Benched

Despite my plans to take Hatha and Iyengar classes this weekend that didn't happen. I missed the Hatha class because I was busy preparing for hurricane Irene which came and went without much of a to do in my neighborhood. Then on Saturday the Iyenar class was cancelled on Saturday due to the impending storm.

Last Wednesday after practice I noticed some soreness in my rib cage area slightly lower than my original intercostal injury. I took two advil before class on Thurdsay and it didn't bother me very much. When I realized that the pain was only on one side and was very similar to the pain and sensation of my original injury I decided to take off on Friday and not go to the led class and I wasn't too bummed out not being able to practice over the weekend. However, it's been four days off from practice and I still have some soreness in that area. I'm being extra cautious this time around because I don't want to be sidelined from practice for another six weeks. I truly believe that I only exacerbated things by insisting on practicing even though I was in so much pain.

So my plan is to practice tomorrow but to only do everything before the marichyasanas and then go directly to closing. Drop backs may be off the menu as well.

The most frustrating thing about this situation is not knowing what I did to cause the pain. My two suspicions are that I'm either twisting too deeply in the marichyasanas and assisted pashasana or it's something about the way I drop backs and stand up that doesn't agree with me. JB is out until Friday and hopefully I'm feeling better by then but if not it may warrant a conversation.

Twisting, Binding and Assisting

Today I managed to bind on the first side in pashasana. This was a big and unexpected breakthrough today. It's even more surprising because I didn't think that I would actually make it through practice because of my monkey mind. The first half of practice was a slow and laborious struggle but by the time I got to the marichyasanas I was getting help to bind and twist deeper in each pose. I've been really focused on wrist binding the past couple of weeks but today's assists took it to a whole new level. Usually when I practice pashasana an assist comes immediately. If I happen to not get an assist I try to work the pose as best I can and and sometimes my fingers would touch slightly before tumbling over. I'm not going to get too attached to today's breakthrough because I know that everything can change tomorrow. Drop backs anyone?

My practice now goes up to dhanurasana and the combination of that pose with the shalambasanas has my lower back really feeling it. Bhekasana is still not a pose that I'm proficient at but I got some nice tips today from one of the assistants such as spending as much time as I possibly can in virasana. I'll try it out for a week and see if I notice any real difference.

One other fun thing to mention is that I'm going to be apprenticing with JB a couple of hours a week to learn how to assist. For the time being I'm pretty much useless but I'm taking it all in and hope to prove myself worthy of the honor in a short period of time.

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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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Back to My Roots

I did a bit of yoga tourism this weekend and opted for a vinyasa class in lieu of a regular Saturday practice of an oil bath. In an essence I went back to my roots because the class was with one of my favorite vinyasa teachers. I really enjoy his class because he has an ashtanga and iyengar background and he does great sequencing in his classes. One of the reasons why I can't bear most vinyasa/power vinyasa classes any more is because most of the teachers at the studio can't sequence a class to save their lives. I'm not the most flexible yogini out there but give me enough warm up postures beforehand and the odds of me approximating a posture requiring lots of flexibility increases.

Today it was back to mysore class and overall it was good. I had some soreness in my hips and upper back from some of the poses we did yesterday but nothing that really negatively affected my practice. I did notice that my forward bend in the surya namaskars felt deeper than usual and I'm not sure what to attribute that to.

For the past week or so I've been working on binding my wrists in all of the marichasyna poses with mixed results. I can bind consistently in A and C and in B I've been able to wrist bind on the right side only. I've only attempted a wrist bind in my head when it came to D because my ability to actually get into that pose consistently can be a bit touch and go. Today as I held my fingers on the right side in marichyasana D one of the assistants came over and suggested the I grab my wrist. I gave it a feeble attempt and told him that it wasn't going to happen today. After some instruction on which hand grabs which wrist I made a second attempt and to my surprise was able to grab my wrist. I attempted the left side as well and I was shocked when I was able to do it. After exiting the pose the assistant said "the next thing you want to work on is grabbing your shin to deepen the twist." I told him that I would think about it for the next couple of days and that all I really wanted to think about in the moment was my little victory.

When it came time to practice drop backs I tried several times against the wall then moved to the middle of my mat. I tried unsuccessfully to drop back two times before I found myself getting completely frustrated and on the verge of tears. I thought I would be able to do assisted but I was such a hot emotional mess at that point that I opted out. I'm not a big cryer at least not in public which is why I'm going to take the opportunity to blame today's emotional breakdown on my pending ladies holiday.


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How I Bind In Marichyasana D

I tend to be more strong than I am flexible and I hadhave a tendency to approach my yoga practice by brute force sometimes. Which doesn't really serve me well in the long run.

One pose that I approached in this manner is marichyasana d. Binding was elusive for the longest time which was odd because despite my relative lack of flexibility I am a pretty decent twister, but I digress. After some a lot of time I managed to inconsistently bind on my own on the right side but binding alone on my left side was something that only happened in my dreams. Each day I would get anxious as the pose approached and lose all bearings and not manage to bind. JB or one of the assistants would walk over and wrangle me into the pose. I jokingly told one of the assistants that I planned to never eat again so that I could one day bind on my own. She assured me that wasn't the answer. I do however think part of the culprit was my painfully tight right shoulder.

I sought treatment for the shoulder and things started to loosen up in that area but binding still wasn't possible on that side and remained inconsistent on the other. One day while attempting with all my might to bind on my good side the assistant looked at me and said "J you're arm is doing a whole lot of work but you're not twisting your body". And it was totally true and it totally clicked.

From that day on I started approaching the pose a lot different. It went from anxiety and dread to a more laid back approach. I also started to twist from the upper body first even before trying to wrap my arm around to bind. On my right side this has served me extremely well and after a few weeks I was able to bind consistently on that side. My left side is still a little challenging. When I'm not taking a led class I usually twist and rest my elbow on the outside of my knee and hold it anywhere from 3-5 breaths and this intermediate step has served me well. After that I go in for the bind and it's usually a lot easier however, for some reason I have to give my hand a slight assist by reaching in between my legs to get it to slide over my fatty calf muscle. I know it's not ideal and it doesn't flow with the vinyasa count but it works for me and I get the satisfaction of binding on my own in that pose. I'm sure that over time things will come much easier(or perhaps not) and I'll be able to do it to the actual vinyasa count.

* image borrowed from www.ashtangayoga.info

Slowly slowly

Tuesday's practice was very good. So good that I was even able to incorporate some jump backs into the routine and I felt strong pretty strong doing them putting more weight into the arms. I didn't attempt to bind in marichyasana d for fear of grave results. JB came over to offer an assist but I had to shake my head and decline the offer. I also had to take it easy in the last 3-4 poses of primary because rolling up from a reclined position was still a little painful. I was positively vibrating after yesterday's class and my colleagues even commented on my pre-coffee chipper mood.

Today's practice went similarly well and I'm feeling even less pain than the previous days. Today I have a feeling of lingering muscle soreness as opposed to a stabbing pain. Jump backs and jump throughs were back on the menu but I backed off as soon as I felt any odd sensations on the right side. I bound for the first time in almost 2 weeks in marichyasana d it wasn't very easy but there was no pain. I'd say that's the litmus test for this injury.

I got a soft adjustment in kurmasana to push my head and shoulders closer to the floor. In supta kurmasana JB wrangled my hands together and got me into a pretty firm bind but unfortunately there was no crossing of the feet so I didn't get to feel like a tightly packed burrito. However, to exit the pose I managed a fairly elegant jump back from bakasana into chatarunga. The key for me for this transition is to really have the arms high up on the legs and when that happens almost anything is possible.

The last several poses were still a little painful and challenging but more manageable than yesterday. Work continues on my hang backs however the ground doesn't feel like it's getting any closer and my knees seem too stubborn to bend. Perhaps I'll write them a letter. Assisted back bending with JB was fantastic as I was actually able to see my heels in the pose for the first time. At first I thought they were JBs heels but then I realized that I was seeing four sets of feet and one of them was brown so they had to be mine! I used my new Manduka Equa towel and I think that may have had something to do with it because my hands were much less slippery than usual. I'll write a full review on the towel in the next couple of days.

Practicing with an Injury

Yesterday was my first day back on the mat since a mysterious pain in my right ribs sidelined me for 9 days. The official diagnosis was intercostal myalgia with a prognosis for healing in two weeks.

I couldn't stay away from practice for another week for fear of muscle atrophy and fear that I would happen again. Needless to say that Sunday's practice was a severely modified version of primary and of course and I got no adjustments except in assisted back bending. As a result I had a very unsatisfying practice on Sunday. Oddly enough my muscles started feeling sore later in the afternoon and I knew this wasn't a good sign. I took a salt bath in the evening and hoped for the best in the morning.

This morning I passed the sneeze test which means that I felt no pain when sneezing and I thought a more satisfying practice might be in the cards. Alas I still couldn't jump back or through and I had to be very careful in the marichyasanas even opting out of marichyasana d completely. A couple of times I just paused on my mat and said to myself "why am I even here". When it came time for back bending I practiced one hang back and before I knew it the assistant was standing in front of me. She asked how I was feeling and I responded honestly that I was feeling much better but still experiencing some pain. She then said that she wasn't going to do assisted drop backs. Of course I pouted and frowned and insisted that back bending wasn't painful at all, which was the truth. So she seemed convinced and we got on with the show.

I'm at a point in my practice where back bending is like my drug. If I can't do back bending then why even bother putting myself through the torturous forward bending in primary. It's like having dinner without dessert.