Best ones so far

Finding time for practice this week is hard. Apart from surviving a day at the Labour camp, I am busy putting the final touches to the lecture I am giving on Saturday, like any typical Virgo I plan things down to the enth degree. I have given this lecture before, but there are things that need updating and things I thought didn’t work the first time around which I am changing. I love giving the talks, the interaction with the audience is always fun.

So practice is being squeezed in to my schedule,  when I am on the mat like last night I try for focus and quality rather than quantity. With that in mind  I set to last night and actually ended up having a very good practice for a weekday evening, full Primary and as I had been concentrated I had gained time for some backbend experiments. I started with walking in on my UD’s, following Helen’s tip of trying to keep the pelvis high with the intention of trying to transfer the weight into my feet and stand, no chance!

Dropback is now part of my practice (Can’t believe I can write that), I just about landed the first one, then did the best 2 I have done on my own, landing well up the mat with my head nowhere near touching the crash blanket. Although I need my safety net, I find that by aiming my hands at it rather than beyond it, I am landing in a deeper bend. If my hands land too far back they seem to bounce, especially the left hand, which then annoys my shoulder.

At home after the forward bend I have a habit of calling it a day, but I was conscious on Sunday of how my Sirsasana has got a bit unstable, especially the halfway ones, so I made sure I completed closing, missing nothing out.

Practice is satisfying at the moment, I hope it lasts.

Double yoga – Tired but happy

Its been a fun weekend, yoga at TLC with Michaela on Saturday morning, only 3 people there for some reason, but a nice practice up in the Loft looking out over the chimney pots of Notting Hill through the steamy windows. My knee is better, but still not up for Mari D. I seemed to get to closing in a seemless, quiet flow, I suddenly thought “Oh backbends, they have come round quick“, after Urdva Dhanurasana I stood up to start my dropback experiments. My back felt quite bendy and open, so I went and got one of the little pillows to use  as a safety net, Michaela was laughing and asked what I was intending to do with the pillow, I just carried on, placed the pillow where my head may land, inhaled up and began to bend back and just about got my arms straight and hands in place as my head grazed the little pillow, landing my dropback for the first time in a Shala (sorry it wasn’t YP), Michaela had watched, probably expecting to have to come running to the rescue, then she said “That was great, you can do it!”. So I did a couple more to prove it wasn’t a fluke.

I was buzzing after practice, almost elation, that feeling of knowing it was a good one. I went to Tesco to buy some water and was served by a lady with a name badge, would you believe her name was actually “Happy”, I asked her if it was just an advert or if it was her name, she confirmed she was indeed both Happy by name and by nature.

The afternoon was spent running the travel club, over 140 people turned up. That wasn’t the end of the day though, later I met up with AC and Susan from the Shala, we had a lovely meal in a Turkish restaurant, time to chat and relax, we should do it more often.

A late night and then an early morning train back to the city to practice at YP. Though thanks to Susan last night presenting me with a little Ginseng energy ball to munch on the train and some orange juice, I was less depleted than of late.

Practice was fun today, Oscar is mobile, a 10 month old brings something different to a yoga room, he’s a happy little kid who makes me laugh, doing backbends in his carry pouch while his Mon adjusts or trying to grab great lumps of her hair! Though I have this theory that his first words won’t be Mom or Dad it will be “Drishte”

A different practice today, Cary is much more exacting, I find I am more focussed, my mind wanders less, though by the middle of seated I was getting tired. Again I had to modify Marichyasana D, my right knee still wont play ball, but at least I don’t mind now, Mari D is no longer the be all and end all of my practice. Brilliant Supta K today, with Cary’s assistance and instruction, feet crossed, lifted up, then she took me out via the proper Titibhasana, Bakasana, surprised I had the energy left by then.

Practice was tiring today, a busy weekend and 2 practices take a toll, Urdva Dhanurasana was ok, I stood up to go to the wall for dropback, but there was no room, so I stayed put and grabbed a blanket and started to play around bending back until I felt safe to start going further. After a couple of abortive attempts where the weight went the wrong way I managed to land my first dropback at YP, on the next mat Susan gave me a smile, alas Cary missed it! I did 3 more, then went into Paschimottanasana. By the time Cary came over I had done Sirsasana, she said “We didn’t do dropbacks yet!”, You should have seen the look on her face when I told her I had done it on my own, Susan confirming it to her, after a high 5, she said “you better come next week, you’re gonna stand up”, I told her that could take a couple of years!

So its Sunday evening, I am tired, but I still have some of that elation inside.

More fuel efficient

I ended up doing an evening practice yesterday, I had intended to go to Navasana, but when I got there I decided to keep going as I felt so much better physically than the day before and my knee wasn’t as painful, even so I still can’t do Mari D on the second side. The new knee support works much better than the old one, it has adjustable velcro straps.

I think when you feel good and have the energy its a shame to waste it, there are too many practices where I begin fatigued and just get worse and probably do damage by dragging myself through it. I think food intake or lack of, as well as sitting in an office chair for 8 hours is what seems to decide what kind of practice its going to be on any given day.

After adding in a few Ustrasanas and a few of Susan’s warm up stretches Urdva Dhanurasana was strong, which lead to managing to land  3 dropbacks without annoying my shoulder.

Double yoga this weekend tomorrow at TLC, then Sunday at YP.

 

Good Yoga practices don’t last

After my relative success with the dropbacks, a good practice on Sunday, followed by the Reflexology experience, practice has gone back into hiding, well apart from Tuesday evening when I did a full primary. My Urdva Dhanurasanas have certainly felt stronger, but I seem to have only a one in three or four success rate with my home dropback attempts. I get the best results when I have played around with the second series poses before, these certainly open me up. The problem with the unsuccessfull dropback attempts is that I either manage to piss my knee off (had to buy a new knee support yesterday), or I seem to land with my left arm to far back, which really annoys the shoulder. The spiky massage ball and Tiger balm is on overtime of late.

Yesterday I had a dental check up in the morning when I got the guy to glue my crown back in for the third time, he says it probably wont last, but as it came in with the price of the check up I thought it was worth taking a chance. He said he used the strongest super dental cement possible, try not to chew for 5 hours and it would only finally be set in 24 hours. So yesterday lunchtime the Duck’s got my Rye bread sandwiches and I had a couple of fairy cakes which would just disintegrate without having to chew. This was obviously not enough fuel for the day, after getting home I did some Surya’s and started to play around with backbends while the dinner was cooking. I then tried to do some backdrops, I had no idea my energy level was so low, as I went back almost to the point of no return the shakes came on and the world went a bit hazy, I had no choice but to try and get to the floor, but ended up with my right arm too bent and my left arm/ hand too far behind me, wrenching my shoulder as I landed on my head. At which point I woke up to the fact that this was probably not a good idea. I am going to have to bring back the sugar lumps or find some way of intaking enough energy to do practice.

Too much looking forward- new Ology after!

I almost knew it would happen, that I would go through this mornings practice with my mind on the future dropback and not on where I was . It took a lot of mental effort to keep bringing myself back to the current pose.

Much less adjustment today, no excruciating Prasarita Padot C assist, just a reminder to straighten my arms in the Warriors. Seated were much the same, except for a nice deep forward bend in Mari A and a comment that in my transitions between Chaturanga and Down dog, that my feet should roll over together, not one at a time and also that my knees shouldn’t touch the floor. The second side of Mari D was where my right knee decided to get its revenge, as I went to twist and bind, pain shot through it and I bailed out ASAP. At least Supta K felt an easy bind today.

And so closing eventually came to pass, my mind at last where it wanted to be, 3 x good Urdva Dhanurasana, then to the wall, for all the usual experiments, except this week I sneaked a blanket along, after a few minutes warming up I started to try and hang back until I could see the floor, but I didn’t quite have the bend. I thought Cary was busy adjusting someone else, so I had another go, then felt a light prod in the chest, she let me go a long way on my own before she took me to the floor and I walked my hands in. My mind and body find it hard to take total responsibility, when they know intervention is going to happen, but I didn’t have the confidence to ask her to let me go completely on my own, but I did get most of the way on my own and she even said my backbends were good today.

Another long practice, I had planned to grab some food before going to the Yoga Show, but it was pouring with rain, so I just got the train and got in the dry of Olympia as soon as I could. The show was fun to look round, I had a seated massage, then tried a new therapy, Reflexology. I have never had that before and I don’t really know if it did anything for me as the therapist had to wake me up after my 20 minutes were up, I suppose that proves its relaxing if nothing else!

Ta Da! The video- 2009 Year of the drop back.

Last night I tried all the suggestions, reverse prayer, chairs, Susan’s hands cradling the head, which was far more intense than I expected, I almost did it, every day the blogosphere and my mind seemed to be taking me ever nearer.

So Saturday morning I get home from shopping and start doing backbends while I wait for the kettle, ending up doing all the ones I enjoy Ustrasana, Laghu Vajrasana, Kino thigh stretch backbends, some proper Urdva Dhanurasanas. Then its time, I can’t put it off, I dont waste time going to the wall, I put down a cushion and inhale, exhale go back, see the floor, but gravity speeds things up too much and I just about save myself. Stand up try again, sloowly going back, remembering Dena’s advice of trying to almost aim my hands at my feet, the floor appears and I go for it, hands on floor, head lands on cushion at the same time. But at least it felt like I had some control. Stand up, replace cushion with a small folded up blanket. At least videoing it, I can see how near I am getting.

Delete file, press record, try again, exhale going back for as long as I can, trying to increase the bend in the upper back so I can see the floor, floor is there, hands out, ready for touchdown, yeeeeeeeees, I land on my hands without my head touching the blanket, as Dolores O’Riordans, The Journey plays in the background. Follow the link below, to see the one file that didn’t get deleted and never will!

The only slight problem is my right knee, which is a bit painful at the minute, from trying to stop the foot splaying out, I now need your suggestions, exercises etc as to how to keep my feet in place and not annoy my knee. Dare I do it at the Shala tomorrow?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJMOcnPLkwA

Dropback attempts video!

I decided to do standing and then resume my backbend efforts this evening, culminating in the usual array of various dropback experimentation. Some of them began to feel much deeper, so I tried to video them to see how far I was getting. I must be boring the yoga blog fraternity with my never ending experiments, the only ones who get to see them for real are Susan, Vanessa, Sarah and AC, so just for fun I uploaded tonights to you tube (couldn’t get them to work on WordPress), so that the rest of you can see how far I am getting, you just need to tell me if I am still too far away to go for the floor or not.

Just go here to view

It may come up with a message saying “Unable to reach server”, but pressing the go button arrow in the corner made it work anyway.

Tennis ball & Tiger balm

After Monday nights abortive practice, when the phone kept ringing, last night I had a nice uninterupted half Primary, plus backbends. Its funny how practice can renew the body’s energy. When I got home from the Labour camp I could quite happily have crashed out and slept, except for the fact that my favourite dinner was in the oven.

The longer practice went the more energy I seemed to have, even managing to jump back on all the vinyasas. Is it in my mind or do the vinyasas actually give impetus, heat and energy to the practice, on days when I perceive that I am short of time I leave some of the vinyasas out, thinking it saves time, but then I find I don’t keep the heat in my practice. Last night I seemed to have a nice flow and I got through the asanas quite quickly. Backbends were not great, but I can walk in on my UD’s now, which is taking some of the strain out of my shoulders by having the hands further forward.

Susan’s tennis ball suggestion for the Piriformis and Sciatic problem is working out. I have taken to using the ball for the first 5 minutes of Savasana, almost managing to induce as much pain as Cristina does with her steel thumbs. If I can find that point, then at first its almost agony, but then I find I am relaxing and last night I even had the sensation of something plopping and releasing, sending a tingle down the back of my leg. I then have a proper Savasana, before putting a little of that magic Tiger Balm on that painful point before I go to bed. Its great, I now get to sleep without it waking me up at 2am.

 

I asked, It is in the mind.

The easiest Sunday of the year to get up for practice with getting that extra hour under the covers, though some people forgot, like a woman at Whitechapel station yelling why her train wasn’t listed, you should have seen the look on her face when the guy reminded her about the clocks!

An unexpectedly good practice this morning, standing were solid, my hamstrings came out to play and it was soon time for seated, though not before Cary gave me the most incredibly challenging adjustment in Prasarita Padot C I have ever experienced. I had also suddenly realised as I did Parivrita Trikonasana and the sun came out, that I had that sense of happiness, of being where I wanted to be, doing what I wanted to do. (Not an experience I am ever likely have Monday to Friday!)

Cary seems to have a bee in her Bonnet now about the alignment of my feet, particularly in poses like Triang Mukha and the Janusirsasanas, plus now that I can mostly manage to bind these beyond my feet, that my hands be much lower down. I just don’t have the control over my feet that she is now expecting, ball of the foot forward, toes coming back, I can do one or the other, but not both at the same time. Managed to bind all of the Marichyasanas on my own and Supta K, I liked being left alone to wriggle my own way in to all these poses, its almost like if I’m adjusted into them its too easy.

I seemed to have quite a fast practice today, 75 minutes to closing, which was good because it meant there was time for backbend experimentation after 3 walk in Urdva Dhanurasanas, off to the wall for all the usual stuff before returning to my place for assisted dropbacks. First couple to the floor were iffy, but the ones after the half way cross arm dropbacks suddenly felt like they had more structure and control, exhaling to my safe limit, inhale again, then exhale to the floor, then walking the UD in and pushing up, but breathing these days and not sounding like I am giving birth.

Afterwards I asked her why I could do a dropback on my own on the beach, yet now it feels miles away. She told me that I am not actually that far away from landing and she has seen quite an improvement, even if I don’t feel like I have moved on. BUT she said my mind is half the problem, in a mentally safe place like the sandy beach it was easier to relax and trust, its the transition to doing it on solid ground that needs to be broached, she said once I do it for the first time the whole mentality of the posture will change. I can’t wait for the day!

Hands in prayer or stretched debate.

After running out of time at the first Urdva Dhanurasana last night (Dinner was ready), I decided this afternoon to do standing, a few forward bends and then go to Pasasana and all those fun 2nd series backbends I don’t get to do at the Shala . How the hell I managed to spend over 90 minutes doing this I still havn’t worked out. It was a nice practice, it felt less pressured, spending longer in the forward bends coaxing my hamstrings back out of hibernation.

MUCH better backbends today, 3 x UD walking in and pushing up, then the usual dropback experiments, walking down the door, cross arms, then trying to drop as far as I could, though the floor still seems much further away than it did on Noosa beach. I have this theory that as Australia is the other way up, the ground must be nearer! I noticed today that when I start off with hands in prayer, inhale and try and make my croquet hoop, exhale and go back and then compare it with starting with the hands stretched up, that when the hands are stretched  I am able to induce a much deeper bend in the upper back, as if I am giving my back more space to work in, of course the downside of this is that it is much harder to control going back with the extra weight and momentum of the arms and hands, but I was getting a good 6 inches lower down the door. See what happens at the Shala in the morning.

I overslept today, I woke with a start in the middle of a dream where I was in Hospital and the Nurses wouldn’t give me a Croissant for breakfast!