The path and the goal..

The path and the goal: I think they belong together. It's an endless path, that ends with the death. The path is not only plastered with seductions. From time to time we accomplish a goals, if we've defined some. It can be celebrated.
Each practice has mini goals for me. After each inhaling is a pause. After each exhaling is a little pause. There is no movement and no thought during this tiny pause. It's as if a mini-goal is achieved. It gives time to relax and to start afresh with either inhaling and lengthen the body or exhaling and letting go and going deeper into the body. This little pause, this little achievement can be seen outside. It gives the practice a clear structure, a rhythm.

Sometimes the movement (or path) from one pause to the next is long sometimes short. If it's short the movement is slow, if the movement is long, it must be done faster. The breath is even. It's not all porridge.

Kapotasana improved: Here is the history. I see that the elbows must come closer together.

Urdhva dhanurasana: At home I use a strap to keep the feet parallel. I thought I could bring the chest to the book shelf. I'm still far away from it. And I had a good day today. The feet must still be much closer to the hands. My picture tell me that I've still some body work to do till I'll be able to come up.

My practice was great. That's how it is. There will be always something to improve to learn. It's good to enjoy the mini goals.......the pauses between the inhaling and exhaling.
It's good to enjoy the path, the learning. It's an adventure.......surprises happen.......

PS: When an asana seems difficult, it's good to remember that it's of importance to create length (or room) first with the inhaling. This helps to get deeper into a pose no matter if it's a forward bending asana, a twist or a back bending.

10 people wanted......

Some of you might know it.
There is a book in the pipeline, a book about.......I hesitate to go on writing. First I thought it would be about staying or getting slim. This might attract a lot of people. But it 's more about living healthy, being slim and feeling beautiful is a side effect not the main goal. Does this topic interest you?

Why ever this book is not yet on the market, I don't know it.
I decided to  try a new approach.

My book will consist of 30 chapter (estimated and short ones), and it will consist of exercises.

If you're willing to read chapter by chapter during the next weeks and if you're willing to try the exercises and give me feed-back, write me an email:  sorry we're complete.
I'd appreciate:
- when you are patient to let develop the book.
- when you give me feed back on the chapters. I won't answer to the feed-back but of course reflect on it.

If this book will become a product and if you like it of course, you'll be mentioned in it.

In addition it would be good if you are on twitter. You can have a fantasy name there to stay anonymous. I'll give you a hash tag when a group of 10 people is formed and there you can exchange your experiences with the other readers. Nothing is more motivating than making changes in a group.

It's only open to 10 people: Please write to .................... if you're interested.
Thank you.

Next day:
We're 11 now, this is perfect. Thank you. The group is complete now....:) How wonderful.

Sunday, the yoga week begins......

It will be a led class that will entertain me today.............my yoga week begins on Sunday with a primary.

My body is an endless source of joy!

More I don't need to be happy. My body. And my mind.

Consciously I'll move my body through all the asanas of primary soon. I'll feel and I'll engage my muscles, others I'll relax consciously, I'll hear my breath, I'll keep my eyes stable to calm down my mind. Space, silence I'll feel and appreciate. I want to experience my limits and then I love to push them a bit. Being lively, feeling energy, being curious, I enjoy.

Enjoy your body, enjoy your mind. Consciously. It's a source of joy. It's for entertainment at it's best.

A perfect Sunday.

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What gets attention grows....

What gets attention grows. If we don't give attention to anything it fades or diminishes or we even lose it.

My latest example: The landlord was here. My old fears arose that I'd lose my flat. The reason why she wanted to see the flat were of course not to use the flat for herself. In Germany it's very difficult to get rid of a tenant like me who lives in this flat for more than 15 years. In Germany is census of population, not everybody is questioned, but my landlord. She had to answer if in her property is a shower or a bath tub and she didn't know. She came with her son and was impressed how well I'm organised. Ohhhhhhhh.

She got my rent every month and she didn't care for anything. She didn't even make the annual accounting of the additional charges of a flat (water, current, heating and so on). Usually I had to pay something more as estimated. She neglected her own accounting and lost a few hundred Euros that way. In 2004 was my last rise of the rent. I forgot this last rise. It added up to a 4 figure sum. She will get it of course, so is the law.  It's not really a problem.

What I wanted to point out is that this is again an example how we can make anything grow simply by giving attention. Not giving any attention to anything often means that this object fades or diminishes.

This is true for so many things. When I give attention to positive thoughts they grow. When I move my attention to the breath it deepens and so on.........

Focusing on what we want makes sense. Simply given attention can already make a difference.

Party time for me tonight. I'm invited. Everybody shall prepare something. I mixed a salad. The palate buds of  the guests will explode when they taste all the good stuff that I put into the bowl. Only best ingredients were used. Yep, so am I. Hahahaha.


Happy Saturday......

Flow

Concentration on the breath is what can create flow. It's the feeling that one wants to go on and on and on. Intensity is felt. My concentration improved for sure. I didn't interrupt my home practice for taking pictures of yoga poses for this reason.

Being able to focus on the breath for as long as I practice intensifies my practice, I sweat much more than I used to a few years ago. This cleanse the body I've heard and it's important part of the practice.

In the meantime I see that my ability to focus bears fruit also in my private life. Worries are seen as worries, nothing else. They are created by the mind and they disappear when the mind is able to focus on anthing else. It's a skill, practiced on the mat, but also useful in daily life.

Urdhva dhanurasana: I drop back from standing position into urdhva dhanurasana again. It scares me again, but I do it. Legs are closer together than a few years ago. When will it happen that I can stand up? I practice intensively, but I'm relaxed about the result. All yoginis know the saying: the path is the goal. But I think the path and the goal belong together and support each other.

Happy weekend.....

Ashtanga yoga a spiritual exercise?

Is practicing Ashtanga yoga a spiritual practice?
Or is it simply body work?

It depends:
When we observe our thoughts, when we practice consciously a practice can indeed become spiritual.
When we focus on the breath, and when we ignore other thoughts, Ashtanga yoga becomes a spiritual practice.

Spirtitual I think means exercising the spirit, being focused, being aware, finding a positive approach to the exercises, thinking positive.

This implies that each action, each activity can become spiritual if done with consciousness.

How do you exercise your mind? How do you bring spirit into your daily life?

Mysore class: I feel much stronger than some months earlier. I feel that my practice has still a lot potential. I finish my practice usual in samasthithi: Thank you, I say silently, thank you, thank you. I'm so happy that I can do this practice every morning.

Action now. The list is long. Shall my pomodoro timer structure my day: 25 min action, 5 min pause, 25 min work action, 15 min pause.......

Vinyasa, details are important

Jumping forward through the arms with crossed legs is possible without touching the floor, also for me.

For years now I try to jump forward without touching the floor. In vain.

I engaged the bandhas. I learned how to balance on my hands. I inhaled when I jumped. I looked forward. Again and again one foot touched slightly the mat.

Then I saw a youtube video by Kino MacGregor. One has to look closely, but this is the difference.
When I jumped through by now, my ankles were together. The one leg put some weight on the other leg. When I keep the ankles apart from each other, one leg after the other swings forward. It's easier to keep the calves close to the upper leg and voilà. 

This tiny difference makes a difference. Test it and give me feed back.

Brrrhhhhhh, I hope I could explain it clearly.....

Give me some love and recommend my blog to your friends. They might like it, too. You find me on facebook and twitter, too. Links are on the right side of this blog. Thank you.

A shift in thinking

Mini vacation at the Chiemsee and Tegernsee is over. Daily life has come. It's Monday. Yepeeee.

There is a shift in my thinking since I've read the book by Oli Kahn "Ich":
Instead of realizing on the mat that I lived ruthlessly (too much food, alcohol) and making resolutions on the mat again and again to get back to a healthier life style, I think now during the day: What can I do to make my practice a good one. What can I do for my body off the mat? What supports my crazy exercises? That way it's easier to leave food on the plate when I feel full and to order and drink water. To drink water btw feels very good.

It's more important to me to take the leg behind the head or to progress in kapotasana than to eat till I feel heavy and tired and relaxed. Food has relieving effects, it calms, but I know better methods like meditating, chanting aum, focusing on the breath, dancing to music.

Happy healthy Monday to everybody.

Picture is taken at the Chiemsee.

My practice was excellent on Sunday morning. I got new insights re the vinyasas, but this is another post. Later.

I "forgot" to tell.....

Last Friday I dropped back again. From samasthitih, standing position, I arched backwards, arms were stretched above my head and I dropped back. I was excited. For about a year I haven't done this. The reason: I wanted to do it correctly. The knees must be parallel. I don't want to injure myself. The anatomy of my body must be respected!

In addition, I really think, even though there is a dynamic phase when dropping back, it's very important to have the movement of the body under control as long as possible. I got better here. For sure. I'm very thankful for the help and the adjustments I got.

To come up again will happen, too, I'm sure........

This dropping back was so intensive that I was glad for a day off. But today I'm ready again for a primary.

Vinyasas, supta kurmasana  and urdhva dhanurasana will get some extra love, energy and attention....:)

A rebel

I was reluctant, but E's mother wanted to go and our friends were enthusiastic about him. And so we all went to the hospital close to the lake where we attended a mass.

I made a plan what I would do if I got bored. My breath came into my mind and I wanted to  focus on my breath, I wanted to make inhaling and exhaling longer and even......but I wasn't bored. I listened to this man who spread so much love and inspiration.

The interpretation of the gospel was very modern: be conscious was the message. Joy can be found in daily life that way.

We shared bread and wine, which is very uncommon in the Catholic church. Usually those who like, can get a Host, but not a piece of bread and no wine. We gathered in little groups, ate and drank as a highlight of the mass. It shall symbolize not to forget to have joy in daily life and the wine symbolizes the special moments. Those who knows the Catholic church with it's strict rules know that this alone is a no no. The mystic of that all was that the bread also was the body of Jesus.

What a surprise to find at such a tourist place like the Chiemsee such an outstanding person who spreads so much hope, love and inspiration.

Back to my daily life: With consciousness I'll practice primary. Even though I think this part of my life, my Ashtanga yoga practice symbolizes more the wine than the bread.

Picture: taken at the Chiemsee.

Chiemsee

...and this pic was taken only 1 hour from Munich.

Time to go to bed.
Tomorrow I want to be fit for primary........

Progress is inevitable...

Progress is inevitable if one practices on a daily basis. I was surprised today when I managed it to take my legs (both) behind my head without leaning against the sofa. The pose was weak, nevertheless a tiny step further in the right direction. I could also do eka pada sirsasana and the leg remained behind my head, my hands could both hold my stretched leg.

How that?

Daily practice of course, but also the understanding what what active stretching is helped me to progress.

In yoga we do active stretching. It's not that we simply bowing forward or hanging forward and letting the gravity do the job. We are active when we practice yoga not passive.
What is active stretching? There are always  muscles that we stretch and there are the antagonists that are active. When I put my leg behind the head, the chest shall remain open, stretched if you like. The antagonists are on the back. I have strong back muscles and I have the body feeling how to engage them. Engaging my back muscles helps me to lift up the upper body and to keep the chest open. This was it what helped me and what finally allowed me to keep the leg behind the head.

Feet position: Primary has a lot of forward bending asanas. I thought that it's important to have the soles of the feet parallel to the floor. But fact is we can adjust the intensity of the stretching with the foot position. When they are pointed (recommended for hanumanasana i.e.) it's less stretching, less intensive. Sometimes it's necessary to make the practice a bit easier, when we are injured i.e. I think it's better to alter the feet position than not to engage the muscles.

Urdhva dhanurasana: Among other exercises I lifted the body up while my hands were close to a wall. I wanted to bring the chest to the wall. I was surprised that I couldn't do that. Here I've to do some body work. The upper back is still not open enough.

Especially the knowledge about the feet positon I've read in the book by Gregor Maehle.














Wow, what a beautiful bird. It seems to be easy to fly. Thank you M for this beautiful pic.

Ardha matsyendrasana

Ardha matsyendrasana is another wonderful twist. It took me a while till I found the correct foot position. In my case it needs to be close to the body when I want that the shoulders are even. I point the foot of the leg that is on the floor. It looks nicer.

I saw a variation of the pose, which I  like very much, too. Then the arms bind behind the back. One  arm stretches through the bended leg and can so reach the other arm and hold the wrist.

I can scarcly reach my leg with the hand that is behind the back. So the arm behind my back cannot turn me further into the twist. When the hand bind I can turn more. Explore both poses, it's fun to be adventures. It deepens the understanding of the poses.

Both sit bones are on the floor. The body is upright.

Twists turn the spine, which feels really good.
In addition it's a great massage for the inner organs.

I just wondered what we can do for our inner organs?
- We can eat not so much and healthy stuff.
- We can drink enough water.
- And we can do twists.....:)

How I enjoyed the Mysore class this morning. I'm crazy for Ashtanga yoga!

Thank you for buying your amazon products via my blog.

Playing around....

My practice this morning started very focused. The surya namaskara As and Bs and the standing sequence I practiced with the CD by Sharath. Then I switched it off. My practice remained intensive till after kapotasana. Then I remembered the led class of yesterday and the exercises we did. One of the exercise was to do headstand and then to split the legs. I really thought my legs were more than 45° apart. My pic told me something else. One leg even pointed upwards. I felt as if it almost touched the floor!!!! Pictures are so helpful.

This was my second attempt. The split was almost the same, only the position of the legs were different. My intention was to let one or better both legs touch the floor. I wanted to practice falling. It should take away the fear that I have. Finally I must do pincha mayurasana in the middle of the room. And I'm a bit scared. So learning to fall could take my fear away, I thought. I put my flat hand on the floor and bowed my knees. My back arched. It felt intensively, my pictures show me the opposite.

Then I fell and I survived!!!!!!!!!!! Nothing was injured, I was a bit shocked. A step forward???? Can be.

Next time I'll make the distance to the wall larger when I practice pincha mayurasna, till I'll be in the middle of the room. I know now, to fall can happen, but this is not the end of the world.

And then I tried urdhva dhanurasana and this all spoilt my flow.

It's better to practice an Ashtanga series in one session and doing additional exercises in an extra session. A few exercises can be added to each practice, but to explore poses is better to do isolated.

Yoga flow class

Yesterday in the evening I went to a yoga flow class. It's more or less a led class with music.

I was amazed how many yoginis and yogis came. The room was crowded. All places were occupied. I expected a hot session and so it was. Soon the room was very humid, rain-forest climate. I sweated and I became bendy.

To practice something that is not my daily routine requires attention. Asanas that I do not practice were a challenge yesterday.

I saw some really bendy yoginis. Talents? Naturals? Yoga has challenges for everybody.

Concentration is my topic lately. To stay calm in a pose for several breaths is a concentration exercise. With the inhaling the body usually stretches, length is created, with the exhaling one moves deeper into a pose. This is surely a movement. The body isn't like a statue. But to look around, checking the body posture with the eyes  again and again, scratching, playing with the hair, trying another variation of an asana because the asana one is practicing is too challenging, is too much movement. Then the mind moves from laserlike focus to being distracted. It shall be the other way round.

The inner life manifests on the outside. The state of mind, the attitude can be seen. A book title comes into my mind: Moving into stillness. Erich Schiffman has written this book. This is the direction for sure. Focus is powerful, directed energy. Issues, distrations outside of oneself disappear. Intensity develps and this has beauty.

I've found a focus for my practice today: Staying  calm for the 5 breaths that I hold an asana usually.

Erich Schiffmann's book is a recommendation. Thanks for buying it via my blog.







Thank you M for this wonderful dolphin in the Indian ocean. :)

Bharadvajasana, a twist

The twists turn the spine around. Twitsts in my opinion also massage the inner organs. This feels good. With the inhaling the upper body stretches upwards, length is created, with the exhaling the body twists. The hips are erected.

It took me some time to understand the twists. If this happens, I check the basics:
- Those body parts that touch the floor are equally weighted. Both sit bones touch the floor.
- The shoulder are away from the ears and in line.
- The hips are erected, the upper body long.
- The chest opens.
- Engaging the bandhas when exhaling supports the execution of this asana.
- The gazing point is the side (and not downward looking). This helps to stay in an upright position.

Our bodies are different. Some of us have very long arms, others have shorter arms. My arms are not so long. This is why I put my hand closer to the hips under my leg. The knees are rather close together. Only that way I can guarantee that my body has not to move forward. Then the entire pose looks strange and feels strange.

Bharadvajasana is exercised twice in the second series. First before the forward bending asanas and after the back bendings. And it's the last pose before the headstands.

Mysore class today. I'm looking forward to it. How will it be today.

Thank you for buying your amazon products via my blog. Links are on the right side.
Have a good start, it's Monday.