i am more of the bending type (back, front, side to side) and really had to work hard to find my strength. i hyper extend moderately pretty much everywhere so it has always been a huge place of confusion, exploration and discovery for me. when i was learning laghuvajrasana – the hands-to-ankles, straight-armed variant – it took me weeks. i just could not get up. and i was so absolutely WIPED after practice. i think once i actually came down with a cold after practice; i guess it released a whole bunch of toxins.

and yes, i think the bendy folks have fears. i’ve always been able to do kapotasana holding the heels, but for the first 4 months or so, i needed support. in the beginning i needed to be put into the pose because it was to scary for me to attempt alone. once in i could support it myself but i did not want my teacher to walk away! it gradually evolved to more moral support rather than physical but one day i asked my teacher not to come to me as i realized – finally – that i had become dependent!! even now, maybe 5 or 6 years later, there are some days when i just don’t want to do it.

thanks for your very interesting posts.

I am with you on respecting the shala I’m at. I would not include samakonasana/ hanumanasana until/unless I saw that it was the custom of the shala. It’s the same thing with going to a new zendo: you do what the teacher says. If the community is kind enough to welcome you, the least you can do is be respectful.

Bindifry, I cannot imagine doing both my practice, and also teaching Mysore–doing constant adjustments to wanting, expecting, not always grateful students. It’s a lot of dedication and energy. Wow. Jodi, earlier from Chicago, is here in LA now; and her strength in this area completely astounds me.

Because of how much energy and dedication goes into teaching, I guess the least I can do is figure out and go with the program in each room I visit. I don’t have the experience to know, but guess that when someone comes to your room and does a practice that differs from what you’re teaching, it distracts both the student and the teacher.

I had hamstring issues for a while and ditched the samakonasana/ hanumanasana combo. After I healed up, I tried it again and found that I was okay provided I didn’t do it every day. I left it out of my Mysore practice but did it every Saturday at led practice. A few months ago it was clear my hammies were all done recovering and I went back to the samakonasana/hanumanasana for daily practice. I don’t love hanumanasana, but it seems quite helpful from a psoas perspective. I hate samakonasana, but the only time I’ve really hurt myself with it was in fact at a martial arts class.

I am going to try the mat adjustment. I have an endless fascination with self-sufficiency.

The self-help for supta vaj goes like this. (This is difficult for me because I’ve lost some flexibility in recent months, but used to be quite do-able.) Roll the mat almost all the way up, and sit on the little lip you leave out of the roll. If you practice with a rug, roll that in too because it’ll make your roll bigger. Position the roll tightly against the sacrum. Assume the position. Then use the roll as your anchor. Bring the elbows low so they really press in to the roll, then use them as leverage to sit back up. Sometimes, a person needs to rock the knees a bit to sit back up. Sometimes she also needs to readjust the roll so it’s tightly in place for the last 5-breath dip. I could be wrong, but I think this method is common among longtime Chuck Miller students.