Whoa…

Posted in ashtanga yoga on 06/08/2009 09:59 am by karen

Okay, strongest impression from practice this morning revolved around yesterday’s craving for salmon. I indulged the craving, had some yummy salmon and asparagus, and felt like crap in practice this morning. Oily food makes my joints feel great (and my skin!) but it also makes my stomach feel AWFUL in backbends. And I felt like I smelled of salmon and asparagus, which was kind of gross. Muscle Man eats meat, though, so I guess it probably wasn’t too awful from his perspective.

Note to self: please don’t make that mistake again.

I only forgot two things when I packed: mascara and deodorant. Two things I really would rather not do without. Still, better them than underwear or shoes.

Practice was intermediate to dwi pada sirsasana. Another note to self: put some body lotion on the backs of your shoulders before practice. I’m sweating like I’ve never sweated before, which is kind of cool, but I don’t seem to sweat much on the backs of my shoulders. If they’re slippery, eka and dwi pada are MUCH easier.

After dropbacks, Muscle Man said, “Tic tocs.” My eyes bugged out of my head. “Just one way,” he reassured me. So up into a handstand and over into a backbend. Woohoo! What fun. Of course, it’s only fun because he has to catch me.

Yeah, so I muddled through an intermediate practice. At the end, I figured I’d chat with him to verify that he felt it was the right practice for me to be doing. I guess I was overcome with insecurity — what if he was regretting his suggestion (after witnessing my muddling)?

I packed up and went over to thank him and to ask my question.

“Are you running out of time for your practice? Do you need to get to work?” he asked.

“Uh, no. I’m good for time,” I said, confused about what he was asking.

“You should go through to pincha mayurasana,” he said.

“Okay.”

Haha! How easy it is to say okay, right? Now I’m actually gonna have to DO it.

I know plenty of folks out there are well into the end of intermediate and on into advanced, but I do want to note that intermediate is hard. It looks like it’s not going to be that big of a deal, because you lose the bazillion vinyasas — but it’s a pretty strenuous string o’poses. I’m still kind of sketching it out in my body — still experiencing the design of the sequence. I really like it, but it’s daunting to think of doing it 5 days a week. Kind of like how primary seemed at first, now that I think of it.

 

22 Comments

  1. Yes, second that. Intermediate has more advanced stuff quicker and sooner than Primary does, was my experience.

    I’m trying to follow your/MM’s recipe for a week of Intermediate, to see what happens. Also, this makes for quicker practice, which I need now that time is short, always.

    I find that “off” days end with Eka Pada, because I can’t do it on off days. “On” days, time permitting, can get into the seven deadlies. Karanda and I are still not friendly, but I make myself get up there 3-6 or more times and then move on, if that’s what I’m doing that day.

    The time warp is weird, yeah? It’s like Paaaaaasasana, KAPO! then ZIP through the twists and suddenly your foot’s behind your head and then FLASH you’re upside down.

  2. Hi Karen!
    I can’t think of a single person who considers intermediate “easy”… yeah, there are less vinyasas, but the exits from a lot of those poses ain’t easy- and neither are the poses! I don’t know if you’ve worked on Pincha much, but as a fellow I-need-to-stretch-my-armpits kind of person, I think I can guess you’ll like it! Stretch up and reach for the sky and the pits will love you for it. ha ha!!

  3. Liz – I think Second is “easy”. Not that I am proficient at it, but I do full Second (with modifications – can’t touch my own toes in Kapo and two Pinchas instead of Karandavasana) on days when I need to work less hard. It’s something about the repetitiveness of the poses in each sub-sequence and the lack of vinyasas. Plus, I am a natural at inversions and arm balances. Or maybe that I have never built up the perfectionism with Second that I have with Primary. Whatever the case, I am the exception that proves the rule (whatever that means).

  4. Yeah, Second is easy if you are modifying. D’oh! ;-)

  5. :-) You know what really gets me? The breath. Holy moley, it’s hard to stick to the breath count. And at least with primary, the vinyasas are all the same, so there’s the “rest” of the repetitive vinyasa transitions.

  6. Put me on the Intermediate is HARD list. But I don’t get it,keep thinking it should be easier than primary(re vinyasa) but I find I have to take a couple of minutes here and there to get my breath back (just before kapo and before karanda),don’t need to do this in primary). Is it that the asana are somehow more intense? Find sticking to the breath hard too, so many of the Intermediate asanas seem harder to get into, breaks up the rhythm, though less so after the duck.
    Trying to remember which ruddy vinyasa it is this time helps keep you present I guess.

    Like the sound of your teacher, sounds very encouraging.

    As Liz might put it, Go karan GO!

  7. WOO-HOO! Enjoy the ride :)

    Yeah, you really get to grips with the breath in intermediate. Nerve Cleansing..

    I like the way boodi described it once, it’s ‘kind of jazzy’.

  8. Oh, yeah, V, I almost forgot: not only do I modify those two poses, but I also roll up my mat for Pasasana. Modifying three poses must be what makes it feel easy for me. I totally suck. And I love it.

  9. Jazzy! I love it! That’s exactly right. The passages within the series are quite like jazz riffs.

    It’s definitely harder to breathe in backbends than forward bends — the diaphragm is restricted. That may explain the “gaspiness” toward the end of the backbending riff that culminates with supta vajrasana. I’m imagining that once the breath is squared away, that might diminish…

  10. Yeah, breathing harder in backbends!

    I don’t find Intermediate’s vinyasa to be all that hard; the variety is actually quite fun. Jump back a squat, one-leg back, jump back a few kneeling positions and a lotus, again one leg back, etc.

    I love the leg-over-shoulder (well, or head) exit from the Eka Padas.

    So Karen, in a month, are you going to ask MS to drop a bunch of Second on you? :)

  11. (Owl restraining glee. So much restraint…!)

    Is there a way to check in with how this affects your cognitive strength though the day? Maybe a crossword puzzle every day at 4 pm?

    My measure right now is how long after practice before I’m really itching to stop reading the news and get to writing. Also (maybe more on an emotional dimension) how interested I am in showering attention on the Editor at night (rather than disappearing in to my email or a bath/self-massage). Maybe the other very intense teachers/workers in this thread have other, better ideas for built-in measures for this dimension of energy/fatigue….?

  12. Yes! Restraint! I am proud.

    I love the cognitive stamina test idea. I’ll need to figure out how to factor out the daily work stress variable…

  13. (Owl refraining from jumping up and down and asking Karen about her forearm balances.)

    Gulp.

  14. the breath… for sure, Karen. I used to get, “INHALE into that… Bakasana B, Tittibhasana- whatever”- then I would ask, “What was I doing?”. Answer: “holding your breath”. ha. I find the breath to be powerful and unavoidable in second. Same goes with the bandhas.

    (also refraining from asking about the forearm balances. hee hee!)

  15. I spent two years jumping into Bakasana B while holding my breath!

  16. Haha! You’re funny. I can do pincha. It’s one of the (few) “gimme” poses I’ve always been able to do. My stiff back makes inversions fun and stable.

  17. I can see it coming…the Karandavasana cybershala video challenge!!! tachan!!!

  18. You know Karen, I’d never thought of it before but I often listen to jazz when I do intermediate at home, but it doesn’t work at ALL for primary.

    I think it’s a lot harder to relax in something like shalabasana or dhanurasana than say janu sirsasana or tiriang.. we really have to get to grips with the 70% rule in 2s or we are quickly knocked out and left gasping and trembling.. also I used to over-inhale in the backbends, had to learn to exhale fully and keep my ribcage relaxed, a process which took some time. I’m feeling like this process of getting to grips with the breath and steadying the nerves is essential for embarking on third, it seems like you really need to find stillness there and a thin, subtle, quiet kind of breath..?? Still not sure what it’s all about…

  19. I’m curious about the relaxed ribcage. My version of relaxed ribcage means the lower ribs really poking out, and I’ve been corrected on that a lot. Still, it feels like the best way to get length in the thoracic area…

    I was also thinking about the 70% rule. You know what’s hard about practicing at a shala? The adjustments. They can make me feel like I am supposed to be working REALLY hard, ALL the time. Like each adjustment is a reminder of how close to the edge I should always be. But perhaps that is a misinterpretation on my part. If I can just stick with the 70% and let the adjustments be singular moments of illumination — rather than interpreting them rebukes to my 70% “laziness” — that would probably be a healthier attitude. (So now I’ll work HARD on being more RELAXED! LOL! Just like the Type A kind of person I am…)

  20. hi Karen
    not to scare you, but i could hardly walk on Sunday after full Intermediate practice. my feet where jiggly going down stairs. i recovered after a shower. however, intermediate is much better for those of us sitting on chairs all day long. all of that chest opening just feels great and expansive.
    hugs,
    Arturo

  21. Arturo- I totally agree, 2nd is great for people who tend to have jobs where it’s easy to hunch. I’m either behind my sewing machine or on the computer- super hunched over! I try to remember to sit up straight, but then I get so intense about a project I forget. Second helps crack me back open.

    Relaxed ribcage? huh? very interesting.

  22. << If I can just stick with the 70% and let the adjustments be singular moments of illumination — rather than interpreting them rebukes to my 70% “laziness” — that would probably be a healthier attitude. <<

    I can so relate, I always come home totally knackered after shala practice, as I feel like I need to give 110% there to prove that I am worthy of this practice. Crazy really, but true.

Leave a Reply

« | »