Iyengar Course 2 Week 32 (Ariana)

Forward bends feel good on rainy days. It is a wet and grey day and I feel off today even though I actually felt motivated to do the sequence. I did not feel strong. I felt out of shape. I am teaching more than I am practicing these days and maybe I am feeling it in my practice. I am struggling with finding the time to do yoga. I will work on that.

Many sequences ago I wrote that I enjoyed starting my practice with the Headstand and Shoulderstand. This is no longer the case. I feel that I need a warm up before I do either of those. My headstand felt heavy and labored. I tried again- which I never do. I usually just do one and then I am done. But my first one felt so off. I had to try again. The second wasn't any better and going up was more chaotic/less controlled.

The phone rang after headstand (I thought I had turned it off) and I answered it. Next thing I know I am checking my email and looking at a an apartment listing that my sister-in-law sent me. 10 minutes later I was back on the mat. The phone rang again after Shoulderstand and I answered it again. I usually don't do that :-/

In my Shoulderstand I used a strap to keep my elbows from splaying out to the sides. This limited the variations I could do. Even my Shoulderstand was off today and I did not enjoy it as much as I usually do. Most of the time I was thinking about how my neck was in extreme flexion beyond the typical range of motion and how this affects the rest of the curves in the spine. Do you want to maintain the natural curves (other than the cervical curve) in the spine in Shoulderstand the way you do in Headstand? This is what I was thinking about. No doubt due to my anatomy studies.

I like doing Navasansa before Ustrasana - to strengthen the abdominal muscles before stretching them. As I have learned from Jason Brown's Zenyasa classes it is better to stretch after strengthening. More and more flexibility is not the goal.

I did my usual and skipped most of the Lotus variations, Kukkutasana, and Garba Pindasana. I can't do them and I am wondering what the benefit and purpose is of them anyway. Sometimes it seems the yoga masters did poses just because their bodies were capable.

The forward bends were so soothing today and I lingered in them as long as I could but I was rushed. Had to go teach. The pranayama at the end was also good. Nothing special, just good.