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.

Iyengar Course 2 Week 31 redo (Ariana)

Oh how I avoided coming back to these sequences.  I kept putting it off and thinking that I wanted to go through the sequence ahead of time and plan replacement poses for the ones I cannot do. Then I realized a month had passed since my last entry and I just dove in. Like it or not.

Mostly I did not like it. Most of the time I was wondering why I am doing this project. What's the point? To see what my body is capable of? Or is it to see how my mind/ego responds to what I can and cannot do? How about to learn about myself!

My shoulder is fine now and since the last time my headstands are much more deliberate and mindful. I decided not to do the headstand variations until I can balance CONFIDENTLY without the wall.

The shoulderstand variations were playful for me. Then I decided to take it more seriously and  focus more in the poses despite the fact that they are easier for me. That was a wise choice because then my shoulderstand felt more steady and stable.

Chakrasana is back and it is still not happening for me without rolling over to one side.


There were some poses that I had never heard of this time. Garbha Pindasana- Embryo Pose. When I read the description I chuckled to myself. Plate 116. Mr Iyengar looks like he is fixing his hair in front of a mirror...except for the fact that his arms are threaded through his crossed legs and his knees are up in the air. Mr Iyengar says that the pose resembles a human foetus in the womb. The difference being that the legs are in lotus and the head is down. I don't see any resemblance to a foetus here.

Then there was Kukkutasana or Cock Pose. Here the arms pass through  lotus bound legs and Mr. Iyengar props himself up on his hands only. This did not happen for me either. (I made a bad pun to myself that you'd have to be cookoo to try this pose).

Padmasana/Lotus is still not good for me. So I do a nice half lotus with a figure 8 strap configuration that I learned in Carrie Owerko's class recently. I love it.

I was almost rolling my eyes with annoyance by the time I reached the end poses Parsva Dhanurasana and Uttanasana. I was glad to do some Nadi Sodhana Pranayama until I sneezed. I decided that was a good time to head into Savasana and do the Ujjayi breath there as he instructs.

So mostly I feel glad that I finished the sequence (and did not abandon the blog), did what I could and felt ok about the things that I couldn't.

Iyengar Course 2 Week 31 (Ariana)

I was all set to knock this one out this morning. I started with the headstand and I was feeling great. My headstand was feeling light and I was balancing well away from the wall. Then a few minutes into it my left shoulder started to hurt. I came down right away.

I stretched it out and it was still achy so I decided not to continue this sequence and put it on hold. Funny, because I was talking to my teacher, Jason Brown about this project the other day and he told me not to hurt myself.  I always try to be careful and not push myself into positions that compromise my body, but something went wrong today. It is hard to admit that.

I was not looking forward to this sequence anyway. I studied the poses before I started and realized that most of them are not part of my practice. I will have to start substituting most of the poses and modifying them from now on. I will look into the "why" behind the poses rather than the poses themselves when determining the alternatives. The "why" instead of the "what".

I am bummed and it hurts to laterally flex my neck to the left. I will resume this sequence when I feel better. Lesson learned. Warm up a little before doing headstand first thing in the morning.

Day 3 of Iyengar's Short 3-day Course (Ariana)

I am better. Yay, back to normal. I feel like my body has changed in the past few weeks from being sick and then the holidays. I was not very active and a result I feel lumpy. Plus it is cold and that just makes me want to hibernate.

Nonetheless, here I am coming back to my asana practice and back to LOY. I had my first anatomy class with Jason Brown last week and already find myself thinking about the poses differently. Thinking about the anatomical terms for the movements. What is moving where and how. I am excited to see how this (6-month - yikes!) course will change my perspective.

I think my left  IT band and hamstring are tight and it is causing regular achiness. This might be affecting my right sacral joint. I felt some pain there today while in triangle. I realize I keep thinking that the practice of yoga will protect me from injury, but I am waking up to the fact that that is not accurate. I heard that Beth Israel did a study and found that 1 in 5 emergencies are the result of yoga injuries. This is a major problem for the yoga industry considering how many people are practicing yoga and how teachers are not required to have extensive anatomy knowledge. So I am trying to be extra careful in my own practice as well as my teaching.

As for this sequence, it was exciting for me to come back to it after so long, but I was almost dreading some of the poses. For instance, Parivrita Parsvokonasana, Warrior 3, the whole Padmasana sequence, and Lolasana. As usual for the Padmasana stuff I did variations that are safe for me - half lotus or ankle to knee. As for the other poses I guess I have an aversion to them because they are more challenging for me.

I really enjoyed most of the standing poses and tried to stay in them for the time that Iyengar suggests. Sometimes I felt like I could have stayed longer, others I didn't want to stick around at all. For the most part I enjoy holding the poses even though I don't think of it as holding. I think of it as exploring the pose with the breath. When I do that subtle moves and changes happen and it feels like and exploration and discovery every time. That was most pronounced today in Triangle and Parsvokonasana. My chest kept opening up to the ceiling and my head moved back. It is a wonder I did not fall backward. I went to Tzahi Moskovitz's Iyengar style class on Monday and he had us focus on the chest opening up to the ceiling in Triangle, Parsvokonasana and Parvrita Janusirsasana. The remnants of that practice were most likely still lingering in this one.

At the end I did Nadi Sodhana Pranayama. Iyengar offers the option of that or Ujjayi. I find Nadi Sodhana to be very balancing so I went with that today. By the end I enjoyed this practice and may decide to return to it down the road.

I am looking forward to Course II, Week 31! woohoo

All the Mindfulness I Can Muster

Those words came to me while in a fever-induced stupor this week. I thought practicing so much yoga would give me a super immune system. No such luck. I came down with the flu or something like it this past week. I managed to teach my Monday class but then by Tuesday I was out of commission and had to cancel my classes for the rest of the week. Bummer. No classes, no Light on Yoga sequence, no YOGA!

There I was feeling warm, with glazed and glossy eyes, my body drooping without posture. But I still wanted to clean up the kitchen, give my daughter a bath and put her to bed before I took a hot shower and went to bed. Then for some reason it occurred to me that I should still try to be mindful. Even though I felt lousy and just wanted to get through the rest of the evening.

For the rest of the week I could not do much but lie down on the couch or my bed. Luckily my snugly dog was by my side most of the time. In fact I am on my couch right now with Roscoe to my right. I thought about reading and meditating but did not have the energy for that either. So I practiced being mindful. Mindful while miserable. It's easy to be mindful when you feel good.

With this mindfulness I found moments of being soothed and grateful over the past week. Grateful that my husband and daughter wanted to take care of me. Grateful that my 4 year old still likes to hug me. Grateful for the roof over my head. for my dog. for my bathtub that I can soak in with some eucalyptus and healing essential oils. Grateful for those essential oils. For my cozy warm bed. Grateful for homeopathic and non-homeopathic meds. I still had it very good. And then I thought about people who have constant and real suffering in their lives. Why bother being mindful while suffering? Maybe it cultivates more patience, more acceptance of what is rather than what isn't, which in turn gives more strength and perseverance.

Day 2 of Iyengar's Short 3-Day Course

I did not follow the sequence to the letter and made my own adaptations along the way. I also  did not hold most of the poses for the recommended times. I held poses longer than usual but came out of them when I felt ready.

I was actually disappointed to see the return of Urdvha Padmasana and Pindasana in Handstand and Shoulderstand. I was so disappointed I contemplated going back to the last sequence or doing my own practice. Instead I skipped those poses. I also skipped all the variations in Headstand because my Headstand did not feel steady enough.

I started with my handstand practice and stayed up there this time. I am getting better at kicking up with the right, but the left is still better. I am confused by this because I am right handed so I assumed that kicking up with the right would be easier.

Janusirsasana felt heavenly. This might be one of my favorite poses. Mahamudra is still not clear to me. It is really difficult to do the Uddiyana lift while in this position.

For Ardha Baddha Padma Paschimottanasana I placed my outer ankle on my thigh rather than at the groin and did not do the bind. I felt enough of a stretch there and did not want to push it.

Urdvha Mukha Paschimottanasana was fun. I surprised myself and held it steadily for what felt like a long time. It probably was only 15 seconds. Iyengar says to hold this one for 1 minute.

2 minute Uttanasana (I think this is the only one I actually stayed in for the suggested time) was revealing. I had more weight in my heels so I kept trying to bring more weight forward towards the ball of the foot and the metatarsals. When I did that I felt more of a stretch in the inner thighs and groin. I felt like those areas had never been accessed while in Uttanasana.

The sequence finishes with a 5 minute Savasana, a choice of Ujjayi Pranayama or Nadi Sodhana Pranayama and another Savasana. He does not suggest the Uddiyanas this time.  I went with the Nadi Shodhana which was calming and centering. My right nostril was not as clear as the left which usually seems to be the case. According to Alan finger this exercise balances both sides of the brain. I also learned from him that every eight-eight minutes, one nostril becomes more dominant, then for up to four minutes both nostrils operate equally and then they change again.

I am looking forward to the sequence for the third day. There are more standing poses which I have been missing. 

Day 1 of Iyengar's Short 3-Day Course

It's good to be back. What can I say, suddenly I could not find the time. My daughter turned 4, there were family visits, anatomy workshops and more opportunities to teach some yoga. All good things.

After the 30th week Mr. Iyengar offers a three day course which benefits the body and harmonizes the mind. The first major difference with these courses is that the poses are all timed.  I did not enjoy timing the poses. On the one hand I felt that if I sustained the duration I might be getting the maximum benefit from the pose. On the other hand I watched the clock too closely. I don't want my focus to be on timing. I prefer to be present to sensations while in the poses.

The sequence is relatively short and simple. There are only 16 poses in the sequence, followed by Savasana, then Nadi Sodhana Pranayama with 6 Uddiyanas and then the second Savasna. Yes, there are 2 Savasanas.

I warmed up with my handstand practice because I am working on that on a daily basis anyway. Sometimes I get up. Sometimes I don't. So far I can only kick up with the left. When I kick up with the right my hips swing over to the left and my kicking leg turns out. I did not get up today. Not enough umph in the kick-off to get to the wall. Actually I did get both legs up, I just did not stay there.

The first pose in this sequence is a 10 minute headstand, but that did not happen. I felt heavy on my head so I cut it short.

1 minute of Navasana- After 30 seconds of Navasana my core started to shake. This is good for building strength so I did not mind it. Ardha Navasana was much harder to hold for 30 seconds.  I was ready to be done after 20.

Oddly, I loved the 1-minute Adho Mukha Savasana. The longest I have ever held it was 5 minutes. This one-minute AMS flew by. One of my teachers explained how after Mary Dunn held it for 50 minutes her one piece of advice was to continue to press the thighs back.

I like Nadi Sodhana Pranayama practice. It is one of my favorites because it balances the breath and I always feel centered after wards. It balances the energetic pathways that spiral and run adjacent to the Susumna Nadi. Then the Uddiyanas direct the balanced energy straight up the Susumna Nadi. At least that is what I experienced. Some sensation or force came right up to my third eye and softly expanded there. After 4 Uddiyanas I just wanted to meditate in that space. And then I felt tired. The second Savasana was needed.

I am aware of how my practice changes as the weather gets colder. My practice becomes more about conservation and preservation rather than growth or progression (as in the Spring and Summer). I don't go to my edge. I am gathering for the winter I guess.