Saturday, March 13, 2010

Yin

Today: Torrential rains, winds gusting to 70 kph, temperature hovering around 5C. When I walked from the subway station to my class, I arrived soaked to the skin. Good thing yoga pants dry quickly (and good thing I’m not fussy, though I HATE this kind of weather).

Practice today was Yin: the ‘liver sequence’ from the Sarah Powers’ ‘Insight Yoga’ DVD. I took a bath right before I started so I was thoroughly blissed throughout. I really needed a break from my daily yoga routine. I’ve been feeling a bit overwhelmed by my practice these last few days. I love the Savasana on this DVD. I just float and the music is lovely.

This week’s backbend photo was taken on Thursday, the day I was using my old mat, so the mat is colour co-ordinated with the futon cover!


Compared to last month, I see more openness in the shoulders and I’m clearly pushing ‘up’ more. Maybe this comes from the practice of walking the hands in?

I wonder where the openness in the hips manifests in the pose? How can I tell if my hips are becoming more open? My backbend is definitely shape-shifting!

Okay, back to my book. This is definitely a sit-in-the-window-seat sloth day. I don’t plan to leave the apartment again until tomorrow evening (with the exception of Princess Fur pee-breaks, of course).

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Your UD is looking good! Definitely more lift in the hips, there. In my experience, grounding through the big toes and keeping the heels out/toes in seems to bring the stretch into the front of the hips.

Kaivalya said...

@Misanthropic Yogini
Thanks, MY. I'll apply your tips the next time I practice the pose. I definitely need to work on the positioning of my feet in the pose.

Arturo said...

hi Kai
your UD pictures always make me smile because i see a good pose but it looks like the previous good pose. i'm always checking to see what is in front of the Buddha or what's hanging now on the hooks by the door. i think it points out to how consistently consitent you are in your practice.

cheers,
Arturo

Kaivalya said...

@Arturo
That's hilarious! Okay, from now on just for you, I'm going to add three things to my UD photo for you to find that are 'out of the ordinary.' That way, my UD will always be somehow 'different'. Watch for it next week!

Jen Stevenson said...

Too funny! I'll have to study the picture more closely too!

Just wondering... do you ever have an "emotional moment" in UD or just after coming up to standing? During practice tonight I almost started crying. This is the second time this month that this has happened to me.

Kaivalya said...

@Jen
That's an interesting question.

I know I've cried during asana practice, but I couldn't remember if it was triggered by a particular pose.

So I ran a search on the blog and found my 'crying' posts. Seems I once cried through an ENTIRE Primary Series. I guess when I'm feeling emotional, *every* pose is a potential trigger...lol.

As a teacher, I've definitely observed emotional surges in my students and these seem to be triggered by a wide variety of poses, but especially Savasana and Paschimottanasana.

One final note: In my last 'crying jag' post, I mused about re-starting my meditation practice. I didn't get around for a couple months, but once I started, the 'emotional outbursts' in my asana practice ceased.

My moods are definitely 'smoother' these days and I'm more focused. I owe much of this to meditation.