Archive for the ‘Yoga’ Category
Nov
06
2005
at 12:43pm
It’s been a few weeks since I last blogged but I’ve learned a lot over the past few classes. Must write it down before I forget!!
Two weeks ago the value theme was on beauty which iwas just wnat I needed at the time. It’s important to see the beauty in life all the time - especially when when things are hard. That’s an easy way to feel better, I think. Just try to see the beauty in something and remember that life is beautiful 
The alignment theme was skull loop which is something I can always use help with! I had a whiplash a few years ago and I still have problems with it. In the skull loop you need to pull back from the upper palette of the mouth. This goes for basically all poses. It’s a useful way to see the alignemnt of the head in simple poses like downward dog.
That week I went to a level 1-2 class instead of my usual level 2. I was feeling a bit tired so I thought I could use somethng a little less strenuous. It’s always good to get back to basics - sometimes you even learn more by concentrating on more “basic” poses and refining them. These are the poses that are central to any yogi’s practice. Most of our practice time should be spent on these. One thing I learned in this class is to make sure the upper body is upright in Warrior II rather than leaning forward towards the extended hand. It’s sometimes hard not to let the body follow the eye - getting ahead of yourself, like people often do.
In last week’s class (11/02) the theme was transitions. This was a really enlightening topic. If you pay attention to your own practice you’ll notice that it’s often easy to gloss over the transitions. You can easily take them for granted. This includes things like stepping forward to a lunge from downard dog, or kicking up into a handstand. If you pay as much attention to the transitions as you do to the actual postures you can make a lot of improvements. Even simple things like stepping forward from a lunge into standing forward bend. If you try it an pay attention to that movement you can get a much sturdier foundation.
We worked a lot on variations of hero pose in this class - you wouldn’ t have known that there were so many variations! I often have a hard time with hero because it really hurts the top of my feet. I found that if I put a blanket underneath so that my foot sort of curls over the end and toes go down to the mat it helps a lot. After awhile I started to actually enjoy these! It’s good to feel the difference when you press the feet and shin down into the mat and inner spiral the thighs. We did some twisting variations as well - I think the anusara methods are really good at getting the most out of twists. This week we worked on leading with the back eye. So if you were twisting to the left you’d lead with the right eye and let it turn you back into the twist.
That’s all for now! I really need to work on blogging right after class instead of waiting for a week and forgetting everything
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Oct
04
2005
at 9:58pm
Tough class today! Joan took a much different approach to class this week - much more physically challenging than the last two weeks. The value theme was longing and …. oh, what’s the word she used here. I forget. Effort… something like that. So, again, there is a balance between giving in to your longing and rising up with effort. Every pose has a balance between the two. In the introduction she also talked a lot about fall being comparable to life. When the leaves turn colours and fall from the trees, they are not gone forever. New leaves will take their place in the spring. The same is true for real life problems - new life always emerges.
The alignment theme for this week is muscular energy and inner spiral (shins in, thighs apart). Class started as usual with cat/cow and some sun salutations. There was lots of work in the different postures to really get the inner spiral in the legs and really work the muscles. Next was handstand, which is one of the poses we’ll be concentrating on this session. Joan said we’ll do it every week. This time we worked with a partner to practice pulling away from the wall. The partner puts a fist between your calves so you have something to hug in too. Then press up through the feet and you can really feel the alignment. It feels much lighter and freeer when you get into the right alignment. I think I should be able to do this on my own - it’s just a matter of practice and finding the right balance point.
Next we did some standing poses - trikonasana and arda chandrasana. I thought I was doing well with arda chandrasana (half moon) but I learned some new things this week. Even six months ago I was having a really hard time even holding the balance so I’ve come a long way. Today I learned that my leg was much too far back so I need to work on bringing it forward. We also worked muscular energy in this pose which is very challenging. Joan had me demonstrate for the class. She put her hand up above my foot and had me press my leg into her hand. It’s a tough thing to do!
Next was warrior 1 and …. what’s it called … like arda chandrasana only with the knee bent and hand holding the foot. So not quite dancer’s pose. Then a few more standing poses including crescent lunge and wide leg forard bend. Crescent lunge is a good one for muscular/organic energy. You can really play with the edge and work at finding what is right for your body. As always I need more muscular energy and less organic. So pull back, don’t go so deep and hug in a lot.
After that we went down to the floor for some hip work and seated twists, still working the shins in and thighs apart. This is realy important for seated twists. If you can get the thighs apart there is a lot more room in the pelvis and you can really get deep into the twist.
Last week I didn’t blog. It was quite a simple class. I think she’s been experimenting with us a bit for her certification. She’s had her husband with a video camera taping our class every week so far this session. She has to send it in to John Friend for her anusara certification. Anyway, last week was much simpler.. The value theme was fullness which was also translated into the postures. The class structure was pretty typical - sun salutations, handstand, standing poses, backbends.
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Sep
15
2005
at 9:43pm
Two days late and I’m finally getting around to blogging! This was the first class of the fall session. Appropriately, the theme was coming into grace - the first principle of Anusara yoga. It was nice to do something sort of gentle and not too challenging physically. Not too much technique for the first class back - just pure enjoyment.
Joan talked a lot about her pets in her introduction today - she just lost one of her birds and her dog is sick too so it’s on her mind. She talked about the cycle of beginnings and endings and how, if you are in the flow of grace, it is easier to deal with these problems. It’s not that you don’t experience grief, but more that you can be accepting of that feeling in the moment.
The class itself was pretty basic - starting with sun salutations, then handstands (in case we weren’t warm alredy!), standing poses, and backbends. I did well with my handstand this time. I’m getting close to being able to pull away from the wall. It’s just a matter of finding the right balance point and, of course, confidence!
Yoga felt really good for me this class. I’ve been slacking off for a few weeks so I guess my body forgot what it felt like. The balance between strength and flexibility was just right for me - I was tighter than usual which could be why. Normally I’m a little too loose and have to work harder on muscular energy. My chatarangas were awesome. Nice and smooth, right on down
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Jul
22
2005
at 8:37pm
I wasn’t going to blog about yoga this week until I remembered my big breakthrough! More on that later
The summer session is only 5 weeks long (Joan had to work on her certifaction for a few weeks, and plans on taking some vacation time later in August) which is just long enough to look at the yamas. Last week was on ahimsa, or non-violence. In the context of our class Joan related this to “playing the edge.” If you go farther than your body allows you are doing violence to yourself and that is obviosly not a good thing. You need to go just to that edge where you’re pushing yourself a little bit but still taking care of any limitations or injuries.
This week the focus was on satya, or truth. To contrast with last week, Joan talked more about not taking it to easy. While considering your limitations it is also important to push yourself a little bit - go a little further than you think you can.
The asana practices have been pretty basic. This is a mixed level class this time so not quite as advanced as my regular level 2 class. Of course, there are always new things to learn! This week we started with surya namskar as usual and then did some standing poses. It’s been a few days now so of course I’m forgetting! Towards the end of class we worked on some arm balances and …. drum roll please …. I did astravakra !!!! Only to one side but I did it! The key in this pose is chataranga arms. Once you get that it’s easy. Chataranga arms and extend out the feet. I couldn’t get down far enough on the right side but on the left it was fine! I’ve been working on my chats a lot lately, holding as long as possible and keeping the form right so I think that helps.
To finish class we did some nice twists (no backbends) and a good savsana. It’s cool to be focusing on the yamas - maybe I’ll remember what they are now! Ahimsa - non violence, satya - truth … next up, Asteya - Non-Stealing??
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Jul
06
2005
at 9:52pm
Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve written here. The main reason is that I’ve kind of lost interest in yoga lately. Well not yoga, just asanas Yoga is about so much more than just the physical poses. In reality, asana is only one piece of what yoga is about. What I’ve found is that you can practice yoga without even doing asanas. If you look at the Six Branches of Yoga, only one branch, Hatha Yoga, is focused on asanas. When I walk, I practice karma yoga (by picking up trash along the way) but especially bhakti yoga (seeking the divine in all creation), raja yoga (meditation and contemplation) and trantric yoga (expanding awareness in all states).
Yoga means union: union between body & mind, and union between the self and God. I have also learned that this union can also be between the self and the earth and the self and the larger community. When I walk outside I am creating a union between myself and the earth, and also with God, in a new way. It is the same as doing yoga, only with a different physical activity. When practiced with the same midfulness, I think any activity can be yoga, especially when you are able to get out and experience the world around you.
There are some great walking trails in KW. Today I past through three gorgeous enclaves of old growth forest. It’s amazing what you can find in your own back yard if you just take the time to loo
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Jun
16
2005
at 11:00am
This week we worked on the kidney loop. This is a tough one and it doesn’t come up too often so it’s always interesting when we get a chance to work on it. Sun salutations this week were very short - just a few modified rounds with revolved side angle pose and warrior 1 thrown in. Then we did a lot of standing poses - trikonasana, warrior 1, revolved side angle again. The kidney loop keeps the spine in alignment and helps you to extend outward in the right direction. It keeps the body straight.
Then, finally, we did some arm balances! Yay! I really wanted some extra help with these because I find that the right technique can make a huge difference. We started out with … I don’t know what it’s called but from dandasana attempt to put your leg over your shoulder and grab your foot. Then you can twist ourward in the direction of the free leg. After releasing the twist we attempted to push up - this was pretty easy for me. After that we started working on Astavakra preps. The hip opening stretch/twist was a good way to move into this. After a few attempts I was finally able to do it!!! That’s a really tough pose and I was really happy about it.
After that (or maybe it was before??? I don’t remember…) we did some work on crow, which I still have problems with. The kidney loop is really helpful in this pose because it really helps to pull up through the back and get more lift. I was doing okay until Joan told me to put in more kidney loop and then I just flopped. I have this big problem with perfectionism in class and I really need to learn to stop it. The first thought that poppsed into my head when she said this was that others were able to do it better than me. Now, this is totally not a cool yoga attitude but it’s something I’ve carried with me all my life and it’s really frusturating. It’s really hard to let go of that.
Finally, to finsih of we worked on some marichiasana variations. Twists are a good way to feel the kidney loop because that’s where the twist comes from. You need to pull around from the kidney, so the back kidney comes forward and the front side moves back.
That’s all for now. I don’t remember what the value focus was this week…
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