Friday, October 30, 2009

Astanga

Wow, that felt *great*

Full Primary today, practising with the Power Yoga DVD. Yes, I'm back to Beryl. In fact, I'm thinking of declaring a 'Weekend of Beryl' and doing the DVD every morning, maybe until Monday. Bonus points if I can stretch it until Tuesday (I'll never last till Wednesday though, not with teaching four classes a day...)

I love that DVD. It's like a warm blanket of Asana on a cold morning.

Today, during Utpluthee, (which Beryl calls Tolasana...David Swenson calls it that too, come to think of it...I wonder why?) I was cheerfully holding for a very quick and easy 10 counts and I remembered when I first started practising with this DVD, I couldn't even last one count (I think my exact thoughts were: “Fat chance!”)

Well, Sharath's CD cured me of that. Now? Beryl's the easy one! 10 happy counts! I was actually enjoying myself.

Measuring progress in poses is fun! (and motivating)

Speaking of which:
- I'm binding easily to wrist in Marichyasana C
- I'm binding to mid-hand in Marichyasana D (it's only a matter of time now). The knees are almost on the floor too!
- I'm crossing the ankle myself in Supta Kurmasana. Teacher P helped me the last time I visited Shala Central and I've been chipping away at this every time I practise. Today is the first time I did it easily on my own!

The rest of my day will be easy. I teach just one class and then I'm spending the afternoon/evening working at the soup kitchen.

And, since it's a cool and misty day, maybe doing some of this:

4 comments:

Christine said...

Hi Kaivalya,

I actually asked Beryl that question at a workshop...Why Utpluthi versus Tolasana? She said it was just two names for the same pose..no other reason in particular. :)

Christine

Jen Stevenson said...

Just wanted you to know I emailed Beryl and gave her a link to your blog. I'm sure she's checking in on you.
No pressure or anything.....

Mary said...

Hey hon, I'll have to check out that DVD now. It's nice to be back in blogland and reading your blog. Super cool with your binding and progression with all the poses.

Kaivalya said...

@Christine
This is why I LOVE the Internet! It's better than Google ;-) Thanks for providing the answer. I had a feeling it was just a matter of two names for the same thing.

For the record, I always use Tolasana in my classes because it's easier to say and my brain gets scrambled easily when I'm teaching 3+ classes a day!

@Jen
Uh, oh! I'd better tidy this place up ;-)

That's very funny! And humbling. And a touch blush-inducing.

@rand(om)bites
Yes, get the DVD. I think you'll love it! The great thing about this particular led Primary is that it's complete, but there are lots of modifications offered for the more difficult poses. Not a good disc for absolute beginners to yoga, but if you already have a background in Yoga, it's a great intro to Ashtanga.