Kapo and Karanda attempt

Karanda clearly needs work, but I've ditched the props and I think the lack of stability is worth it...hoping that eventually this will help me learn to move my lotus through space. The exit makes me laugh, I totally straddled out in escape mode!

A few months back I crowed about getting my heels and it hasn't happened ONCE since then (serves me right), until today. Once my hands are at midsole, if I push the hips forward it gives me just enough space to finger-crawl the rest of the way. Also letting the elbows drift out a smidge doesn't hurt; not sure how technically correct it is, but I sure do it.

Haven't been blogging in a while, I decided to take a little break and try this thing where I don't think about practice when I'm not practicing...it was a useful exercise for sure. I'd been getting down on myself about things that were taking a long time. Have to remind myself I've got my whole life to do this - relax!

In practice notes, still trucking along with no giant breakthroughs, a couple months back I made a change to practicing in the mornings and while it took some adjustment I'm much much happier with morning practice now. It's good that yoga is my first decision of the day as opposed to my last. It makes it much easier to say yes to yoga and drag my ass to the mat. I don't even mind that I'm tighter in the morning - was discouraging at first but now it is the "normal".

It is Pride Week in my town, there is a parade today - Happy Pride all!!

Primary + Back Half of 2nd

In Sunday's Led class we did full primary followed by 2nd half of 2nd (starting with LBH). Having all those forwards bends and supta K behind me, I managed an unassisted bind in Titti B for the first time and I actually eked out an unassisted Dwi Pada A as well.

That Titti B bind makes the whole thing feel so much better - I've noticed this before when I was adjusted into it. I feel tighter, more grounded and oddly more balanced...better able to straighten through the legs.

Are Supta K, Yoganidrasana and Dwi Pada easier than Eka Pada? For me they are, and I think it probably has a bit to do with my body proportions. In the video below I am trying an Eka Pada after a Led primary class for scientific purposes...how will I ever get it back there! Hahaha...my legs are longer than my torso...one tip I got from Kino in Dwi Pada was to lock my feet, which helps quite a bit but in Eka Pada with nothing to latch onto those suckers will not stay put.



Videos are great to temper my Titti B ego-fest! Especially the second side :-)

I'm confused about how to approach the movement from the very beginning. Should the hip be a bit open to the side or not really? I usually open my hip to the side a bit to get my shoulder back there, then swing it back to the front to take the leg over my head. I think different people approach it different ways but I have to wonder what the best way is for my body, with my long limbs and shorter torso. Clearly I've got some work to do to open my hips and keep my gangly tibia from slingshotting off my shoulder-neck! Of course, practice, practice, practice...

Dropback clip

OK - I did intermediate this morning and try as I might, during finishing I couldn't muster a solo dropback in the shala, even after multiple tries, using the wall as a prop, on my comfy thick manduka, and relying on physical then verbal cues from J. Couldn't do it alone.

So I came home, rolled out my crappy travel mat and had a go. Boom, first try! Well, the good news is at least I can still do it, thumpus bumpus landing and all. :-)

Backbends

A few weeks ago I stood from UD to my own surprise. Then it left me for a while…I was accepting of it and didn’t dwell. This weekend it came back. So, I tried it a few times to be sure and I think it is truly here to stay.



Feet are still yucky but you’ve gotta start somewhere (nice little dance at the top…then my husband comes charging through…these are the distractions I live with while trying to work on my backbends…le sigh). I managed to do it without the dance later but didn’t catch it on film.

I also did some dropping back to the liberator (affectionately renamed Liberace) and coming back up from same.



I then tried to come out a little further from the liberator, to have less of a prop on landing. I came out too far, realized this on the hangback and lost my nerve going back. I'm a little disappointed I didn't go for it as watching this it seems a lot closer than it felt. Maybe if I bring my Manduka home from the studio, it would protect my wrists better than my travel mat. Then I might have the confidence to do it sans Liberace.

The WormThump

I never intended to film the wormthump because frankly I was a little afraid of what it would look like. I knew it didn't feel great.

Then I thought what the hell. Someday (when I can do it properly) I will look back and enjoy this and be grateful to myself for sticking with it.



So? It sure isn't great, but it isn't as horrific as I was expecting. The forward-hop is something I figured out a few weeks ago, the wormthump portion happens on the back end, which is I think the part most people have trouble with anyways. It looks exactly like a Nakrasana from someone who's still learning Nakrasana. And that's what I am :-)

I took a couple more videos and I may share them tomorrow, blogger takes too darn long to post!

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.

Hm.

I was taking a pic of my new haircut to send my sister and I decided to video a jumpback attempt so I could see where I am...

I realize the angle is quite bad, sorry, it was spur of the moment. I am wearing super-cozy wigwam socks and flannel jammies and I have a slick-as-hell engineered hardwood floor...all factors contributing to how much easier it feels here than on my black mat (or an Equa or yogitoes) at the studio.

So it is pretty obvious I'm still struggling, but I am actually closer than I had thought. And by closer I don't mean like 90% there, I mean like more than 20% there, which is where I thought I was. I like numbers (see profile).

I'm glad I recorded it. Seeing it (more than 20%) makes me believe J that someday, even if it is in 8 years, I will be able to do it.


Two things I definitely need to work on are tucking myself in quite a bit smaller, folding up my legs tighter and more into my body (maybe navasana will help? what muscle am i engaging to do this, besides MB, the hip flexor?). Second thing is learning how to edit my videos, to cut out the start and finish.

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.

Pincha Mayurasana in jeans

This was my most recent challenge...it took me a couple months of focus in my home practice to get myself up there. It definitely still needs work. From time to time, I can hit the right spot without touching the wall first (practicing in the center of the room and learning to fall has helped this) but so far, the below video is where I am consistently. I didn't post yesterday, b/c work kept me late and then I had to go find a pretty dress for a wedding this weekend :-)

I thought it would be a simple task, but I sometimes forget how my height makes even dress-shopping difficult. I found something though, didn't love it in the store, but was more happy with it when i got home.

Anyhow, enjoy the vid...excuse the jeans...better post to come soon about my next challenge (leg-behind-head) and how I'm approaching it. You can hear my guy laughing at something he is watching online in the background, I swear he's not laughing at me!