Kapo ankles back thanks to Vinyasa Krama Bow sequence

*This post is dedicated to a friend who's not so well at the moment and can't practice. Can imagine she's feeling like it's all slipping away. I thought my heels, let alone my ankles were long gone in kapo but there they were again, between my calves and my feet, just where I left them. Get well C.

After being away in Wales, revisiting the Vinyasa Krama sequences, I came back and practiced my first Ashtanga 2nd series in a fortnight, felt liked I'd been hit by a truck. It was scrappy and undisciplined. This wasn't perhaps surprising as I'd only practiced a handful of 2nd's in the last few months. If I'm only going to practice it once a week it needed tidying up. Two weeks of Intermediate later and it's a lot cleaner but throughout the last two weeks, kapo has been pretty lame, my hands coming down in front of my feet and only managing to walk them in half way up my feet.

Sunday, I joyfully practiced Vinyasa Krama, long long practice, Asymmetric, Seated leading up to lots of leg behind head postures, same thing yesterday, postures felt deeper, more comfortable. This morning was the turn of backbends, Bow and Meditative sequence plus some extra work around Eka pada raja Kapotasana, Eka pada kapo....

My first Kapo landed half way up my feet, the second I grabbed my heels. I filmed the third and caught my ankles. I put it down to the extra prep in Bow sequence. There's a little in 2nd series of course, bit of a build up, nine postures to be exact (actually that's not fair there are also seven upward dogs). In Vinyasa Krama's Bow sequence there are thirty-five, that's a lot of preparation.



It's something I like about Vinyasa Krama, the gradual build up, the deepening of postures as you work through the subroutines and sequences, whether it's the twists, the forward bends and leg behind head postures or the backbend. Or Lotus, where you have twenty hip openers and half lotuses before you reach full lotus.

Begs the question though, why do thirty-five postures as prep for kapo when you can get away with nine ( lot of Ashtangi's have beautiful kapo's). Well, it is an intense posture, one of the most intense, makes sense to work your way into it especially if your going to take that further into even more intense backbends. Ashtanga recognises this, kapo at least gets that nine posture lead in. Leg behind head only gets four in 2nd series and the same in 3rd against, what, twenty-four in VK.

I'm not saying one style is better than another just highlighting the differences, both have their ... issues but if your struggling with kapo or your lotus, or getting your leg behind your head then you might like to moonlight a little, especially if your practicing at home.

If you do get stuck at Kapo or Marichyasana D or at getting your leg behind your head in Eka pada sirsasana, or getting into Lotus at the end of Primary or, indeed, dropping back and coming up, it may well be that your not ready for those postures but it might also be that you could just do with a couple more prep poses to lead into them. Before you give up on yoga and I received an email on this very topic earlier in the week, it might be something to consider.

If your practicing at home, those extra postures, just like those variations of the postures in David Swenson's book, for us, at home, they take the place of Shala assists.

Update.
Come to think of it, I think this must be one of my deepest Kapo's ever. Just searched my blog for the any other picture I had of an ankles kapo, found one from March 2010. That's it on the left and this mornings on the right.

How does that work, a month of merely clinging to your toes and then boom, top of ankles.