Yoganidrasana is doable but Dwi Pada is not? Here are some of the reasons I think this is the case...
- Gravity is on my side in Yoganidrasana with the heavy legs
- Don't need to balance on my butt
- I can get away with more curve in the back (not so much in Dwi Pada)
There was nothing spectacular about practice today, it was good and steady...the only thing I noticed was the yoganidrasana thing, and it made me curious about why I can't apply whatever I'm doing there to dwi pada.
Also one of my hips was switched at birth and doesn't belong to my body. Haha! Why is one so much tighter than the other? And which one is my real one? The loose one I hope?
Today I left the office run an errand. I arrived at 1:55 and the note on the place said, back at 2:20. I cursed aloud, then sat down on a bench for 25 minutes. It was excruciating. Sitting and doing nothing. Hadn't brought my blackberry so I couldn't even work or answer emails. Didn't have my notebook with me to do a grocery list. My impatience continued to grow. This made me realize that a meditation practice could probably do me some good. Is 25 minutes that big of a deal? It shouldn't be.
I am probably the person you see on the street speed-walking to work, charging from desk to water-cooler to refill, avoiding smalltalk so that I can get on with the list of tasks and projects I've planned. Passing by the kitchen if the microwave is in use (that microwave dinner they are heating up means 4 more minutes I could be working before I eat my lunch!). Such a nerd! I used to make fun of people like me. People who race everywhere.
Maybe I need to slow it down a little. Or at least try. This I learned from taking my boots to a kiosk in the mall to be retreaded.
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6 comments:
Bet there's a roaring elicit trade in those flexihips, thought there was something suspicious about about those East and west coast yogi's. KIno....She stole your hip at birth!!!!!
I think it was Maehle who suggested switching Dwi pada S and Yoga nidrasana around.... think he suggested it in the context of training rather than in the Shala.
Hi Grimmly - I ordered the Maehle 2nd series book from Chapters a while back and I'm still waiting for it to arrive! Really looking forward to reading about the LBH stuff...
That makes a lot of sense in the context of training...I would think Dwi Pada would be harder for most than yoganidrasana.
Loll, hip switch! If Kino has one of yours, who does the other one belong to??
I can't do dwi pada either, yoganidrasana is definitely easier. Gravity works!
word veri: asick
I think it's the usual "flexy" vs. "strong" balancing act. Ashtanga seems to be designed in a way that builds/tests strength first, then builds/tests flexibility. (Bhujapidasana first, then supta kurmasana. Laghu vajrasana first, then kapotasana. Dwi pada sirsasana first, then yoga nidrasana. And in a macro-view: primary first, then intermediate.)
It makes sense from the perspective that bendy people will get hurt if they don't have enough strength for a sequence, whereas strong people will just hit their flexibility limit and still be okay. So in a world of yoga students who represent a continuum from super bendy to super stiff, the safest thing to do is go for strength first, followed by flexibility. Hence, dwi pada (which requires/builds strength because you're working against gravity), followed by yoga nidrasana.
That's just my thought re: the design of the sequence (I'm always curious about design). I don't really care what order people use or presume to contradict Gregor Maehle's suggestion!
Hi Lew - gravity is my friend! Except in the shuffleback, lol...
Hi Karen - your theory makes a lot of sense, I never thought of it that way. There do seem to be quite a few examples of this (strong first, bendy after)...stiffness really does protect the body. My hips are stopping me for a reason!
It does seem that bendy people get injured more...in the scheme of things I'm probably more of a "bendy" than a "strong". I've worked much longer and harder for chaturanga than I have for Mari D for example. I'm not so bendy that I'm prone to injury often :-) which is a lucky thing I guess.
I just got a shipping notification on the book - I can track it now, yay!
Going to write Kino a letter, tell her I want my hip back..hahaha
Dwi Pada requires a lot of core strength. When I was learning I used to do it with the couch behind me so I wouldn't roll back to floor if I lost my balance. Love Karen's comment about the sequencing, makes a lot of sense and I had not thought of it like that before.
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