Yummy Practice

I have noticed a pattern.

When I practice ashtanga, I do the full primary series in the comfort of my own place. I do it every other day, with either hatha or vinyasa flow or yin in between. Reason? I do not want to overwork my injury prone body. Or maybe that is only an excuse. Maybe I am lazy to commit, to devote myself to a full 6 days practice.

I will get there.

However, when a visiting teacher comes and teaches at the KL shala I go to, I would take the full advantage to come and commit to a 6 day classes. And usually, it would be back to back. Only then I get to practice straight.

The first time I did it, it was 2 months ago. And I noticed that I began to feel lethargic and sick on the third day. It was such a horrible feeling, that laziness, that urgency NOT to get up and practice. Wanting a break. I had fever. I had sore throat. I just did not feel good. I went anyway, pushed myself and it went ok. I left the practice wondering if it was normal but Google didn't really tell me anything. Maybe it is just me.

Then it is happening again. Yesterday way my second day. It was, to be honest, a simple good practice. My bhujapidasana jump back was still horrible, but my urdvha dhanurasana was the deepest, and the most pain- free yet. I felt nothing, not even a twinge. It was amazing. The teacher helped deepened the pose by pulling my upper chest back and it felt realllly good. I wanted to continue but she was pushing me to pashimottasana. My left shoulder felt ok. I was careful.

Later that day, I felt it, the fever building up. And then my throat started to get sore. My head feels heavy, I felt sick. The same timing, the same symptoms. This seems too... precise to be a coincidence. Maybe this is the result of a straight back to back practice. And this decides whether you're devoted enough to commit and push to establish yourself a full 6 day practice. I know committing to a 6 day practice isn't easy, but if this is the preview of how you are going to feel it is a little scary. All that strength emotionally to fight your internal laziness, your reasoning of giving space to your body to 'relax'.

Today was a delicious, yummy practice. Everything was going well. I focused on my breathing a lot; attention did stray but I quickly reigned it in. My vinyasas weren't getting better, but the best part about it is that I don't really care. I have kept at this for a year, long enough to know that when the time comes, it comes. So many poses held evidence to that testimony: upavistha konasana, UHP, navasana, garbha pindasana. Today as I flowed through my garbha I noticed that touching my fingers to my head as I rolled up felt effortless, as was landing on my calves in supta konasana. And a few months back these two were so hard, so unimaginable to me. It really does work in your favor - practice, and hard work, and mindful alignment.

The teacher pushed me deep in urdvha dhanurasana again today, which I did 4 just for extra work. It felt goood. And as usual, my the UHP was the most dreaded part in the practice. With her holding to my feet I kinda have a hard time balancing, but it felt nice to let the feet rest instead of doing all the work. But for Supta Hasta Padangusthasana she strongly pushed on my straight thigh and asked me to lift up to kiss my knees. I did it! alhamdulillah.

Last day of Mysore style

Last day with the visiting teacher.

 She was amazing, and because this is the first time I've actually practiced with a teacher more than 2 days I kind of feel attached. I guess I miss the feeling of having someone knowledgeable to tell you the tips and tricks of doing ashtanga, someone you can just ask instantly, "Should I be doing this? should I be doing that?"

 What I learned today:
 Oh wow I can finally do the vinyasa for the supta konasana! It took me a couple of tries, but the teacher was gentle, asking me to really pull my legs toward me and them using my core strength to control the landing forward and I DID IT I landed on my putty calves instead of heels!

 We worked on Chakrasana as well and I'm still working on building the strength to lift myself up enough to allow my head to roll out, but I'm still stuck.

 The wheel now feels soo much harder now that I learned to use my whole arms correctly. Urgh, but it's a welcoming distraction from worrying about my lower back.

 Now that I'm back to my square self, I'm thinking of maybe enrolling to mysore while I'm here. Ramadhan is coming so the I have to be quick.

3 days rest

The last practice I did was on Friday, which was an intro class, for which I was grateful. My upper back was pretty sore from the practice and I could feel a burning pain starting at the left rotator cuff, so I was glad for the teacher's slow paced instruction and her skipping the vinyasa between postures.

We practiced the vinyasa to supta konasana where you need to land on your calves without smacking your heels and with your legs straight. I couldn't do it. Others could, but I find that my legs tend to bend and my heels crash first.

Yesterday didn't do it at all due to some other activity. I miss it, and will try to do it tonight.