Not amused

This morning I woke up and back pain was back. Has my yoga practice caused it? Perhaps my body position during the night has been awkward? I don't know. I tried to convince myself during the day that all is fine. You're OK, back, I told myself. One hour ago pain disappeared totally. Suddenly it was gone. I tried to feel at least a bit of uneasiness, yet in vain. As it came, it disappeared.

We were so busy today. In the morning was no time for yoga and now it's too late. The body had a day off and a bit more time to recover. Perhaps this was necessary. I know that I'll have time tomorrow.

My yoga is my linchpin. I like to see it that way. My yoga practice is my health insurance. It will keep me strong and flexible. It's an important practice.

A compliment

Today my mother-in-law made me a great compliment. She said that she was astonished how relaxed I was. And she thinks that this came from my yoga practice.

This is one of the goals of yoga. It might be a side effect that comes from daily practice over years probably decades. One day the body is stiff, the next day it's very flexible. It goes on like this year in, year out. After some years one learns to observe the ups and downs without judging. It's as life is. One knows the next day the practice can have new surprises. It makes no sense to generalize. Only because today a practice was great, doesn't mean that the practice tomorrow has to be great as well.

Even though the circumstances are a bit challenging right now, I practiced. I had to practice in a living room without any blocks and other support. For the time being I need my wheel to bend backwards. Yet, I managed it to practice before breakfast. Oh my I was stiff. The 90 minutes on the mat went over so fast.

We'll have lunch in a restaurant today. Will I be strong enough to skip the dessert? I'm not sure.

We're all practitioners at different levels. :)

Also a stiff practice is a worth doing it. I feel good.

Wonderful

Primary today.

I become stronger again. Today my mind was so busy with the vinyasas that I had forgotten the back pain.

It's so fulfilling to practice.

In a hurry again........ I can clearly say, the most important activity of my day is done already. What is more important than my health? Deep breathing? Being focused? Enjoying the simple things in life?

60 minutes count

I practiced before 12 am. In the afternoon I won't practice anymore, this is the experience. Either I find time in the morning or I'll have a day without yoga. After some inner discussions I stepped on the mat. The last practice was last Friday. Five days is a too long break. I felt it. After 60 minutes I was done.

Let's focus on the positive stuff:
1. I practiced.
2. It feels good to take it easy from time to time.
3. In January I practiced 5 times. In February I practiced already 8 times. There is still potential, February is not yet over.

It's good to have a plan. Today I tried some back bending exercises that I saw on the Internet. These exercises were all too demanding. They were more challenging than kapotasana or urdhva dhanurasana. It makes more sense to repeat some good exercises or to hold them longer than to add too many exercises.

All asanas felt good 2 years ago. I reached my limits, but they felt good. This is the point that I want to reach again. I understand the sentence that one has to work through the pain. Often it's true, but one has to differentiate. If one is injured it's nonsense to work through the pain.

So, I'm ready for the next tasks. Oh, it's lunch time. This break feels deserved.

Exploring back bending asanas with a strap

First picture: The idea is to stretch the legs. It's incredible difficult, but I saw a lady doing this.
Second picture: The idea is to walk the hands to the foot along the strap. This is also very difficult.

I'm not sure if these exercises make sense. Some exercises are more difficult than the asanas that I want to approach with these exercises. Yet one attempt is nothing.

There are so many crazy poses. I'm fascinated. Tiny changes can make a huge difference.

My favorite preparation asana for the back bending asanas are the forward splits. Then next exercise is walking down the wall with the hands. This stretches the upper body. To repeat these two exercises already makes a difference. It prepares the body perfectly for the asanas, like kapotasana and urdhva dhanurasana. I could aim for 5 repetitions of these preparation exercises. I could aim for holding the poses 1 minute. A minute can be rather long.

I progress

I progress. I get stronger again. Also today I did all the vinyasas of primary series. It was hard. That's how it is. To get stronger again is hard work. My practice lasted 90 minutes. It was a concentrated practice. I didn't like to interrupt it. The picture is from last week. 

At the end of my practice I whisper: Thank you. So much is possible. As yoginis we strive for a healthy body, that is we train our body to get strong and flexible and relaxed at the same time.

We also exercise contentment. One day we're weak, the other day we are super flexible. We observe and move on, don't we? We practice detachment from the daily ups and downs. This is challenging, too.

To detach from the daily stories that the mind creates can be as difficult as doing handstand.
After a yoga practice I usually have interrupted the repeating stories of my mind. After the yoga practice that implies focusing on the breath I often have a refreshed view of things. Often I'm relaxed, new perspectives can be seen. I feel so much better after each practice. This motivates me to step on the mat.

Observe what is and move on. Don't give proud and frustration too much attention. It's just another story. It's relative. Also feelings change, often very quickly. Inhale and exhale. I think that's what a daily practice wants to tell us.

Bhekasana

The picture shows the classic pose. In the past I was able to reach the floor with my fingers. In the end position the heels touch the floor. It's a long journey down. The past is over. I pick myself up where I am now. In order to prepare this pose some yoginis practice eka pada bhekasana. They put one leg in the position while  the other leg remains stretched. Then they alter legs. My favorite preparation is to lie on my back with the legs bent and the feet next to the body. This stretches the thighs enormously. 

There are always preparation poses, easier variations of a pose and more demanding ones. 

This morning I searched the Internet and found a more demanding variation called supta bhekasana. In this version the back faces the floor and it's rounded. The hands press the feet upwards. I was astonished how difficult it is. I used blocks to explore the version. My knees are in the air. I can try to move them toward the floor. 

Another interesting variation is to do eka pada bhekasana in ustrasana. I'll explore this asana next time. 

To get a good adjustment in bhekasana is wonderful. Sometimes there is no substitute for a good teacher. 

My focus was back bending today. 90 Minutes  is enough. After my intensive back bending asanas I was no more able to do the twists. Fine. Flexibility has many levels. By now I cannot move from intensive back banding asanas to intensive forward bending asanas or intensive twists. The body doesn't allow it. I don't mind. Tomorrow I'll focus again on forward bending asanas.