Bend it like backwards
Posted in ashtanga yoga on 04/30/2008 08:32 am by karenPatrick talks about how practicing primary informs the intermediate backbends. Yup, I’m there. Did some experimenting recently to see if the long haul of primary really is a prereq, and keep coming up with yes. So be it.
This morning’s practice was lovely. First one without the little space heater since last fall. Yes, I am a wimp. I live in the desert where it’s warm(er than everywhere else), and still I use a space heater. Not today, though, and the silence was quite nice.
On the Matthew Sweeney wall dropback front, I am able to make my first contact with the wall at calf level. So now what? One last foot to the floor? Ah, my climbing career makes me shake my head at how easy that seems… a foot, a mere foot. What did I learn in climbing, though? Oh yeah: you can generate a shocking amount of force in a very short fall.
So now it’s a mind game.
Fine. I’ll just wait it out. Eventually my mind will get tired. That’s my secret strategy.
04/30/2008 at 10:57 am
What about doing gradual standing backbends as prep to the dropbacks? I think doing these kinds of backbends that are slower and that allow a more relaxed breathing pattern help me get past some tension issues. Per David’s instruction, I slide my hands down the backs of my legs until I’m bent over as far as I can go and then I either come up again or I raise my arms over my hand and go down to the stack of foam pads that I place against the wall.
04/30/2008 at 10:58 am
…raise my arms over my HEAD…
04/30/2008 at 4:03 pm
I can stand up but I can’t drop back ! I do have a fear after landing on my head a couple of times in the past. Now I am practising dropping onto a bolster and try to control the descent. I am contemplating trying with a bicycle helmet on. Have you ever tried with your climbing helmet ?
04/30/2008 at 7:09 pm
Or: try dropping back onto a crash pad! I LOVED that in my time in SF (I don’t have a pad of my own here).
Also, Arturo posted some delicious stuff about bending yourself backwards, a post or two ago: the game is to bend the knees deeply enough to arch back and take the calves; I’m not sure I quite get it, but it’s worth a read.
05/01/2008 at 7:25 pm
Hi Karen
Whohoo! It’s Tzen now. I’ll always feel you’re giving donut gifts, though.
Hi Patrick, it was mainly not to worry about aligning the feet, in my case, something they always instruct, but splaying them and pretending you’re going to do the limbo, bending way back. It was also like what Carl describes, walking the hands sufficiently back behind the legs to the calves. I did that this morning, but I feel that I also need to remember that the chest is going upwards, creating a curve.
Floss, if you try the helmet approach I would be interested to hear about it, although I don’t think I could try that in my apartment. I would walk up 3 neighbors.
Cheers,
Arturo
05/01/2008 at 7:28 pm
I thought about the helmet idea, but falling on the helmet seems like it might actually be more problematic, since there is motion inside the helmet shell — at least if I fall on my head, it’s a stable surface! I wondered if the helmet would roll, which might pose some significant risk to the neck. Who knows, though! Maybe helmets and platform shoes are the answer to our backbending issues!