Astanga

There are certain days when I have NO gas in my yoga 'tank'. Today was one of those days. I didn't feel well when I woke up. I didn't feel well as I unrolled my mat. And I didn't feel well as I started the Suryas. It was all downhill from there.

As I finished the standing poses, I began considering the possibility of half-Primary. I paused to rest before the Marichyasanas and knew I wouldn't make it through a full practice, so I bailed after Navasana and went to finishing.

Half-Primary. Oh well...

But I'm glad I paid attention to the frantic white flag of surrender my body was trying to wave. I could barely get through finishing! After lunch, I laid down to rest my eyes for a few minutes and woke from a deep, deep sleep two-and-a-half hours later.

Clearly, my body wants to rest, so I'm giving it some downtime: as much rest as possible today, early bedtime, lots of sleep.

So far, December has been kicking my ass. Definitely not part of my plans for the month but I'm rolling with the punches...

In other news, it's cold out. COLD. Behold, frost on the window right next to my window seat. It's like an entire universe in a window pane:



Beautiful!

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Astanga

Eight hours of sleep feels like a novelty these days. In fact, it feels like too much. I woke groggy this morning after a night of very weird dreams. They involved elements of nearly every job I had worked over the past ten years, including teaching.

Very freaky! Hey, go easy on me, Brain! It's only Monday...gah.

Practice was stiff and creaky. Forward bends were fine today, but twists were limited. I could only bind to fingers in Mari D.

Sirsasana felt better today, but I completely wimped out on backbends. After my three compulsory Urdhva Dhanurasana I took finishing. I didn't even try to drop back. I was tired!

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We haven't had a visit from Lyn in awhile and with the colder turn of weather, it seemed like a good time to showcase her smurf-blue body suit.

Snazzy! All the cool Ashtangis are wearing them this season. ;-)

Every time I look at this photo, the words "Sit tall!" erupt from my mouth in my special 'Yoga Teacher Voice'.





Also: Bandhas, Lynn, BANDHAS!!!


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Astanga

I was up at 4:30 this morning. I actually love practising at this hour, but peeling myself out of bed is a challenge.

A strong routine is my greatest asset on days like this. I don't talk about it a lot here, but routine is one of the things that keeps me on the mat six days a week (seven, if you count my non-Astanga Saturday practice). Nothing about my practice os 'optional'. On my schedule, it's 'inked in'.

My mornings are a bit like a vinyasa, knowing exactly what comes next and following the steps on order. I don't need to think about it, I just breath and do and everything falls into place.

Just as I do during my practice, I try not to anticipate, maintaining full attention on the activity at hand, whether it's a salt bath, sweeping the floor or starting Surya Namaskara A.

Come to think of it, this is exactly how I get through the *week*. Day by day, task by task, class by class. I can't get too far ahead of myself because it gets overwhelming.

I was back to my full practice this morning, including the inversions. I found Sirsasana really difficult. I've lost my headstand mojo. I was really noticing my neck. I *never* notice my neck in that pose so, of course, I was fussing.

Backbends were mind-blowing, including Urdhva Dhanurasana. All kinds of stuff has been coming up this week, which is ironic because I've been doing less Intermediate than usual and minimal UD.

I'm feeling a huge shift, but I'm not really able to attach words to it yet. I'm still figuring it out.

Yesterday's 'knee thing' faded into the ether. I guess my gremlin was playing a practical joke on me. All was well today.

Tomorrow: Primary. And a nap! (is it telling that I'm already planning a nap for the next day when I haven't even gone to sleep for the night?).




(From 'cosmic bowling' a few years ago. Bowling is one of those things I do well with until I start to *think* too much)

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Astanga

My day: 1 90 minute Primary Series practice in the early morning, 2 workshops during the day (that included a led half-Primary), a fabulous but ill-timed Indian buffet, and a salt bath.

I'm so tired, I can hardly see straight. My brain is full of thoughts about the weekend, but I'll need time to process them.

To sum up: This weekend was precisely what I needed to move forward with my practice. My many questions were answered.

I'm finally clear on the stuff that D & J taught me in the summer. I've been trying to apply these concepts to my practice, but I really had no idea why they were important, except that D told me they were! I was taking it on faith! This deeper understanding will make it easier for me to apply this stuff throughout my practice.

You've all watched me struggle with my longer practice. Now that I've adjusted to it, I feel a bit silly about the whole thing, but it's still difficult. D & J shared some thoughts about why the backbends are important as an addition to the Primary Series. I also got a detailed rundown on nearly all of my Intermediate poses in the workshop this afternoon AND J gave me a little bit of help in Pasasana that I think will be key for me moving forward.

So I finally *get it*. And I'm happy with my practice.

More tomorrow.

I feel like I've been run over by a truck.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

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

This was definitely one of those ‘reluctant’ days when I didn’t feel like practising. I was deep into Baddha Konasana before it occurred to me that I was finally enjoying myself and it was a cakewalk after that. I think I’m just really, really tired.

I need to be more careful about getting adequate sleep. Losing a night of sleep over the weekend put me in catch-up mode for the rest of this week and I don’t have *time* to catch up on anything; every minute is allocated. I yawned through my evening classes and right now, I’m so tired, I feel numb. I’ll try to go to bed early and sleep in a bit.

Pasasana was great today. I didn’t bind in the pose - I’ve backed off from binding in favour of deepening the twist. So I’ve been kind of reaching my arm around and grabbing my heel, then tucking my back hand between my thigh and abdomen. Today, I experimented with bringing the wrapped arm around my shin and back toward my hip.

I didn’t bind to fingers or anything, but the pose felt *right*. Now, it’s only a matter of time and practice before I get the bind. I remember how this works from the Marichyasanas. I’ll work on opening my shoulders a bit. Losing a few pounds wouldn’t hurt either. Baby steps!

I’m adding a couple classes (teaching) next week, so today was my last ‘free’ noon hour. I decided to live it up and go see Avatar again. I’m glad I did. The IMAX-3D is less mind-blowing the second time around. I paid more attention to the plot and dialogue this time and I caught little details I missed the first time.

I enjoyed it thoroughly - this is one of my favourite all-time movies. I could see it again, but I probably won’t bother with the IMAX, I’ll just see it in the ordinary theatre (Isn't technology funny? I used to think seeing something on the 'big screen' was a big deal. Now, I'm all 'meh').

Astanga

I slept in until 8:30 this morning and it felt very, very good. And very necessary. I was walking wounded yesterday and I don’t know how I got through my four classes. By the time I started teaching the 8 p.m. class, I was slurring words and tripping over my own feet from sheer exhaustion.

I did a late morning practice today, full Primary Series but I ran out of steam at the very end: couldn’t motivate myself to do the backbends, got distracted during the closing sequence and skipped everything after Sarvangasana. No headstand today.

Missing the lotus poses wasn’t a big tragedy, but I can’t believe I forgot to do Savasana! :-D

I practised with the recording of Sharath’s led Primary today, but I’ll return to Beryl tomorrow. I’ll have the time to devote to a longer practice and I miss doing Bakasana after Utkatasana.

*For those of you just tuning in, I rarely do a ‘self-led’ Primary Series (though I do go through phases with that). I generally practice with either the audio of Beryl Bender Birch’s ‘Power Yoga’ DVD (which is a full led Primary) or the audio of Sharath’s led Primary. An audio led Primary keeps me on track and I enjoy the company during my practice, even if it’s just a disembodied voice. I've been doing a home practice for over 14 years and videos, DVDs and audio recordings have been key in helping me maintain this.

I finished my big project - let's call it ‘Declutter 2010’ - this afternoon. The grand finale was making space in my tiny storage nook for the television and VCR. I rarely use either, and they were collecting dust on my shelving unit (and I was always afraid I would knock them down during my inversions practice).

In the newly created space, I'm storing my Djembe (African Drum), which makes it easier to access (so maybe I’ll play it more). My guitar has its own corner now. Everything looks tidier. I like the feel of a space with minimal electronic gadgets. It feels very homey and organic to me.

Every single closet, drawer and storage space in my apartment has now been cleared out and tidied. I’ve shuffled through my book collection, generating a pile for resale. I’ve thrown away several bags of junk, donated piles of clothing, and cleared out my desk.

I’m ready for the new decade! Bring on tax preparation (next project!)

Princess Fur is fully recovered from her dental surgery. I knew she was back to her ‘old self’ when she asked for her toys. I pulled a few more out of storage when I was cleaning this afternoon and she entertained herself for hours, pulling them out of the bag they’re stored in (I think that’s her favourite part).


The fun was absolutely *exhausting*

Astanga

This morning, it took an act of discipline bordering on heroism to rouse myself from a deep, satisfying sleep, peel myself from the warm bed and turn on that bright, hurtful light. OUCH. Now that I’m whipping myself up into a froth of exhaustion every day, I’m sleeping like a baby at night and it feels great.

I unrolled my mat at 8 a.m., practised with Sharath’s led Primary. It’s a bit shorter than Beryl’s Power Yoga (full Primary with extras) because it moves quickly through the poses without added instruction or chatter. Sometimes, I like the chatter, but on days like this, I just need to move through it.

I did the closing sequence on my own. I stayed for 10 breaths in Sirsasana, in the middle of the room this time. It felt more stable and strong, which is what I hoped would come from my work against the wall over the past few days.

Gosh, I’m so tired right now, it hurts. I’m finding it really difficult to adjust to this heavy teaching schedule after almost a month of relative sloth.

Hatha

I finally reached the end of my rope on this sleep thing. This morning, after a night of restless sleep (I have no idea why...over-tired maybe?), I woke for my morning meditation. To my credit, I persevered, but I was drowsing out every few minutes and by the end, I just wanted to curl up in a ball and rest.

So I went back to bed. I slept for three hours. It was *great*. I didn't get anything done (which is another issue to contend with), but at least I slept. The punchline? I'm *still* tired. The good news is, I'm not teaching tonight, so I'll be able to go to bed early.

After lunch, I reviewed my to-dos and highlighted the 'absolutes'. Mainly, my email box needs to be emptied, Princess Fur needs tending and attention and I'm teaching two classes. I'm working my way through the list, but I feel drained.

Practice (done this evening because I was busy sleeping in the morning and avoiding my to-do list in the afternoon) was Chakra Balancing Yoga with Natalie, 20 minutes. If nothing else is balanced, at least my Chakras are!

Vinyasa

Hi! I'm boring today. Boring, boring, boring! But that's okay. It's a Sunday and nobody reads this on Sunday (do you?)

And I haven't done yoga yet. But I will. I have Hip Opening Flow #2 (21 minutes with Lisa) queued up on my iTunes. Short and sweet for the laziest Sunday on record. I'm planning to hit the mat while the girlfriend watches a movie later.

She's at the grocery store right now and I'm enjoying the eerie silence of the house. I saw a cardinal outside the window this morning before I sat to meditate. It's gray, somber day out and it's getting darkish already at 3:30. I'm in a wintry mood.

I had big plans to do a solid Astanga practice this morning, but 'life's little dramas' got in the way. It's funny how my Astanga practice never seems to happen if I don't get up early to do it. I'm a creature of my routine; take away the routine and I flounder.

My excuse is sleep. I slept in because I was up late again last night. Then I took a long afternoon nap. To be honest, I'm *still* tired, but if I keep sleeping like this during the day, I won't sleep at night.

Goal for next week: return to a sane sleep schedule.

It's time for my regular weekly feature...

The Internet Asks

Some Sunday fun, pulled from the archives of my access stats. The Internet was not very inquisitive this week but there were a couple of interesting queries.

can you practice Ashtanga and Hatha at the same time?
Depends on what you mean by 'the same time'. I don't believe it's possible to do both styles in the same session because Astanga and Hatha each have a different pace and energy. But it's entirely possible to switch between styles and in a daily yoga practice, I think it's healthy to 'mix it up.'

ashtanga long hair
Uh, oh. Seane Corn strikes again!

Here's a little known fact: I used to have beautiful, thick, curly flowing long hair. Nearly to my waist! No joke! I cut it *very* short during yoga teacher training because it was interfering with my practice. I was sick of 'hair management' and yoga was more important to me. My friends were shocked and horrified and at least one person stopped speaking to me. People get riled up over the weirdest things! Hey, it's MY hair! (and it's back to being very short after this summer's longer hair experiment fell flat...literally).

31 flavours of shoulder openers + yoga
Ooooo! Kinda like Baskin Robbins, except it's pain instead of ice cream! YUMMY!

Hatha

I'm SO tired. My sleep schedule is completely out of whack right now. This morning, I decided to get up at the regular time and meditate, even though I only had 5 hours of sleep. By the afternoon, I was dragging and needed a nap. I'm glad that I saved my yoga practice for later in the day because it's the only thing that managed to wake me up.

I did my own simple Hatha sequence, the one I give my students when they're trying to build a home practice. It starts out light, with forward bends, moves into the 'classic' version of sun salutations, a few standing poses and hip openers to wind down. I didn't get to the hip openers, but I did drink some tea.

And I'm feeling a bit better.

Goal for the weekend: normalize my sleep schedule. Amazing that one sleepless night could throw me off so completely!

Astanga

Yesterday day was long and tough. I wasn't happy with a single class that I taught and my body felt like it had been through a wringer. On the subway home, I had to keep repeating: “I'm kind to myself” because I was definitely NOT being kind to myself. I can be pretty self-critical when it comes to my teaching. After meditation, I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow and didn't budge until morning.

I woke up feeling sore and bone tired, I didn't want to get up. I wasn't sleepy-tired, my body was tired. Instead of falling asleep during my meditation, I was very distracted. I can't remember ever being so distracted during a meditation. It was like my brain was too numb to focus, so it wandered aimlessly, everywhere.

After a quick walk, I did a 60 minute Hatha practice: Lunar Flow with Lisa. I've been saving this one for a 'hard day.' This definitely qualified. I love the 60 minute version, as I thought I would. It's a perfect downshift class. During the class, I was actually moaning as I came into some of the poses, but I felt so much better afterward.

I laid on the mat for another 20 minutes, using the Acuball to smooth out the tight spots in my back, took a 30 minute nap, then a hot bath. Add some chai tea and I was feeling perky again.

YogaDownload has completely changed their web site - new look, new process, new stuff. In order to download classes, I now have to go through a 'shopping cart' process, which is a bit annoying. Also, the search function on the site is now terrible. I hope they improve it (or return to the functionality it previously had).

On the bright side, there are five new classes available and videos. For non-subscribers, there's a new pricing scheme with one-use and full download options.

Yesterday, I wrapped up my Astanga 'six day' week. Now that I have my sleep schedule regularized, I was curious how more Astanga would effect my energy levels. I'm delighted to be doing more Astanga this month, but I'm not sure if I can do a six day week regularly. If the way I felt this morning is any indication, full Primary on a regular basis may not be sustainable, at least not at the moment. I feel like I've depleted my energy stores significantly.

Perhaps a four or five day week would be more do-able...I'm still thinking on it. Maybe four days of full Primary, one day of half, one vinyasa day and one hatha day?

Hatha

Tired, so tired! I'm still troubleshooting my circadian rhythm.

For the past two nights, I've gone to bed early and fallen asleep right away (if I read a book for a few minutes after meditation, it seems to 'reset my brain' and I fall asleep easily). But after a full 8 hours of sleep, I'm *still* tired. Yesterday, I didn't give in to the napping urge, but I did today. I napped for an hour. My noon class cancelled so I have an entire blissful day to lounge about and read. I teach noon classes six days a week, so this is a rare treat (Though I'm inwardly groaning about the lost cash - I was planning to use it for my subway pass).

More sleep? Regular naps? I'm already using the LiteBook regularly so it's probably not S.A.D. I hope I'm not coming down with a bug. H1N1 is beginning to pop up around the city. A 13-year-old boy died from it last week. It's scary, though in a remote, vague sort of way. Right now, it's scary the same way SARS was scary - lots of media hysteria and people wearing masks on the subway, but I'm not affected directly. That could change. Vaccinations start next week. I'm definitely going to get mine if it's not a huge wait. I've heard rumours of line-ups for this shot.

My morning routine was completely mixed up and turned around because I was too sleepy to meditate when I woke up. Instead, I walked the dog in the dark. I felt like a bit of a interloper, wandering through the streets of my neighbourhood, watching the families at their breakfast tables (or watching cartoons on T.V. before school). It was kind of nice, comforting. Yoga didn't happen until 11:00. I did Lunar Flow #1, 20 minutes with Lisa (really, 24 minutes).

Nice and easy and low-stress. This sequence reminds me of the 'sit down' class I regularly teach to my Hatha students. There are literally *no* standing poses and only a few Downward Facing Dogs. The one thing I would add to this sequence is a Fish Pose after the Shoulderstand series(I think the counterpose is particularly important). It's easy enough to stop the recording and sneak one in.

I'm looking forward to the rest of the day. I don't need to be anywhere until 4:30. I have big plans for yummy lunch, reading, and lots of knitting.

Last night, one of my students gave me this:
I'm going to enjoy it with my tea!

Hatha

Today was an odd day. I had the day off from teaching and thank goodness I did because I was feeling a bit under the weather. I'm not sure if this means I'm actually sick though - I often get these 'low energy phases' in the fall and winter. And yes, it could also be the New Moon, though I don't really pay attention to those things.

In the morning, I slept in, took the dog for a long walk down at the university (I let her run around off-leash, she was in *heaven*), then came home feeling thoroughly exhausted. I laid down, thinking I would rest for a bit and fell into a deep sleep. I woke over three hours later. Bizarre.

Still didn't feel much like practising, so I caught up on some work. I was reviewing a list of goals I had set for the year and noticed that 'knit a hat' was on that list. Since fall is nearly here (and boy, it felt like it today!), I wondered if courses might be starting. Googling proved me right - a 'knit a hat' course was starting up, in fact, this very evening. I very spontaneously decided to give it a go, quickly washed up, jumped on my bike and rode down the knitting shop.

Gosh, what fun! I do know how to knit scarves, but hats always seemed out of reach because of the decreasing thing. It's much easier than I thought and like all classes, I received some good tips and the teacher corrected a few of my bad habits (apparently, I've been knitting wrong for years!).

I finally did my practice in the evening. I did a 45 minute free-form Hatha practice. It's fun to do this every so often - just start practising and see where the flow takes you. I always start out thinking I'll be on the mat for 10 minutes and stay for much longer. No pranayama today. Meditation finally happened right before bed.