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.