Friday 9th September 2005
Finally got back to Darren’s 6am led class this morning.
It’s nice to do some quiet solid Iyengar work when you need to work carefully around an injury.
But it’s just nice to get back to a class, any class.
I ran into Darren in the café yesterday (we yogis love caffeine) and mentioned I’d be at practice this morning – always a good ploy for me to verbally commit so I actually feel compelled to go. As I was on my lunch break we just caught up very briefly on the latest news in each others lives, his was the recent trip to Pune, mine was the back injury and my Saturday classes.
Not sure if it was coincidence, but the class he led this morning was perfectly sequenced for a lower back injury. If I’d practised alone, I would have done a similar sequence.
Class started with very slow Surja Namaskars, coming straight up to Tadasana from the last Uttanasana instead of extending the arms out and up to Urdhva Hastasana first, which requires more work from the lower back.
Held a long Dog Pose and Uttanasana.
The set of standing poses went something like: Trikonasana, Parsvakonasana, Virabhadrasana A, Virabhadrasana C, Parsvottanasana with hands to the floor then moving from there into Parivritta Trikonasana and Ardha Chandrasana.
None of the standing poses aggravated my back , either because they didn’t involve much curve of the lumbar or because I’m automatically keeping a very straight lumbar to protect my back. Some rounding of the lumbar usually occurs in Parsvottanasana and Parivritta Trikonasana but I’ve been moving into these poses through an almost concave back position where the pelvis is fully tilted forward, the sacral plate is level with the floor and the spine fully extended forward. Going into Parivritta Trikonasana from here is more challenging, because the hips remain more square and the spine is straight from the tailbone to the crown of the head. The twisting action then starts right from the base of the spine and seems to spread more evenly throughout its length.
After standing poses, we spent a couple of minutes in Virasana, then Parvatasana (interlocking hands on the head then extending the arms above the head).
The almost compulsory mid-practice 10 minute Sirsasana ended with Parsva Sirsasana where you twist the entire body to each side. I love this particular variation of Headstand. It wrings your body out from head to toe in a much more gutsy, juicier way than the seated twists and very interesting things happen in the shoulders as the weight bearing shifts dramatically.
The Dog Pose following Sirsasana is always a bit dodgy because of the strong shoulder work you’ve just done. I think Darren went off to the loo while we held Dog Pose.
Another teacher of mine cheekily reminisces about how he used to slip out for a quick coffee next door while his students were holding Dog Pose (he’s another caffeine loving yogi).
Off to the wall for some twists: Bharadvajasana 1 and 2 using a hand into the wall for support to keep the shoulders level, then Marichyasana C.
Marichy C was an emphatic no go for me. The back problem became obvious as soon as I started the twist. There wasn’t any particular pain or sensation in the lumbar – in fact, there was nothing, it was frozen, like the whole lumbar area was asleep or dead or something. It felt like the prana supply lines to my lumbar had been cut off and I couldn’t feel or move any energy there. It’s a hard feeling to describe, but the result is that there’s no base or impetus to twist from. So I just accepted that and sat upright without twisting, really quite happy to be just where I was. No angst, no desire, no disappointment.
Back to the mat for a series of backbends: Salabhasana, Dhanurasana, Bhujangasana, Urdhva Muka Svanasana…all poses to strengthen and stabilise the lumbar area. Then Urdhva Dhanurasana, 3 normal holds of about 5 breaths each, then 2 Urdhva Ds using a strap around the elbows, then another 2 moving from Urdhva D into Viparitta Dandasana. Then 5 quick Urdhva Ds, exhaling to lift straight up into the full pose, holding for the inhalation, then exhaling to come all the way down, inhaling to prepare, exhaling to push up and repeat 5 times, no thinking, no resting.
I didn’t think I had the strength but it came easily. Quick backbends in succession are pretty energising and exhilarating, a bit like a caffeine hit that gives you temporary superhuman powers. Calm down time was in a resting Uttanasana position.
An 8 minute Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand), then some Eka Pada variations, finishing with Halasana.
The most difficult pose of the entire class was the last one – a cross legged forward bend with the head resting on a bolster. My head didn't get that far. Unbelievable. I couldn’t even get close to relaxing forward here and had to hold myself up at about the halfway point. Now that actually peeved me a bit because it’s such a beginners pose, and a restorative one too. Come to think of it, I can’t do Balasana (Childs Pose) either. Both poses round the lower spine which sets off my highly sensitive pain-is-imminent alarm bells. Injury is always a good reminder of how frustrated beginners must feel when they can’t get even close to what the others are doing.
No big deal though. It's just SOOO good to do this stuff (stuff’s a great word).
More and more I’m realising how intimate my experience of asana is becoming these days. Sensitivity to the inner subtleties during practice is increasing volumes - I can sense and feel energy blocks, little energy floods, minor nerve sensations, the stimulation of particular glands and organs in certain poses and nice stuff like that. I’m right in there in the poses, absorbed, watching, feeling, sensing.
But a little warning occasionally echoes in the back of my mind (and I’m not sure where I read this, or who said it, or why I made a point of noting it):
"Feel pleasure, but not too much, lest our practice become sensual rather than spiritual"
Even when practice is difficult (like during injury), practicing still feels good, maybe because it just plain FEELS, and we are such feeling creatures. There’s a physical sensuality in yoga practice that’s organic and deeply fulfilling and through regular practice we develop a more intimate relationship with our bodies and our selves.
Voluntary slippage into the deeper, hidden dimensions and layers of our physical beingness.
It makes me think I should look at my motivation more closely. Yes, yoga feels good. It feels good to do, and the body feels great after.
But for me, feeling physically well and balanced should be a by-product of yoga practice, not the aim. I reckon 95% of westerners start yoga so they can feel physically better and continue with yoga because it delivers that. But for the practice to really evolve over time, the motivation for practice must gradually rise beyond the physical benefits. And as it rises, gradually we come to understand that yoga is an extraordinary path inwards towards the ultimate discovery of what we really are. I once heard this discovery described as the cosmic punchline. Like...Oh after all these years of being asleep, the light goes on and you wake up and the whole beautiful cosmic joke finally makes perfect sense.
Start of practice, standing at the end of the mat, hands in prayer, calm, clear, grateful and open…
I think Chris put it perfectly in his Sept 6 2005 entry, describing his practice as a prayer.
That just about says it all.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Finally got back to Darren’s 6am led class this morning.
It’s nice to do some quiet solid Iyengar work when you need to work carefully around an injury.
But it’s just nice to get back to a class, any class.
I ran into Darren in the café yesterday (we yogis love caffeine) and mentioned I’d be at practice this morning – always a good ploy for me to verbally commit so I actually feel compelled to go. As I was on my lunch break we just caught up very briefly on the latest news in each others lives, his was the recent trip to Pune, mine was the back injury and my Saturday classes.
Not sure if it was coincidence, but the class he led this morning was perfectly sequenced for a lower back injury. If I’d practised alone, I would have done a similar sequence.
Class started with very slow Surja Namaskars, coming straight up to Tadasana from the last Uttanasana instead of extending the arms out and up to Urdhva Hastasana first, which requires more work from the lower back.
Held a long Dog Pose and Uttanasana.
The set of standing poses went something like: Trikonasana, Parsvakonasana, Virabhadrasana A, Virabhadrasana C, Parsvottanasana with hands to the floor then moving from there into Parivritta Trikonasana and Ardha Chandrasana.
None of the standing poses aggravated my back , either because they didn’t involve much curve of the lumbar or because I’m automatically keeping a very straight lumbar to protect my back. Some rounding of the lumbar usually occurs in Parsvottanasana and Parivritta Trikonasana but I’ve been moving into these poses through an almost concave back position where the pelvis is fully tilted forward, the sacral plate is level with the floor and the spine fully extended forward. Going into Parivritta Trikonasana from here is more challenging, because the hips remain more square and the spine is straight from the tailbone to the crown of the head. The twisting action then starts right from the base of the spine and seems to spread more evenly throughout its length.
After standing poses, we spent a couple of minutes in Virasana, then Parvatasana (interlocking hands on the head then extending the arms above the head).
The almost compulsory mid-practice 10 minute Sirsasana ended with Parsva Sirsasana where you twist the entire body to each side. I love this particular variation of Headstand. It wrings your body out from head to toe in a much more gutsy, juicier way than the seated twists and very interesting things happen in the shoulders as the weight bearing shifts dramatically.
The Dog Pose following Sirsasana is always a bit dodgy because of the strong shoulder work you’ve just done. I think Darren went off to the loo while we held Dog Pose.
Another teacher of mine cheekily reminisces about how he used to slip out for a quick coffee next door while his students were holding Dog Pose (he’s another caffeine loving yogi).
Off to the wall for some twists: Bharadvajasana 1 and 2 using a hand into the wall for support to keep the shoulders level, then Marichyasana C.
Marichy C was an emphatic no go for me. The back problem became obvious as soon as I started the twist. There wasn’t any particular pain or sensation in the lumbar – in fact, there was nothing, it was frozen, like the whole lumbar area was asleep or dead or something. It felt like the prana supply lines to my lumbar had been cut off and I couldn’t feel or move any energy there. It’s a hard feeling to describe, but the result is that there’s no base or impetus to twist from. So I just accepted that and sat upright without twisting, really quite happy to be just where I was. No angst, no desire, no disappointment.
Back to the mat for a series of backbends: Salabhasana, Dhanurasana, Bhujangasana, Urdhva Muka Svanasana…all poses to strengthen and stabilise the lumbar area. Then Urdhva Dhanurasana, 3 normal holds of about 5 breaths each, then 2 Urdhva Ds using a strap around the elbows, then another 2 moving from Urdhva D into Viparitta Dandasana. Then 5 quick Urdhva Ds, exhaling to lift straight up into the full pose, holding for the inhalation, then exhaling to come all the way down, inhaling to prepare, exhaling to push up and repeat 5 times, no thinking, no resting.
I didn’t think I had the strength but it came easily. Quick backbends in succession are pretty energising and exhilarating, a bit like a caffeine hit that gives you temporary superhuman powers. Calm down time was in a resting Uttanasana position.
An 8 minute Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand), then some Eka Pada variations, finishing with Halasana.
The most difficult pose of the entire class was the last one – a cross legged forward bend with the head resting on a bolster. My head didn't get that far. Unbelievable. I couldn’t even get close to relaxing forward here and had to hold myself up at about the halfway point. Now that actually peeved me a bit because it’s such a beginners pose, and a restorative one too. Come to think of it, I can’t do Balasana (Childs Pose) either. Both poses round the lower spine which sets off my highly sensitive pain-is-imminent alarm bells. Injury is always a good reminder of how frustrated beginners must feel when they can’t get even close to what the others are doing.
No big deal though. It's just SOOO good to do this stuff (stuff’s a great word).
More and more I’m realising how intimate my experience of asana is becoming these days. Sensitivity to the inner subtleties during practice is increasing volumes - I can sense and feel energy blocks, little energy floods, minor nerve sensations, the stimulation of particular glands and organs in certain poses and nice stuff like that. I’m right in there in the poses, absorbed, watching, feeling, sensing.
But a little warning occasionally echoes in the back of my mind (and I’m not sure where I read this, or who said it, or why I made a point of noting it):
"Feel pleasure, but not too much, lest our practice become sensual rather than spiritual"
Even when practice is difficult (like during injury), practicing still feels good, maybe because it just plain FEELS, and we are such feeling creatures. There’s a physical sensuality in yoga practice that’s organic and deeply fulfilling and through regular practice we develop a more intimate relationship with our bodies and our selves.
Voluntary slippage into the deeper, hidden dimensions and layers of our physical beingness.
It makes me think I should look at my motivation more closely. Yes, yoga feels good. It feels good to do, and the body feels great after.
But for me, feeling physically well and balanced should be a by-product of yoga practice, not the aim. I reckon 95% of westerners start yoga so they can feel physically better and continue with yoga because it delivers that. But for the practice to really evolve over time, the motivation for practice must gradually rise beyond the physical benefits. And as it rises, gradually we come to understand that yoga is an extraordinary path inwards towards the ultimate discovery of what we really are. I once heard this discovery described as the cosmic punchline. Like...Oh after all these years of being asleep, the light goes on and you wake up and the whole beautiful cosmic joke finally makes perfect sense.
Start of practice, standing at the end of the mat, hands in prayer, calm, clear, grateful and open…
I think Chris put it perfectly in his Sept 6 2005 entry, describing his practice as a prayer.
That just about says it all.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
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: February 03, 2006
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