Barrier: exoskeleton

Posted in ashtanga yoga on 12/06/2010 10:33 am by karen

Self-myofascial release. Foam rollin’.

Okay, so I’ve been using the foam roller, and this morning’s practice was very weird, because something was missing. My tension exoskeleton. I didn’t even realize it was there until it was gone (or at least diminished — who knows what’ll happen as I carry on with the rolling…). I thought, “This is like practicing with an epidural!” — there was no sensation of tension in my legs or across my lower back. My response, truth be told, was fear — I don’t know how to protect myself from injury if there isn’t that tight web of “holding things together.”

In sirsasana, I felt like my hips, legs and feet were freely spiralling straight up into the sky.

I never realized how much “control” (i.e., tension) I kept in my outer thighs and piriformis. No wonder internal rotation seemed so difficult and counterintuitive.

 

ITB v LBH?

Posted in ashtanga yoga on 11/22/2010 07:16 am by karen

Is this really obvious and I just got it, or is the whole idea just a delusion? This morning, as I tucked my (tighter) right leg behind my head, I realized that the hip joint isn’t the sticking point. It feels like the resistance is actually coming from my IT band. I grabbed the foam roller and rolled the IT (yowch!), and then resumed. Seemed to have some effect on the tightness… Maybe I should ditch the extra curricular pigeons (which have never really seemed to do anything), and go with some runner’s IT stretches…

 

Speaking of The Cop

Posted in Uncategorized on 11/21/2010 01:32 pm by karen

Here’s The Cop doing what he does while I do yoga.

“Blatant Documentary” from Drew Hutchinson on Vimeo.

 

Water, couch

Posted in ashtanga yoga, dogs! on 11/19/2010 10:43 am by karen

Water! Humidity!

I put a vaporizer in the yoga room and have had the most delightful practices. Enjoyed it so much this morning, I even took a random UD pic. (Yes, I know my arms aren’t straight. Damn you, shoulders!)

Felt great.

And I even brought a little humidifier in to my office. Think of how dewy my skin will be. :-)

***

Yesterday was 8 weeks since Waylon’s surgery. The Cop brought him for his final x-ray and everything looks perfect. Best part of being cleared by the surgeon? He’s able to climb up on the couch again!

 

And then it is

Posted in ashtanga yoga on 11/14/2010 11:30 am by karen

“It’s not there, it’s not there, it’s not there, day after day. And then it is.”

Yeah, I saved the email that includes this bit of wisdom about dwi pada sirsasana (& all postures).

This morning I woke up really stiff and sore — psoas *and* QLs. No fair! Usually it’s one or the other. Ugh. As if Sunday practice isn’t usually rough enough, since it follows a rest day. Really, practice is easier on work days when there are things that need to get done and less time for inner chatter.

It’s autumn in the desert. No, not as cold as elsewhere in the country, but dry, dry, dry. And as of this week, I have the space heater turned on in the yoga room, so extra dryness. Gah!

I almost knocked off before LBH poses. Practices where my psoas muscles are sore are rough during back bending — but just ’cause it’s uncomfortable. When the QLs are complaining, LBHs feel kinda scary — like they might be dangerous. Sadly, I heard too many people (primarily non-Ashtangis) say bad things about leg behind the head poses before I got to them. Now I feel a little scared and superstitious about them.

Despite crappy conditions, I carried on.

I had noted, a couple of times last week, that as I was pushing my right (tight) leg back, I was using both hands. It was pretty funny the first time, because I almost fell forward when I noticed. And today, after such a crappy, thinky practice, I got both legs behind my head for first time. And balanced for five breaths.

Whee!

 

 

Birthday prop

Posted in ashtanga yoga, things i do to myself, things i like on 11/07/2010 11:01 am by karen

Okay, so a day late, but still. This morning, I made a little prop — very simple, but (I think) kind of ingenious. It totally gets at my psoas muscles, and I can use the wall to force gently open my chest and shoulders.

A bar stool, a bolster and a strap.

Put it close to a wall and add a stiff person.

 

You’re welcome

Posted in technology, things i like on 11/05/2010 04:06 pm by karen

Best evah. Seriously.

 

Deliberate practice

Posted in ashtanga yoga, things i like, work on 11/04/2010 12:51 pm by karen

So, anyone else see the parallels here with traditional Ashtanga practice?

 

Convo with my cousin, Daisy vs. coyote, Candy corn aggravates vata

Posted in current events, dogs! on 10/22/2010 02:57 pm by karen

Me: I put a quart of cold orange juice away in the pantry once. Didn’t find it until the next day. Let’s tell each other these stories. We can watch each other grow senile. It’ll be fun!

Cousin: Okay… beat this. Running around crazy doing errands…left a store, grabbed my cell out of my pocketbook… got into the car started to drive and called Gena. I had to pick up something for her and couldn’t remember where it was… Anyway, I’m flying down the highway talking to her and suddenly I’m yelling about how I have to go back and grab my cell phone because I can’t find it.

Me: Ha! You might win with that one. But we still have plenty of time to do even dumber things. Here’s one: I put my glasses on one afternoon. Whoa — suddenly everything looked all fuzzy. Weird! Pulled them off, and I could see perfectly. “Oh my God!” I thought, “My eyes have healed themselves!” Put the glasses back on: fuzzy. Took them off: clear. A miracle! Yeah, then I realized I had my contacts on.

***

A couple of nights ago, Daisy had a run in with a coyote. We have six foot and eight foot walls around the whole yard. She was out there alone, and suddenly I heard a dog fight. Ran out, and saw her running toward me. I grabbed a flashlight and went over by the wall, could hear something in the neighbor’s yard. The only two things that could have gotten over the fence that fast are a cat or a coyote. Couldn’t have been a cat, because there were no cat noises in the scuffle.

I’m taking Daisy to obedience classes, because she doesn’t seem to like/trust other dogs (other than Waylon), and I don’t like how she growls at other animals. Yeah, you should have seen her at her obedience class the night after the coyote fight. She was super aggressive. Damn nature! It’s messing up my plans for a sedate dog.

***

While I was in Tucson, I had an Ayurvedic consultation with L. I am pitta-vata, with a bad case (thanks a lot, job!) of super-aggravated vata. Exhaustion, spaciness, etc.

Since the session, I’ve been eating more carefully and using herbs to square the vata situation away. Been going remarkably well — until a few minutes ago, when someone on my team (who knows I love candy corn) left a big handful on my desk.

Can I resist the candy corn? I cannot.

 

Tucson

Posted in ashtanga yoga, dogs! on 10/10/2010 01:56 pm by karen

Here we are in Tucson. Arrived Wednesday afternoon. The business trip that was threatening (to Budapest!) did not come to fruition, so I was set free to carry on with my much-needed vacation.

MUCH needed. I slept all day Thursday. Led on Friday. Nice to see S again; he was leading, as L has been out of town (she’ll be back tomorrow). After led, I pretty much slept all day again. Headachy and stiff. Ugh. I started to wonder if I’d pushed myself too far to recover in time for the yoga part of my vacation… Spent yesterday sitting by a drugged Waylon, reading “The Hours.” (Two thumbs up for “The Hours,” especially if you — like me! — are a fan of “Mrs. Dalloway.”)

Waylon is recovering from his surgery — it’s been about 2 1/2 weeks. He’s supposed to be restrained for 8 weeks. Seriously! Not an easy job. Especially with Daisy always ready to incite him to riot. I’m not going to write about the first couple of days after the surgery, because they were traumatic and kind of horrifying. Let’s just say he had 18 staples down his leg and was heavily drugged and suffered mightily.

Much better now, except for having to be kept in a small space, which he doesn’t love. We have a corner of the living room encircled with a baby gate and a bunch of chairs to keep him contained. Also some sedatives so he doesn’t pace like a zoo animal. Meanwhile, Daisy cavorts around the living room or stands at the back door barking at… well, anything at all. Any time he is taken out to eliminate (the only exercise he is allowed), she runs into his space and steals his toys.

Practice today was better than I could have wished. Home practice, though, as there is no Mysore on Sundays at the shala here. Good for discipline. I finally feel like I am awake, after a couple of days of exhaustion, and the stiffness is gone. Yay! I’m looking forward to a proper shala practice tomorrow morning. And on Tuesday I booked an Ayurvedic consultation with L. I need some help trying to balance and sustain work and a loooong practice. Definitely have been burnt out for the past couple of months, and I really don’t want to keep doing that to myself.

 
Older Entries     Newer Entries