Day 5

Weather: Sunny. Cold.
Today's Overall feeling: happy, then tired. but good. Carpal Tunnel feeling much better.

Ahoy! What can I say about today... This morning I practiced for a little over an hour and I mixed it with poses I normally don't care for. So in this post I will focus on a couple of things: 1) I'll give you one pose I find to be 'annoying' and 2) epic arrivals with headstand.

It feels contrary to be 'annoyed' with yoga. But I think it's because I'm a real lazy ass when it comes to willing myself to physically power through things. Normally when I'm able to muster up the power, I'm competing with someone,  I really want to get home because it's cold out and the shortest path is up the steepest part of Bay Street on a fixed gear bike (this is not a fun thing to do for me),  there's an electric red countdown timer telling me to 'go go go',  I have to go to the bathroom... In short, my brain is motivated and thinking of these things to rev me up. So those annoying exercises you might not want to do happen as your will is propelled by your thinkings. Now, when you are doing an activity where your mind is supposed to be clear, psyching yourself out is perhaps the wrong path.

Annoying pose #1

urdhva hastasana

So. I know what you are thinking. "Jess. Are you serious? " Yes. I am serious. This is NOT as easy as it looks. You are working your legs. Lifting your knees and standing firmly on your feet. Not gripping your toes. Not collapsing on your inner ankle bones. You lift your arms and sides of the chest up with straight arms. keeping your arms really straight, do not bend your elbows and keep your arms even with your ears. Then stretch your pinky fingers toward the sky. Do it like there is no tomorrow. All while releasing the inner borders of your shoulder blades down your back.  Now keep this posture, readjusting as necessary for a few minutes. do not slump your back, do not slump your front. (look here for a better description on how to do this pose).

I think that I don't like this one because I get tired very quickly. And at first glance you think you should be able to do this for hours without any kind of whimper. I think that eventually I will be able to get through this and really appreciate the wonder that it brings to you post-pose. It kind of takes the lazy and whacks it super hard in the face. straight on. because you feel quite invigorated afterwards.  I'll keep doing this one and when I get over the hump we will celebrate.

Epic Arrivals in Headstand Land

hand position, head, pre-push off, leg-step-1, leg-final

I've been practicing my headstand since October 8th, 2009. That was my first yoga class and the teacher of that class Valerie Valardi had me go up with a bunch of blocks supporting my upper back with my feet against the wall. She helped up my legs and I was up! I could not get down, so she helped me down too :)

Then I started taking classes from Annette Murphy at the same studio who assisted getting my legs to the wall for about 4 months. Then one day out of the blue I was able to lift my legs to the wall by myself.  I practiced this during every practice, increasing the strength in my upper back and legs.  In November of 2010, Annette encouraged me to try my headstands away from the wall. In the diligence of my home practice and regular classes I was able to do my headstands in the middle of the room with no wall, like the diagram above. Though I am proud of my efforts and determination, I know that I still have so much to improve with this pose. Like the fact that I can't hold my balance for very long, maybe a little over a minute, means that I need to understand where it is that I am wavering, both physically and mentally.

In today's sirsasana, I realized what one of the wavering points might be. I think that I always have my legs leaning forward a bit and my butt sticking out. So I look like this <.  A little less exaggerated but you get the idea. I have to be straight up. And this I know. So the thing that stops me is my brain and some kind of fear. Because when I have my legs straight up, my shoulder blades going away from my neck and my tail bone going towards my pelvic bone guess what? I feel totally in control. Super happy town. And the moment one of those things goes haywire, my mind does a little 'holy shit' and i compensate for the imbalance in the wrong way.

NOTE: I would not take my explanation of any pose to be the truth in execution. Please consult a trained teacher or book for way better descriptions of how to do these poses. Light on Yoga by B.K.S Iyengar has pages and pages of valuable how-to's and pictures to show you.

Have a great day!