First snow of the year yesterday! Went to MEC today and got snowboots...
Yoga with A today. We strapped up our knees and did several long-hold quad openers to start – all virasana variations – followed by progressively deeper chest/thoracic openers, leaning back over the block with less and less head support. A took my sissy foam blocks away and gave me wooden ones and I was surprised that they were actually more comfortable. I even used them later for my propped versions of samakonasana (sp) and hanumanasana.
The first time I went to A’s class, when we did the splits in the middle of the prasaritas it was disarming. I felt resistant, impatient, slow and even annoyed. Getting into the hips. Those tight old hips. But I’m not good at this. I hate this. Why are we doing this, lol.
Today, I actually enjoyed them! Did my hips magically melt and allow my butt to sink to the ground in a gymnast-type split? No, absolutely not. I blocked those mothers like no tomorrow. But I lifted arms overhead and let myself sink as much as I could manage and it was a great stretch. I’m completely over my pissy, petulant phase with the dreaded splits. I like ‘em now, propped butt, bent knees and all.
A thinks I should be going for heels in kapo…she showed me that I could see my heels just by turning my head (turning my head never occurred to me in a million years but tada, there they are). I’ve been pretty satisfied with toes and the odd ball of my foot but if she thinks I can do it it’s worth a try. Then she let me stand from UD alone today!
I touched head in laghu vajrasana and came back up on my own – nearly hooted I was so excited. First time ever. I think the recent standing from UD must have unlocked some mind-quad connection I had been missing before. I used to be able to get sooooooo close but, if my head touched earth, the bandha disappeared and it was all over.
I had a bit of a “shoulder” breakthrough today…I realized when A was demo’ing shoulder stances that I squeeze my shoulderblades together far too much in ustrasana, which creates this whole mess of congestion in my traps and causes discomfort when I stretch my head and neck back. My sternocleidomastoid (big word alert) muscle on the right side doesn’t like full neck extension. If I slide my shoulder blades just a bit apart and down I can retain the openness in the chest and extend the neck far more comfortably – nice!
Showing posts with label laghu vajrasana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label laghu vajrasana. Show all posts
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Intermediate, with video
There were three of us practicing Sunday at the studio. We stayed in sync until the end of standing, no counts. Then I veered off into intermediate and they completed primary+intermediate to ustrasana. This was my first full intermediate in about two months. It was nervy, sweaty, with a thin layer of despair. Ha! I forgot how Intermediate teaches you humility…so you can bind Mari D unassisted? And your Supta K is comfortable? Let’s see you hop, wise ass.
Notables: I did the hands to calves version of Laghu Vajrasana again and I’ve decided I love it. It is easier with the proportions of my body and although I can’t lower my head all the way down I am getting darn close and at least this way I am strengthening my quads in the process. In the hands to ankles version I lower down and then dissolve into a pile of knees without working my quads at all. I will aim to be strong enough for it one day though.
LBH is not good, has not progressed at all, which is not surprising to me. In fact it felt more constrictive than usual, probably due to the prior day’s run of backbending with A.
I managed all 5 Nakrasana forward hops, YAY! Still can’t do it backwards but it will come. I find starting in chaturanga makes all the difference to me. I’m not sure if that is correct, but when I start on my belly I do this awful worm-thump thing.
I was able to hold Vrshikasana without using the wall today, which has never happened before either. I’m realizing as I’m writing this that I completely forgot Vatayanasana and all related vinyasas. Darnit!
The headstands are still fine. The baddha hastas can be done without a wall now, but the mukha hastas need a bit more time. I don’t use the wall every time but I use it enough that I’m not ready to move away.
In closing I did UD to standing at the wall 3 times and 3 hangbacks…so there it is, I broke the seal on full intermediate + backbends. It's been too long!
New: video from yesterday of my recent Laghu Vajrasana approach (hands to calves)...I am not able to do 5 breaths yet or touch my head to floor so it is quite quick, but it will come - there is a short hangback afterwards.
And below is an LV video from one month ago (hands to ankles). I can almost see where I touch (thump) my head and completely disengage my bandha.
Notables: I did the hands to calves version of Laghu Vajrasana again and I’ve decided I love it. It is easier with the proportions of my body and although I can’t lower my head all the way down I am getting darn close and at least this way I am strengthening my quads in the process. In the hands to ankles version I lower down and then dissolve into a pile of knees without working my quads at all. I will aim to be strong enough for it one day though.
LBH is not good, has not progressed at all, which is not surprising to me. In fact it felt more constrictive than usual, probably due to the prior day’s run of backbending with A.
I managed all 5 Nakrasana forward hops, YAY! Still can’t do it backwards but it will come. I find starting in chaturanga makes all the difference to me. I’m not sure if that is correct, but when I start on my belly I do this awful worm-thump thing.
I was able to hold Vrshikasana without using the wall today, which has never happened before either. I’m realizing as I’m writing this that I completely forgot Vatayanasana and all related vinyasas. Darnit!
The headstands are still fine. The baddha hastas can be done without a wall now, but the mukha hastas need a bit more time. I don’t use the wall every time but I use it enough that I’m not ready to move away.
In closing I did UD to standing at the wall 3 times and 3 hangbacks…so there it is, I broke the seal on full intermediate + backbends. It's been too long!
New: video from yesterday of my recent Laghu Vajrasana approach (hands to calves)...I am not able to do 5 breaths yet or touch my head to floor so it is quite quick, but it will come - there is a short hangback afterwards.
And below is an LV video from one month ago (hands to ankles). I can almost see where I touch (thump) my head and completely disengage my bandha.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Saturdabbleday, Power Vinyasa Flow, shhhhhh and video!
This morning A’s class was cancelled and I wanted an early class so I could get on with my day (lots of packing and planning to do)…I haven’t visited a non-ashtanga studio since I changed my focus earlier this year, but I felt like something different so I dropped in to an 8:30 class that I hadn’t attended in ages and I had a great time! I wouldn’t want to do it all the time or even once a week, but I learned in that environment and it is fun to return.
We did loooooooong sun salutations. Like with 5-breath warriors in the middle. It was challenging, my body isn’t used to long holds in certain poses and definitely not the on-one-leg stuff or side planks.
Sometimes the teacher (S) focuses on hip openers or backbends or inversions. Today was an inversion day so we worked on headstand. A few minutes in she got us to move to a wall and we could work on forearm balance or handstand if we wanted. I wanted! So I did some pincha’s at the wall and was happy to learn that I hadn’t lost the bit of ground I’d gained on them in my erratic last few weeks.
After I got home I was craving backbends so I did the shalabhasanas, bhekasana, dhanurasanas and then took video of Laghu Vajrasana and Kapotasana. My Laghu Vajrasana struggle is plain. My thighs need to be much straighter up, and I clearly lack the strength to return to kneeling…although if my thighs were straighter up maybe it would be a bit easier! There is something confusing to me about the proportions of this asana….I need to watch others do it I think, and see how their limbs/measurements translate it. I can probably grab my ankles lying flat in virasana…which is why I have a tough time making sense of where my hands/shoulders/ankles/thighs should be.
It is painful to watch my LV! But this is for posterity. :-)
My Kapotasana did not feel as open as it normally does during a traditional ashtanga practice but I am happy I could walk in to my toes on my own. I should have hung a bit longer maybe, might have opened a bit and landed the hands closer in. What is the norm? Do people aim to touch toes from the air?
So anyhow here it is. I’ve also added a bakasana jumpback to chaturanga, which USED to be consistent but I very much land on my chest in this one, lol. And a regular old Surya A, to demonstrate the shock absorption and my not-as-much-bandha-as-i-would-like fear I mentioned in a prior post, particularly on the jump forward.
We did loooooooong sun salutations. Like with 5-breath warriors in the middle. It was challenging, my body isn’t used to long holds in certain poses and definitely not the on-one-leg stuff or side planks.
Sometimes the teacher (S) focuses on hip openers or backbends or inversions. Today was an inversion day so we worked on headstand. A few minutes in she got us to move to a wall and we could work on forearm balance or handstand if we wanted. I wanted! So I did some pincha’s at the wall and was happy to learn that I hadn’t lost the bit of ground I’d gained on them in my erratic last few weeks.
After I got home I was craving backbends so I did the shalabhasanas, bhekasana, dhanurasanas and then took video of Laghu Vajrasana and Kapotasana. My Laghu Vajrasana struggle is plain. My thighs need to be much straighter up, and I clearly lack the strength to return to kneeling…although if my thighs were straighter up maybe it would be a bit easier! There is something confusing to me about the proportions of this asana….I need to watch others do it I think, and see how their limbs/measurements translate it. I can probably grab my ankles lying flat in virasana…which is why I have a tough time making sense of where my hands/shoulders/ankles/thighs should be.
It is painful to watch my LV! But this is for posterity. :-)
My Kapotasana did not feel as open as it normally does during a traditional ashtanga practice but I am happy I could walk in to my toes on my own. I should have hung a bit longer maybe, might have opened a bit and landed the hands closer in. What is the norm? Do people aim to touch toes from the air?
So anyhow here it is. I’ve also added a bakasana jumpback to chaturanga, which USED to be consistent but I very much land on my chest in this one, lol. And a regular old Surya A, to demonstrate the shock absorption and my not-as-much-bandha-as-i-would-like fear I mentioned in a prior post, particularly on the jump forward.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
