Day 10

Weather: awesome. brisk.
Today's Overall Feeling: wonderful

Day behind again. This post is for Sunday morning practice. Self-discipline is part of this whole journey. Get there yamasaki. Make it happen. ! ! !

So yesterday... I went to another one of Garrell's classes. I have to say, really great teacher. Two thumbs up.  His practice starts out pretty relaxed, which is what seems to be working for me (in a positive mental way). Starting off in a reclined bound angle pose (Supta Baddha Konasana) for about 10 minutes and another reclined hero pose (supta virasana).

this is not me. just getting that out there.

Both of these poses can be done after dinner and make you feel good all over. Here are some of the therapeutic applications to the reclined hero pose as per yoga journal magazine:

• Arthritis
• Asthma
• Diarrhea
• Digestive problems
• Flat feet
• Head cold
• Headache
• High blood pressure
• Infertility
• Insomnia
• Intestinal gas and acidity
• Menstrual discomfort
• Respiratory ailments
• Sciatica
• Varicose veins

That's right. Everything from headache to flat feet. Hey! let's meet some gas 1/2 way down the list and round it all off with a scrubbin' for those variose veins. What's great about this pose is you can relax in it for quite some time. In class we lay on bolsters, they are length wise underneath our heads to our lower backs.

I can attest to the fact that this will help intestinal gas and acidity. A while back I was stricken with a seriously horrifying case of acid reflux. I woke up in the middle of the night clutching my stomach. Then drank a cup of baking soda and warm water (so disgusting it's unbelievable), which I hear is bad for you because you f up the ph balance in your stomach. I also drank a cup of ginger tea with lemon juice in it. Lemon juice + acid reflux = omg-don't-do-it.

After all that, I did lay in supta virasana and found some peace there. I think before internet doctoring myself, hitting up Light on Yoga's section on ailments is a good way to go.

Day 9

Weather: really nice. not too cold.
Today's overall feeling: positive

Today was a good day for me, both yoga wise and other. I went to a class this morning at my local studio and had a class with Garrell Herndon. Garrell is a fantastic teacher, a mellow & humorous guy with quite a bit of anatomical and yoga knowledge. The funny thing is, I went to class feeling like I didn't want to go. I felt like I wanted a break today, but in the spirit of my blossoming self-discipline I went. And I'm really glad I did.

Prasarita Padottonasana

The practice today was actually a boon to my right heel, as I've been suffering a bit of pain while doing Prasarita Padottonasana. So what has been happening to me is a pain in my right heel, like on the inside when i'm in the final pose. A little adjustment of my foot, basically pressing down on my big toe side-ball of the foot, helped a great deal.

Besides the actual fix, what made me the happiest was the fact that there was an actual fix to what I thought might be a physical limitation of myself. You know like central bone rot, a disease I made up by uneducatedly thinking too hard about why my inner heel bone was in pain. BTW, if you do an image search for bone rot, you get a bunch of pictures of T-Bone steaks and some Halloween decorations.

If you suffer from physical limitations in your yoga practice ask your teacher what modifications can be made to make whatever pose possible. I believe that anything is possible. Maybe if you are without an arm, not a one armed handstand.
or maybe I am wrong...
In this life you can do anything!

Day 8

Weather: Still in Brrr-town, USA
Today's Overall Feeling: Super hung over. :|

yeah. That's what happened. I had a lot of fun that involved Shabu Shabu, karaoke, and alcoholic consumption. Good times. The questions relating to the evening turn from "How much fun was that!?" and "Can we do it again!?!" to "Why did I do that?" and "When will the pain stop?".  Annette said in class once, that we should know our priorities. In this case, I knew my priorities then lost sight of them as I sipped my brain to waver.

Yoga for hangovers.

ardha matsyendrasana, seated twist

Is there such a thing? After seeking it out I found that Ardha Matsyendrasana (Lord of the Fish Pose, best name ever), seated twist, could be a good way to wring out some of that funk. It's supposed to support healthy digestion. Also brings some energy to your body as you compact everything together, hold it for a bit, then release to the other side.  I think that it also helps that you are sitting so you don't have to worry about balance.

I also did about 25 minutes of Upavista Konasana, see day 7. 20 minutes of Baddha Konasana with my back against the couch. and that was it for today.  I can't say that the poses made me feel miraculously better since my hangover revisited me several times through out the day. I think the moral of this story is, you have to pay to play. Wha-bam. Tomorrow will be better, I promise.

Day 7

Weather: Cold. Brr-town, USA.
Feeling: Good but distracted.

Post for Thursday, written on Friday.

wide angle leg, head on bolster.

Yesterday I felt pretty good in the morning. I did a few standing poses followed by some seated restorative poses. The day was going to be busy so I wanted to get some relaxation in before the day began. One thing I realized yesterday while trying to relax in upavista konasana, is that it is incredibly hard to keep yourself in check to clear the mind and to keep the posture up. I guess this is not something that I noticed yesterday only since I talk about it all the time. BUT. I should say I keep thinking about it and feel that I need to repair it. I have come to the conclusions that perhaps I should not try so hard to NOT think and just do the physical movements and focus on the sensations in my body. If I can just continue to experience the tightness in my limbs and concentrate on correct alignment and posture I think the rest will follow.

I've actually always said that, and have heard it from others, that if we can get our physical selves into good condition the rest of life makes it way to being in order. It's sort of the same thing with my practice :) We'll see if that's true.

Day 6

Weather: Sunny with blue skies. Cold cold cold.
Today's Overall Feeling: Good. no complaints.

Hi there. It's Jess. Today's practice was split into two different parts. One in the morning for 30 minutes and one in the evening for 45 minutes. After feeling a bit in a rush this morning I figured that rather than feel anxious, I should just move it along and continue when I could feel more settled.

Outside of being a split practice, I also only did 6 poses, not counting the transitional Tadasana (mountain) and Dandasana (staff).

Dandasana, Staff Pose

I started off this morning in Swastikasana, basically legs in a cross legged-ish position, sitting on a bloster with my hip bones higher than my knees with my shoulders down my back and my chest lifted. We normally sit in this position at the beginning of any class that I've taken, sitting to take a moment to ourselves before we do a traditional Iyengar chant called the Invocation to Patanjali. This chant, as one of my teachers will sometimes explain, is a way to say thanks to Patanjali for the practice of yoga. Geeta Iyengar says,

We chant so that at the very beginning that feeling of sanctification comes from inside, with the feeling of surrendering oneself, because nothing can be learned in this world unless you have the humility to learn.

I think that feeling humble has been key to my learning yoga. I suppose not only with yoga, but also in my job and creative life.  Feeling like "I am the best" is surely something I support, in the way that you should believe that you are the best you in this world. Not like, "I'm the best at everything so don't tell me what to do". I believe that positive world views start with a positive view of yourself, that's all I'm getting at.  So the chant... that's part of the Iyengar practice as per the Iyengar Institute.

I sat in Swastikasana for 10 minutes, then went into Dandasana for a minute, then got up and went into Uttanasana (forward bend) for about 10 minutes, and finally Supta Virasana (child's pose) for about 10 minutes. The longer pose times proved to be pretty beneficial for my thought process. I managed to relax out of the anxious feelings while in the poses, even though as soon as I came out I started thinking again.

Virasana

In the evening, I sat in Virasana (Hero's pose) for about 15 minutes. It might look like you are sitting on your feet from the front, but actually your feet are to the side of your buttocks and your buttocks are ideally on the floor. Sit on your butt bones, not just on your fleshy mass of buttness. If this is the case, I believe you are suppose to sit on some height so your butt is well seated on the ground. I have to say that sitting for this long was really quite a interesting experience and brought quite a bit of life into my legs. I have heard that it's good to practice this if you have varicose veins to invigorate the blood flow in your legs. Also if you have knee problems but seek counsel before trying. Never do it if you feel like your knees are going to explode. Knee explosions =  a bad thing.

Baddha Konasana

I then did Paschimottanasana, a seated forward bend for a bit, then went into Baddha Konasana, otherwise known as Cobbler's pose.  This is a good one for urinary health. As we grow older, I think we will take for granted our urinary vitality. Do this one and start preserving the welfare of a under recognized special freedom today.

I did this for about 20 minutes with back to the wall support. Normally at night I have that lactic acid feeling where I feel like I have to stretch all the time. But now the legs feel pretty rested. We'll see what happens in sleepy town.

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!

Day 4

Weather: overcast but still great.
Today's Overall feeling: good. worked (no day off like the rest of the world). not tired.

So as a part of my program I will need to practice every day for one hour AND do 20 hours of classes in 3 months by a certified Iyengar instructor. This should not be too hard a feat, but it will take quite a bit of discipline. This morning I was thinking of hitting up a 9:30-11am class but (first excuse;) was so sore this morning that I decided upon a home practice of 1/3 standing, 1/3 inversion, 1/3 restorative.

It is much harder to push yourself when you are at home. Laying on your 'dining room' floor and thinking about all the things you need to do in the day. Especially, for me, with the standing poses. I know I have to keep myself aligned,  constantly readjusting, remaining still and trying to clear my big bloated head. Another thing, endurance is really a crazy will if you ask me. If you think about what people have to endure in this world - famine, disease, poverty - there should really be no reason that you can't stand on one leg for 5 minutes.  But when I'm in that pose and I think "hey, what's the big deal, this is hardly suffering..." then my mind has wandered and I thwarted my efforts with thought.

ardha chandrasana

Standing:

• Tadasana - mountain
• Utthita Trikonasana - extended triangle
• Virabhadrasana I - warrior
• Ardha Chandrasana - half moon
• Uttanasana - forward bend
• Adho Mukha Svanasana - downward dog

Inversion:

• Sirsasana - headstand (no wall)
• Pincha Mayurasana - feathered peacock pose (with wall)
• Halasana - plow 

Inversions are a great way to clear the head. When I'm upside down there seems to be little time for me to be thinking about anything. The concentration is completely and totally on my body and putting everything where it needs to be so I feel in control, unwavering, and strain-free. As soon as my brain goes somewhere else, I lose my balance and I collapse. One of the first things I often think about is "Wow, I can't believe I can do this now!" or "Soon I'll be able to do this for longer"... Insta-collapse. It's like riding your bike on a narrow one brick wide path, then closing your eyes.  The end of that scenario, most likely a blood bath. I'd have to guess that blood baths and yoga do not go well together.

I guess those thoughts go along with the yoga sutra 1.12 "abhyasa vairagyabhyam tat nirodhah" - Practice and detachment are the means to still the movements of the consciousness. right?  There I am reaping the fruits of my practice, thus forgetting about keeping the roots of the fruit tree planted... or something like that. We'll keep working on that analogy.

Viparita Karani

Restorative:

• Viparita Karani - legs up the wall
• Supta Baddha Konasana - reclining bound angle
• Savasana - whole body

All I can say is Viparita Karani is pretty awesome. I don't usually put my butt on a block like that, it's usually a bloster. But hot-damn, what a way to spend some time. I want to get some 10 lb sandbags to put on my feet while i do this, which we do in class sometimes.


I felt good about this practice. However, I also felt sort of bad about not pushing myself more - thus felt more bad about feeling bad... For those of you who know me, this is a common pattern :). I'm working on breaking this pattern. Rather than feel bad at all just accept what I have done for myself. And if I should want to do more and have the time, simply do it. Or save it for the next day's practice. There are plenty of practices to come.

NOTE: these awesome pictures have come from this great website I found Freret Street Yoga. Geoffrey Roniger is the main dude there,  he's from San Francisco and used to teach at the Yoga Loft. I'm not in the know with who's who in the yoga world so forgive me if this is known. (I DO know the one known reader of the blog will not know this information so this is for you!)