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. 

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. 

Back in the Swing of Things

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. 

A Recap

This week was my first six day week in perhaps a month. Nothin much new with my practice this week except for wrist binding in marichasyna d. Surprisingly I got a lot of love from JB yesterday and when he adjusted me in baddha konasana a he placed his thighs on top on mine and then sat on me and stayed there for the b variation. After it was all said and done he commented on how much better that pose is getting for me. That was a dreaded pose and adjustment for me that usually made me want to cry and required several breaths to recover from. At the end of yesterday's class he asked me what pose I am currently stopping at and I suspect a new pose may be coming to me soon but then again who knows.

Today was led primary and I practiced during the later time slot with most of JB's assistants whom I refer to as the yogi all stars because they all have a pretty advanced practice. I'm talking 3rd and 4th series advanced. The vibe in the room was so different than the early morning class. I guess by 8:30 people have had a chance to actually wake up. I even felt unusually limber and flexible for a Friday practice and I knew things were off to a good start when I felt myself floating back into chuturanga during my second surya namaskar a. However, by my second one I was dripping in sweat, literally. Kurmasana was nice today as I've been focused on really getting my legs up close to my shoulders before even lowering down into the pose. I'm happy that it no longer feels like my elbows will snap when I practice that pose. JB then came over and helped me bind my hands and cross my feet. The past two days he's been doing something a little different as he adjust my legs in that pose. Instead of just crossing the left foot over the right in front of my head, he lifted up my left leg first and sort of shimmied it over my shoulder and slightly behind my head before crossing the right foot over.
Overall is was a really good practice and I'm a little disappointed that tomorrow's a rest day as I would love to try to do it all again. Guess it will have to wait until Sunday.

Some other interesting things are afoot but I want to wait until things are more certain before I go mentioning it here.

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Friday's Led Primary

Yesterday was a led primary class. I feel like I haven't done a led class in ages with moon days, ladies holidays and random skip days it's been at least three weeks. It's been even longer practicing with JB since he's been on vacation.

I took the earlier led class but sooner regretted that choice because I had decided to take the day off from work which would have allowed me to take the later class. It also would have allowed me to practice alongside assistant A one more time prior to her cross country move. But the earlier class was just fine. JB wasn't very generous with assists but I managed to wrist bind on both sides of marichyasana D with no problem. The key to the wrist bind for me is a little lower back sweat to help the arm glide more smoothly across my back and to give me the extra length that I need. A little sweat goes a long way in helping me get more deeply into certain poses. I'm still a ways off from a wrist bind or even a finger bind in supta kurmasana but as long as I continue to focus on wrist binds in the marichyasana a-d it should come along.

The only adjustment I received was a nice lengthening and straightening in
sarvangasana. It's such a gentle adjustment but it really changes the feel of the entire pose. Shirshasana also felt great as well. Sometimes I struggle with getting my head positioned correctly so the pose doesn't always feel as light and effortless as it should.


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Friday Led with Full Vinyasa

Today was led class at the shala. For the record, I don't like doing a led class every Friday. We used to have led classed every other week but that changed a few months ago. I decided to take it easy today during class and to only vinyasa between poses and not between sides. I didn't want to irritate the already tweaky rib cage. This was all fine and good until JB announced that he wanted to do a little experiment. He wanted us to practice full vinyasa between a few poses. So basically my plan to conserve energy and to not over exert myself was completely tossed out the window. One of the things that I'm trying to work on in my practice is floating back. And while I'm still pretty far off I have made some serious progress in terms of leaning forward into my arms and bearing some weight there instead of just kicking back with brute force. Due to this new area of focus in my vinyasa I can't pass up and opportunity to practice my new technique.

To make up for all the energy I didn't conserve during my practice today and due to some unpleasant things that went down at work I decided to treat myself to a massage this afternoon. The massage felt great but I'm really concerned by the amount of knots in my back. As she massaged away I felt knot after knot after knot in my upper back and shoulders and I'm not sure if this is normal or just par for the course. Things do feel a little looser now but it's definitely not a cure all. I will most likely do a castor oil bath tomorrow to loosen things up for Sunday's practice. I'm pretty sure that any agreement that I had with my hamstrings has been nullified now that I've started practicing krounchasana. 

Thursday's Led Practice Report

Today was led primary at the shala. These days I enjoy led practices because for one, I don't forget any poses. The other reason that I enjoy led classes is that I usually get assists in poses that I don't generally get assisted in. I was assisted in parivritta trikonasana this morning and it was a much more intense stretch of my hamstrings that I'm used to and the rotation was much deeper as well. I was also assisted in prasarita padottanasana b and c. I'm slowly getting closer to lowering my head to the floor on my own.

I managed to lower myself down into my new version of bhujapidasana without slamming my chin on the floor. I'd say it was about a 6 on the graceful scale. I managed to lift myself about three quarters of the way up before falling out of the pose.I'd give myself a 4 on the graceful scale for the exit. Believe it or not this is an improvement. My teacher didn't like my oh so ungraceful head plop to floor technique so he has me working on this version. I must say that I do like control of the descent but it's more difficult to keep my feet off the floor.

Tomorrow's a moon day and I won't be practicing, I'll be taking the day off and I'll be out in California visiting with family and friends. I haven't decided where or with whom I'll practice while I'm there so I'm doing some research. It will be interesting to practice with someone other than my regular teacher and the assistants whom I adore and know my practice so well.