Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Astanga

I was a bit surprised by the stir yesterday's post produced! The comments were fascinating and made me insatiably curious about how many women forgo the whole 'Lady's Holiday' thing and just do their practice anyway.

That's exactly what I did this morning, full Primary, but I did skip the inversions. I didn't do my Intermediate poses, but I probably will tomorrow.

Honestly? I was feeling lethargic and uncomfortable as I first stepped on the mat, but as soon as I moved through the first Surya, I felt a thousand times better! It was the nicest hour of my day. I'm really glad I practiced.

I feel like I'm going through a personal paradigm shift around this issue. I've always felt *awful* during the three days of my cycle when I wasn't practising. I thought I needed to rest (and grudgingly followed the tradition of rest) but maybe I just need to move! I've often noticed that walking around helps me feel better, makes sense that yoga would too.

I'm so curious about how other women manage their practice during this time of month, I've created the short survey below. It's brief - just five questions. I've offered space to provide additional details (or not) and it's anonymous, so nobody will 'bad lady' you for your responses. Also feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments, or email me if you want to fly under the radar.

I'll give it a week, then tally the responses and summarize the comments in a blog post.

This survey is not *just* for ashtangis (although it is, of course, limited to women). I'm keen to hear from women from across the spectrum of styles of yoga. I'm curious how different traditions address this.

Ready, set, GO!

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

6 comments:

Claudia said...

Interesting poll Kai would be good to hear... I normally take two days off, and I find it it agrees with my body very much :-)

fivefootwo said...

I no longer have to worry about the holidays but would love to see what you find out. Very good survey questions.

Evelyn said...

hmmm....

I have to be honest, this topic of to practice or not during ladies holiday seems to be just another thing for people to get all worked up about. I try to go with the flow (no pun intended!!) and see how each month is- I don't stick to some unyielding logic in this area of my practice. Age plays a part in it too. Things change. A period that may have been no problem 5 years ago may make me more sensitive now. One month I'm fine, so I practice. The next month my cramps get the better of me and my balance is way off. Why torture myself so I can call myself hardcore? To each his own.

(but of course, I took your survey and I enjoy reading about people's experiences!)

stephanie said...

Since overhauling my diet in January (basically sugar-free, with few sweeteners of any kind... adequate protein, and lots of fresh veggies) my periods have been barely noticeable... and they used to be quite painful.

So I practice straight through. Inversions and everything. Maybe I should read one of those Ashtanga for Women books...

Loo said...

can you add "sometimes" to your poll? Because that's my answer (and Evelyn's too) maybe it's just us mid-to-late 40s gals but she's right — each month I do what feels right because every month is different. (and yes, I took it, you know how I love a survey!)

skelly said...

personally I feel worse pre ladies holiday and need a couple of days off then, as soon as it arrives I'm fine literally the same day feel 100 % better