Shorts, Duck, Down

Posted in ashtanga yoga on 06/10/2009 08:45 am by karen

I feel like an ass going to Mysore practice in shorts. I want to wear a little button that says, “This is a purely utilitarian clothing selection.” I may try some of those loose slippery nylon capri things. I think Be Present makes them?

What I need is slipperiness for the eka and dwi pada sirsasanas. Oh, and NO slipperiness for bakasana B and tittibhasana A.

Speaking of tittibhasana, a little discussion about these new poses set The Cop off on a lewd yoga pose naming spree last night. It was hilarious, though not suitable for public documentation.

And yeah, the tittibhasanas. I mean, OW! Searing pain that grows ever more intense. What’s not to love?

This morning, Muscle Man goaded me into trying karandavasana. Hilarious trying to figure out how to lotus upside down. I got the first leg, but then was stymied about where my left leg was. What a funny feeling, to have no clue where your leg is in space. He touched my left foot to my right knee, and then I could understand where I was. Wriggled the foot in. Then he basically hauled me down and hauled me back up.

“Hey, that was EASY!” I announced. “You know, so long as you do all the work.”

Then a woman across the room fell over in garbha pindasana and couldn’t get out.

“Man down!” he said, and ran over to help.

I don’t know. Being a yoga teacher seems like being a kindergarten teacher in lots of ways…

 

30 Comments

  1. ahahaha! i love it! being a yoga teacher SHOULD be like being a kindergarten teacher, frequently it seems like being a drill sergeant.
    can you balance on your butt in dwi pada without the legs popping out when you are slippery? i get scolded for wiping down. A says i need to develop the strength to hold the legs back there with the sweat. it is true of course.

  2. Laughing at the discovery of the Titti burn; yeah you never forget your first encounters with that.

    Yes, to the “WTF? Where is my other leg?” in the Karanda setup.

    Dude, you are LUCKY to have someone help put you in that one.

    What’s up with the no-shorts anxiety? Is that a public thing or a shorts thing? I see it a lot in the cybershala and I just don’t get it.

    Yes, teaching yoga IS a lot like teaching kindergarten.

  3. It feels exhibitionistic, Patrick. Being an extravert, you wouldn’t understand. ;-)

    You know, I KNEW you’d think I was lucky to have someone put me in karandavasana. On the one hand, yes, it’s good to have help. On the other, it’s good to really learn it yourself (a la Grimmly). I mean, my teacher can raise and lower me day after day, but to what end? Yes, help with the initial kinesthetic understanding is terrific. But after that… it always feels like diminishing returns to me. But maybe that’s just because I feel compassion for these poor teachers who have to put up with our inabilities. :-)

    Tova, teacher is still helping me balance in dwi pada — just lets go at the end of the upright breathings so I can see if I have the balance. Once I engage my super-shoulders to lift up and transition out, my feet generally fly apart, sweat or no. I’m trying to find longer legs on craigslist.

    What do you have to drill sergeant people about in class?

  4. Yes, true true, I see the diminishing returns. Mostly I declare your luck because I would LOVE someone to help me grok the lotus kinesthetics. That’s my main point of struggle in solo Karanda.

    Hahahaha–yes, ok, so noted. I AM a big extrovert and yes, I wouldn’t understand :-D I sometimes, in warm enough weather, practice outside in naught but sunscreen and shorts.

    “Longer legs on craigslist”…dude we could hire Frankenstein and Co. to give you a few inches off mine; I often can’t keep the ankles behind my head because my shins are so freakin’ long.

  5. I’m sure there are Frankenstein wannabes on craigslist. Perhaps you’ll also share your folding ulnas?

  6. i might like a longer torso. can you get those on CL as well?
    and me? i have nothing to drill sergeant people about. did you not see the bit of drill sergeant in DI when you were here? i think he sometimes subscribes to the if it does not kill you it makes you stronger style of teaching.

  7. I thought DI was a big pussycat. :-) I imagine if I’d stayed longer, he would have turned to the “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” method.

    Actually, I guess most teachers do that. Current teacher keeps pushing me, as did VBG. I wonder if they’re secretly waiting for the student to say, “Geez! Uncle, already!” before they stop.

  8. plenty people practice in shorts, men practice without their tops, so where is the problem. I would not wear shorts because I don’t like the sight of my legs and would not want to impose it on others, but if I come to the point where it will be more useful for my practice to wear shorts, I will do so at the shala (and if anyone faints at the sight of my cellulite, well be it… (says she so bravely and goes on practicing in long black tights cause the make her look thinner than the grey ones ;-)

  9. Haha! Yes, that’s what I feel like, Fatou. One moment I feel like, “Who cares?” and then in the next, I suddenly feel self-conscious.

    But I’m going to have to do what I have to do. At this point, if foot behind the head poses mean I have to wear shorts, put slippery lotion on my shoulders, and shave my legs for aerodynamic advantage, then I’m going to do it. :-)

  10. Hey Karen,

    So your FBH thing is slipping the leg, what, OVER the shoulder? Don’t most folks complain about keeping the leg FROM slipping out from behind the head?

    You might wind up having a gift here.

  11. Yes, the tough part is getting it back behind my shoulder. I am missing some kind of folding mechanism in my shoulders — they are just a broad expanse of unbendingness. Once my foot’s back there, it stays — where else would it go? Are you saying your leg is so loose back there that it falls out of place?!? I think *you’re* the alien, um, I mean the gifted one, not me. ;-)

  12. Man down! That made me laugh!

    I think those Be Present capris with the slit up the back of the calf part are really cute.

  13. I know, the “Man down!” thing delighted me, too. :-)

  14. Yeah, the Be Present capris are really cute…and made of really thin fabric. Totally not recommended for Yoga Nidrasana.

  15. Oh Lord, is there no end to the complications of second series? ;-)

  16. uh, yeah- drill sergeant/kindergarten teacher for sure! (playfulness and discipline wrapped into one)

    ah… I never forget the first Titti burn. ha ha ha!! We’re freaks, right?

    What a fun, fun post- loved every bit. YOU in shorts, not a problem. ME in shorts, big problem. I don’t think the online talk of shorts is about anything other than our own insecurities- definitely not any indication that no one should wear them (a few do where I practice, and more power to them). I think you should keep wearing them!

    Leg in space- ha! Once you find it on your own, I have a feeling you’ll be killing it in Karanda. Be lucky you have a solid Pincha (I do too- can stay up there forever), it helps to not have to worry about that with all the other fuss in Karanda.

  17. Well if clothing choices are the most complicated part of Second, then we win, eh? :)

    Yeah, check out the EZBoard now Yuku on FBH, if you can find the thread. I think that most of the complaints were, “Dude, I can’t keep the foot behind my head.” Apparently someone asked Tim once, how to keep the foot from slipping over the head, and he said, “Don’t let it slip.” LOL!

    I can, these days, keep the foot back, if the hip flexors are not feeling fussy. It winds up tucked into the curve of the cervical or, on a good and warm practice day, with some of the shoulder behind the calf helping keep it from tilting my head to one side. Ahhh.

    Susan, if she checks in here, might have a bunch of informative stuff to say on FBH.

  18. Okay, so when these people (with, presumably, long legs) do yoga nidrasana, the problem is solved because their bodies are in the way & their legs can’t escape, yes?

  19. Karen, let’s imagine you are taking your left leg into Eka Pada:

    Start by taking your heel towards your ear, as if it was a telephone, with your left hand. Then take your right hand up and over your head and grab the top of your foot. Pull back and towards the right, and then, here comes the interesting bit: take your left hand to the front and across your right thigh (your right leg should be on the floor, pointing straight ahead). Grab the outside of your thigh and then then pull with all your might. This will move your left shoulder forwards. At the same time, rotate *internally* your left leg so that the left knee, rather than pointing to the left, points to the left AND the back. See what you are doing here? You are allowing space between your left shoulder and your left calf so that you can then wiggle your left leg deeper behind the shoulder. No extra lotion or water needed.

    I know it sounds overtly complicated but as the owner of a pair of massive calves on a very petite frame, I found it to be the only thing that works.

  20. Two thoughts:
    Yoga teacher just *recommended* that we wear less clothes b/c it’s getting quite muggy in the shala these days. I have gone from tank top to sports bra, though I admit to no shorts yet. I’d have to buy some, and I am more self-conscious about legs and exhibitionist with tummy.

    Man down! Reminded me of the first time I lifted up with legs crossed behind head. I fell forward onto my face (timber!) b/c I couldn’t get my legs or hands out in time. Made a big thud onto my forehead before I started giggling. Needless to say, the teacher scurried over…

  21. Thanks for that V, can’t wait for the morning to give that a try.

  22. yogi nidrasana is a delight.

  23. Zzzzzzzz….

  24. *reads Owl’s .02 and begins howling maniacally, promising her another “seventh series” update soon*

  25. Owl knows we are all just monkeys wearing the smooth hats of dreams.

    Vanessa! Thanks so much! Can’t wait to try it tomorrow morning.

    Wow, blog hits are through the roof. Apparently second series is a popular topic. Or maybe it’s the shorts.

  26. I think it’s all of those Googlers putting in “shorts duck down,” don’t you?

  27. Smart smooth-hatted monkeys! Did not mean to silence any monekeys anywhere… I was just referring to the fact that yogi nidrassana is “yogi sleeping posture”! But Patrick’s interpretation is probably better.

    There is a story of a certain extremely famous California teacher who used to get in to that posture back in the day and make all kinds of yawning sighing pre-sleeping noises. But I would have to be a blogger of no integrity to even mention that or make any inappropriate allusions.

    :-)

    [Speaking of monkeys, I want to share that the Editor is walking around dressed like Harry Potter in a puffy-sleeved blue robe with epaulets and a puffy gold and blue hat right now. Get a PhD and you really get to be a monkey. ]

  28. Hey Karen, I’m going to wear shorts this summer too : )

    Patrick, thanks for the vote of confidence, but I have nothing useful to say about LBH, despite have drivelled on about it in many a post over the last year. I’d say V pretty much has it spot on, but it’s still a puzzle to me – how much should the knees point back and how much out to the side? How far down is the optimal position for the foot? Does it even matter, it’s more about the shoulder? Why is one side easier in certain postures and the other side in other postures? Etc. And then you just keep doing it and doing it….

  29. And it gets better, Susan, yes? Please tell me yes! :-)

    Owl! Congrats to The Editor! Make sure you document him hopping like a leprechaun.

  30. It gets better :)

Leave a Reply

« | »