Seems I haven't done a post like this for ages but was having fun with this so why not.
And besides
"My teacher (Pattabhi Jois) would recommend that students who felt very tight in their hips hold this pose for up to fifty breaths".from Kino Macgregor's new book The power of Ashtanga yoga.
I explored fifty breaths the morning after I first read that in kino's book (thought I might be stuck in that position for ever), also twenty-five long slow ones, this time ten slow breaths with recheka kumbhaka (retaining breath after exhalation) with deep uddiyana. I added Gomukhasana as a counter, here holding the bottom knee rather than the top.
I have a dodgy right knee from old old ops thought this might be a good way to open the hips more and thus taking more strain off the knee throughout the practice.
Krishnamacharya writes about exploring the breath this way.
"BADDHAKONASANA combined with any pranayama NADISODHANA, SITALI or UJJAYI will be found effective. At the beginning the pranayama should be done with kumbhakam i.e., retention of the breath and all anuloma" Krishnamacharya-Yoga Makaranda Part II. p114
Short Shorts I know but don't worry, Nike drifit pro's are fully lined....nothing to see here folks
Navasana to handstand
This seems to be a spin off from the post I put up recently about sucking the femurs up into the pelvis and holding them with the bandhas has had an effect on floating up to handstand in the surys and in jumping through with straight legs and now with this too. See THIS post.
I stopped exploring the party tricks for a long time but have recently started looking them again as there's interesting bandha and pelvis work going on here that I'm having fun exploring again. This is the first one of these i ever managed. Bit of a cheat as I don't do a proper lift up before taking it up into handstand, this is more of a stage along the way.
And besides
"My teacher (Pattabhi Jois) would recommend that students who felt very tight in their hips hold this pose for up to fifty breaths".from Kino Macgregor's new book The power of Ashtanga yoga.
I explored fifty breaths the morning after I first read that in kino's book (thought I might be stuck in that position for ever), also twenty-five long slow ones, this time ten slow breaths with recheka kumbhaka (retaining breath after exhalation) with deep uddiyana. I added Gomukhasana as a counter, here holding the bottom knee rather than the top.
I have a dodgy right knee from old old ops thought this might be a good way to open the hips more and thus taking more strain off the knee throughout the practice.
Krishnamacharya writes about exploring the breath this way.
"BADDHAKONASANA combined with any pranayama NADISODHANA, SITALI or UJJAYI will be found effective. At the beginning the pranayama should be done with kumbhakam i.e., retention of the breath and all anuloma" Krishnamacharya-Yoga Makaranda Part II. p114
Short Shorts I know but don't worry, Nike drifit pro's are fully lined....nothing to see here folks
Navasana to handstand
This seems to be a spin off from the post I put up recently about sucking the femurs up into the pelvis and holding them with the bandhas has had an effect on floating up to handstand in the surys and in jumping through with straight legs and now with this too. See THIS post.
I stopped exploring the party tricks for a long time but have recently started looking them again as there's interesting bandha and pelvis work going on here that I'm having fun exploring again. This is the first one of these i ever managed. Bit of a cheat as I don't do a proper lift up before taking it up into handstand, this is more of a stage along the way.
 |
| cheating? |
UPDATE.
Nope, watched it again, definitely cheating...
4 comments:
I stumbled across your blog by chance and am grateful it happened; both your practice and your writing has been very inspiring! I learnt asanas in my teens but have been utterly careless about practicing them. Your blog has motivated me to practice yoga at home and am, for all practical purposes, starting afresh. I am a little disheartened about not being able to do a lot of asanas that were so easy for me back then. Out of curiosity, were you able to do asanas such as Paschimottasana and Baddhakonasana from the start? I am unable to achieve the final poses of even these simple asanas and had a couple of Q's - Can any asana (at least ones like Paschimottasana, handstand, Shirasana) be mastered over time with regular practice regardless of the lack of lower-back/upper-body strength and flexibility when one gets started with doing these? Also can someone with a stiff-neck or spondylosis gradually build their practice to be able to do asanas such as Sarvangasana and Halasana? I concede I have not gone through the entire blog and hope you will not mind me making this request: if you have tips on practice (do's and don'ts so to speak) for people with specific issues (I did not notice in one of the posts you mentioned having osteo-arthritis), please would you share them or point me to the link? My sincere thanks again.
Hello Anon. have a look at this post where i included a video from when I first started asana practice
http://grimmly2007.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/videos-from-when-i-first-started.html
You'll see I was quite overweight and lacking in flexibility, could barely touch my knees let alone my toes. It gets easier, things open up.
You mention Paschimottanasana and baddha konasana as simple poses, I actually think they are two of the most difficult asana to do well. Luckily there are some excellent videos out there now on YouTUbe that allow us to get deeper inot them and more safely. have a look perhaps at this video from Mark Darby for paschimottanasana
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtjSgT3XJfY
and this one on Janusirsasna, again by mark, which will help wwith opening the hips and working towards a deeper baddha konasana
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEbSjz0h8dw
You might like to have a look at my other blog, it has a more Vinyasa Krama focus with lots of practice sheets and links to videos
http://vinyasakramayoga.blogspot.co.uk
As for osteo-arthritis I've just done my regular practice and it seems to help, interestingly since I've been back doing the Ashtanga surynamaskaras my back pain has been much less. As for spondylosis and shoulderstands i really don't know It might be an idea to look to the Iyengar approach and their use of props This kind of idea
http://www.yogaglo.com/online-class-1735-Safe-Shoulderstand-Tutorial.html
Hope that helps
Thank you for the prompt and helpful reply; your progress is awesome and your discipline of sticking with the practice when the going wasn't easy is even more amazing.
Both of Mark Darby's videos are very helpful; thank you!
I really liked the posters in your vinyasakramayoga blog and am planning to use these as a reference for my practice. At the end of the 'how to practice Vinyasa Krama Yoga' section on the blog you have shared what Ramaswami has recommended for daily practice; just to be sure - do these asanas, pranayamas and recommended durations apply just as well to someone who is getting started?
I think Ramaswami would say that it's something to work towards. So you would build up to the longer stays over time. halasana might be an alternative to sarvangasana and when you're ready to go up into sarvangasana, stay perhaps for a couple of breaths and come down, rest a breath or two then go up again. Ramaswami stresses that when you are tired, if your breath becomes less controlled and your heart beats faster then you should always lay down in savasana and take rest for a few breaths. Over time you will need to take less mini savasana breaks.
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