Two things that have made all the difference for me in Pasasana.
1. Getting my left shoulder virtually touching my right knee.
2. Pulling my left forearm against the side of my right calf (just below the knee) and pushing the side of my right calf against my left forearm. It's those two opposing forces that seem to keep me stable enough to get into the wrist bind.
8 comments:
Dear Grimmly,
I have been meaning to write for some time now to thank you, really, for the comments in your blog, which i really enjoy reading.
I have been practising pretty much daily ashtanga for almost ten years and up until recently have never been able to drop back without assitance. On the rare ocassions when I've tried on my own, I have fallen resoundingly on my head...
thanks to watching your videos and copying exactly your progress through from standing to dropping back and I tried it again a few weeks ago on a beach and presto, I did it! When I got home, I tried it again using a couple of softish mats found at my local gym (I too cant get to a shala on a regular basis and hire the studio at my local gym each day as home is too small)and again it worked...I am now down to one mat only (it's about an inch thick) and am trying to brace myself to drop back onto my own yoga mat.
I admit to not being very zen-like and non-grasping about this (but also hope I've earned a couple of very small stripes from having a daily practice on my own, doing the wonderful mysore thing a couple of years back during a sabbatical from work)but I have been so thrilled about it, it has kept me awake at night with excitement! So, thank you again for the wonderfully detailed thoughts, observations and comments. Never thought I'd do it!
Wishing you a lovely next practice!
pasasana's one of those funky asana where you do the left side first..
Hello Grimmly,
I have spent my odds and ends time the last week reading your blog from start to this post. What a great read! I love how you let your curiosity take you wherever you want to go, and the way you dive into your obsessions.
I, too, am a at-home ashtangi, six days a week for three months and counting--so I'm very new! But until I read your blog, I didn't realize how 'in the closet' I've been about that. The admonishment to have a teacher is so strong in ashtanga-land, in the books and dvds and classes. But I have two small children and it just isn't possible for me to go anywhere to do this practice that I find I just adore...even though I'm just flailing around in primary, unbound, unbalanced, easy-peasy variations on everything. Still, I love it, and the alternative is what, not doing yoga for ten years while I wait for my kids to grow up? How silly would that be!
I especially enjoyed your home-practice series and how you fell into it (a random library book, lol!). You are right, the dvds are so perfectly done, so far from where I am in my own practice--how fabulous for me to read and watch you struggling and analyzing and trying. You've come so far in the last two years, though! You are catching up to the dvds fast. Full Kapo, wow!
Anyway, thank you for your fearlessness, and for sharing your trip thus far--it has impacted my practice in a great way.
hi Kate. thank you for your kind comment. Was delighted when it came through. Please let me know when you get rid of the last cushion. (how about putting an extra yoga mat on top of your normal one to give yourself that little bit more confidence). Most likely your just going to surprise yourself one day, it'll be a good day, you'll be grinning to yourself throughout it.
And Maya9, Hi, thank you too. It's wonderful to get comments like these. Makes me glad that I made a point, from the start, of posting pretty much everything and anything, the good as well as the bad attempts rather than waiting just for the perfect ones. It encourages me looking back on them, I'm glad it encourages others too.
Maybe us Home Ashtangi's need a union or a lobby group or something. Do get the feeling sometimes that we're not taken 100% seriously, and yet there must be thousands of us practicing away in our kitchens, basements and home made mini Shala's.
I've always been impressed with how Shala Ashtangi's motivate themselves to get out the door in the cold, dark,early mornings to drive to the Shala. Once there, however, their motivation gets all kinds of help, from friends, the room, the sound of combined ujaii, the teacher etc. But for us, while we only have to go downstairs to our already warmed room, once there it's just us and the mat. I have it kind of easy,no kids and work just 15 minutes away, but for those who have kids, family to look after, long commutes, finding the odd hour to practice, really quite something.
Good luck with your practice Maya the flailing around in primary, unbound, unbalanced, easy-peasy variations are just fine, after a while if not already you'll start to notice a little less flailing, that you can move onto a slightly harder variation and you'll nail a bind with the tips of your fingertips.
Oh an Maya, hope you didn't miss out the comments when you read through, often better than the actual post, some great tips, advice and suggestions hidden away there by the ever generous cybershala,
Thank you as ever Karen for putting me straight. When did I switch to starting on the right side must have learnt it left side first from the videos.
And why, left side first I wonder, what's that all about?
Tried writing this from my phone, but it doesn't look like it went through. I'm curious as to what makes you think that home ashtangis don't get taken 100% seriously. Most people I know (who practice) have the utmost respect for those who get on their mats without the external motivation and help from a teacher, a shala or a self-practice group.
Yes V, and most everyone who comes here and comments and generously, giving tips and suggestions are just wonderful. And many have said as much to me personally. And yet !
And yet I've felt it sometimes, it hasn't particularly bothered me (thick skin) though i might have prickled a couple of time when someone has been particularly patronizing, more ofton something I've read elsewhere than here. The implied suggestion that your not really practicing Ashtanga if you don't go to a Shala etc. Or learnt through books and DVD's rather than with a teacher. A certain dismissiveness. Other home Ashtangi's have commented on it here before and elsewhere. But perhaps we're all wrong and being overly sensitive., defensive perhaps. Just a feeling sometimes, you know, that you can't quite put your finger on.
When someone mentions a Union or a Lobby group in relation to Ashtanga I think you can take it as read that they're not being that serious.
Crap, I was hoping for a secret handshake and pot-lucks.
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.