It's been a while since my last post and during that time I've been struggling with a persistent and pesky injury. Oh and there was the thing about my teacher not really being around so much and all that good stuff.
My teacher JB has been around a bit more often and during consistent times which has made for a happy yogini. Unfortunately, I don't think everyone from my mysore class reached such a positive resolution and some have decided to part ways with my teacher.
In terms of asana I haven't really made much progress there over the last two months or so due to my rib injury. And just when I thought the coast was clear, I felt/heard a popping noise during urdhva dhanurasana two Sundays ago that pretty much sidelined me again for two weeks. However, I'm officially calling the latest injury an "opening" of sorts. Since Wednesday I've been feeling pretty much 100% again, my gauge being whether or not I practice dropping back assisted and unassisted. By Wednesday I was dropping back once again to my two blankets and bailed out of an attempt to stand upright. However, by Thursday I was feeling great and I dropped back and stood up from my blankets. Because I had to wait a while for JB to do assisted, I decided to give it another go on my own without blankets and was utterly surprised when my hands landed on the floor, instead of my head, without much of a to do. I even managed to stand up a little less spastically on my own. This injury has taught me that I really have to be mindful during my practice and to not force myself into specific asanas even though my ego may want to.
The other thing that's changed since the past two weeks is that I've made a reappearance at led primary practice on Fridays. Last week's practice was really good and it was just what my body needed. Today's practice was good as well but with a much smaller class of only 12 of us. Because the class was so small I did get a lot of attention from JB in all sorts of poses that he's never assisted me on before. He gave me a down dog squish to try to get my ankles to the floor and encouraged my to rotate my heels out slightly so that they were parallel, I got an uttanasana assist to encourage me to extend through my back and keep my palms firmly planted on the floor. There was also the parsvakonasana adjustment where my entire torso was firmly rotated towards the ceiling. I was called a slippery lady during my supta kurmasana assist as my arms were pretty sweaty and I don't think JB was expecting that. I was helped in getting my heel to the floor in supta padangusthasana which made it very difficult to maintain a connection with my big toe and then there was the urdhva mukha paschimottanasana squish. Then there was the karnapidasana oh so intimate ass to ass assist to get my knees to the floor and lastly, I guess I've been doing it wrong this whole time, instruction on the correct hand placement in urdhva padmasana while encouraging me to lift even higher, higher and higher. And last but not least, to seal the deal JB stepped on my left knee/thigh in matsyasana so that it would touch the mat.
Needless to say practice was amazing today but unfortunately, it will probably be a few months before I ever get that much attention from JB again.
My teacher JB has been around a bit more often and during consistent times which has made for a happy yogini. Unfortunately, I don't think everyone from my mysore class reached such a positive resolution and some have decided to part ways with my teacher.
In terms of asana I haven't really made much progress there over the last two months or so due to my rib injury. And just when I thought the coast was clear, I felt/heard a popping noise during urdhva dhanurasana two Sundays ago that pretty much sidelined me again for two weeks. However, I'm officially calling the latest injury an "opening" of sorts. Since Wednesday I've been feeling pretty much 100% again, my gauge being whether or not I practice dropping back assisted and unassisted. By Wednesday I was dropping back once again to my two blankets and bailed out of an attempt to stand upright. However, by Thursday I was feeling great and I dropped back and stood up from my blankets. Because I had to wait a while for JB to do assisted, I decided to give it another go on my own without blankets and was utterly surprised when my hands landed on the floor, instead of my head, without much of a to do. I even managed to stand up a little less spastically on my own. This injury has taught me that I really have to be mindful during my practice and to not force myself into specific asanas even though my ego may want to.
The other thing that's changed since the past two weeks is that I've made a reappearance at led primary practice on Fridays. Last week's practice was really good and it was just what my body needed. Today's practice was good as well but with a much smaller class of only 12 of us. Because the class was so small I did get a lot of attention from JB in all sorts of poses that he's never assisted me on before. He gave me a down dog squish to try to get my ankles to the floor and encouraged my to rotate my heels out slightly so that they were parallel, I got an uttanasana assist to encourage me to extend through my back and keep my palms firmly planted on the floor. There was also the parsvakonasana adjustment where my entire torso was firmly rotated towards the ceiling. I was called a slippery lady during my supta kurmasana assist as my arms were pretty sweaty and I don't think JB was expecting that. I was helped in getting my heel to the floor in supta padangusthasana which made it very difficult to maintain a connection with my big toe and then there was the urdhva mukha paschimottanasana squish. Then there was the karnapidasana oh so intimate ass to ass assist to get my knees to the floor and lastly, I guess I've been doing it wrong this whole time, instruction on the correct hand placement in urdhva padmasana while encouraging me to lift even higher, higher and higher. And last but not least, to seal the deal JB stepped on my left knee/thigh in matsyasana so that it would touch the mat.
Needless to say practice was amazing today but unfortunately, it will probably be a few months before I ever get that much attention from JB again.
Congrats on dropping back without the blanket in such uneventfull yet GREAT event!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Claudia. I still have a ways to go before it becomes consistent but I'm content with the progress thus far.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for adding me to your blog roll.