Saturday, July 4, 2009

Yin

Woke up at 6 this morning because that when I seemed programmed to wake up these days - nothing changes it, including going to bed late. I know better than to feel all special just because I'm an early riser (I used to - I got over it). Really, all it takes is a month of winter sloth for me to revert back to my evil sleeping-past-eight ways (check the archives if you don't believe me). Still, it's nice to have an early start to the day.

And it was so nice not to have to be anyplace early this morning - I could fluff around all I wanted. So I checked my email and read RSS feeds while the water boiled for tea. I took the dog out. Then I unrolled the Manduka, pulled out my motley collection of props and did Yin Yoga for two hours. Two hours! That's a lot of yoga! The time flew by.

It was good. Deep and meditative (sometimes too meditative - I caught myself studying a hangnail more than once). And at times, it was really tough - holding Pigeon pose for 5 minutes? Ouch! I loved the way the hip openers were followed by more hip openers and still more hip openers and then...Wait!....We're not finished yet! *More* hip openers. I definitely felt it while I was doing it.

But this Yin practice is a bit like eating a great salad: Tastes great. The flavours and textures are satisfying and it can be a rich, engrossing experience. But five minutes after it's finished, I'm all “Hey, did I just eat something?!”

Hey, did I do yoga today?

I dashed off mid-morning to teach a class and as I was biking home, I had to keep reminding myself that yes, I *did* do yoga today.

No backbend photo today. My Urdhva Dhanurasana is Out of Order.

3 comments:

Arturo said...

hi Kai
i like yin yoga. the only book i have on it is Paul Grilley's. i don't use a timer, but mainly count to 20 breaths and imagine that is about as long as he intends that we hold the poses. what do you do? do you count the breaths?

one of my first teachers in Orlando told me that he sometimes practiced Second Series without vinyasas and it was a yin practice. i don't remember if he said that he held the breath longer.

in any case, it seems it was therapeutic for you.

oh, by the way, i got the bike, and yes, i love it. it's so advanced technically. the seat pole can be taken out, inverted and used as a tire pump! can you imagine. i think i may need to blab about that some time chez moi. i biked two hours yesterday. i can't wait to hang around a part of the city that doesn't have too much traffic and a lot of new architecture.

hugs
Arturo

Kaivalya said...

@Arturo: For Yin, I either time the pose with a timer (2.5-5 minutes) or use the Sarah Powers DVD. I like the DVD because I don't need to mess with the timer.

I'm happy to hear you're enjoying the new bike! Foldies are so much fun! Last time I was in the bike store, I saw that the new Dahon's have the bike-pump-seat-pole. Mine doesn't have it, but I'll bet it comes in handy!

Can't wait to hear about your adventures biking around, looking at architecture.

We may need to rename you 'Cron Yoga Bike Tech'! ;-)

Arturo said...

hi Kai
oh, ok, thanks. i vaguely remember Paul Grilley recommending looking at a watch and waiting about 2 mins or so. i found that if i breathe 20 slow breaths it takes about 2 mins, so i sometimes opt for that.

Cron yoga bike tech, hehe, that's funny.

cheers,
Arturo