Standing, trying, flying

First time on a week day

A Shala duck broken today, the first time I have ever been to AYL on a week day and practised with H. The train was late and I expected to have to wait for the “one more” call, but I found a spare space in the narrow part and off I went. AYL by 8:30am is a Sauna, so heat and lots of help from H and not one but 2 Assistants. H got me to narrow the stance in Trikonasana and Aki tried hard to get my hands to the floor in Prasarita C.

Seated soon came round, my practice is much quicker without potential distractions. Assists in Mari C, then lost the Supta K as Louise started her shift. Baddha Konasana squishing from someone, nose too flat and sweat running in to my eyes to see the toes of the squisher.

I did Pasasana on my own, but I heard H call my name telling me to wait, so I got to do it again with help into a great bind with my feet flat. Left alone until Bhekasana, I did each side then tried both at the same time, but I didn’t realise Louise was waiting for me and somehow she got both hands pointing the right way and lifted my chest. My mat was a slippery lake by Urdva Dhanurasana. Dropping back my hands were sliding on landing, I walked in, slid back, rocked and didn’t rise. I was going to stop but H came over, he got me drop back, walk in, control the breath then got me up. Second one walked the hands in then he got me to rock in my own time, I thought he helped, but it turned out that I came up on my own. He said it’s basically my breath that stops me coming up, it needs to be longer and smoother. A reallly nice mid week practice, a pity I can’t do it more often.

Korean dancing Robots

Practice was just the start of a long day, after breakfast it was down to Excel for the World Travel Market, a trade show for the travel industry to which I get an invite Every country on the planet has a stand, but you can tell which countries have the money from the quality of the freebies, USB memory sticks from Russia and wifi mice from ETIHAD. Tea at the India stand, Karnataka and Mysore having it’s own stand. Lots of chocolate and nice pens, key rings, free hand massage and more nibbles. Excel is huge, we must have walked miles today. At the ETIHAD stand I got to stand next to the Premier League Trophy.

Premier League trophy

Travel club colleagues trying out the Korean hand massager.

A diversion on the way home to try out the Emirates Flyer cable car across the Thames from Royal Victoria to North Greenwich. No sun set, just a bit of a pink glow behind Canary Wharf, but great views of the O2, Excel and the skyscrapers.

Cable car across The Thames

Dome and The Wharf

Excel

Technical support

Double Shala weekend again hopefully. Saturday at TLC with Phillipa Gendall. Just 3 people, so loads of assistance and useful comments. Usual standing assists, then Tiriang Mukha, Janu C, which rarely seems to be adjusted. Mari A,C & D and Supta K into Dwi Pada, getting me to point my feet away from each other and balance with hands in prayer. That would make a great blog Avator, just need to get the photo!

I seem to be getting through primary faster lately without intending too, then the thought occurs that there are still another 5 intermediate postures before backbends. I’m just finishing Salabhasana B when a voice says “I hear Bhekasana is now on the menu”! Phillipa is good at explaining the more “technical ” postures and with such a small class she has the time. So instead of worrying about trying to make the wrist turn 180 degrees round my feet she tells me to do one side at a time and think about lifting the elbow up, which seems to make the hand movement easier. Well it kind of worked on the right, but the left shoulder seems too tight, but someone explaining it in a different way with a different emphasis helps enormously.

In Urdva Dhanurasaa P said my left arm particularly is rotating the wrong way, forcing my shoulders inward instead of spreading outwards, I have to think more about trying to push the elbows towards each other, it should stop my left upper arm being sore. Then assisted backbends, she reckons I do enough at home on my own. After assisted I try to drop back and stand up on my own. This is one posture that doesn’t seem to benefit from a Moon day, I had to resort to the block for the first one then I could do it again. It’s like it has to be mentally reset. Managed 4, each one better than the previous one, so we will see if it’s still there tomorrow.

Despite finishing in an hour and three quarters, I don’t think I’m actually practising any faster, I think because I know I have more to do that I faff less between postures now, as well as not having to spend as long doing backbends, less looking at the ceiling between each one.

A good practice with help where I needed it, I just hope the small numbers don’t endanger the classes continuation, though the small numbers are great for those of us who do attend with not far off one to one teaching.

Practice was followed by running the Travel Club, talks on St Helena and walking from Holland to Istanbul.

Practice, Flash mob & Chocolate

Chocolate Buttons

What happened to the summer that we lost an hours sleep for last weekend? It was so cold this morning the cars had frost on them!

At least AYL was like an Oven, L thought it was too hot, but I much prefer too hot and humid to cold, it made for a nice sweaty bendy practice.Left alone in standing apart the usual Prasarita C torture. New Assistant this week, I didn’t win the Supta K race, I knew someone was there as I got into Kurmasana and soon felt my feet and arms being stretched, bent and bound into place. She also gave me a nice Baddha Konasana squash.

Left to play Pasasana and Urdva Dhanurasana before then getting in 5 drop backs before assistance arrived. There is something about having someone in front of me, my stand ups seemed much better if a bit of a stumble once coming up. No practice next Sunday, the Shala is closed and no trains anyway.

A very small Flash mob

By the time I finished it was bright and sunny, so after the usual croissant and Tea pit stop I headed down to the south bank for the Yoga & Chocolate flash mob. It was arranged by an ethical chocolate company, originalbeans.com

Well not much of a mob, but on the plus side more chocolate for those who took part. An easy stretch in the sun for me, more chocolate, the reward for the mob were quite a few of the tasty chocolate buttons in the picture,yummy, followed by a wander around the rest of the chocolate festival. The publicity lady for the chocolate company asked me if I thought yoga and chocolate could catch on, little does she know what chocaholics the yoga folk are

I resisted buying, somehow, though the price had a lot to do with it!

I name a new pose

All the “fun” happened in standing today. I do like a Teacher with a sense of humour and Eileen certainly has that, with her French accent as an added bonus. She adjusted Trikonasana A by prodding my left shoulder and pulling my hand upwards before leaving to adjust elsewhere with a smile after saying “Your shoulders need an holiday from your ears!” yes my shoulders have gone back to being up round my ears due to stress and stuff beyond my control and being back to using a PC Mouse all day.

I wanted to practice with E today to find out if Fridays Prasarita Padot C touch down was a freak or something that could be repeated. When I got to the sequence I took my time with A, then did a quicker B as I could see E giving a downward dog squash behind me, so I went into C hoping she would arrive and after a few breaths she duly did. Down, down, down we went, head touching the ground then “touchdown” for the hands, at this point something weird happened, my feet became unattached from the mat and seemed to rise up so that I was balanced on my head and hands with my feet in the air, I name this new pose “Prasarita Padotanasana Sirsasana C”. We both laughed as she said my Heals need to ground. So not quite as successful as Friday’s, but at least my hands got there again with no discomfort to the shoulders at all.

Some better Urdva Dhanurasana today, stronger, able to walk the hands in more, I think all those “Turbo Dogs” and Handstands in Fridays Vinyasa class made a difference,though by number 4, which had been adjusted,I had run out of breath, E asking if I was OK as I fought to regain control of my breath once back to earth. 

After a sneaky little rest and a vinyasa that to the trained eye probably looked like a Salabhasana it was time for dropbacks. I did a lot of hang backs today, trying not to repeat Friday’s loud and painful head banging landing. I was just at the point of going for the ground when I felt my hips being held, so just kept going, it felt like my own work, then she brought me up, we did 2 more, but each one was more intense as she took me into a tighter backbend landing nearer my feet before bringing me back to standing.

So another decent practice, 3 full practices in the last 4 days, with a half primary on Saturday.

Practice followed by a few hours with yogi T, breakfast, then brunch when we came across a cafe doing cheap Bacon baguettes and playtime in the Apple Store.

I need more days like today and less like the next 3, roll on Friday.

Prasarita C miracle

A “Good” Friday of 2 practices with E. And some time on the South Bank. I managed to get the for 7am, something of a miracle in itself with the crap transport. A surprisingly busy Shala, though 2 other Shalas were closed for the holiday.

Apart from a few prods around my shoulders, yes my shoulders still like to live up around my ears, I was left alone until Prasarita Padottanasana C. I have long ago given up any hope of being able to do this with my tight shoulders, usually an adjustment is just bloody excruciating and a lesson in survival. The other problem with it is that it’s virtually impossible to know how near or not to the ground your hands actually are. Mine feel like they are still so high, so when E came to assist I went into survival mode, trying to breath, while trying not to do the splits on a sweaty mat. E seems to have a different way of doing this, she seems to support you and stops the feeling of pitching forward worrying about banging the head, while all the time taking your hands nearer the ground without killing the shoulders. She takes it slowly and as I felt supported and it was wasn’t killing my shoulders I went with it, then out of the blue my hands felt something, “could that be the floor?”, I thought maybe it’s her foot or even the yogi on the next mat, but it felt like floor. After a few breaths she brought me back up and I just had to ask her if my hands had landed. “yes” she said, “it’s quite easy really”. She moved on and I stood in disbelief.

I went through the rest of standing still thinking about the miracle that had just happened, not really present with what I was doing, but moments like that are so few and far between that you have to enjoy them.

Seated went to plan, well I bound all the Mari’s and Supta K which constitutes success, I havn’t been able to get my hands through in Garbha since Thailand a year ago.

Pasasana time, a nice deep twist, then E told me my feet were twisting too much and need to be more grounded and to go and get a bolster. Shala hopping as I am forced to do most of the time means that I am never sure what is allowed with regard to props, some teachers don’t allow them, some Shala’s don’t even have them, so it never occurred to me to go looking for one.

Urdva Dhanurasana was a bit of a struggle, 2 on my own, then one assisted one before standing up for dropbacks. I know E doesn’t like people to use the wall, so I stood on my mat hanging back until the floor came into view and managed to land safely. Dropback number 2 is the reason I suspect that i am typing this with the crick in my neck I woke up with. It was going ok then “bang” my head got to the floor some time before my hands, making quite a bang by all accounts. The Assistant came over to see if i was OK, then helped me to do 3 more where my hands got there first, but was I glad to spend time in Paschimottanasana. But despite the headache a decent practice, but I really need to find a way of getting back the control I had when I came back from Sri Lanka and was doing dropbacks and spending time working out how to stand up

So that was the first practice done, followed by a rather long breakfast then a few hours down on the South Bank checking out the giant upside-down inflated purple cow, the Beach Huts and the lovely new roof top garden on top of the QE Hall.

Part 2 was the Vinyasa class, I had hoped to get to this in January, but as we know that went out the window along with my weight, strength and energy for the next 3 months. Well if anything was a test for the surgery and wrists this was. My first handstands in over a year, headstand variations that we beyond my dyslexic legs ability to follow, twisting standing balances, which were actually fun.this was so different to what we normally do, not knowing what was coming next, it was 90 minutes very hard work. Turbo dogs and Dolphins which kill the arms. This practice seemed to be about increasing strength, which was probably a good thing for me, especially my arms. I don’t think all the extra headstands helped my crick much, but hopefully I will get to do it again sometime.

Dinner in a Greek Restaurant with S and AC afterward, a nice way to end the day, dissecting asana. I thought Greek Restaurants let you smash the plates, though it was enough to lift the food up to my mouth, I don’t think I could have found the energy to break a plate.