Unconventional, but perhaps my karma
Posted in ashtanga yoga on 05/29/2009 12:40 pm by karenMuscle Man was surprised to see me at the shala again this morning. Yes, I am an elusive home-practicing student. As I was finishing up primary, he crouched down to chat for a moment.
“What do you usually do at home? Just primary?” he asked.
“Primary and second to laghu vajrasana. Sometimes I do the dropback part of kapotasana but can’t grab my feet.”
“You should do second,” he pronounced.
“You mean more?” I asked, confused. Then it started to dawn on me. “You mean instead of primary?”
“Yes,” he answered. “Your primary is strong. You should concentrate on second.”
“My dropbacks suck.”
“Second will fix that.”
Alrighty, then.
Truth be told, I do just second on Thursdays. (Yes, Matthew Sweeney said I could!) It’s interesting, because it feels less bendy than after a full primary (duh!) but it’s also very focused because I’m not tired.
I am not sure what inspired me to head back to the shala this past week, nor am I sure about this “just second” idea. But I’m going to give it a try. We’ll see what happens if I try it Muscle Man’s way.
05/29/2009 at 1:25 pm
I think there is something to the idea that doing all that forward bending starts to get counter-productive after a while (I’ve heard this as a criticism of the Ashtanga method before). I’ve been seeing a PT for what I thought was a shoulder issue, but turns out to be more of a spinal nerve pinch issue (probably desk-job related). He was commenting that for as forward-bendy as I am, I should be more backward-bendy. He’s having me do “quick” hang-backs (10×1 breath each) *before* primary as well as cervical and thoracic spine exercises — I think the idea is to align the spine correctly, before all the forward bends. In the meanwhile, I just got several more back-bendy poses from second from my teacher, so it seems they are on the same page. Anyway, at least on my body, the backward and forward bending needs to be balanced out.
05/29/2009 at 1:26 pm
Also, isn’t is nice to get some outside perspective on your practice? Sounds like a nice change for you.
05/29/2009 at 2:09 pm
Maybe it was your karma to head back to the shala in order to be told to do 2nd daily?
05/29/2009 at 6:52 pm
This, of course, is compelling long distance advice for me, too. I had a Primary today which basically had everything but standups from the backbends. Hmm.
05/29/2009 at 6:59 pm
I knew you’d be interested.
Perhaps we can compare notes as we go along…
05/29/2009 at 8:57 pm
Karen, you’re going to rock 2nd series. And then primary will be a sweet treat when you go back to it!
This is exciting.
Have a great weekend!
05/30/2009 at 3:55 pm
It’s good. Maybe tell Troy the plan, see if he has thoughts about pacing? Have a wonderful trip… you’re going to love Seattle.
05/31/2009 at 4:04 am
Oooh this is an exciting post, though 2nd and 3rd hasn’t done much for MY drop backs, but then I’m a particularly tough nut, idiot savant. I’ll be interested to follow your progress!!
06/01/2009 at 8:59 pm
Great to meet you this morning! Seeing you and Armani set me up in fine stead for the day I had ahead of me. Wish I could practice with you, but alas, I’m at home again tomorrow. Hope you enjoy another practice with the Diver and all the yoga friends there!
06/02/2009 at 12:56 pm
Laura, such fun to meet you in person. And Keeman was just the best. You are both so lucky to have such a great teacher. I am already trying to figure out how to spend some time in Seattle so I can get back to your shala. That was some of the best instruction I’ve ever gotten.
06/02/2009 at 9:13 pm
i do feel so lucky. I’ve missed being there these past months–i’ll be back with him in mid june, if i don’t disappear into a loaf of bacon.