Exercise
Posted in ashtanga yoga on 07/14/2009 07:42 am by karenForrest Yoga feel like exercise.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
MM has Mysore class on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Led primary on Saturdays. Sunday is my day off. Tuesday and Thursday I do home practice.
Today I decided to try Ana Forrest’s UNRAVELLING THE MYSTERIES OF NECK, SHOULDERS AND HIPS. I do have a very mysterious neck.
Anyhow, I did it because I take suggestions from people on the internet (thanks, Elizabeth!). That’s a little bit of a joke. Still, I did some reading on AF last night and indulged in some nostalgia for my muscles.
Back in the 90s and 00s, I was all about cultivating my muscles. How I loved them. Giving up lifting and turning to an all yoga all the time practice was, at least in the beginning, a lesson in letting things go. And by things I mean hard muscles.
So I let them (sometimes grudgingly) go. In return, a lot of tangles and tensions of muscle and tendon and ligament (and breath!) unravelled. It felt like I was coming apart, in a way, and I really like(d) that feeling.
I am in a weird place now, though. I need more unravelling for kapotasana and LBH, but I also need to recultivate some strength for the stand-ups and tics.
Been letting everything go, but maybe need to pull some of it back in. Especially around the abs.
Okay, so I did an AF practice this morning and was happy to do lots of inversions, and irritated to do (what seemed like) really long holds. The fun of something new. The annoyance of something strange. Good times.
I am onto something here about rebuilding some strength. Ideally, a less tense kind of strength. I’ll play with it on Tuesdays and Thursdays for a month. And we’ll see what happens.
07/14/2009 at 7:34 pm
Karen, as you might guess, I’m kind of interested in Forrest yoga too. But she scares me to death. I’m really interested in her wrist warm ups and exercises since I love me some arm balances and the wrists need to be taken care of. If I lived in your city, I’d make you take a workshop with me!
Have you found that you maintained your muscle, but it softened in a good way? What I mean by that is, obviously you know there is a huge difference between yogi muscle and weight lifter muscle. When you look at my man, you see big, beefy guy. But if you touch his muscles when he’s not flexing, they’re soft and nice. The minute he engages them, they’re rock hard. (I’m really trying not to make this sound pervy). I just wonder how the muscles are developed so differently in yoga. I mean, we are lifting out body weight over and over- muscle is being built, but it’s not tough and unforgiving. Maybe it’s because we learn to use them in a more sophisticated way- trying to get away from brute force (or is that just me? ha!).
07/16/2009 at 11:42 am
Go you!!!! Wow!!! So thrilled ya tried it. Check out the “Celebrate Your Practice” MP3 if you want more pigeony hips, and the “Struggle Free” or “Open the Heart” MP3s for more backbending.
If you’ve looked at Ana Forrest’s online demos at http://www.forrestyoga.com , you’ve seen that the strength she builds comes with plenty of flexiblity & release. (Understatement!! : )
I’d substitute the word “exercise” for “work.” : ) The holds feel long because, well, they are, esp compared to Ashtanga’s 5 breath holds. But sooo worth it.
Theorizing here, but maybe the difference in muscle development between yoga & weightlifting is like that between dance & weightlifting. You’re doing a lot more isometricand eccentric work, holding and controlling movement while expanding range of motion. Completely different from contraction and concentric which seem to dominate most folks weight lifting styles. Does that make sense?
And dealing with the “inner bitchy voice” is part of the learning process for anything new, at least for me! : ) Very happy to spread some Forrest goodness!!!!!