Diary of yoga practice

I'm trying to get back to a regular schedule...

2005-10-06T14:45:00.000-07:00

...for my yoga. I've been practicing asanas less, but doing well with eating less and paying more attention in general. I've also been a bit calmer, too. I had to go to the stressed end of the spectrum before I got back to where I am now, though. I started having really bad stress headaches the week before I went to the yoga retreat - since I was trying to get everything done before leaving. My hamstrings, on the other hand, are much much better since I haven't been overstretching them. They get a little sore now, but I've got a lot more strength when doing postures like Warrior. I've decided to take every mainly-hamstring stretch that most people do and change it slightly so it stretches my groin muscles instead of just hamstrings. That balances my strength out a little better then accenting the hamstrings too much and not really working on the areas that are tighter.

I'm on a monday/friday/saturday schedule for the moment, if I can keep up with it. I also try to do bits here and here, but still not too much. Restraint also counts for asanas, too, I've figured out. It happens when it happens. :)

I'm pleased with my progress...

2005-08-13T00:26:00.000-07:00

...in terms of restraint and in terms of groins/hip flexors. Cow's head pose isn't as difficult as it once was (althouth it's not as easy as it is for other people still...)

I'm still doing modifications and alternate poses so I don't injure my hamstrings even more. It's adding more diversity to my practice to where I don't need to go to as many different kinds of classes - since I'm working on my leg strength & groin flexibility within the class I can now go to 5 days a week.

It looks like I will be able to go to the yoga retreat - which is something I've always wanted to do (since I knew they existed). I'm excited to have time to just relax and work on yoga.

Favorite pose: Cow's head pose, for once. I wanted to stay in it for longer, even.

Least favorite pose: Headstand - since it wasn't as pleasant as it usually is - I was having trouble keeping my legs calm when kicking them up.

Don't know if I'll go tomorrow or not - although I'll probably not go to two hours' worth. Then again, I might, since I don't have Natha.

I'm back to mon/wed/fri for my one class...

2005-08-10T21:03:00.000-07:00

...and I'm quite happy. I'm also hopefully going to the yoga retreat listed here - I'll find out sometime next week, I think, whether I can go for sure.

I've been reading those back issues of YJ that I've been stockpiling, and it never fails that they have an article that helps me think through something that's been on my mind in the recent past. I need to start writing in my paper journal so I can delve more instead of retelling the day's events or some odd thought I'd had.

Favorite pose: I liked ustrasana, or camel pose more than usual. Still didn't stay in it a very long time, but felt better while doing it than I have before.

Least favorite pose: utthita trikonasana, or extended triangle pose. Not that I usually particularly like it, I just didn't enjoy it more than I usually don't enjoy it.

I've been finding it harder and harder not to practice in a room with a finished wood floor (namely not carpet) with mirrors so I can see what my body looks like. I like working on balancing poses that way and also being able to check my form on poses where I can't just 'feel' it. I'm not sure what I think about my increasing-dependence on mirrors and hard floors...

I've been having fun...

2005-08-05T15:49:00.000-07:00

...with headstands before & after class. I went to my usual class on thursday and did a couple of headstands before class, then had a good class as usual - we did some vinyasa flow yoga and that always is good for me - I don't like it as much if you ask me directly, but it challenges my legs in a good way without just stretching them out. This morning's class was also good - although I had an odd feeling at the end of class in my lower back - like something needed stretched. I did wind-relieving pose to relax my back a bit, then felt good enough to do a headstand. I've gotten a lot better at kicking my legs up so that I keep a fluidity in my movement instead of using the wall too much, too. I'm also experimenting with groin stretches while the class is doing hamstring stretches so that I'm not doing an easier modification, just a different one.

Thursday's class
Favorite pose: Legs-up-the-wall pose during the relaxation portion. I've become a fan of using a blanket under my head, a blanket on my feet, and a beanbag on my eyes. I then do plow over into child's pose to come out and rest after then inversion.

Least favorite pose: Half Lord of the Fishes pose, or Ardha Matsayendrasana It just didn't feel right today - I might have pushed myself into twisting too much, so I'll work on restraint there, too.

Today's class
Favorite pose: My new way of getting down out of Legs-up-the-wall pose - Plow into Child's pose.

Least Favorite pose: Bow pose, or Dhanurasana I barely even attempted it today, I just wasn't feeling it.

I'm looking forward to being able to go back to my classes on monday & wednesday in addition to friday and saturday - then I can do yoga 6 days a week - since I think I'll most likely take sunday off, or at least light if Natha wants to go to family yoga. After next monday, I can go back to that schedule.

There's the 90 minute class tomorrow - hopefully we'll work on headstands tomorrow, too!

I did a headstand after class today...

2005-07-30T19:07:00.000-07:00

because I just felt like it. I need to go and work more on the headstand so I can get my equilibrium when I'm upside-down - I still do it up against a wall so I can balance.

Favorite pose: I finally gave in and used a wall to do Lord of the Dance pose, or Natarajasana, the one-armed version, of course, against a wall so I could get full extension of my leg that is behind me. I might start approaching this one like I approach headstand so that I can eventually balance but be able to fully extend my leg.

Least favorite pose: I've gotten to where anything that I stretch my hamstrings too much in I've got some distaste for - partially because I shouldn't do it fully, and partially because for some of the poses there isn't any alternative *but* to stretch hamstrings. I think I used to like the hamstring stretches so much because I could easily show off my flexibility with them. Now they're just like any other pose...

I think I'm going to keep doing Legs-up-the-wall pose instead of Savasana for the relaxation at the end of class - I feel better at the end, and it's better for my legs anyways. I think I'm going to be off until tuesday for yoga, but I'm not sure - it depends on when Natha goes to see his dad tomorrow. If it is, I might do some sun salutations tomorrow just to get something done...

I did better today...

2005-07-29T17:54:00.000-07:00

...with not hyping the class up to be let down when it wasn't scrumdiddlyumptious. I had a really good time and left feeling a lot better than when I walked in - and I wasn't in a bad mood to begin with.

Favorite pose: Tree - I held it longer since I wasn't going to try a heel stretch since my hamstrings aren't completely better yet, but they're getting better. I also liked Pigeon, too.

Least favorite pose: Everything went pretty well today - so there wasn't anything in particular that I didn't enjoy. I did have a bit of an overall balance issue - so I fell over quite a bit trying to do the balance postures.

The 90 minute class is tomorrow - we'll see how that feels. :)

I was off until tuesday...

2005-07-28T20:54:00.000-07:00

...and it felt 'wrong' to be doing yoga then, too. I haven't figured out if it's a function of the class or a function of my personal mood that day - it just didn't feel right. Sometimes certain postures don't feel good, sure, but this was just a dreadful feeling of sorts. I felt weird the rest of the day, too - I was in a sour mood all day, and kind of spiteful. I was better yesterday - although I didn't go to the 6am class. I've been tired lately and I'm not sure why - I don't know if it's physical or mental in nature even. I've got some possibilities, though.

Favorite pose : Legs-up-the-wall pose, with a scented beanbag on my eyes and a blanket folded up on my feet

Least favorite: everything else, especially the seated twists - they just bothered me.

I started reading about the doshas and balancing them - and did a little foray into what my predominant dosha is. I think I'm going to focus more on the imbalanced ones - I certainly can trace the days I'm off-kilter to three types which fall pretty much in line with the doshas. When I'm out-of-sorts I'll see if the asana and food prescriptions can help the day - even if it's placebo effect, if it helps me feel more balanced it's worthwhile.

I've been doing much better with restraint - especially in the shopping and eating arenas. Before it was always a struggle to restrain myself from doing something - to the point where I couldn't most of the time and would crumble under the pressure. Now that I'm just more mindful and thinking of what aspects of my life should contain more restraint the act itself has become easier overall. I'm eating only what I should, portion-wise, and if I do eat more, I make sure that I'm truly enjoying it and not just finishing the plate. Shopping is the same way - restraint doesn't mean you can't have anything, it just means that you think about it more before you consume something. I like the way this restraint thing is shaping up - I feel better and more balanced just in general.

I've got the friday/saturday/sunday trio of classes coming up - and I'm using restraint to become too excited about them - so I'm just letting them flow by and joining their flow for a bit, then going on with the rest of my day...

I had an ok session today...

2005-07-23T18:42:00.000-07:00

I think I built it up too much to the point where it wasn't as enjoyable as I was expecting. It was good, just not ecstatic...

Favorite pose: a half-plow/half-shoulderstand move I invented today. It looks easy, but it's not for most people other than me - my body is just designed to do it...

Least favorite pose: Fish didn't feel the same today - and didn't work for me like it usually did. Also, there were a couple of other things that just didn't feel the same, some worked well and others didn't.

I've been doing better with restraint - especially with eating. We went to a restaurant and even though the food was good and I could have eaten it all, I didn't. Which felt much better than eating it all, most certainly. I'm still doing modifications of certain poses since hamstrings usually take a long time to heal - I can still feel it pulling during certain poses and have to back off on occasion. Some asanas are feeling better, though, since I've been running and doing other things to strengthen my legs...

I may or may not go tomorrow, so I might be off until tuesday - we'll see what I feel like...

I now have two sessions to reflect upon...

2005-07-22T20:22:00.000-07:00

since I went to a class yesterday and one this morning...

Thursday's class -

Favorite pose: Plow & shoulderstand, second-runner-up is legs-up-the-wall pose. Man, inversions felt good.

Least favorite pose: Easy pose. Isn't so easy when you have knees, ankes, hip-flexors, and groins that don't want to do it.

It was nice to get back - I felt a lot better afterwards than I had that morning, when I had awoke with a near-migrane and had to drag myself out of bed only to be greeted by a horribly misbehaved child. Needless to say, Thursday wasn't a good day. I spent some time talking to Ed about what's going on inside my head to make my attitude not its usual grateful, easy-going self and figured out a few things - so I feel much better emotionally today.

Friday's class -

Favorite pose - Crow, since I held it longer than I usually can - and even stopped myself from holding it too long. This restraint thing is getting easier the more I practice it. I also had a better time with Cow's Head pose on one side than I usually do - it wasn't all the way, but it was easier than usual.

Least favorite pose - I didn't really have a least favorite since I still am doing modifications to keep my hamstrings from stretching too much, but I didn't enjoy Pigeon as much as I usually do.

Between the break and the running (I ran another 2 miles after class today) my hamstrings are getting stronger - I can feel more strength and balance in my legs in general when doing things like Warrior II and one-legged balance postures like Tree. I think the running is really helping - but it sucks that I don't really like it. I just manage to distract myself long enough to get it done. It's the most efficient way for me to strengthen my legs as well as get a cardio workout at the moment. I'll have to figure out what to do about the running - maybe I can just do it for a while and maintain the strength by doing yoga? I'll have to look into that one...

The 90 minute class is tomorrow morning - I'm looking forward to it. :)

I didn't forget to post...

2005-07-20T17:04:00.000-07:00

... I just haven't practiced any yoga. My hamstrings feel a lot better, though. My back (right around the sacroilleac joint) has been randomly starting to hurt - more like muscle than bone, though. It's not all the time, though.

I still think this falls under restraint and not quite lack of motivation, my not attending a class thus far this week. I've been doing other things or had something else that was higher up on the to-do importance list. I'll start again tomorrow, though...

I've also had feminine reasons for not practicing - mainly because I'm not supposed to do inversions, which happen to be my favorite. I'd be tempted to do them in class when I shouldn't. That's avoidance on my part, I understand. I take more enjoyment from the inversions when I restrain from stretching the hamstrings too much - and to not be enjoying both is difficult. The class tomorrow has little to no inversions, usually, so I'll be cool.

Ah, back to yoga after a couple days off. I've been getting more on-edge than usual, and that's probably why. Natha & Ed should be glad... :)

I got up for the 90 minute class of the week...

2005-07-17T22:20:00.000-07:00

...on saturday morning. No yoga today or tomorrow - not until tuesday...

Favorite pose : Legs-up-the-wall pose. I think I'm going to start doing the relaxation/meditation portion in that pose when I feel like it.

Least favorite: Downward facing dog. It just didn't jive today and felt kinda weird.

Tomorrow's Natha's birthday - so I'll be more Natha-flective tomorrow. More on that later, though...

I didn't do anything yesterday...

2005-07-15T22:37:00.000-07:00

...which was the ultimate restraint. I also read a YJ article about sore hamstrings and their possible cause - which fit me to a tee. I've got flexible hamstrings, tight hips/groins, and not-very-strong leg muscles - all of which combine to make me sore where I'm sore. The key is restraint and rest from too much stretching and strengthening the hamstrings through poses and other kinds of workouts. So, I went to my usual class today and showed much restraint but still had a great time. I was moving kind of slow because of the monster margarita last night, but I still had a good workout. After yoga I went and worked on hamstring strength - I did a set of squats with the bar and then ran/walked 2.5 miles. I figured that the precor machine gives me cardio fitness but doesn't work the hamstrings as much as running does since the stride isn't extremely long for me on the precor. Oddly enough, they already feel better. I can also do more lunges and Warrior poses to strengthen them, so I do those a full strength.

Favorite pose: Shoulderstand, since it was one of the few I did today at full tilt *and* could get it right. It's about my best pose. Second favorite was Matsyasana or fish pose although I do the version with me sitting on my ankles, knees in front of me. That one felt good to restrain in - I usually try it up on my toes which is a lot harder to balance. I really worked on breathing properly in fish today.

Least favorite pose : Crow, since I didn't get it as I usually do. I need to get better at accepting daily changes in what happens and what doesn't in asana practice. I'm good at it for balance poses, but the ones I'm normally good at that get not-so-good one day still throw me off.

Focus for tomorrow: Restraint and breathing. I think that my breathing will fall more into place when I stop trying to push my body so hard...

I got up hyper-early (for me) yesterday to go practice before my day started...

2005-07-14T08:51:00.000-07:00

... I had a great time, and the rest of my day was very different - I felt slightly more awake but still kind of sleepy. I really don't think it was because I woke up that early, though, I think it's because I didn't go to bed early enough the night before and didn't get enough sleep. I can fix that next week, though.

Favorite pose: Reverse plank, or purvottanasana, commonly called tabletop pose since I hadn't done it in a while.

Least favorite pose: Bhujangasana or cobra pose - I just didn't like it today - it felt different than it usually does. That might be because I was doing a different routine where I hadn't done as many back openers as usual and more standing backbends and my body didn't want to do Cobra after...

I'm debating whether to go to asana practice today as I normally would - my hamstrings and groins are really sore and my hips are tight to the point where when I do certain postures as I'd normally do them it makes my knee hurt. I've been reading about the yamas (restraint is the first one, also called nonviolence or abimsa) and thinking of how to follow them more closely. I've been trying to become less competitive (not that I am very, but I am a bit when I'm in a class, mainly with challenging myself) the last couple of days to have more observance of abimsa, since I noticed that I was sore in a couple places. When you're sore, you've pushed your body too hard in some way - and mine was in asana practice. I've been backing off, doing modifications during class for those postures that challenge me more lately or challenge me too much in one area during my practice in the last week and I'm not getting any less sore. As gung-ho as I may be toward yoga, I still need more abimsa - to the point where today I think I should restrain altogether. See, I've always enjoyed stretching even more when I was sore, to work the soreness out instead of stopping altogether. It's not that I'm not having a good time in asana practice when I'm sore, it's hard for me to restrain myself from doing the poses I love even when they hurt a bit. So I think I'm staying here today, yogically speaking. I might go do other things, like go to a store, but no working out, yoga or otherwise. Which is hard, since I want to just stretch in general while I'm sitting around. If I feel like it, though, I think I've had enough restraint in not going that I don't have to abstain - just restrain. :)

I had a nice session today...

2005-07-12T22:19:00.000-07:00

...we did a lot of work with Warrior I and Warrior II today, which I need help with - and not too much else. Which is good.

Favorite pose today: reclining baddha konasana, or bound angle pose since I really enjoyed the stretch

Least favorite pose: Didn't have one that stuck out since we didn't do very intensive stuff other than Virabhadrasana, or Warrior II I still liked it even though it was difficult.

I'm trying to get up early to get to the 6am class tomorrow morning. We'll see how that works. :)

I had my first back-to-back hour classes yesterday...

2005-07-11T14:14:00.000-07:00

...and I'm sore today. Go figure. I took it easy on the knees, so it's not them - it's the hips & middle back.

I've got to re-do my yoga schedule now that I'm teaching again to keep up with my 1 hour a day level... hopefully I can get it to fit without putting Ed or Natha out.

Favorite pose: Bakasana, or crane pose since I've finally found the balance in it. I do a wider-leg version, though, since my darned arms are so long.

Least favorite pose: hanumanasana or monkey pose...more like my sad, sad attempts at it.

I went to my class this morning groggy...

2005-07-09T20:13:00.000-07:00

...and felt much better once I came back. I was doubting getting my butt out of bed and going but after an hour-and-a-half I felt more ready to take on the day.

Favorite pose of the day: headstand or salamba sirasana - even though someone was helping me balance by holding my feet. I also tried a more challenging version of Locust or salabhasana where your arms are underneath you and you bend your back and knees to pick your legs up. You'd have to see it to describe it any better...

Least favorite pose: cow face pose or gomukhasana - although the modification we do doesn't do the arm part, so it's not exactly the same name.

You'll probably find that my favorite poses are usually inversions and my least favorite are hip openers. I have a relatively flexible back, hamstrings, and quads but horribly tight hip flexors and groin muscles - I can't even do Lotus AKA the quintessential yoga pose because of my hips. I'm not too discouraged - when I first came to yoga about a year and a half ago (I've not been practicing the last 6 months until 2 weeks ago, though) I couldn't even sit 'indian style' comfortably - my knees were up by my ears.

I keep trying to get Ed to go with me to a class, but it hasn't worked yet, though. I will acquiescently persevere, however. :)

I was blogging a lot about yoga...

2005-07-09T20:03:00.000-07:00

...so I decided to open up a practice journal on here instead of getting some paper journal - this is cheaper. :)

This here will contain my thoughts on yoga on that current day - reflections on my asana practice, spiritual thoughts, and other things I've found in my journey toward a more integrated life.

To give you an idea of my purpose, I want to give you this quote I read in Yoga Journal the other day:

If physical flexibility is your sole aim in yoga, you are disconnecting yourself from its real purpose: integration. If you practice with the intention to integrate body, mind, and heart, then you will become more flexible, but it will be a truly balanced flexibility within a larger purpose and perspective. - Donna Farhi

The entries will mostly be short - but will come as my reflections on that day's asana practice. I try to go to a class somewhere once a day, so I should be updating somewhat daily... we'll see how this goes. I'll most likely include my favorite pose of the day, my biggest challenge of the day, and any breakthroughs I've had.