon is pretty unhealthy.

I failed to get up in koundinyasana II again though. I can't lift the back leg off the mat. Seems like there's no improvement from the last time I did this in C's class. Nevermind..there's always next time I guess.

Ooohh..and guess wut, I'm going to get my passes for the conference coming up in November. I'm going to all of John Scott's classes. I'm so excited, I just can't wait! He's got a workshop on flight dynamics...gosh I'm really looking forward to that!

I'm also going to attend a workshop by an Australian teacher on the 22nd of this month. Its about anatomy and how it relates to asanas. I hope its good.

Well...ok..I've not been doing much of my practice these last few days, mostly because I am having a cold again...I did do some hip stretches and worked it up to kurmasana, supta k and baddha konasana though. I can't afford not to practice those poses as I'm afraid I'll regress at them since I worked pretty hard to get to the point I'm at now..I hope to sneak in a quick practice after I teach my corporate class tomorrow nite.

7 June 2007 Mysore class

2007-06-07T23:45:00.000+08:00

Great class. Am back to normal now mostly. I felt good throughout practice. Supta K is getting a little better, but still can't bind my feet on my own, but its getting much easier to ease my feet together in front of the head. No pain anywhere..thats a major good sign for me.

I can hold my handstands for a few seconds now, and I think I sort of know what it takes to stay up. Still sinking a bit into the lower back, but D just said to make sure I squeeze the bandhas tighter, it should get sorted.

Didn't get a new pose, but I wasn't really expecting one, there's so much stuff I still need to work on...in particular the jumping back parts from the asanas. Haven't made as much as a dent of progress in that respect.

I don't have that much to say other than that, but generally my feelings while going through the series has been comfortable. Its really getting meditative in a way, I just in a way "sail" through it. Maybe thats why I have been feeling blissed out after practice lately. I love this practice!!!;)

2 June 2007

2007-06-02T23:11:00.000+08:00

I'm listening to Tim Miller's introduction to the Yoga Sutras right now...on iHunaman as I type this. I definitely need some brush up on the Yoga Sutras...obviously whatever I learnt in TTC on the sutras have gotten lost somewhere in the grey matter...

Anyhow practice today..was alright. Nothing too interesting happened..except I managed to do eka pada shirshasana today. Am pretty sure it looked quite bad, but I had no mirror to look at, so I can only guess. But I was thrilled that I could do it relatively painlessly, even though I was kinda hunched up like the hunchback of notre dame..I tried supta K first, but since I couldn't get the legs together, I decided to try to put one behind my head first and see if I can get the other.. Obviously Dwi Pada was out of the question, but I do think that if I work on this progressively, I might be able to pull it deeper soon. Then hopefully I can get to working both legs behind my head.

The thing with me is that, my torso is long, and my legs are pretty short. I can bind my hands quite easily, because I am in quite deep in kurmasana, but when I try to cross the legs, even if the legs are snugly over the shoulders and there is no pain anywhere whatsoever, my head gets in the way of me binding my legs. It's very difficult for me to bind in front of my head and wiggle myself under. I need to pull the leg up behind my head instead.

Nothing much else happened in practice today. But I just had to post this eka pada shirshasana thing. I believe this is my key to supta K!!

Mysore 31 May 2007

2007-06-01T00:13:00.000+08:00

Mysore is back on the timetable. It was great! Hahahaha…and I was thinking of not going anymore because I couldn’t get back into the groove with a different teacher. Well..today worked out very well. Supta K is still left unadjusted..mostly..but other than that I think I am getting back the dropbacks and standing up bit. Still WAY wobbly..but at least I can feel my legs working to bring me up.

Handstands have been really good for me lately. I can balance for a few breaths now. But I have stopped bunny hopping up and instead go up by kicking one leg up first. I find it way more energy saving. However, I do think going up with both feet first teaches much more on bandhas and the weightless feeling when I hit that sweet spot. Kicking up with 1 leg first doesn’t quite do it. Nevermind, will work on it both ways.

Other than that D has been working on getting me to jump back from titthibasana after bhuja and supta K (my pathetic version of it). He gets really anal about those jumpbacks for God knows what reason, so I’ve had to really try hard..but still end up crashing down after bakasana. I told him I will get it next class ..(haha..yah right!;P)

Bhuja was pretty good, I almost hovered today…got down to my chin an inch from the floor..and couldn’t believe it myself..so I dropped my head down. I’m going to try this out again tomorrow and see if it was a fluke. And yep I got back up as well into titthibasana. Yay!

I also remembered to do my intermediate poses today…yes..I’m quite a dummy and tend to forget to do them. D obviously didn’t see me do them though, because he asked me if I actually did them. Too bad..I was hoping that he was going to add something new today, since I was so pleased with myself, I thought I deserved a new pose;)

After class, as I was walking back to my car and in the drive back home, I couldn't stop thinking that I seem to have stopped having those aches and pains that used to be a staple of mysore class for me. When I started mysore back in August last year, after every class I'd have lower back pains, knee pains, collarbone pains (from being tied up into supta K) and a myriad amount of other stuff. Lately, its just stopped..for some reason it just hit me today that I must have managed to open up some stuff to finally not have to endure all that. Then again I suppose when new poses do come, I might be back in the same situation again. But I guess that was one of the reasons I felt really good in practice today, it isn't so achey anymore. And I don't feel as tired anymore...It took me 9 months to get to this point..and it feels great!;)

Oh yes, and one more little detail. I dedicated my practice today, right after the opening mantra. I just stood there, closed my eyes and dedicated my practice to all the important people in my life and all the teachers who have taught me, and who will teach me in the future. It felt much more meaningful somehow;)

edit: I'd like to add I just realised 31 May was a moonday..full moon. Maybe thats why I was so energised! Yepp..I don't really observe moondays...but this was quite interesting too feel the difference.

Mula Bandha???

2007-05-29T23:22:00.000+08:00

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...

My research poses..

2007-05-27T21:01:00.000+08:00

Whenever I have the time, I try to do some of this stuff apart from the primary series...

For the core:
1. Headstand
2. Ardha dandasana
3. Navasana
4. Piking on my exercise ball (as in do plank on the ball and try to lift the hips up high like in handstand, and roll back down)
I'm pretty sure if I could manage it properly, going up into a handstand with control would be fabulous, but I can't without jumping up and down..so I can't say anything about it.

For my hips:
1. Baddha konasana - with a wall behind me so I can push myself forward to the floor
2. Supta baddha konasana - with my butt on a block cos I think it gives my adductors much more stretch
3. Frog - not the bhekasana one..but with the knees wide apart and elbows on the floor..and then sliding the knees apart until I get flat.
4. Agnisthambasana - the square pose. I think this one is the ultimate pain in the butt...
5. Janu Shirshasana
6. Sleeping pigeon - and if possible move the feet further forward so its close to my head when I lie down.
7. Half tarasana - or diamond pose. Half because my hips are mighty tight, and I have back pain if I sit too long in the diamond pose. This I do with one leg bent like in janu shirshasana, and the other leg further in front, so when I bend forward I can put my head behind the foot.
8. Padmasana on my stomach, I think it has the same effect as the frog, except with a different rotation.

Backbends:
1. Lying over my exercise ball
2. Ardha supta virasana but with the non virasana leg bent and pulled towards my chest - again ardha because my quadriceps are tight and if I do both legs together there is a huge arch in my back. I discovered this stretch in Donna Farhi's book - Yoga mind, body and spirit. I think its a fabulous stretch.
3. Crescent lunges - for the hip flexors
4. Sit against the seat of a folding chair and put my arms through the opening at the back. REAL big shoulder stretch for me.
5. Putting the head on the floor in downward dog - another shoulder stretch
6. Holding a block between my hands, putting the elbows on the seat of a chair and pressing the shoulders towards the floor. I do this in preparation for the day I will officially receive kapotasana ..hahahah..I always bend too much in the lumbar spine and need more opening in my shoulders. This one is super hard for me too.

Others:
1. Ragdoll for the hamstrings
2. Supta padangustasana

Chairs, blocks and windows...

2007-05-24T23:19:00.000+08:00

Yes..I went to an Iyengar class. And we used all the above to do asanas. Haha. I've never been to one..but my mysore class has been cancelled...don't know if its permanent..but it was a led class today...and I really didn't want to go for a led class..especially by a teacher who barely knew the primary series sequence!!!! (yes I am a bitch.) Seriously..I know this because the said teacher came to my mysore class once and went through the whole class asking my teacher about what should be next in sequence!!! How can she possibly teach me anything if she doesn't practice ashtanga herself??? Alright..maybe she could have taught me something..but anyhow I just wasn't that keen to go. (more on the class being cancelled bit later).

So instead I attended a class by a new Iyengar teacher at our studio..it was quite interesting actually..although I have no interest in becoming an Iyengi anytime soon..I'd miss my vinyasas and Supta K (???) too much for that. So we did maybe 7-8 poses in 1 hour...lying over chairs for backbends...using the windowsill to do Adho mukha svanasana in some standing version of the pose..shoulderstand on the chair..uttanasana and padangustasana with blocks (??). (just so we are clear...I DO NOT use blocks in my daily practice...its a little insulting to think I do this almost everyday and still need to use blocks for forward bends!)

Erm...nope I hardly broke a sweat. But it was interesting that the teacher..lets call him "K" had so much to say about just each pose...roll the deltoids in..roll the trapezoid down..spread the sitting bones wide..roll the inner thighs out..blah blah. Who knew there's so much instruction for downward facing dog. Anyhow its so different from how my Ashtanga teachers teach...B would have just adjusted me into whatever it is he wanted me to do and say nothing abut the rolling shoulders stuff...and here was K keeping a constant narrative going about every body part.

I'm not saying its bad..and certainly I can use some of this alignment knowledge when it comes to teaching my classes at the gym. But it just feels a little constricting. K mentioned that advanced students are not the ones putting the leg behind the head..but the ones with the most awareness in the body while doing asanas. IMHO, an advanced student should both have awareness and also an advanced practice. I mean it doesn't mean that person has to put the leg behind their head..but they should have experienced a broad range of asanas and have an awareness of their bodies in all these asanas. It would be so boring if my repertoire of poses consists of adho mukha svanasana and I worked everyday on refining that pose...

Anyhow..I will be going for K's class though. Its quite fun to hang around on the chair and just sort of relax into a backbend..instead of struggling with my dropbacks and standing up..perhaps I'd take it as my day off from Ashtanga practice. Also, I reckon it could help my alignment in Ashtanga.

On the other hand..yes my mysore class has been cancelled. Hmm...As you may have noticed..I'm not too stricken this time around. Like I mentioned in one of my previous posts..I've been having some issues with class anyway. The bottomline is..I can't get used to my new teacher..and I miss B very much..he knows my practice so well and adjusts me exactly where I need it..its like missing a vital part of my mysore practice when he is not around...alright, alright..I should get over it already...My partner told me that I'm too reliant on B..and I will find another one if I will just give new teachers a chance and stop comparing..well its hard...and I've not managed to do it yet. So..class being cancelled doesn't really bother me so much..I reckon I enjoy practising at home anyway. Only problem is Supta K and dropbacks.. No assistance and I'm a little stuck with those 2 on my own.. BUT I'm sure I'd survive.

By the way JOHN SCOTT is coming in November!!!!! Im sooooo excited!!! My goal is to practice on my own as well as I can and then see if I can get to practice with John Scott when he is here.
I'm giving myself these few months to make sure my primary is up to speed...and practice my 2 second series poses ( and add somemore of my own if I think I can). Then hopefully John can have a look at my practice and give me some tips..I don't know if he is going to teach any class..I just know he will be in town...I can't wait!;)

Yin Yoga

2007-05-22T23:11:00.000+08:00

I'm convinced that there really is something to this yin yoga thing. I've recently tried some classes and been holding poses for 5 minutes a side for stuff like ardha supta virasana, agnisthambasana, sleeping pigeon, and crescent lunges. I actually think my hips have gotten looser these past few days! So loose that in my practice today at home...I actually sunk pretty deep into supta k..feet binded..and hands..well.almost touching..(almost being the operative word).

Anyway its about the easiest I've ever had it when practicing at home..so I can't think of anything to attribute it to except for my yin yoga classes. Also, I was skipping poses and vinyasas left and right today as its the time of the month for me and my stomach was cramping up, so I wasn't even warm when I tried supta K...so it must work..this yin yoga!

Almost binded the tortoise..

2007-05-17T23:29:00.000+08:00

But not quite. Another sad tale of not being able to bind Supta K again. Hmmmppff.. Binded my feet and almost touched my fingers..and then my hands slipped and I gave up.

And I also forgot to continue with pasasana and krounchasana after setu bandhasana..really spaced out..

Not really in the mood to blog..but I always update after each mysore class...so thats about all I want to say..I think I am having another "slight" crisis with practice lately...mostly a mental one..but I think I'll not talk about it...in case I'm just putting energy into something that I should just get over...

So..hope that this too shall pass..

I didn't clunk down...

2007-05-16T00:13:00.000+08:00

in bhujapidasana..and I got up from it!!!! Yippee!!! Definitely a milestone for me, although I think some people could do it pretty easily from the start...hope that means my bandhas are finally getting stronger;)

Also handstands ...held it for a few breaths today on my own..how cool it that?? ermm..but I'm still doing it next to the wall though...just in case I crash on my back. I definitely can't come up with much control..its a hit and miss flinging the legs up...sometimes I overdo the jumping up from down dog and my feet will crash into the wall..sometimes I can jump up and extend the legs up...but can't do the nice controlled lifts that B asked me to try. Actually..I think he asked me to do it twice...the 1st time..I told him I was too scared to go up..and left him in a huff..the second time I crashed into the wall. So I guess this is definitely improvement!

13 May 2007

2007-05-13T21:49:00.000+08:00

I'm not gonna blog much about my practice today. I just felt like venting a bit about the classes I teach. I'm feeling a little troubled..not so much about the teaching itself, but my attachment to what my students think of my classes.

I've put quite a bit of effort into sequencing my classes, and I practice my own sequences before a class. Recently, the ashtanga class I teach has been going well..people like it and tell me they do. I've also gone back to a more traditional format, vinyasas between poses (not sides yet because I think most people are still not able to handle it), doing most of the sequence in order and modifying what I think people need to modify. Its been great and attendance is rising.

However my hatha class feels really uninspired..well today at least. I went to class prepared to teach some stuff that I thought people would like to do, and turns out most of my regular crowd wasn't there and lots of beginners. So I had to change the sequence on the fly..which I'm not particularly good at..I don't know if it was my personal projections, but I thought it went pretty flat..and I find myself bothered about this. In fact it bothers me when my regular crowd don't come to class. It feels like they are bored or something with class..and I do take this personally.

I know this has nothing to do with my students and everything to do with my need to have people like my class. Maybe I'm PMSing ..thats why I'm compelled to whinge and whine about it here..hopefully I'm gonna get out of this rut..and also I think I'll prepare a few sequences in mind before class instead..so that if I need to change it, I can do it on the fly. Hope that will help..

About practice. Well bhujapidasana was good yesterday.. I swept the feet through and landed the head with some semblance of control on the floor (not near hovering with the chin yet) and almost felt like I could get up! But well.I didn't quite get up..but I can almost feel it already! Hope it will happen in the next few practices.

Also I've been pulling the leg up to my forehead before every pose as I read somewhere it helps to loosen up my hips for supta kurmasana..I also read what Erich Schiffmann said on his message board about getting the leg behind the head:

"Here are a few to get started with. 1) Get good at Paschimottanasana, seated forward fold. Also 2) Baddha Konasana (cobblers pose), but do it with your feet away from you so your legs form a square or diamond shape, rather than pulling your feet in tight, and rest your face on/toward your feet, then on the floor on your side of the heels. Also 3) spend lots of time lying forward in the one-legged Pigeon Pose. Longer duration, lower intensity. Stay in these poses longer than normal, at an easy-ish place in the pose. Those will get you going. "

I'm banking on this for my supta kurmasana...

Pasasana!

2007-05-10T23:26:00.000+08:00

I did pasasana today! hahah..I guess D saw me finally do Setu Bandhasana and decided that I may deserve a new pose for braving the one asana I ALWAYS try to get around;) and to top it off, krounchasana as well!

It went very well..my 2 intermediate series poses..Anyhow I've done them before in B's led class when he decided to throw in some second series to keep us occupied. So it wasn't exactly new to me. My bind was nowhere near the wrist though..I think I got it to my palms both sides, heels on the floor..that one is not really a problem for me..I'm really used to squatting. Krounchasana was also not bad, chin to shin ..but I think B would have made me straighten the spine more if he were around.

So mysore class had some good moments today..although my supta kurmasana is still sucking big time. For reasons unknown to me, my new teacher doesn't seem to like to adjust Supta K. I have no idea why..so without adjustments I basically stayed at the same level I've always been...hands binded, feet almost together...and nowhere behind the head.

Again the standing up is off...I'm just not used to D's way of making me drop back and pulling me up. The timing is just not too right for me. B used to just stand in front of me and let me do whatever I want..dropback, stand up, drop back standup..etc..and catch me if I happen to fall. D however really supports my back and initiates the standing up by pulling me up. This really is not working out too well...and I thought I got back the standing up part recently because I did it with no problems in C's recent hatha class. I wonder if I should tell the teacher how I want to be assisted with dropbacks...it may be kinda rude though...like telling him to follow B's way cos it works better for me..??

Bhujapidasana...sucky to say the least. Consistent crashing of my head to the floor. And then I'm stuck in this helpless mess and can't get up without crashing on the butt. D says its all about the bandhas..and to just keep doing it until it comes together...gosh I've been crashing for probably 6 months now...with no light at the end of the tunnel!!!

Other than that not much is new. I did go for a beginners pilates class yesterday at the studio and my stomach is still aching from all that roll up, rolling ball stuff. I guess its aching only because it goes to show my core strength is sucky. Wonder how long it'll take to strengthen the core?? I'm really getting a little fed up with crashing in bhujapidasana and not being able to jump back from bakasana from all the vinyasa out. And of course my jump backs from sitting..bad bad bad!! Hmmm...maybe I'll wake up a little earlier and do some pilates in the morning...see if it helps wake up my bandhas. We'll see if it makes any difference at all.

On another note..my partner is actually offering to take me to India for a yoga retreat;) I'm actually only keen to go to mysore though..and he's not much of an Ashtangi...so I don't think he is thinking along those lines..but it is a sweet thought anyway.

Hips, core and arms strength..

2007-05-07T22:13:00.000+08:00

My hips are locking up. I suspect its because I haven't been taking my calcium and magnesium supplements lately..or it could be the whole bunch of other supplements I take ..alpha lipoic acid, b-complex, zinc, salmon oil, glucosamine. Been real lazy lately with the supplements. Will take tomorrow and see if it makes a difference. My knees are complaining in every external rotation. Wish the hips will just loosen up already...

Didn't self practice today. Instead attended a hatha class at the studio. I think I must be very weak somewhere because I can't do any of the arm strength stuff we did today in class...like mayurasana (the one with the body parallel to floor) and this one.. I can do most of the simpler stuff..parsva bakasana, bakasana, astavakrasana, and the other version of koundinyasana with a twist, but I couldn't for the life of me lift into the splits version. Wonder if its a core thing again?

However I DID get back my dropbacks and stand up today! YIPPEE!!! I thought I lost it forever, but I totally stood up like a rocket today. Well it might not be so great cos standing up like that means its totally momentum carrying me up, but hey at least I stood up!;) Also I managed a foot hold on kapotasana today. Couldn eek out any more bend to grab my heels, but can't complain about my backbends.

I wish I was a little more balanced sometimes..I was just thinking that how come some stuff are really easy for me and some stuff are almost impossible. Then it struck me that when I was young I could always do the stuff that I can do now and I couldn't do the stuff that I CAN'T do.
Hmmm...See..I always could backbend and I always could do splits and forward bends, but I could never really sit with my hips totally open to the side when I sat on the floor. I think even when I was a kid I couldn't do it..and my core has always sucked. I hated sit ups and push ups and all the strength stuff when I was in school. So..it seems either I never woke up the muscles when I was young to do this or I'm just genetically not designed for it! Thats not exactly a very comforting thought..

I wonder if I haven't been able to do it most of my life, will I be able to do them with practice? I guess since a lot of people end up being able to do asanas they were never good at by practising, perhaps it really is possible..

Anyway..I'll stop here and do some hip openers before sleeping just to see if it helps..

Mysore class 4 May 2007

2007-05-03T23:45:00.000+08:00

Mysore class was alright today. Got back some of my bandhas..which went into hiding since my teacher left, so the floaty jumps are back;) Unfortunately it didn't translate into a better supta kurmasana and even my standing up from UD still sucked.

Blow by blow account of thoughts streaming through my mind in the asanas detailed below...(just shows how meditative my practice is.)

Surya Namaskaras : Good good..the bandhas are back in action..can float again. What a relieve. Phew.

Prasarita Padotanasana C : Can my hands reach the floor? Can it? Can it? Yes ..not bad..thought I lost that too. (which I did for a few weeks)

Jump through after Warrior 2 : I hope I don't thud too loud..Oh yes that WAS a BIG thud. Think I twisted my elbow on the way through..nope, seems ok though.

Mind pretty blank from then on till Navasana : Got to lift after this..oh can't do that cos of the wrist pain.. Will use my fists. Yep. ok good lift. I think D saw me cheating with the fists...hmm he's not saying anything. Great will use again for next 4. Good job..actually lifted instead of lifting my butt to cheat. Well done..you go girl!

Bhujapidasana: Ok head down feet through. Please let me get up into tithibasana for once..nope..no go there..landed on the butt again. Next time maybe.

Kurmasana : Oh good..flat today. Oh there's D coming over to flatten me more????? Ouch. Alright the stomach touched the floor.

Supta Kurmasana: Let me take some time here D. Oh wait I'm not ready yet..see. I told you I can't do it in one breath! Aren't you going to cross my feet on top the head? No? Oh why not? B always does it. No? Shucks he's pulling me up into tithibasana again without the feet crossed. Sigh...

Mind pretty bank from here till Setu Bandhasana: Do I HAVE to do this asana? Oh look that new girl just did it. Makes it look so easy..I'm envious.. Is D looking? Nope? Ok will pass then..hehee..backbends next.

After my third backbend, looked at myself in the reflection of the glass: Oh wow. pretty nice UD I have there. Now if only I can stand up. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale.......nope I'm a chicken. Where's the teacher? (At this point D shouted across the room, can you stand up on your own? And I told him to come over) OK..he's right there..stand up. Eh...I lost it again..no engagement of the legs. Whats this?? Whats this? Repeat 3 times of the above " I lost it again" since I totally lost my standing up. I don't know what happened to them? Its like I can't stand up without B around!

Paschimotanasana after the backbends: Arrrgghhhh..my back is killing me..

Handstands: I got to get the other foot off the wall..Its really hard..I'll bend one leg. Oh D's coming over with a block. Ok..he says to squeenze block. Oh cool I think I'm balancing..Oh cool I AM balancing! Hey I can balance! OK. Huh? Do it again you say? OK..oh wow I can TOTALLY handstand with a block wedged between my legs. I'm really good;) My body is aligned well but no arms strength? Hey thats not what B said, he says my arms are strong. But ok yes I did well. *BIG cheesy grin at teacher*.

So thats mysore for today. I'm really tired today, must have overdone the handstanding. I'm gonna have to do supta K on my own at home now in self practice cos I reckon D doesn't like tying people up in knots. If he doesn't help I don't think I will ever improve if I don't do it myself. Will update..

1 May 2007

2007-05-01T23:13:00.000+08:00

Self practice updates.

Nothing very interesting to update about actually. I'm just kinda bored and was itching to type something. Lets see, I did my primary series today at home. Everything was alright, but I couldn't get flat in kurmasana, and I certainly could not bring the feet together. D says that supta K is feet behind the head rather than in front. I don't know which is correct since B always just told me to cross the feet and duck my head under if I want to do it myself. Gregor Maehle in his book says for primary - cross feet in front and if you are in intermediate then cross behind the head. I am gonna take his word for it then.

David Williams is coming here for a work shop. I am thinking of going. But the other option would be for me to go down to Hong Kong or Bali to attend David Swenson's workshop..I still haven't decided what to do yet. I am actually really interested to attend Swenson's workshop..but I do have to travel a bit to get there..

I was at C's class yesterday, a hatha class. It was fun, we did quite a few backbends which I am enjoying again lately because my bad back has gotten better than a few months ago. We did natarajasana and eka pada rajakapotasana iv which I like a lot because I think its a beautiful pose. Am so glad the back is behaving again..I hope I don't do something stupid and injure myself again. My backbends have gotten better lately because I think the quads have lenghtened. Lots of lunges and supta virasana thingies that I do at home before I start practicing. Seems to work.

Also on a whim I took out Jonathan Urla's NY style pilates VCD and did his intermediate workout yesterday. My abs are hurting today. I think pilates will be very good for me since the aching can only mean its making me stronger (I am kinda sadistic right?) I think I need to do more of this, perhaps after my practice daily or at night before I sleep. My core has been one of the slowest things to improve besides the hip problem I have. So more ab work can't hurt me and can only help my primary series!

26 April 2007

2007-04-26T23:27:00.000+08:00

I had my class with the new teacher today. How do I put this...sigh. I just miss B so very much! My practice really.. really...really... sucked today. I had practically no bandhas, no floaty jumps anywhere, Supta K down the drain, couldn't stand up from my backbends...well basically everything sucked.

I guess its a combination of a change from our usual room, change of teacher, change of adjustments, skipped practice because of my cold and the monkey mind running around in circles thinking of all the differences. I did get asked to do setu bandhasana though..officially and definitively my last primary series pose. D made sure I actually DID the pose...he did support my lower back though so that I'd not put too much pressure on the neck. So thats about the only consolation.

And adding insult to injury D asked me if I'd ever done Supta K before! Sob sob sob. Kurmasana was fine, but usually I take a few breaths to bring my feet together in front of my head and try my usually unsuccessful attempts at crossing the feet. At this point B will usually come over to externally rotate my legs a bit because my rotation sucks big time. After that I can usually get the feet to at least touch, before he pulls it over my head and crosses it behind my head. Today, D asked me to cross my feet immediately after kurmasana and I felt like I was stuck in cement and couldn't move. I also usually bind my hands first, but D doesn't seem to do it that way. D's adjustments are very light for this pose...(surprising because his other adjustments are pretty strong). It's just not enough for me and I think he gave up and just pulled me up into tithibasana.

After that he asked me if I'd ever done Supta K before and I felt really bad...When I told him B has to put me into it, he asked me to try a dwi pada entry instead, which to me is next to impossible. Also he said the pose may take me quite some time...as if I didn't know that..

And then backbends..apparently standing up from the floor first is not the usual practice. I had no idea. D says that people usually dropback first before standing up. Anyway to cut the story short I couldn't stand up. D had to pull me up like a tonne of bricks I think. I have no idea why I lost it.

So today was definitely humbling for me. On the other hand I just kept thinking of what B would have done in each pose for me and what my new teacher was not doing..Perhaps it just goes to show that I am really relying too much on my teacher to help me in poses. Thats why I have such a terrible time adjusting now.

Probably its a good thing for me that B is gone..if I think about it objectively (although I don't FEEL that it is). He's become such a big part my practice that I can't do it properly without him around. At home I always take lots of time, do lots of prep and basically am very lenient with myself. In class, I do things fully, with his help. I had always assumed that if with his help I can do it, I am alright. So..now its obviously not alright.

So..I am going to make a promise to myself. Keep practicing daily..but do the full primary series and do the poses as fully as I can. I hope that will help to resolve my problems..If I practice not relying on my teachers..and just do it on my own, I may probably not have all these similar episodes further down the track..

Too lazy again to think of a title...

2007-04-24T23:43:00.000+08:00

I think I'd probably just date my posts next time instead of trying to think of a title...

I was at C's led class tonight. I don't usually go for her class, but now that B's gone, there are not that many teachers whose class I like. It was alright, at least it got me through most of primary and supta K as well. Tonight's Supta K was back to feet not binding;( I got them to touch, but couldn't get the feet over each other. No adjustment to help them get behind my head too..I don't know how long it would take for me to get them to bind securely, and how many years(?) its gonna take to have my hips loose enough to bind over my head.

I brought A with me to class, because she hasn't actually done most of the sequence before. She liked it and I'm thrilled. I hope she will become a dedicated ashtangi. My friends aren't into this yoga thing...and my partner, although he takes 2 yoga classes a week isn't anywhere interested in dedicating himself to the practice..although I do hope that changes..anyhow I think its unlikely he will pick it up with as much zeal as me. So its kinda hard to find people who will get excited over whether or not they bind Supta K or if they can drop back etc. I really wish I had more of an ashtanga community here..

I'm gonna make this post short..cos I got to write notes for my corporate yoga class tomorrow nite. Seems people want to have notes to remind them what they have done in class..and I got to get down to writing it...

Of teachers, shalas and Mysore..

2007-04-21T13:39:00.000+08:00

So..my teacher has left. Too bad. I feel a little better knowing that D is taking over the class. I have tried D's adjustment's before and they are quite good. I like a firm adjustment from my teachers, especially mysore class. I've had some teacher's adjust me with a feather touch or a poke here and there, and they don't really work for me. I'm the type that likes to be wrestled into a pose..if I need it;)

Anyhow, I do feel a little sad knowing that my first real mysore teacher will no longer be around. I wish him the best from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for introducing me to the authentic practice of Ashtanga, your adjustments, tips and advice. And on your advice, I've taken it up 6 days a week..hahaha..more than the 4 days that you recommend! Too bad I did not manage to thank you properly before you left, but who knows..maybe one day you will come back to teach again! (My teacher probably would not read this..but anyhow I hope he gets the vibe;))

On to the practice..very so so practice. Like I said, for some unfortunate reason, B didn't manage to teach, so we had a substitute teacher. I guess since she didn't know my practice too well, she didn't adjust me in the poses I usually get adjusted in. So supta K..feet not pulled over the head, but more or less touching in front of head. Also I didn't get helped to stand up..so chicken me..didn't do it..shucks.

Handstands..jumped up and balanced for maybe 1 second before toppling over. Pincha was much better, I held it for a few breaths..yippee!

Overall...rather strange to be taught by someone else. I'm hoping D will be a good mysore teacher. I've been looking around for some workshops and teachers to go to. Like I said in my country, we don't get mysore classes. Its a real treat if some guest teachers like Mark Yeo comes along (although I didn't go for his classes while he was here..I'd just started mysore back then.) Hmm..by the way I noticed that his name is no longer on the Ashtanga teacher's directory..Whats up with that?

The nearest place would of course be Singapore or Thailand. Since I have accomodation in Singapore, and have worked there before, I may just take a few days to go down there to see what a real shala is like..

Am a long way off from actually making a trip to Mysore. I don't think it would be much very beneficial at the moment considering I'm still such a beginner in a way. But yes that thought has been on my mind..I think when I'm at least through to second series or so..I may start planning my trip.

Some other stuff to comment on...my Gym X classes have been doing very well. attendance is very good especially my hatha class. The Ashtanga class (very crim class) that I teach on Saturdays are alright, but the attendance defintely doesn't rival the hatha class. The thing with gym ashtanga is that there is just no way I can keep to the sequence in any authentic fashion. People drop in to class and get lost when I ask then to do Surya Namaskaras. So its turned into a flow class of sorts using the posture of primary series (and some second series backbends thrown in). I feel like asking management to let me teach a flow class instead..My hatha class is really a flow class too..but I like it very much cos I can get creative and do all sorts of flows of my own. Someone asked me to teach her private. I felt compelled to turn her down because of my inexperience with privates. Also I got offered 3 classes by a dance school, which I am still contemplating.

I did send the person who asked me to teach her Ashtanga (lets call her A) some notes from the ashtangainfo website. Thank god to Arjuna for being such a valuable resource. I also got notes from this site from my teacher when I started practicing. Actually my first taste of Ashtanga was at Gym X itself, when R from India taught there. Rare to have an Ashtangi from India, but he followed the sequence pretty closely. My next "teacher" of sorts was Richard Freeman (ok kidding..his VCDs I mean). And that was all I knew of Ashtanga before I started practicing at my current studio. I hope A picks up the practice. There really are too few people practicing this beautiful style here in my country..

Pigeon

2007-04-18T10:07:00.000+08:00

Yay! I got my heels in kapotasana on my own;) very happy and unexpected. It was actually during a led hatha class and B had us warm up quite thoroughly with some padangustha dhanurasana, eka pada rajakapotasana, supta virasana etc.

It wasn't that hard actually.. usually my lower back (especially the right side) would have been screaming..cos I seem to have tweaked something on the right side months ago. But yesterday was very comfortable, so I just went ahead and pushed into kapotasana B from supta virasana. It really was way simpler than I had ever had it before..and walking hands in to grab the heels was not that dramatic. In fact I got my ankle on the left. Don't know how it happened either, I just moved my hands from foot to heel and it just hooked my ankle.

My face was between my feet, but was mushed up against the floor like the last time when I did it in S's class though. I am not sure if its allowed. There's no place that says I can't put the face on the floor..although I hav seen a few pics of people's kapotasana and it varies. S did say before I should try to open up my upper chest more. I reckon the reason I had my face plant was because I was bending too much in the lumbar as usual. I reckon his face is also mushed against the floor!

This is cool. But I really got to stick with my program with the primary series..haven't really done much primary past few days coz I'm a little sick and have mostly been taking things easy..

Poses (Criminal post not from sequence)

2007-04-16T21:10:00.000+08:00

Standing poses:
Pavritta Baddha Ardha Chandrasana
Natarajasana
Ardha Chandrasana

Balance poses:
Bakasana
Parsva bakasana
Tithibhasana
Eka pada galavasana
Lolasana
Adho mukha vrksasana
Pincha mayurasana

Backbends
Rajakapotasana
Padangustha dhanurasana
Eka pada rajakapotasana
Laghu Vajrasana
Kapotasana
Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana
Chakra Bandhasana

Sitting poses
Akarna dhanurasana
Eka pada shirshasana
Garbha pindasana
Baddha konasana
Supta kurmasana

Whats all this? Stuff I'd like to do properly...from the Yoga Journal Book..am very inspired by those beautiful pictures...and I'd like to work on these stuff...