I should not write in blocks like this as the earlier days become a bit of a haze. This is not a good habit.
Never mind, I will write what I can remember. Days 12 and 13 were taught by Jessica, so I will merge both of these reports together.
In Deep Breathing – Pranayama, I am remembering to lock out my knees and it really helps me when I go into Half Moon - Ardha Chandrasina. I took a really deep breath once and could feel my stomach really going in. I never got it when they said that you should see your ribs in the mirror. I’ve got a bit of a tum, so seeing my ribs was not really possible. I could only keep such deep breaths only a couple of times. Something to work on.
Half Moon was a bit of a challenge. I can go quite deep in the sideways pose, but find it quite difficult to tweak when in a deep pose. I must tweak just before I push into a deeper posture. I am happy with my back posture, but find my lower back is still stiff, so it is difficult to do the forward bending pose Hands to Feet - Padahasthasana. I have found out that if I relax my back more, then I can straighten my legs more. I have problems with this pose as I find it quite claustrophobic.
Eagle pose is getting better. It was one of my least favourite poses and I still suffer from the odd twinge in my knee when getting into the final pose. I am learning how to tweak it as I adjust the positioning of my pronated feet. I am now able to stretch my palms out and work on my upper body. I can now tell my left from my right!
Standing Separate head to knee pose is still a challenge that I need to work on. I will get there.
I am still struggling with my Standing Bow Pose - Dandayamana Dhanurasana. That is the problem for me. I am really lazy with this posture, but I have to push this one. I keep falling out of it as I push further. Sometimes, I forget to lock the knee, or I stop locking the knee, which is fustrating. I also get pins and needles in my foot in this pose, and that can also affect my balance.
I am beginning to grab my heels in Standing Separate Leg Stretching - Dandayamana Bibhaktapada Paschimotthanasana. I hate the tension in my hamstrings. A bit hard to let go with this one.
I am happy with my progress in Triangle Pose - Trikanasana. I can hold the pose, and now find the strength to be able to tweak it by pushing out my hips further. I actually love the feeling of stretching my inner thighs in this one.
I did get some correction from Jessica in Standing Separate Leg Head to Knee - Dandayamana Bibhaktapada Janushirasana. I was leaning back when I should have been leaning much further into my palms, but at the same time using my palms to push my head against my knee more. I felt much more progress with this.
Tree Pose - Tadasana
I can hold this pose but I cannot make my palms meet each other. I was assured by Jessica that this is merely superfluous, and with this in mind I started to go into Toe stand - Padangustasana
on day 13. I cannot sit down fully as my hamstrings really twinge with this, so I go as far as I can then go back into Tree pose. I can go from half sitting to standing without falling down. I’m really proud of that!
Full Locust Pose - Poorna Salabhasana
This is challenging! It is still a challenge for me to lift up my legs, but I was reminded by Jessica to lock my knees out and keep it straight. It doesn’t matter about the height. Even more of a challenge!n.
Bow Pose - Dhanurasana
I need to kick out more to form a circle. I still don’t feel that I am pushing myself at all. This is one of my strongest poses and I feel quite lazy about this. Not good.
I can sit on the floor in Fixed Firm Pose - Supta Vajrasana. On day 13, my knees no longer twinged. It is just the tight muscles in my feet twinge now. I think I will be able to lie back soon, but I need to make sure that I fully sit on the floor with all of my weight.
I used to hate Camel Pose - Ustrasana. I stretch every single time that I do this. On day 12, I could hear crackling as I stretched.
Rabbit Pose - Sasangasana
This is not my favourite pose. I can’t really get a full back stretch with this one. I also feel quite suffocated with this. I do not find this a comfortable pose. Still have to work on this.
Head to Knee and Stretching Pose - Janushirasana and Paschimotthanasana is a challenge. I was corrected by Jessica on this one. I found out that I was rolling on the outer side. I also needed to flex my feet a lot more and bring my elbows down. Once I did that, then the stretch was good. A very challenging pose, as I feel quite tired at that point.
Crutch Watch
I am not using my towel as much. I use the back of my costume to wipe off the sweat if I for SSHK poses and I do not use it for wind removing poses.
I think I may be using my mat as a crutch as I use it to mark out my stance for triangle. Is that a good thing or bad?
I am beginning to feel my muscles aching now. My upper half has become much more muscular. My shoulders are much more defined. I am feeling aching in my inner knees and my ankles, but it is a good ache. On day 13, I tried to stay up, but went off like a light.
I complete all of the postures now. I attempt every single one. I love the heat now and the way that the sweat cools my skin.
Day 13
As I travelled to the studio, I was thinking
…..I don’t want to go…..I don’t want to go…..
But as soon as I got in there I was raring to go.
I forgot my small towel! Ok, let’s see how far I can go without this crutch.
I usually bring a small towel as the big towel doesn’t completely cover the mat and I like my mat covered. I found that I was quite happy to work without it, as I am happy with working on my grip on the wind removing pose. So that crutch has gone!
My Deep Breathing – Pranayama is getting better, as I am making my breaths even deeper and I can feel my ribs. I can’t see them though.
I really pleased with my Half Moon - Ardha Chandrasina back pose. I could see the midriff of the woman behind me. (She was resting at the time). I still think that I can further. I’ve only just begun.
Hands to Feet - Padahasthasana is still a pose to be worked on. Relax that back!!!!
I still working on my feet in Eagle Pose - Garurasana. It gets really uncomfortable when I twist my feet and it seems an incredible long time for me to get my legs into position. I am beginning to straighten my fingers so that my palms meet, and now I am working on putting my shoulders down.
I am really working on Standing Bow Pose - Dandayamana Dhanurasana. I saw this and realised that I should stop grabbing above my ankle and really focus on the relationship between pulled shoulder and pulled leg.
I’ve just found out there is a part 2 to this clinic.
My Triangle Pose - Trikanasana was corrected by Sam. My legs were ok, but I needed to work on my arms. They needed to be a lot more parallel before I fell into the final pose. Also my hands needed to be slightly slanted. (I can’t describe it very well!) I tried to do it in the second pose, but my movement memory recall was not doing very well at the time. Something to try next time.
I was falling out of balance with Tree Pose - Tadasana. Don’t know why, but I attacked Toe stand, but could only go halfway down. It’s progress.
.
Bow Pose - Dhanurasana
I need to kick out more to form a circle. I do not feel that I am pushing myself at all. I think I need to look up to push up. I need advice on this one.
In Camel Pose - Ustrasana, I discovered that I need to put the weight on my knees a lot more. This makes me grip my heels more. I always had problems with gripping my heels and this action seems to have solved it. Maybe I can move forward with this pose.
Rabbit Pose - Sasangasana
I DO NOT LIKE THIS POSE. I can’t really get a full back stretch with this one. I also feel quite suffocated with this. I find it really knackers me out, and I flop along with the other poses. This is a definite challenge
I have difficulty in resting my hip on the mat in Spine Twisting Pose - Ardha Matsyendrasana. I need to work on this. Sam noticed this and said that it will take time for the hip to reach the floor.
CrutchWatch
The towel has gone!
I need to work on the water bottle.
I think my mat maybe a crutch as well, but is that a good thing or bad?
I think my stripey towel is a crutch too….
My right leg was REALLY aching after, especially the inside of my knee and my calf. I’ve got lots of energy and feel much more lively and bouncier. I do not feel sluggish at all.
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