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.

The Ashtangi Gods Giveth and the Ashtangi Gods Taketh Away

As usual practice was mostly great last week. I didn't get much attention from my teacher but I take that as a good sign of progress. I was binding up the wazoo, bound both arms and feet (assisted of course)in supta kurmasana and JB even commented on the great form of my back bending. I was on the Ashtanga fast track (to where I'm not exactly sure). But during Thursday's practice that all began to change as I started to experience some pain in my chest area. By the time I got to the marichyasanas I noticed that the twisting caused some pain and discomfort on the right side but other than that I was able to get through the rest of my practice.I treated myself to a massage during lunch because I figured that could only help the situation. The massage felt great and helped loosen some tightness in my shoulders but muscle soreness in my chest was so deep below the surface that the massage had little effect on relieving my pain.

When I woke up on Friday I was hesitant to go to led class but I was determined to go because otherwise I wouldn't practice in the shala again until Wednesday morning due to my work travels. The fundamental and standing postures were fine and I experienced very little discomfort. However, I did decide to omit the jump backs and jump throughs just to be safe. By the time we got to the marichyasanas I realized that I had met my match and was reminded that I wasn't the one in control. I begrudgingly went straight to the finishing postures while fighting back tears. I did a 30 second savasana and then I bolted from the shala.

If the internet is to be believed I'm suffering from a strained/pulled intercostal muscle. The pain is intense at times especially when I take deep breaths, cough, sneeze, blow my nose, get up, lay down, or twist. Other than that I feel fine. I've been self medicating with 800mg of ibuprofen every 6 hours and that seems to help manage the pain. When I get back home from Seattle I plan to see my doctor to get an official diagnosis and to find out how long I will be sidelined. The oddest thing about this injury is that I have what I did to end up in this condition and that's what pisses me off the most.

Progress Report

Last week was a tough week on the mat. I should have taken a few days off due to LH but I was too determined to practice. The end result were a few terrible practices and a battle with my ego. It never bothered me before but last week I got insanely jealous when I noticed a few shalamates cross their feet behind their head in supta kurmasana. As a result I found myself questioning my progress over the past six months or so. Thankfully my hormones reverted back to normal and I was able to resume my normal practice without my ego or jealously getting the best of me.

This week I've been consistently binding on both sides of marichyasana d and I've been doing the fancy exit in marichyasana a about 70% of the time. The latter really depends on how cooperative my left hip is feeling. I've also been binding fairly consistently in kurmasana with assistance of course. Two weeks ago if someone told me that would be the case I would have laughed hysterically. On Monday I did kurmasana and attempted to move into supta kurmasana because an assist never came. As I started to wiggle my feet JB came over and had me do the pose again from the beginning. I may have grimaced internally, perhaps externally as well as I proceeded to put myself into the pose. To my surprise JB was able to cross my feet in front of me for the first time! Later in the day when I told one of the assistants of my breakthrough she said to me "I've been wanting to do that to you for some time now." I thought her response was priceless.

On Wednesday I practiced a few hang backs for the first time in a few days and I definitely felt that the bend was getting a little deeper and ever so much closer to the floor. As I came up from the first attempt JB was there watching me and I got an approving nod from him. He had me try it again with his assistance and he pretty much had me go all the way down to the ground before he stepped in to spot me. I was forced to take a leap of faith and it didn't feel terrible. Unassisted drop backs are coming, I can feel it, hauling myself back up however is a completely different story.

The last holdout in my practice is kukkutasana. It's the only pose that I simply can't do. It's baffling because I can lift my body weight in other poses without a problem. I can't have it all I suppose.

Same Sequence, Different Day

Even the sequence of poses is the same each morning every day feels different when I step on my mat. Some days I struggle in the very difficult poses and some days I don't. Some days I find even the most basic of poses difficult.

This morning I couldn't bind on either side of marichyasana D and no one was around to assist me so I just went on to the next pose. I can normally bind at least one side but it just wasn't in the cards today. However, I was able to lower to my chin in bhujapidasana and lift myself back up fairly gracefully without toppling over onto my bum. Oh and my feet never touched my mat either. When it came to big bad baddha k I got the foot on right thigh adjustment and it didn't kill me and it didn't feel all that unpleasant.  So when JB asked me to perform it again I didn't protest I just feigned deafness when he first mentioned it. The key for me in this pose is to really flatten out the tops of my feet on the top of my mat and press the heels together. When I do it this way the stretch is more on my inner legs/thighs and less in my lower back/sacrum. I'll be whipping my legs behind my head in no time...not.

The biggest surprise today came during my attempt at urdhva mukha paschimottanasana. After my first ever attempt at this pose I wrote it off as physically impossible. I don't think I've noticed anyone else in the shala pull it off (not that I've been paying close attention) and I figured it they can't do it and they've been practicing forever then neither can I. Each day I would make two good faith attempts at the correct entry and then give up. For some reason, today I said to myself that I'm really going to go for it and try to achieve the proper entry into the pose and somehow I managed to pull it off. One of the assistants was helping someone seated next to me and saw what I did and made a congratulatory comment about it. I found it kind of cute because she seemed more excited by my progress than I was. I guess I was so shocked by what happened I didn't occur to me to be pleased. The key was to really flex my feet and to push up off of the floor behind me and before I knew it I was upright and balancing on my bum. 

I have no idea what tomorrow's practice will bring but I'm sure it will be filled with surprises both good and bad. But regardless of the surprises I'm really looking forward to it especially since it will be my last practice for the week.

Inception

How is it that I find myself enrolled in a 300 hour advanced teacher training with nary a 200 hour training course under my belt?

It all started several weeks ago when I signed up for a Sanskrit class that my teacher was having. It turned out that the Sanskrit class had to be rescheduled so he emailed me to let me know that he would be rescheduling it.We exchanged a few emails and at the end of one of the last emails he said that he would like me to consider his teacher training program because he thought that I would be an excellent candidate. I don't know about you but when I read that email my ego was stroked, caressed and massaged all at the same time. But that feeling only lasted briefly, I then started to think, of course he would suggest that I attend his teacher training program, it's to his benefit to have more students, you're not so special. My final thought regarding the email was something like "my yoga teacher thinks that I suck and am in need of an intensive training course to improve". But again that thought only lasted briefly as well.

When I was in my twenties and when I first started getting serious about my yoga practice I briefly flirted with the idea of doing a teacher training program, well before it became the cool thing to do. As I've gotten older I kind of put that idea to rest and figured that I'd leave such programs to the young. But when my current teacher suggested that I do the training the seed was planted again.

Because the program is with my teacher whom I really enjoy practicing with and because he has so much knowledge and wisdom that he's willing to share and because I feel like he hand picked me I felt like I couldn't pass up the opportunity. And that my friends is how I now find myself enrolled in a 300 hour, 10 week advanced teacher training program.