Winter Solstice Coming - 108 Sun Salutations

I am planning on doing 108 Sun Salutations at my Studio as part of a Winter Solstice Celebration at the ungodly hour of 8AM on Saturday Morning.  This is my first attempt at it.  It will be a battle of mind and body.  I wonder if either will fail me.   I am a firm believer that we are stronger than we think we are but then I am not 21 either.  Enjoy your Surya Namaskara everyone.

Hitting a goal / conversation with Klaus

 My coworker told me he would never do Yoga because he is too weak and not flexible enough.   My retort was that Yoga is within you and that it becomes what you want it to be.   Just because you feel you are not good at something does not mean you should try it.  The fact that he is inflexible only means that his personal Yoga will start at a less flexible point than someone who is 20 and was a gymnast for 15 years.   By practicing,  he will get stronger and more flexible.  That is the true nature of a practice, it is your body and you are working it.   A steady,  regular practice will both strengthen you and increase your flexibility.

I was loose enough this evening to flatten my hands on a forward fold.   That is a good thing.    I can remember when touching my toes was an extreme stretch.   Who knows if  I will ever do this again.  I have been trying to do that for over a year.

Two earlier goals were doing a headstand in the middle of the room and a handstand.    I was able to do these a few months ago.   My new goals are a good Half Moon,  standing hand to big toe and Dancer.  Each of these require different  strength and different flexibility.   I thought I would never get up on my head or hands so I will try try try to do it.


If I can do this,  then anyone can!

Namaste

 

 

 

Yay!

Yay Again!

Work : Reducing the Stress with Practice

I am in the middle of a very stressful project that pretty much occupies my mind every day now.  After coming home tired and stressed, it really important that I take the time to set up my mat and practice.     Now that the weather is cold,  there is a disincentive to go out to my studio to take a class so if I do not go out,  I have to take the time and practice at home.    A deep yin session really relaxes you and a hard flow video(I found  a great one on YouTube)  really gets you invigorated.    The best thing about the flow class is that the pace is so fast and you are working so hard, that you pretty much focus on your poses and your breathing.  It is really great and for almost 2 hours nothing else matters  (but be forewarned,  it is not an easy class).  The class is so good that I have taken to alternating this with a Ashtanga flow session.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89dlGeU1OuU

 
The biggest draw to going to a class at my studio is that  the hot classes are really great this time of year.  95 degrees really feels great when it's 20 degrees outside.   You are so warm and glowing when you leave.  It is a great feeling.   Now I know why the Scandinavians like the sauna snow routine.

It would be easy to blow off practice saying you are too tired and too hungry,  but your practice keeps you grounded, settled,  calmed  and invigorated.     Even 30 minutes doing Yin or a quick flow is a great way to end your work day.

Namaste...

Starting Thanksgiving off with a great hot flow class

My studio offered a 9:30 hot class this morning.     What a great and hard class.   I think that the instructor was trying to make us pay for every bit of pie to be eaten .     It was a basic flow class with tons of intense standing work, lots of chaturangas  and no breaks.   The kind of class that if you are ready for can be great.   It hot (95 degrees when we started and it only goes up from there) and keeping your breath with the poses was not easy.     She even snuck in a Bird of Paradise in the midst of it all  (well maybe not snuck in).   Too bad I cannot get my legs very straight in that pose.     I feel pure, whole and ready for the day..

It is funny about some classes, you look forward to going and when you are in the middle of it, you look forward to it ending. 

Bird of Paradise

Basic Chaturanga Flow - Not taught very much in classes.

Chaturanga is part of a four  pose flow that brings you from Plank to Down Dog.  It is part of the Sun Salutation sequence,   but many times,   you are asked to do a flow when moving from pose to pose.

The flow involves Plank, Chaturanga Dandasana,  Up Dog and then Down Dog.  (See the flow below).   It is a great flow because it is a core,  shoulder,  arm, pelvis and hip strengthener.   It is also great because the breath for each pose is very self evident.  The flow also allows you to stay in Down dog for up to five breaths to relax and return to your regular breathing.   This is very important after an intense standing sequence, for example,where when you are done,  you go through a flow to go to down dog to relax for five breaths.   



For a long time,  I was doing my Chaturanga flow incorrectly (well less incorrectly than I am doing it now because no matter how long your practice,  you can always get better) .     I was under the impression that when you go down from Plank to Chaturanga,  you were supposed to bring yourself all the way to the ground and then go up to Up Dog.    I see lots of people do this but a few months ago , one of my instructors went through the process of explaining the step of going down  (sort of like a reverse pushup where you slowly go down with your elbows to your sides) and then before your chest hits the ground,  you flip your feet and rise up to Up Dog.    This was the first time in 2 years anyone explained how to do this.     In the past week,  with people new to Yoga in each class that I was in,   not one teacher explained the basics of this very fundamental and critical linchpin in the flow of Yoga.  I especially saw the new people doing it somewhat wrong.      I am glad that I was shown how to do it better and I really wanted to stop and say,  this is how you do it.   But then, that is not my place is it.



 
 (I will explain my feelings about teaching versus instructing in a different post) . 

Kudos to the one who took the two minutes to show us how to do our flow better. 




Here is a link to a good video flow

Plank

Chaturanga

Upward Facing Dog

Downward Facing Dog