Au Contraire

For the first time in a good long while practice feels good again. That's not to say that everything is perfect or that I'm not faced with challenges when I get on my mat but overall things feel good and not broken. This is good news because I've spent the better part of the year just feeling broken. 

A few months back, shortly after recovering from "the great back injury of 2013" I was encouraged to split my practice and to start going straight into intermediate series.  On the surface this seemed like a great idea because I had the longest practice ever but I was a little apprehensive because of my chronically tight hamstrings. My fear was that if I stopped doing all of the forward bends in primary, the ones that caused my hamstrings to be perpetually sore, I would lose all flexibility that I had gained over the past couple of years of practice. 

To my surprise that hasn't been the case at all. If anything I'm finding more length and flexibility than I ever imagined and after practice I'm not left with achy and sore hamstrings for days and days on end. Who would have thought? 

The other surprising turn of events is that I'm finding that I haven't lost any strength and in some respects feel even stronger. I think it all boils down to having a shorter, more manageable practice that isn't taxing my body to the point of utter exhaustion and then getting up and doing the same thing day after day after day. 

In other news, titibasana still makes me feel like I want to puke. 

An Update

After a brief hiatus I'm back. For how long I'm unsure but we'll take this one day at a time.

A lot has changed since my last post over a year ago and at the same time it feels as not much has changed at all. As for the changes I'm practicing with a new teacher at a new shala due to my teacher leaving town and taking on a new job that doesn't involve teaching an ashtanga mysore program. Trust me, if just moved out of state and continued to to teach odds are I would have tried to figure outa way to follow him somehow.  So that about sums up the changes.

As for things staying the same, I really haven't progressed much in terms of acquiring new asanas during this time. I'd chalk it up to a) being hazed by new teacher b) a plethora of injuries c) having the tightest hips on the planet.  In April of this year I was sidelined for about 6 weeks due to "the great back injury of 2013" which I attribute to overuse and being pushed just a little too hard one day. The good news is that the back has mostly healed and my practice continues to improved. Things have improved so much that new teacher has finally decided to give me a new pose. After seeing my feeble attempts at titibasana a, b and c over the past week I'm almost certain he's regretting his decision.

After being marooned, for what feels like an eternity, in this section of second series I'm really looking forward to working on the strength poses that come after such as pincha mayurasana and karandavasana because let's be honest I've always tended to be more strong than flexible. I won't be holding my breath though because I think it will take at least another year to develop the flexibility required to be able to do my current new pose.  

Sharath 2012 US Tour Dates

If you were waiting to find out the dates for the Sharath and Saraswathi 2012 US Tour, your wait is officially over.

GREENWICH, CT:  April 9 - 13 at 6:30 am - Led Primary Series
      Complimentary bus service provided from NYC to Greenwich, CT
      Please contact nargis@joisyoga.com, (760) 889 - 4707 for details.

GRAND OPENING of JOIS YOGA GREENWICH:  April 14 at 6:00 pm

NYC - ONE DAY ONLY: April 14 at 8:30 am - Led Primary Series
      Please join us for this special led Primary class with Sharath &
      Saraswathi - conference and chai after class.

ENCINITAS, CA (Week 1):
    April 17 - 19, 21 - 22 at 6:30 am - Led Primary Series

ENCINITAS, CA (Week 2):
    April 25 - 29 at 6:30 am - Led Primary Series
    April 25 - 28 at 8:30 am - Led Intermediate Series

Seems like their schedule is greatly reduced from last year so best to get your tickets early.

For more details check out http://www.joisyoga.com/workshops.html 

You Want Me To Put Both Legs Where?

Practice has been a real joy the past couple of weeks with JB back in the shala. The temperature in the room has been nearly perfect most days and there's been a constant nice sized crowd. Just enough people to keep JB busy and the energy in the room moving but not too many folks that one doesn't get needed attention and guidance from the teacher. I'm truly loving it despite my practice being long and grueling. I've been working hard on eka pada sirsasana and it really feels like it's coming along nicely on the left side. With a little help from JB I can keep my leg behind my head and get a nice extension as I bend forward, I can actually feel my chin touch my knee/shin and I can feel the extension through my spine. The right side on the other hand is a bit more challenging and despite my best efforts I can't quite get the head, chin, neck extension necessary to make the pose truly comfortable on that side. Two days ago I woke up with extremely sore abdominal muscles and I wonder if it has anything to do with the effort that I've been putting into this asana. In addition to the sore abs I've been dealing with a sore lower back for the past couple of weeks and I guess it goes with the territory. Just to be clear, it's a soreness and not a hurtness.

Even though my eka pada still rides the short bus JB surprised me today and gave me dwi pada sirsasana and yoganidrasana. I'm going to file dwi pada in the "impossible asana" category for a while and I'll revisit that categorization in a few weeks time as almost all asanas were put into that category at one point or another even some of my current favorites. Yoganidrasana wasn't so bad however and I was shocked that I was able to do a decent approximation of the pose on my own but there is definitely still some work to do.

Back bending felt terrible today after all the lbh poses and so I opted for three urdhva dhanurasanas and moved on to finishing as my body practically refused to really bend in that direction after the new poses.

In other news I'm looking forward to taking a workshop with Chuck Miller in April which should be interesting. That man can do dwi pada like no ones business straight out of the vinyasa no putzing around like us mere mortals.

An Update

It's been some time since my last post. I actually started several posts but never got around to finishing them and posting them for one reason or another but I'm back now.

JB returned on Tuesday and I've had stellar practices since he's been back. While he was gone I felt like a lost child with no direction and now that he's back things are good. It was almost like Christmas on Tuesday morning waking up early to get to the shala just to practice with him. There have also been some minor changes to his teaching schedule which means that I'll once again be able to practice with him on a more consistent basis.

In terms of asana he "gave" me eka pada sirsasana before leaving for three weeks and I protested a little out of fear of being adjusted by his less experienced subs. It's not that his subs are not capable because that's the furthest thing from the truth but I think it's important for one to develop some familiarity and comfort in a pose before being able to surrender to any adjuster. With that said I only played with putting my foot behind my head while he was gone, once after kurmasana and then again after ardha matsyendrasana. What I noticed and loved about practicing the LBH after kurmasana is that my second kurmasana attempt was that much deeper and more comfortable. With JB back this week he's helped me into the full expression of the pose and each day it's gotten a little better and more manageable. The first day sucked because I was so hunched over that my  congenital hernia started acting up which made it that much more uncomfortable. On subsequent attempts, between the efforts of myself and JB things felt a lot better. I can definitely see the potential in the pose in that once I gain the needed level of flexibility it can be, dare I say, a comfortable pose. I definitely think that it's one of the more "pretty" asanas of second series.

In other news I went to the Richard Freeman workshop at Urban Zen last night. I've heard some of my shalamates rave about him in the past and I didn't quite get it until last night. He's simply amazing! He has the most calm and unpretentious demeanor (I chatted with him before the workshop and asked him to sign my copy of his book). Needless to say if I can be anything like him and his wife when I get older I'll be a happy camper.

On the agenda for this weekend and next is an adjustment workshop which I'm also very much looking forward to. I think by Monday I'll be happy to have a rest day.

The Co-Opting of Yoga

I came across two things yesterday that made me throw up a little bit in my mouth and also made me realize how thankful I was to have found Ashtanga yoga 14 months ago. It's pretty sickening all of the co-opting of yoga that's going on here in the west and all for the sake of making a quick buck.

The first was a link posted on Leaping Lanka's blog about a "Yoga Rave" brought to you by everyone's favorite athletic and lifestyle brand. I refuse to post the link here hence the link to the other blog.

The second is this article from Yoga Journal about Fred Segal and VIP yoga classes.

I'll be back to my regularly scheduled programming shortly but I'll leave you with this PMS + yoga = terrible combination and that pretty much sums up my practice this week. 

Criminal Behavior

I'm partially ashamed to admit and partially unashamed to admit that I participated in some criminal behavior today for an ashtangi. My teacher is gone for the next three weeks and his senior assistants are covering for him while he's gone. I generally don't mind practicing with JB's assistants while he's gone for a day or two but something about him being gone for so long has me seeking out opportunities to practice with other teachers.

So today I sought out a different studio in my neighborhood and had a nice practice at Z's shala. There was a small group of practitioners in the shala and she was there to assist me when I needed her. She easily got my hands to the floor in prasarita padottanasana c, wrapped me up like a cute little package in supta kurmasana, helped me with a deep twist and bind in pashasana, got me into a deeper expression of bhekasana and finally helped me grab my heels in kapotasana. I'm not an adjustment whore but if I'm practicing in a shala in the presence of a teacher I have certain expectations to leave the shala feeling like I've at least be taught something.

Today was a one off experience but I'm debating of doing a little more shala hopping prior to JB's return. I'll see how the situation plays off over the next couple of days before I make any final decisions. 

The Power of Words

After practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays I usually spend about an hour or so after assisting. It came about when I couldn't decide on an independent study project for my teacher training course. I enjoy it but most days I feel like I'm doing more harm than good or that I'm unable to help most of the practitioners.

There's this sweet older couple that practices at the shala and I noticed that the wife hadn't been around for a while and I found out on Sunday that she was gone because her mother had just passed away. As I was assisting today I noticed that she was back practicing. I went over to her to assist her with utthita hasta padangusthasana but before I helped I simply said "welcome back" and then we went about doing the pose. I assisted her in a few other poses throughout the morning and when she finished practicing she came over to me and said "I just wanted to thank you for welcoming me back this morning it meant a lot to me because coming back has been a lot harder than you would think." She started to get teary as she was talking to me and as a result so did I. I gave her a hug, smiled at her beneath my tears and she went off to face the rest of her day.

I never would have thought two simple words would have such an effect on someone. So I'm thinking, perhaps today I did less harm and more good than usual but of course I'd have to ask my supta kurmasana adjustment guinea pigs. 

The Crane Has Landed

I practiced a little later than usual today and shortly after I entered the shala JB had actually begun his own practice and his mat was set up to my left and slightly behind me. No I didn't feel any pressure at all. I did take it easy during the vinyasas of primary series because I have two slightly tweaked hands and my problematic right ribs were feeling a little twingey as well. Other than that practice felt pretty good.

I managed to bind both sides of pashasana on my own and stay upright. It's funny because JB assisted me in pashasana yesterday and  his assist is pretty intense to say the least and when I do the pose on my own it feels like a completely different pose. What I do probably shouldn't even be called pashasana. Perhaps I should just start calling it "pash" but I digress. I did kapo 2.5 times on my own and it's coming along. I'm now able to hang back into the pose to get a nice opening and breathe at the same time. A few weeks ago this was a challenge to say the least. I'm also able to ever so slightly walk my hands further up my feet than before. After JB's supta vajrasana assist I commented to him that there's gotta be a better way to do that pose because when I do it, it mostly feels like my elbow is going to pierce my spine. He in turn told me what I already knew which is that I need to work on getting the elbows to cross over each other and once that happens I'll experience a lot more opening in the pose but until then I"ll have to endure the ancient elbow torture techniques.

After our little supta vajrasana discussion I did bakasana a two or three times in an attempt to lift both feet off the floor at the same time. During my last attempt I sort of had an epiphany regarding how to straighten my arms more in the pose. What I did, and I don't think I was consciously aware of it, was to rotate my arms so that my inner arms were facing forward. I did that as opposed to just straightening my arms and having my inner arms face each other. This is something that I definitely intend to experiment with tomorrow. I then got two blankets and attempted the dreaded bakasana b pose. Attempt one; fail. Attempt two; fail. Attempt three; landed the legs on my, held it for half a breath and then rolled on to my head. I looked over to my right to catch eye contact with my shalamate/assistant who was practicing next to me and instead of getting a sympathetic look he proceeded to snicker at me. Attempt four; abandoned. Attempt five; I landed the crane and held on for dear life for the full five breaths. Surprisingly JB saw the whole thing go down and said something along the lines of "good job" and proceeded to give me the next two poses.

The thing is I feel like a complete fraud because a) I don't know if or when I'll ever be able to land bakasana b again and b) I haven't even attempted it yet without blankets in front of me to buffer my fall.  So now not only do I have to worry about trying to land bakasana again I get to start stressing out about the impossibility of jamming my legs behind my head. The good news is that JB is taking off for three weeks at the end of the month so I won't have to cross that bridge until next year. 

Primary and Back Bending

Led primary today definitely made up for yesterday's lackluster and emotional practice. Things got off to a sketchy start as I entered the room and the temperature was hoovering somewhere around 70 degrees. The room eventually heated up and I had a fine practice and I'm happy that the practice week is over. One thing different that I've noticed about my practice now that I've been practicing a bit of second for a while is that my back bends seem absolutely torturous at the end of primary. I can barely lift up and straightening my arms takes a herculean effort. Prior to practicing second I never had a problem with closing back bends except when I first started and the idea of doing three in a row seemed like downright torture. I'm not sure what I can do to make things better but it is a real drag to end practice on such a crappy note. 

What a Difference a Day Makes

Wow yesterday's practice was light, flowing and fun. Today's practice on the other hand was cold, difficult and ended up with me hiding my tears while in paschimottanasana. There was no real reason for at all whatsoever but with each failed attempt at bakasana b (12 in total) I grew ever more frustrated at myself, my practice and any and everything else. I stood up for drop backs and was able to do one. I stood at the front of my mat for a moment contemplating a few more and started to get teary eyed. I turned around took a few deep breathes and then assumed the position for assisted. I couldn't look JB in the eyes because I didn't want my emotional state to become a "thing". So I just turned my head and did assisted back bends as best as I could. I sat down to do paschimottanasana and that's when I lost it.

At that point I grabbed a towel and walked out of the room and on my way to the locker room I ran into a shalamate who embraced me with open arms. She encouraged me to cry and to get it all out of my system and she was really nice about it and eventually even had me giggling at the absurdity of the situation.

I tend to think of myself as tough as nails and that's the impression that most people have of me. However, there is the rare occassion when I do have complete and utter meltdowns. The thing about today's meltdown is that it wasn't at all about the asana, yeah it sucks that I can't do a pose and I admit I sometimes get green with envy when I see shalamates flawlessly execute a pose that they were just given. But it's ladies holiday and I'm dealing with some work frustrations (the normal stuff that comes with starting a new job) and I just think that coupled with my practice frustrations led to my meltdown.

Interestingly enough I do think that there was something in the air today at the shala because quite a few of the practitioners called  it quits early because of one ailment or another. Perhaps we can blame it on the lack of moon days in December. 

And Now You're Ready for the Prom

Those were JB's words to me after we finished assisted back bending and he brought my hands to my heels for the first time. Needless to say the feeling was intense and I wanted out nearly as soon as my hands touched as was evidenced by my instinct to lift my head after he placed my second hand. After all was said and don't a shalamate practicing to my right says "that was great, you sounded bit like you were having an asthma attack but overall it was great" and we both got a nice chuckle out of it.

The rest of practice felt very good which I attribute to a lazy home primary on Friday and a nice castor oil bath on Saturday. The only thing that wasn't so pleasant was the length of my practice because I did full primary and second up to bakasana b.

Speaking of bakasana b that pose is not even within the realm of possibilities for me yet. I made about 30 unsuccessful attempts at the pose before calling it quits. Practice and all is coming right?


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

And My Dosha Is...

Today practice felt really good. I got on my mat, focused on my breath and did my practice. I didn't complain about the heat or lack there of in the room and I didn't putz around too much in between asanas. I was also able to get through my full practice without feeling any nausea which was quite a relief. As a result things felt very good overall.

After practice I had an Ayurvedic consult by one of JB's good friends. In the days leading up to the consult I thought it would be funny to have some of my shalamates guess my dosha and I would reward the winner with a dosa. Turns out all three of my buddies guessed correctly that I am a pitta-kapha. I'm one firery sturdy beast is what it all boils down to. All joking aside, the woman who did my reading is actually a practicing ashtangi so in addition to giving me some dietary and lifestyle pointers she did also offer some valuable feedback on my practice. One of the most important things that she mentioned is that I really should be spending at least 12 minutes in savasana (almost double the amount of time that I currently take). I forget the exact reasoning now (it's ok because she's going to send me a full work up with specific recommendations) but it has something to do with that it takes that long for the nervous system to really calm down and relax after such a vigorous practice. And being a firery pitta it's important to not generate too much fire within. The other thing that she mentioned was that it's important to start a breathing practice and she mentioned four different things that I should start doing daily. In total all 4 should only take about 10 minutes. Besides the specific benefits from each of the 4 different breathing exercises she said that these exercises are important important to help balance the ego. Especially when it comes to a practice such as ashtanga where there is a linear progression and it's easy/tempting to judge ones ability by how far along they are in the series and comparing oneself to others.

Her last piece of advice as far as my practice is concerned is that it's not good to practice to the point that I'm drenched in sweat. Unfortunately, this was my least favorite piece of advice as I generally judge my practice by the amount of sweat generated. I guess there is always something to work on. 

Glorious Sweaty Led Class

Practice was glorious today and also quite sweaty despite the room not being very heated. There's something about a led class that really get my tapas burning. I also didn't feel sick and nauseated in class at all today and I wonder if this gives new credibility to the second series/kapotasana anxiety theory. Hrmmm.

Because I was so sweaty a hand bind came easily in supta kurmasana but that was only after I was told to not close my throat as I breathed in kurmasana. If it's not one thing it's another I tell you. I didn't do any back bending today because my lower back was having none of it. I substituted full urdhva dhanurasana for bridge pose.

Am looking forward to Saturday's Iyengar class followed by my weekly castor oil bath. 

Nausea, Not Pining and New Poses

I felt nauseated during practice again today. I stepped out of the room before parsvottanasana and spoke to JB when I came back in. The nausea was so bad today I was almost on the verge of tears while I was outside the room. So after disclosing that I wasn't in fact pregnant to JB he suggested that the nausea could be from all of the nerve cleansing going on thanks to the deep back bends of second series. He also said there there might be some anxiety on my part as I face the more challenging poses of second. I'm not generally a nervous person as it is so that hypothesis didn't seem to hold much water with me at the time.

Today I actually did primary up to baddha konasana and then went on to second. Ustrasana felt great as I was able to move my hips far forward while I was in the pose and laghu is continuing to improve as well. As I set up for kapo a huge wave of nausea swept over me, perhaps I was anxious after all. I closed my eyes and took a few moments to focus on my breath and after doing that I was able to face kapotasana. I did it once by myself and was able to grab my toes I then waited for an assist from JB. I asked him to place my left hand first which he did and I think that made a huge difference as I was able to surrender and breath as I held on to both heels. I've been having some tightness in my erector spinae on the left side and when I'm adjusted into kapotasana with my right hand first it causes a lot of discomfort and cramping on the left side. So hopefully we can do it this way going forward to make it more bearable.

Supta vajrasana is still pretty sucky and I think it will continue to be that way until I can cross my elbows correctly behind me thus enabling me to keep hold of my feet as I arc back. By having my hands and feet bound I don't even know how I manage to arch back to get my head to the floor because I literally feel stuck like there's no way to go. After supta vajrasana JB had me vinyasana and assume pashasana position. I shook my  head furiously as if to say that I didn't want a new pose but he didn't get the memo and proceeded to ignore me so off to bakasana it was. Mind you, I've never been able to do that pose during any of the vinyasa classes that I attended during my previous lifetime. It was always a dreaded pose for me along with almost all forward bends. Something about the ashtanaga practice over the past year and learning to bear weight on my arms while leaning forward has taken a lot of fear out of the pose and I was surprised by my ability to do it. Thankfully we only did the A version as I'm sure I would have been completely humbled by any attempt at the B version.

As I prepared for my back bends it was as though my nausea had miraculously disappeared and I was feeling well. Dare I even say good? You know that good feeling that you get after practice sometimes and all feels right in the world? Well that's how I felt.

Am really looking forward to led class tomorrow for some reason. 

Is This What Nerve Cleansing Feels Like?

Today's practice was interesting to say the least. I was excited to get on my mat this morning to give my shortened practice a try but it didn't seem that much shorter. Well that's sort of a lie. It did feel a little bit shorter and less physically taxing but I managed to somehow let my practice take up the whole two hours that I allotted myself. Something else for me to work on I suppose.

What I'm finding is that the back bends of second series aren't so physically taxing per se but after kapo and supta vajrasana I feel completely wrung out and I curled up into a ball on the front of my mat feeling nauseated after each pose. Supta vajrasana was especially fun today because I was on the verge of tears after I came out of that one. Oh and it took about 12 minutes for me to regain any feeling and sensation in my hands. I also felt like a complete failure doing that pose because I was unable to hold on to my feet at all during that pose. It seems like every muscle in my back is getting worked these days and it's reminiscent of how my hamstrings would feel when I was learning primary. Each day would be successively worse in terms of soreness in my hamstrings and my ability to fully execute most of the forward bends. I guess my back is the new hamstrings. The saddest thing about this whole situation is that my hamstrings still get pretty sore after each practice so it's not like the back soreness has replaced the hamstring soreness. I'm just sore all over these days.

One positive development today was that I only did laghu vajrasana once today. I got my head pretty close to the floor (it may have even touched at one point) and I hoisted myself back up fairly gracefully. I didn't give it another go in an effort to conserve some energy.

During assisted drop backs with JB today "we" walked my hands pretty close to my feet. I touched my hands down on the forth exhale and he had me stay there for a few breathes while he straightened out my feet. He then instructed me to walk my hands in some more and THEN he started to count from one. I used to enjoy assisted back bending with JB because it would give me a great buzz that lasted throughout the day however, today I just wanted to puke after all was said and done.

If there's one thing that this practice has taught me is that I know that in a few weeks time my body will adjust to these new asanas and things won't be so terribly bad but from where I stand now I'm in a dark dark place and I don't see the light yet. 

No Benefit, Incorrect Method and Splitting

I fought off nausea throughout this morning's practice. As if the practice isn't hard enough on it's own, throw a little nausea into the mix and practice was a rip roaring good time this morning. I practiced next one of my buddies this morning and as we both watched the Ashtanga Police video yesterday there were a lot of "incorrect method" and "no benefit" comments thrown around. We are indeed a bunch of bad yogis.

Other than the nausea practice went relatively smoothly and I was able to bind supta kurmasana again for the third day in a row. I think the bind is a direct result of the nausea I've been feeling the past couple of days and the lack of appetite. I did get yelled at again for my breathing in kurmasana though. But to my credit I WAS breathing for the first five breaths. A shalamate taught me a very helpful tip a few days agao for binding in pashasana. She basically told me to use my hand to move my abdominal flesh out of the way as I twist which helps to bring the shoulder lower down on the leg and thus encouraging a deeper twist. So far it seems to work and I've been binding both sides on my own. The next frontier in that pose will definitely be to try to work on getting the heels flat which will probably happen in another lifetime. Surprisingly krounchasana is coming along nicely and I'm able to touch forehead/chin to knee on both sides these days. My hamstrings have been so sore from practice the past couple of weeks I'm not entirely sure how that came about. I'm able to lower down much further in laghu vajrasana these days as well. It's not the prettiest of asanas for me but it is definitely coming.

Sweet sweet kapotasana on the other hand feels like death. It's not even that it's that particularly painful of a pose but after I exit out of the pose I feel completely, absolutely and utterly spent. Today's attempt was particularly intense as JB held me up trying to get a good hip extension I suppose before bringing my hands to my heels. By the time I actually got into the pose my quads and abdominal muscles were on fire and I'm pretty sure the people practicing to my left and right saw smoke coming off of my body.I told JB that kapo makes me feel like my muscles are being ripped from my bones and he basically said that's what happens when one has such a muscular build. I told him that I would happily be a flexible noodle if I had the choice. As I was laying in a heap on my mat trying to recover from kapo he tells me to get up and prepare for the next pose supta vajrasana. I think I'll eventually grow to like that pose, even though it's essentially a limbless back bend, once I'm able to hold onto my feet as I bend back.

After that endurance effort, to my surprise JB told me that I can start doing half primary each day, alternating which half I do every other day. I was happy to hear him tell me that because my practice has been inching up towards the 2.5 hour mark. This shall be an interesting change to my practice as I've become quite attached to primary since I've been practicing it almost daily for the last year or so. I wonder what my dear hammies will think about this and if they will tolerate it at all. I guess only time will tell. 

Ashtanga Police

I don't really feel like posting about my practice except to say that kapo is kicking my butt and I have a very sore back thanks to that pose. In other news my quads seem to have adjusted to the addition of ustrasana, laghu and kapo so I'm able to walk up the five flights of stairs to my apartment with no problem.

In other news I came across this video and just had to post it here because it's so funny.

Over the Moon

I'm over the moon that today is a moon day which is a rarity because I would practice everyday if I could. But for some reason I felt like I've been hit by the yoga truck multiple times this week. My body felt so sore some days I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to make it through practice. Add to that the three new poses that I got Tuesday and needless to say my muscles could use a break.

Speaking of new poses, I'm pretty sure that JB hates me and that's why he tacked on ustrasana, laghu, and kapo all at once. I'm pretty sure it's written somewhere is the annals of ashtanga yoga that that is a no no. JB usually gives out ustrasana and laghu and then a few weeks later he'll add on kapo. But anyway my first actual attempt at those poses on my own was quite laughable and I failed to lift myself up out of kapo correctly the first time which led to a complete fail. The second time was slightly better but my challenge is being able to get my left elbow to the floor. Oddly enough I've got some serious soreness going on in my left triceps close to the insertion point near my elbow. I never expected that at all from the pose as I was mostly anticipating pain and soreness in the lower back. Don't get me wrong there IS soreness in my back but nothing compared to what's going on with arms and legs. Did we discuss my legs yet? My poor quads felt like jell-o and I had to think twice about leaving my apartment since I live on the 5th floor of a walk-up.

I did however leave my apartment to treat myself to a massage yesterday and that coupled with the time spent with my has really helped the situation. I'm happy that tomorrow is led primary and I won't have to face second again until Sunday. Hopefully by then my muscles will have had a chance to recover and I plan to help things along by increasing my protein intake.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Ustrasana, Laghu Vajrasana and Kapotasana Oh My

Today I was given kapotasana along with ustrasana and laghu vajrasana. Now truth be told I've been a little obsessed with kapo since last january when I recieved a postcard from manduka with a woman doing kapo on the front. Mind you back in January I had only just finished primary.

I'd been stuck at parsvo dhanurasana since early August and having been itching to move forward for weeks. Seeing many of my shalamates progress didn't help the situation much at all. So today as I'm preparing to do my back bends JB comes over and tells me go back back into downward dog.

Ustrasana wasn't so bad as I've done it before in my past life during my vinyasa days. Laghu was a whole different animal and I'm pretty sure that my quads and glutes are already sore from that pose. One thing I noticed about laghu is that I really need to hold on to the bottom of my legs for dear life if I'm going to get anywhere in that pose.

Then there was kapotasana. I wasn't expecting to get that pose today as well but it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected it would be. Of course JB was there practically manipulating my body into the pose itself. The real test will be tomorrow when I get to try these poses all on my own. One of my initial concerns about kapo was how it would affect my unstable rib cage area and the good news is that I barely felt any sensation from the pose in that area of my body.

Surprisingly, because of all of the new back bends from second series, drop backs came a lot easier than normally today.

Lastly, on the assisting front I'm learning to do assisted drop backs as well.

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