April 19, 2009 at 4:16 pm (Bumping into YOGA)
Today, at Mysore, we were asked to do full vinyasa in between seating postures, while holding the posture for 10 breaths rather than 5 breaths. As I woke up, I was wondering how it’d go for me, since I was feeling tired and sore after a a long walk/run yesterday and some dancing at night…
But it was great!!! The stiffness went away quickly, with the help of my 10-breath downdogs during the Surya Namaskaras, and I felt really great quite soon–pinch in heel almost completely gone!! 
. My breathing got deeper than in the past few days thanks to the longer-held postures, and my balance improved a little from yesterday (though it was still not at its best). Doing the actual full-vinyasa in between seating postures was actually quite enjoyable–it felt as the natural thing to do, as opposed to the half vinyasa, and I liked it so much that I think I’m going to try to incorporate it in my daily practice. Funny enough, it forced me to live without props–i.e., give up the mat towel that I use in the seating positions–it’s a little slippery to do the whole vinyasa on top of it…!. Came out of the session feeling great, just a little sorry that I couldn’t stay longer and try more postures…
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April 18, 2009 at 8:54 pm (Bumping into YOGA, Stopping to MEDITATE)
Tags: Life, Meditation, Yoga
This week I’ve been enjoying very much my reentering to a more disciplined Ashtanga Practice. I’m again going sufficiently frequently to see progress–very noticeable on the heel injury, which is disappearing, and on my overall state of being, although of course things like my balance and stiffness levels tend to vary widely from day to day. I hope I can make these more consistent… This morning was a good one, as I was able to focus a bit better on deepening my breath, though the glimpse of a jump through I though I had last week seems to have been gone. I guess I really need to get my act together and start doing push ups at home… I’m not going to get away with this otherwise.
I’m also reading the Yoga Mala (SKPJ) and reviewing some other Ashtanga Yoga Books to see if I can get better ideas and tips on how to improve (and also to check that my vinyasas are correct, since there have been times in which I have been confused regarding the transitions between, say, sets of standing poses. The other thing that has been interesting to me this weekend (which is very Yoga-full) has been my attendance to a couple of workshops that allowed attendants to connect the key founding principles of Yoga with issues such as giving and achieving forgiveness, and changing habits. While these were short sessions, I think they manage to inspire a switch in my state of being as well as plans and determination on how to proceed in the quest to become a better person. For now, I have made a personal commitment to be better in my handling of a very specific issue. I will have to be monitoring myself about this for the next couple of weeks
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April 12, 2009 at 6:23 pm (Bumping into YOGA, Running to HEALTH)
Tags: Health, Yoga
That was the name of the Mysore session at the shala today. It meant: no props, no towels, no water, no blankets, no modified postures. It was kind of interesting, to see everyone without the usual towels, blocs, bands and all sort of other stuff that usually accompany us at the side of our mats. The environment/feeling of the place was interesting–I really felt that everyone was really seriously focused on the practice, perhaps aware of the challenge of changing the “usual conditions”… in any case, I was struck by how real, internal, concentrated all yogis around me seemed to be.
In my case, I had to forgo my mat towel (which I use during the seated positions), a half-sized bloc that I use for one seating pose (Triang Mukha Eka Pada Paschimottanasana), and a blanket that I use for shoulder-stand (I have problems with the vertebrae in the the neck, so I try to ease the angle at which I take this pose). Overall, I felt great-my balance was better than it has been in recent days- and I have continued to try and stretch my calves, improving a lot the injury I have in the heel. Not having the towel on the mat made it stickier (and harder to do my clumsy jump-throughs) but overall it was nice to just keep on moving without interruptions. Also, I really didn’t feel too much the lack of the bloc or the blanket (well, maybe I missed the blanket a little), and overall I ended the experience feeling great–it was just a marvelous start for the day, Easter Sunday, finally a beautifully sunny day
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April 9, 2009 at 2:24 am (Bumping into YOGA)
So, not too bad–three days of practice this week so far (starting last Sunday) and feeling really well and excited. I think my life outside yoga (work, endless home renovation, and so on) is finally becoming a little smoother… or perhaps I’m managing it better. Work-related travel is over for now (well… at least until May and June…) and I can dedicate a few weeks to just enjoy my Yoga practice and truly get back into it.
I’m so excited about the whole thing that I’m managing to wake up much earlier than ever, and make it to the shala at a really nice time, when it is still spacious and quiet. To make things better, I think I’m learning a lot thanks to the famous pinch in my left heel. It has forced me to not put the heels down in downward dog, and instead really concentrate on bending forward by stretching my back and my hamstrings and calves. Interestingly enough, the stretch I seem to be getting in my calves is definitely helping the pinch go away–in the last three days, I was able to finally end my last few half-vinyasas with my heels on the floor again and with no pinch. Beautiful
Even better–D did one awesome adjustment the other day when I was doing the seated bend-forward–by pushing my body forward and pulling the plants of my feet to help them be flat. Wow. Well, that was the most helpful thing ever–it made me realize how much I could use these positions to elongate my calves, which is precisely what I need. So I’ve been doing that, and of course it’s help me solve the pinch business even more. I’m kind of having fun trying to get this to work even better, yay!!
Another really interesting thing is that I am starting to jump through, finally. I mean, super-clumsily and landing on my butt with a stomp, but who cares. It just feels like there is something there to work on, that before was not present. I’m so excited, I cannot tell!!
Finally, D today gave me an idea that I now realize I’d heard before without really understanding the meaning–he insisted about the convenience of doing whole vinyasa in between asanas when possible. I know it sounds silly and ignorant, but I did not get before that what he meant by this was to do the whole Surya A in between asanas before going again into down dog and jumping though. OK, never mind. Now that I see what he was talking about all along, I’m thinking I’ve got to try it on a long practice on Sunday. Probably I won’t resist it all the way since I still have much endurance to build up, but whatever… gotta start somewhere…
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