Confession Time

I put my Bikram yoga pass on hold the other day.  Yes, fellow Bikram yogis, I feel like I am moving on from my Bikram practice.  I still am not sure whether or not it will be a permanent hold.  I'm going to try it out for a month.  I want to see how I feel sticking to an Ashtanga practice.

I, honestly, never thought I would ever leave my Bikram practice.  When I discovered Bikram yoga it did so many different things for me - physically and mentally -  that I thought I would practice Bikram yoga for the rest of my life.  I'm coming to realize that it is more suitable to say, I will practice yoga for the rest of my life.

I have been practicing Ashtanga yoga for maybe 4 weeks now and it is like turning on a new light.  I am learning a lot, not only about the asanas but about how to listen to my own body.  I am learning how to feel the poses.  I've found myself in the middle of a posture trying to think of what comes next and when it comes time to transition, I just know and I move into the following asana with little thought.  I have been discovering a new sense of the attention to detail that must be observed in each asana.  And I'm learning to find it on my own.  I get corrections from my teacher but they are subtle corrections that are often directed through touch.  I find this useful because the sensation of what muscle I should stretch or relax or tighten seems to be remembered by my body.

I wish I could go to the morning Mysore classes but, financially, it is not possible right now.  Which is OK.  I like that I have to practice at home.  I like that I that I can go to the studio in the evenings and weekends and that instead of following a led class during the evenings - which this pass was originally supposed to be - it has turned into an introduction to Mysore, so that I am getting the Mysore experience.

I just finished my morning practice at home in my small living room.  My eyes gaze outside as I practice and I see my plants on the window sill and the colourful trees outside.  It feels good to create this energy in my own living space.  It feels right to take a step away from instruction and to try to experience the yoga through my own mind and body.

Namaste.

Home Practice

For the past few days, I've been drawn to simply rolling out my mat in the mornings and trying to do the Ashtanga Half Primary series.  I learned the sequence up to the Warrior sequence (Virabhadrasana) and have been able to practice to the point where I come into Dandasana.  Once I reach this point I've been using John Scott's Ashtanga Yoga book.  I checked it out from my local library and am finding it very useful.

I am loving practicing at home again.  I used to do an Iyengar practice in the mornings before I began my Bikram practice.  There's something very simple and relaxing about not having to go anywhere.  To simply wake up, drink some water, wash my face, brush my teeth and then roll out my mat and find Samasthitti.  

I was able to complete the bind in Marichyasana C this morning on my right side which I haven't been able to do in the led classes before.  The left side was just a little more difficult and I used a strap to pull the last half inch or so of space from between my hands.

I love the freedom to find my own breath and my own pace with this practice.  It feels like it really is my practice.

Marichyasana C. Via

Cobra and Breath

I learned how to breathe in Cobra pose, yesterday.

I did my first set of Cobra, as per normal - I love Cobra pose.  And then during Savasana, the teacher started talking about how you need to inhale up into the pose and then you naturally exhale but then on your next inhale, focus on the expansion of the chest, then exhale 20% of your breath and then inhale and expand again.

Well, if I wasn't looking even further back on the ceiling in my second set of Cobra.  I always thought I was breathing in the pose, maybe I was but maybe I wasn't breathing enough.  This morning I tried it again and it felt good - new, different, deeper.

On another note, I tried to do the splits yesterday, which I haven't done since the competition and holy tight hip flexors!  I guessing with all my BodyRocks and weights some parts of me have tightened up again.  I'm also not as far along as I was 2 months ago with King Pigeon pose - a sore shoulder and lack of back bends and practice will do that.  So new goal is to practice King Pigeon and the splits a few times a week.

But I've improved with Crow and Crane pose!  Yesterday I was actually able to balance in both those poses for maybe 2 seconds.  I like to think that I've gained some upper body strength and some confidence!

A Morning At Home

I had a lovely sleep last night with moisture filled eyes so I skipped the studio practice, cranked the heat, turned on Patrick Watson and started Pranayama.

There is something so satisfying about practicing at home - the music - the choices - the silence - all add different challenges to the practice while keeping me very relaxed.  I am able to get a good sweat going through my standing poses and my spine warm enough to get into some deep back bends.

I do miss the cleansed feeling of walking out of class - having sweat out a bucket of moisture and toxins.  And I miss the challenge of Standing Head to Knee and Standing Bow - the teacher's voice telling you that you MUST! - I just can't seem to hold those poses for a minute in my living room.

I used to carry guilt when I would not go to yoga class.  I would feel as though I was cheating myself and letting down my fellow yogis and my teachers who expect to see me every morning.  LW said something very insightful to me on Sunday, that I should do what I need for now and that when I'm ready, go back to the studio and see how feel and where I am in my practice.  I think I'm going to listen to him, for once :-)