My thoughts on Daily Practice

What do you know it's already march.

Firstly I would like to say that I missss my YG! I miss doing yoga online with wonderful teachers and awesome sequence. Cant wait to get my internet at home.

Great update: I have started my daily ashtanga practice since 27 January. I guess Nike really tells it as it is: Just Do It! I have been mulling about starting a daily ashtanga practice but so many reasons and excuses cropped up; shoulder injury, repetition injuries, no progression, more injuries. I am just afraid of injuries.

But when work hauled me off to Turkmenistan where globalization has yet to hit, I found myself not having the Internet as a source of my yoga sessions. As horrifying and bad as it sounds, it forced me to replace my Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays vinyasa sessions to ashtanga. Hence, daily practice.

It is crazy, and somewhat less of a big deal as my mind made it to be. It's just, after all, a yoga practice. I find that if I focus on the breathing the time flew by. But that doesn't mean it came easy. Every single morning at 510am I find myself wondering if I could simply finish the full primary. Sometimes I get discouraged halfway - what... only in Janu sirsasana? still a long way to go - but I forced my thoughts out of my head and just, do it, like a robot.

Physically, what has improved? You'll love my answer: Bhujapidasana!

I could now drop on my forehead and slip my feet through without 'walking' them on the floor... and lift myself up again easily! It is so smooth that I have forgotten how HARD it was for me to GET it. Just as I can't remember how it was for me to learn to drop my heels after Supta Konasana.

UHP used to be so good in Turkmenistan but back home I am struggling with the left standing side. I am thinking maybe it is the dark dim room (I practice with no lights on, only the hallway light) that affects my balance, but it is a good practice nevertheless.

Non Ashtanga related:

Wonderful backbends: can do eka pada raja kapotasana with my hands grasping my foot and my foot touching my head. My fingers now touch the floor when I do Wild Thing. Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana is wonderful as always.

CAN FINALLY DO HEADSTAND. Unsupported.

Crazy weekend classes

It's been one crazy weekend of yoga. I thank my internet connection and the access to many awesome yoga videos.

 Saturday morning I did a crazy standing flow class with KB. It was supposed to warm me up, and it did, but it was mild. Lots of warrior one and two, half moon, lunges. I continued with a one hour session with Jo T, who uses the word rhomboid as a key in her class, so I was expecting lots of upper body workout. But it was mostly just forward bend, janu sirsasana, some lunges and sun salutations. It's different, but what I loved the most was the slow gradual buildup to stronger poses. I felt tired, without really sweating much.

 Then I decided to go for a yoga class. I expected thst it would be a vinyasa class today but she changes her schedule every first saturday of the month. So it was actually a full primary series led. I was on my period! Did not see this coming. But I ended up doing the whole practice except for the finishing sequence. It was actually awesome, and I was veryyyyyyy tired. I think I might have compromised my chaturranga due to the tiredness and I could feel the front of my shoulders a little bit sore. But what I hate the most about going to a class is how easy my ego gets in the way, especially when I am the  most 'advanced' student/ I hate it when that happens. Because it is very hard to keep my mind focused on NOT feeling the ego. This is hard because I came from a background of sports where you should feel your pride and that churns you on. Also I noticed how short I've been holding the poses for. We did the class with david robson's gentle drumbeat and his counting is superlong!! But it works. I feel like I've been cheating on myself a little bit with the short 5 breaths. Need to breathe longer.

 Today I woke up to a crazy 30 flow with KB. It has a loooot of lunges, with one leg downward dog and pike (she has us kissing our knees hehe) and crescent pose. The crescent pose was crazy aweosme... and tough. Lifting my whole body up, lifting my chest up, it was all I could do not to explode from the sheer effort of it. Oh I always have a hard time with my upper backbend. It was a very challenging class! It ends with eka pada raja kapotasana, but by that time my psoas were screaming. I did not even remember how my upper body felt like because my hips were on fire.

 I finished with a nice 45 minutes of shoulder opening poses with Tiff C, who looks a whole lot like Natalie Portman. She's just too pretty. With her earrings and all. Her shoulder openers were intense, and I couldn't really settle, found myself squirming left and right just to ease of the mild intense sensation on my supraspinatus and infraspinatus, especially when I arranged them in sort of a cacus arm and played with the angle.

 Anyway, I'm kinda hooked with how good yoga makes me feel. I'm so glad I got crazy over this.

emotional hatha

Last Saturday I went for 2 classes. The first was a gentle hatha class that incorporates breathing, gentle stretching exercises and tons of intention settings and self affirmations. I was in an upset mode when I arrived; and the teacher's gentle undulating voice and tone and made me feel like the sadness was washing all over me like waves and water. There is nothing I can do but except that this is what is happening in my life. I have to acknowledge this sadness, and think on how I want to deal with this. I need to evaluate why this upsets me so much. The asanas were simple; table, purvottasana, gentle downward dog against the wall. She had me in an assisted handstand. But at the end it was just sitting against the wall and it went for long minutes and I just felt sad, so sad. I felt like crying.

The second class was fun. As usual it was Birds of Paradise and Reverse Birds of Paradise, which I love! Love it as much as Half Moon Pose. I love the balancing aspect of it. I noticed how much better I am at standing and balancing pose, that even when I stumble my foot manages to root my whole self steadily again. The triple chaturanggas dont even hurt at all now, and it feels so easy to do!

I also did eka raja pada kapotasana! my other hand barely managed to grasp my foot but it held... even for a few seconds. You need to have a really warmed up back for this. We started with mermaid's pose. I could do tripod but not the headstand variation.

I woke up today with my whole body aching. My uppder back!! and butt and abs. Ohh the agony... the pleasure.