Been practising saturday and yesterday. but I only managed to do the standing sequence for yesterday. Not enough time.

Split wednesday!

Quirky practice yesterday.

 I knew I wouldn't have enough time to squeeze in a full practice in one go, so I did what I had to do: split them.

 I did the surya namaskar and standing poses before iftar, went to the shop did my stuff and then came back and continued with the sitting and finishing poses afterwards. It was more relaxing and definitely not pressurizing for me. The standing poses felt magical! I didnt really sweat but it was a good workout! I love it when your breath and your focus and movement go together. My uthitta hasta pandangustasana felt steady and balanced, and I could lift my legs up to my knee now.

 sitting poses as usual, my jump thorugh and jump back has somewhat improved maybe 2 percent, but it was significant to me. I am now working on doing the full supta kurmaasana complete with the correct vinyasa getting out of it. Also with garbha, although my arms would be tired. I am also practicing to straighten my legs in navasana, no easy feat I tell you!

 It was a well deserved shavasana.

 Tuesday:
I did a normal sequence of bound lunge, triangle pose, reverse triangle, locust, warrior three reverse half moon. I also did the core strengthening exercises - the side plank and jumping from bakasana as taught by kino. and I practiced on my side crow - getting there! hehe. alhamdulillah!

ramadhan primary

First ashtanga practice in ramadhan, post iftar. It was physically tiring, maybe because I didn't really drink a lot of water. I did a complete primary (complete being with half vinyasa) up until upavistha konasana and then I moved on to one bridge and one wheel, the final 3 postures and then savasana which was well and much deserved. I missed the practice and enjoyed it so much. I totally loved the janu sirsasana series because I get to relax.

 I'm getting better in Utthita Hasta Padangustasana. It's will always be a hit or miss posture but today it was a miss.

update

Wednesday:

Primarry LED, but up until Bandha Konasana because time was limited. It was good. Worked my body. Then it was the yin class, lots of hip openeers, the lizard, the baddha konasana, the virasana, upavistha konasana, etc.

Friday:
Full Primary and it was awesome. Then a vinyasa class, with humble warrior, bound triangle, half moon pose, crow, Urdvha Dhanurasana variation, etc.

Easy A

Yesterday was easy Primary.

 I didn't have much time, but I still wanted to do ashtanga. So I started with the same even breath. But for the sitting position I omitted the vinyasa in between and only lift up in Lolasana. I only managed to do up until Kurmasana. It was ok though. I had fun working my body again.

Recap

Wednesday:

 Great primary. Well actually I cant remember much cause its Friday. But it was no different than any other primary. My shoulders werent sore, so I was able to work the half vinyasas. The wheel greatly improved, loves it, thanks larugaaa. Garbha flowed beautifully. I did dolphin instead of headstand. And I incorporated the correct amount of vinyasa this time around. one before shoulder stand, one after sirsasana, and one after tolasana. It was tiring but I was glad I did it.

Thursday:

Tired, but still wanted to practice.

- core salutations x1
- warrior 1
- warrior 2
- bound pose
- intense side stretch
- half moon

Backbends sequence like tuesday. Worked on natarajasana with straps. king pigeon.

Friday:

ashtanga led this morning. this time I was exhausted. my shoulders ached and burned. my sides felt intense, especially during a downward dog. all downward dogs. we did only until navasana but I was glad for the half practice. my energy level was low. I did a wonderful wheel. loved it. we did headstand... and she made me do one. In a way I was ready; felt that my shoulder had gained some strength with all the work I did. I managed to balance a little bit. Definitely wasnt as easy as it was before.

later I did a vinyasa class. I LOVED this.

warmup: pushing our back up towards the ceiling, rounding, working to perfect the arms balancing postures. downward dog with bend elbows, that was hard work. downward dog stretching the calves, loved it too. then fire hydrant pose. That realllly worked my tight hips. Fired the sides of my hips in places I can't quite place. We also did the fire hydrant pose in a downward dog version. loves it.

 then we proceeded. Today it was gentle, bound triangle, which reallllly worked my legs. maybe doing it again tomorrow. a hunble warrior with a gomukasana arms. then halfmoon.

for standing poses it was the bound parsva konasana, the third series balancing lotus thingy, cobra, and a dropback. she made me do it! I can't believe it. I was shaking and felt intense going down but when I lifted my hands back it felt natural. I can't wait to do it again! Maybe against the wall.

My whole body is achy right now. loves it.

Tuesday recap

Tuesday:

 An invigorating practice

- core salutations x2
- tadasana
- utkatasana
- hasta padanghustasana
- cat variation
- cow variation
- salambasana
- uttrasana variation

Moved on to:
- pigeon pose
- pigeon pose variation
- mermaid pose
-  king pigeon pose with strap

Backbends:
- sphinx
- baby cobra
- cobra
- locust
- half bow
- camel

 I also worked on my new pose to try Natrajasana. I love the fact that I thought my leg was up high and to glance at the mirror and realized it's way further from my hand than I wanted it to be. I like this pose and chose it to work on because its a mixture of many things: a shoulder opener, a balancing pose and a backbend. I used a strap to practice holding on and lifting up.

 I also tried the King Pigeon.

Primary Monday

Full primary yesterday.

 It was good, just what I needed. Wasn't really focused much because my husband keeps talking to me and he was playing really loud music. My cats keep coming up to me to. I would have been frustrated if this has been another day or practice, but yesterday I was welcoming all the chaos in my surrounding. Sure sometimes I lost count about my breath, but I was just glad that I was able to do my practice. It doesn't take much eh?

My right shoulder started to reallllly ache after garbha pindasana, so I omitted the vinyasas in between and just pause before poses. I love working on urdhva dhanurasana now... love taking the time to work on my shoulder alignment before lifting up. Feels good and my back isn't in pain, just feeling intense.

I nailed the vinyasa for supta konasana! Well, thanks to the mysore teacher but now I can do it without the fear of crashing my heels on the floor.

 Poses I am working for now:

1) Side Crow: Getting the hang of it :) shoulder feels stronger!
2) Natarajasana: Love the challenge of opening and rotating my shoulders for this pose and it's a backbend and a balancing pose all in one.
3) Firelog pose

Poses that I can do now:
1) Handstand against the wall
2) pincha mayurasana against the wall
3) dwi pada viparita dandasana (but need to lift my head off)
4) mermaid pose: loves this. it feels natural
5) Bakasana
6) Half Moon Pose: I can't believe I can do this! Practice rocks!
7) Bound half moon pose: another favorite :)

Starting again

Not having a withdrawal, but the last time I did a complete primary was last Monday. I had to travel Tuesday and was busy with work that I didn't really manage to do a full practice.

 I attempted a somewhat lacklustre practice but going into Dandasana I realized that my heart's not in it. And I reflected back on what I read on how to cope with yoga 'burnout' days - to leave your ego out and do less than on previous practice. That worked. I did simple stretching - mainly on the pigeon pose and the handstand and forearm stand. Cried the whole time.

 Got a sweet reply from the visiting Mysore teacher after I thanked her for teaching:

 Hello Nadia!

It was pleasure having you in class.  I'm really impressed at how well you have taken to the practice in such a short time. Never apologize for sweaty palms and feet! It comes with the territory. A good sweat is healthy for the body. I worry when people don't sweat, haha. 

Please feel free to email me anytime you feel the need. Never hesitate. I don't know everything, but I would be happy to share my experience and answer anything you may be curious about or at the very lease point you in the right direction. 

Best of luck with everything. Hopefully I will be able to pass through KL again in the future! 

Namaste

I love the fact that she taught me how to do Urdhva Dhanurasana properly, especially the alignment of the arms. Ive been working on it as well, and my body does feel lighter with the arms properly stacking. I've also been doing  Purvottanasana daily - just to give my body a good stretch and to strengthen the rotator cuffs. Doing the upper body stretch over the blocks have also opened my chest and my arms a little bit.

 Today I plan to be doing a full primary, have been missing it. I have also been missing cycling and running. More cycling as my knees are officially kaput. Been reigniting my love for cycling the past week, cycling up to 14km at high intensity.

 Namaste!