Astanga

I slept for 11 hours last night and woke up yawning at 7:30 a.m. We’re in the midst of a late-summer heatwave, so the apartment was more than toasty. I was sweating buckets during my practice and the apartment was so hot that Princess Fur begged to be let out onto the cool balcony.

I slogged through my practice today. My hamstring is tight again and it felt uncomfortable at times. But the wrist bind in Mari D is back and Supta Kurmasana was very deep. My legs were so slippery I couldn’t get a decent exit, though (and I had to repeat Bhujapidasana a few times because I kept sliding out of the pose as I lowered down).

My Intermediate poses are feeling a bit more intuitive to me now and I moved through them more smoothly. I was relieved to be able to bind my fingers in Pasaana. I rolled up my striped towel and secured it with a rubber band to provide some height under my heels. This helped a lot; a felt more stable finding the bind.

Krounchasana is a great pose and I’m really enjoying it, though I’m pretty sure I’m rounding my back too much. This morning, I managed a sloppy jump into it with my leg already folded. First time I’ve ever done that!

Shalabasana A & B feel fine, though not terribly deep. I need to build strength and I know the best method is simply to practice them, every day.

Bhekasana is feeling better. I reviewed Kino’s DVDs this afternoon. In her ‘how to work’ section, she offers a great preparation for this posture that I’ll try tomorrow. Mainly, it’s my shoulders that seem to be holding me back, though. It’s a wicked stretch! I recall a good ‘research pose’ for this in Maehle’s book - I’ll reread that section.

Parsva Dhanurasana is still a big mystery; the pose feels absolutely foreign to me. I don’t know how on earth I’m supposed to keep my legs together. Seriously! I have trouble enough just keeping my heels close! I’m never sure what to do with my head. In the DVD, Kino mentions that it’s okay to lay the head down for a second while finding the pose, then lift it up again to come deeper into the backbend. She also mentions separating the legs briefly to engage them, then bringing the feet, heels and legs back together again.

Ustrasana is my happy place, so no issues there. :-)

I’ve been lowering my head down to a block in Laghu Vajrasana then coming back up again several times, over and over again until my legs give out. I was reassured that Kino offers a variation of this method (come down as far as you can, but she doesn’t use a block). This is another pose that will require daily practice to get, but I’m already feeling stronger and it hasn’t yet been a week!

I did three Urdhva Dhanurasana, paying close attention to alignment, followed by three dropbacks. My feet were much closer in my dropbacks today, but they always end up turned out as I drop. I’m trying to find a better alignment, but I seem to default to the bad!

My practice took close to two hours and I was absolutely spent by the end. On the surface, adding eight poses doesn’t seem like a very big deal, but I’m finding that getting through them is incredibly difficult.

I don’t know if it’s Intermediate Series or an ‘energetic hangover’ from the week with my mother (or a little bit of both), but I’m absolutely *exhausted* right now. I’ve barely left my couch all day. I did the laundry and that’s about it. I slept for a couple of hours in the afternoon, ate some lunch and I still don’t feel like moving.

Obviously, this isn’t sustainable (I teach classes tonight!!). I hope that I adjust to my new practice soon. It’s not like me to be this lazy!

Astanga, Workshop

More Kino notes and observations about the weekend...

Led Primary

Kino’s led Primary was scheduled for 7 a.m., well before the subway runs in my city. My options were: biking, cabbing, or walking. Up until the time I went to bed, I hadn’t made a decision about transportation. Predictably, I dreamt about it all night! *eyeroll*

As luck would have it, I woke early enough that walking was a viable option. I arrived at the school (all of the sessions were held at a private school, midtown) 15 minutes early and set up near the back row (in an effort to be as invisible as possible).

The led class started just after 7 a.m. and it ran for...(wait for it!)...2.5 hours. No joke! (a led Primary typically lasts anywhere from 1 hour, 10 minutes to 1.5 hours) So, where did this time go? Mostly to the long, looooonnnnng holds. Some of the holds were so long that I wondered if Kino was still there (Was she napping? texting? getting a coffee?), then another minute would go by and I would hear her say: “Four...” *groan*

And there were many, MANY backbends (the backbends went on and on...I sort of lost count, but I think there were 7 or 8). I wish I had the benefit of the fabulous backbending workshop I attended later so I could have enjoyed these more.

I rolled three of my Chakrasanas with no fuss, skipped the one after Urdhva Dhanurasana(s) because I was SPENT. I was binding everything I usually bind, even Supta Kurmasana. This was surprising because I certainly wasn’t very hot. I took off my headband at the end of the standing poses because I wasn’t sweating at all.

The temperature turned out to be a huge issue for me (and not something that Kino could have controlled). This room felt *cold*. During one of my vinyasas, I abandoned my Driste and glanced back at the dude behind me - he was all shiny with sweat. Me? I was blowing on my feet in Baddha Konasana B trying to keep them warm.

By the time the finishing poses started (right around the time my teachers were beginning their led Primary back at the warm, warm Shala), I was chilled to the bone. I’m not sure why I was so chilly. I’m hesitant to speculate, though I do wonder if the pace of the class was just slower than what I’m used to. And yes, that Uth Plutihi lasted *forever*

I did get a fabulous adjustment, the Famous Kino Downward Dog Squish. It was great! :-) The best part about it was, after she gave me a final push and wandered off to the next person, I remained totally grounded in my feet.

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Backbending Workshop

The backbending workshop was FULL OF AWESOME! If you ever get a chance to go to this in person, DO IT!

I’m not a big fan of Purvottanasana, but by applying the instruction I learned in the workshop, the pose has transformed into a place of bliss for me. Seriously, if I had learned *nothing* else, this would have been worth the price of admission! Purvottanasana has been my nemesis for years and now? I LOVE IT!

This love didn’t quite translate for Urdhva Dhanurasana but I’ll concede that it feels at least 50% easier to me now. It’s as if I took a little ‘strength pill’ or something. It’s all in the technique and building strength (Kino insists: “There is no pixie dust”).

I dubbed Kino’s opening dialogues the ‘Kino Keynotes’. At the beginning of her workshops, she opens with chanting, then gives a little talk. She does this while standing in front of the room, balanced on one leg in a quasi Vriksasana (‘Tree Pose’). She waves her hands around enthusiastically as she speaks, never wavering or losing her balance. After about 7 minutes, she switches legs and continues. Hilarious!

I took lots of notes during the Backbending Keynote (I’m the ‘remedial backbending’ student of my shala, so I need all the help I can get). I also made two short video clips which I’ll post later on in the week.

From the opening remarks:

- Backbending allows us to gain control of the spine. By controlling the spine, we can begin to control the nervous system. The deeper purpose of backbending is to awaken the Kundalini and offer a open channel for that energy to move up the spine.
- Joints can be either open or compressed (stabilized). In backbending, we’re dealing with many, many joints - the vertebrae of the spine and we need to open them, create space.
- Pain: allows us to feel, to move out of compression

The entire body is involved in backbending, not just a specific part, say...the lumbar spine *ahem*. The entire body needs to be awakened! If you focus the bend into just one spot, injuries will occur)
*Every joint needs to have spaciousness
* The legs are the foundation of the spine (read: strength, engagement)
* Lift the lower spine up UP and OUT of the pelvis

(hmmm...where have we heard THAT before? I think it was yesterday: “Our whole body is a network. There is a synergistic effect; the whole body *must* participate”)

Some effects of backbending practice:
- heat
- nausea
- shaking
- insomnia

I can vouch for the first two. I spent much of the workshop sweating bullets and wondering if I was going to hurl.

A few anatomical notes:

-The spine starts at the tailbone. The sacrum is like a keystone, takes the weight of the column of the legs.
-Turning the feet out compresses the sacrum, but when you’re first learning, it may be preferable to turn the feet out a tiny bit, especially if your knees tend to splay out otherwise.
- In order to backbend, we need to open the hip flexors, the psoas muscle needs to lengthen. The psoas starts in the inner upper leg, runs through the pelvis and attaches to the spine. Kino believes that the reason that Guruji specified grabbing the waist in many poses is because that is where the psoas attaches; it’s a point of stability.
-During a backbend, two things can potentially happen to the organs: they can either drop onto the spine like dead weight, putting pressure on the vertebrae OR the abdominal muscles are drawn in (Uddiyana Bandha) so the organs shift down into the pelvis. The latter is preferable!

This last point is important - Kino emphasized it again and again. Kino mentioned a circumstance in which someone was x-rayed doing a backbend and in the x-ray, her organs were shifted toward the pelvis!

Setting up the structure for backbends:

Come onto your knees, then step one foot forward (toes of the back foot are tucked under), like a lunge.

1) Inhale, press down actively through the legs
2) Exhale, tuck the tailbone
3) Inhale, lift and expand the ribs (you can bring your hands on the lower ribs and try to ‘lift’ them up)
4) Exhale, draw in the stomach, engage Uddiayana Bandha

Scoot the front foot forward a bit, but keep the tailbone tucked. Find the stretch in the hip crease of the back leg. Eventually, lift the back knee off the ground, again keeping the tailbone tucked (which will further lengthen the hip flexors).

Once this foundation was established, the hands are brought to prayer position at heart centre, then lifted to the face/forehead, then pointed back over the head, eventually straightening the arms.

Other examples:

For the other exercises and backbends, this structure (the numbered list above) was applied. There was an emphasis on activating the legs first, then working your way up through the body, integrating the body before backbending.

We repeated these steps in:
- Sukhasana (simple cross-legged seated pose)
-Sphinx (Inward rotation of the thighs helps to prevent contraction of the gluteus maximus)
-Ustrasana (Camel pose)
-Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upward Facing Dog pose)
-Laghu Vajrasana (I can actually do this pose! Who knew?!!!)

Purvottanasana:

Kino’s approach to my nemesis, Purvottanasana, is so revolutionary, that I wanted to document the steps here, as they specifically applied to this pose. My history with this pose has been VERY negative. I hate it and it makes me feel full-body AWFUL. Applying these steps, I enjoyed the pose for the first time in my life. It was spectacular!

1) Come into Dandasana. Strongly engage your legs, pressing the inner big toe mound edges together and the heels together.
2) Tuck the tailbone and allow that action to begin the lift in the hips
3) Inhale to expand and lift the lower ribs, Exhale to draw in the stomach (Uddiyana)
4) Keep tucking the tailbone and lifting the hips
5) Expand through the chest while drawing the shoulder blades down the back
6) Keep the tailbone tucked, the legs engaged!

Magic!!!

Urdhva Dhanurasana:

The final frontier! Following these steps, I was able to come into a backbend which didn’t leave me gasping for breath or praying for mercy. It didn’t feel like kittens, cake and colourful balloons, but I didn’t want to die either. That’s progress!

1) Press your heels into the floor and root down through your big toe mounds. Activate the legs!
2) Tuck the tailbone and allow that action to begin the lift in the hips
3) Inhale to expand and lift the lower ribs, Exhale to draw in the stomach (Uddiyana)
4) Inhale, expand the chest, keep tucking the tailbone and lifting the hips
5) Place the hands near the ears, fingers spread and ‘clawing’ the mat, then engage the legs to come on to the head
6) Straighten the arms, actively move the shoulder blades down the back

(video coming soon!)

Funny moment:

During the closing questions, a guy asked Kino something about Hanumasana. Turns out, he wanted to know how to come into a backbend in that pose.

Kino was perplexed at first, then she said with astonishment: “You mean, you want to do Kroukachasana B? That’s the second pose of the FIFTH series!” She chuckled and said: “First, learn the Primary Series!” and everyone laughed.

Workshop

It’s Kino Weekend! It started last night with chanting and a demonstration (which I couldn’t attend because I was working at the soup kitchen) and continued with Mysore-style practice this morning (which I had to opt out of because I teach on Saturday mornings). But I did make it to the afternoon strength workshop.

I took copious notes during the workshop and I’ve transcribed these, trying to flesh them out with details and some context. I didn’t make any videos or take photographs during this first workshop.

From the opening remarks:

-Strength comes from Shraddha (Sanskrit for faith). Strength is a decision of the mind.
-The hips contain our centre of gravity so when we shift them radically in space, our balance is destablized and that’s where much of the fear comes from.
-You whole body is a network. There is a synergistic effect; the whole body *must* participate

Setting up the structure - building a strong plank

Come into Table Pose (on your hands and knees):

1) Wrists aligned under shoulders, wide fingers ‘clawing’ the floor (rooting down particularly through the mound of the index finger)
2) Creases of the elbows are angled at 45 degrees forward
3) Gaze is at the floor, chin moves away from the chest
4) Broaden the collarbones, pull the shoulders back (the shoulderblades move down the back)
5) Inhale, as you exhale pull the sternum up into the space between the shoulderblades
6) Inhale, as you exhale, pull the lower ribs down and together to close off that space (action of the serratus anterior muscles)
7) Engage Uddiyana Bandha
7) Tuck the tailbone. From this action, step the legs back one at a time to a plank position (you’ll feel a sense of lift through the length of the body)

(From here, we worked with partners. Once the ‘structure’ was set, we leaned onto our partner’s upper back (near the shoulderblades) to test the stability, both in Table Pose and Plank).

‘Up’ happens! (Jump back/through)

The first step is to build a foundation, a structure. Then you can move forward into that foundation and ‘up’ happens!

This is your mantra when moving your pelvis in space: I SEND MY PELVIS FORWARD (she repeated this again and again, and applied it to *everything*, even in some movement where it seemed counterintuitive).

The key to these exercises is taking it very slowly and ‘walking’ the feet in tiny tippy-toe baby-steps instead of actually jumping (even if you already can). The goal is to maintain the ‘structure’ created in Table Pose (above) and initiate movements of the pelvis from this base of strength.

Jumpthroughs:
1) Set up the structure (Table to Plank, as above)
2) Walk the feet forward, moving the pelvis forward until the feet bump up to the arms/hands
3) Wiggle the feet through (I found this was the most difficult part!)
4) LIFT, extend the legs forward
5) Lower down with control

Jumpbacks:
1) From Dandasana, bring the hands about one hand-length forward of the hips
2) Shift the weight forward and lift up. Send the pelvis forward, as in, sending the pelvis back and then UP in a circle (as if you would lift into a handstand)
3) Wiggle the feet back through the arms
4) Lift just one foot up (the other can remain on the floor), then bend the arms (as in Chaturanga)
5) Step the feet back one at a time, then straighten the arms

Jumping from Bakasana into Chaturanga: Same principles apply: I SEND MY PELVIS FORWARD. The pelvis moves up and forward (as if to lift into a handstand) but then shoot the feet back.

Sirsasana (Headstand): It was interesting to see Kino’s ‘mantra’ applied there. When I do the pose, I really do ‘send my pelvis forward’. This allows me to shift my centre of gravity towards the floor in front me and my legs float up smoothly. I apply the same technique to coming down. When I teach it, I encourage my students to work with gravity by moving the pelvis forward to offer a counter-weight to the legs, allowing the legs to lift (I guess my mantra is: “Gravity is your friend’. How Newtonian of me!).

Handstand: Same principle as headstand (but it’s SO much harder - at least for me!). Kino explained that it doesn’t matter if you can’t lift up into a handstand right away. Even if you ‘send the pelvis forward’ and keep hovering on your tippy-toes, you’re building the strength that will allow you to eventually lift up. Kino told us that this is what she did this for 5 years before she she was able to lift.

She’s not a fan of using a wall for handstands (or any balances) because the body begins to negotiate balance based on the wall and you can become dependent on it. (I can vouch for this from my experience with headstand). Instead, work in the middle of the room most of the time and perhaps try the support of the wall once a week.