I’ve been using the Maehle technique, too. It’s consistent with the principles of deliberate practice.

One of the things I’ve always been amused about, when it comes to deliberate practice, is that it is recognized right up front that deliberate practice is not fun. The whole idea is that you are practicing at the very edge of your capability, which means you won’t be getting the ego-fulfillment of being able to do something easily. Basically, it’s grind, grind, grind, stretch, stretch, stretch. Sounds familiar?

This morning is led intermediate with Andrew Eppler, who is visiting from Oklahoma.

“Blatant Documentary” from Drew Hutchinson on Vimeo.

Here’s my blog for the course. And here’s the site for PLENK2010. Join up, if it looks interesting!

So now the practice is not about coming up, but about paying attention to the soreness (which is always gone when I am warmed up and doing drop backs) and *letting go of the willfulness*. Until, I dunno, maybe Thursday?

In the meantime, I am also dealing with the fear thing in kapo. It fascinates me how people are comfortable in their bodies in different ways. Rock climbing falls: acceptable. Falling off a mountain bike onto cactus and desert boulders: unacceptable. The Cop’s parameters are exactly opposite. Curling my head under so I can rest my forehead on the floor in kapo (where’re my hips?!) is a little scary, even though it actually feels pretty good. Extending my neck backwards that way is not a comfort move for me. I avoid it. Why do we have these weird kinesthetic preferences? Swami Jyotirmayananda would say “karma,” I’ll bet.

The mechanics of the neck/shoulder curl is good, though, because it means I can always grasp further up my feet in kapotasana. As is often the case, my fear has been overcome by grasping. (She said ruefully.)

At drop backs I thought about my knee and then, magically, also thought about the curled-under feeling of kapo. Uh, duh? Yeah, that’s what I’m supposed to be doing as I arch back for a drop back. Teachers have told me to arch back, but I didn’t understand what they meant. I wish I were one of those people who can figure things out kinesthetically, instead of having to figure physical things out (slowly!) through my head.

So yeah, forehead on the floor in kapo seems equivalent to curling back for drop backs. My backbend intuition is astonishingly poor. It cracks me up.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Richard Freeman!

Yoga and Buddhism!

***

New class in October!

Check out the classes!

I registered yesterday. Classes will start when I’m on vacation in Tucson in October. I was planning on visiting Lisa’s shala in September, but September is now jam packed with a board meeting (DC), a conference (Chicago), and a summit (Phoenix). I’ll be ready for vacay in October, that’s for sure.

***

Dwi pada. I can bring my right foot up enough to bring it even with the left. Just a couple more inches before I ought to be able to make the hook. As Susan suggested, sitting up straight and bandha-ing through it does in fact seem to work better than leaning my head forward.

During practice this morning I paid attention to my shoulders. Indeed, there is lots of symmetrical movement throughout primary. But there are also opportunities to explore independent movement — particularly in the marichyasanas (A & B especially, it seems).

I think my shoulders are where I do my mind/body split. When I am thinking, I like the way it feels to have all of the energy in my head (like a brain in a jar!), and when I am doing physical things, I like to keep the energy more around my center of gravity/hips. Shoulders are where I make the split. They’ve been left out for a long time. Ought to be interesting trying to integrate them back in. Both for thinking and for doing.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

I’m getting the right foot to within 4 inches of the hook, but as I tip forward a bit to catch it behind the left, boing! out shoots the left from behind my head.

And in kapo news, it finally dawned on me that the whole thing is much easier if I put my forehead on the floor instead of the top of my head. Duh?

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

***

Daisy is super food motivated. As I was preparing dinner, she worked up her courage and took a flying leap, trying to get up on the counter. Missed by three feet, but it was a noble attempt.

***

Waylon’s favorite game (aside from the bitey game), is the pully game. He pulls, I resist, he drags the object out of my hands, then returns so you can give it another try. Sure enough, he had his blue cloth snake & brought it by for Daisy to grab. They pulled a bit and he won. He stood there for a moment, then went back to her and dipped his head down so she could grasp the other end of the snake. Round two goes to Waylon. And round three. And four. You get the picture.

Posted using ShareThis