Woooooot!
I have no idea what the thinking is, and OK, so it's nowhere near splitting the series either... but if I get to cut out about 5 poses from the Primary series, I'm not complaining. Hehehe. (Anybody care to comment why you get to cut out poses now? ...simply so that your practice gets a tad shorter?)
It's funny how your brain gets scrambled just by shifting a little bit of the sequence that your body's so familiar with, since it's been practiced a certain way day in and day out. After Parsvottanasana, I did a vinyasa and came to seated and instead of going into Paschimottanasana, I sat in Dandasana for 5 breaths. It wasn't until I was into B variation of Paschimottanasana that I realized what I'd done.
W.E.I.R.D. I guess I've always just associated Dandasana with the "next section" of the Primary series. It's the first pose of the seated poses after all, and I find it kind of centers my focus.
It certainly hadn't centred me today though - coz after all the Paschimottanasanas, instead of going into Purvottanasana, I folded my leg in for ABP Paschimottanasana. HUH? I NEVER get my primary sequence scrambled (well, not in a long time since I learnt the series by heart ages ago anyway). I realized my mistake before I exhaled forward and corrected myself.
Wow, cutting out 5 poses really does mess with the sequencing in my head!
After dropbacks and what-the-heck-do-you-call-it-againasasana (cross arms in front of chest and get assisted dropbacks 3 times and go down fully on the 4th)... Teacher said "Handstands".
I used to love handstands. I have no idea why now, but the thought of handstands now fills me with DREAD and IMPENDING DOOM. I'm trying to figure out why. Maybe because I realize now how much more work I need to get done before I get a near-perfect handstand done? Anyways, my brain went "BLERRRRGGGGHHHHH" as I prepped myself.
I bunny-hopped up easily enough, I think Teacher was supporting me quite a bit for this coz I've always had trouble getting hips over the shoulders, and today's handstand felt quite strong. She let go of my legs and put her hand (I think?) in the small of my back and kept tapping me on the front of my thigh but I wasn't budging (I couldn't quite connect what she was telling my body to do). She got fed up with me and said "Just TRUST ME and let go there".
There are just too many things going on in my head in a handstand - I used to have a similar internal dialogue with the other pose I struggled with for a long time... Supta Kurmasana. It feels like your brain is gonna BURST out of your head with all the screaming thoughts you've got going on (y'know, kinda like when Sharath forced me to stay in headstand for his full horribly LONG counts). I no longer have internal screams in Supta K, in fact, it's a pretty peaceful pose for me now. I've transferred these big screams to my handstands now.
It goes a little like this:
"SUCK IN YOUR BELLY! KEEP THE FEET TOGETHER! POINT THE TOES UP! PRESS DOWN THROUGH EACH FINGERTIP!! STOP ARCHING YOUR BACK SO MUCH! (This is definitely my problem in handstand) MELT YOUR HEART MORE! (A technique I learnt from my Anusara teacher) KEEP THE HIPS OVER THE SHOULDERS! DRISHTI AHEAD! DRISHTI!DRISHTI!DRISHTI! STRONG LEGS! KEEP GRIPPIIIIIING!"
I think I let go wherever she was telling me to, then she helped flip me over to a backbend and went to assist someone next to me. So I stood up on my own from the backbend. I felt major SFS (Spatchcock Feet Syndrome) in this. Too tired to be bothered with feet alignment. Then I sat down, relieved, but Teacher said "One more time".
BLERRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
StupidStupidStupid Handstands.
So I did it again. This time, something felt like it connected a bit more, for a split-second at least. It felt like she only had a finger or a hand on my back, with no other support (I think? I couldn't see, so can't tell). But I felt a lot more stable this time round. Then a flip over to backbend again (Is this called a tic or a toc again? ...Or is it neither of the above?)
OK, so it wasn't so bad this time. I can conclude now that 3 nights of Christmas Cake for dinner didn't really affect my practice as much as I thought it might have. Hehehe. All binds are still there. And I was surprisingly strong today too. The body sure is weird like that, innit?
Anyways troops, I'm off to Bali tomorrow for a week for this wedding that I've been talking about. It'll be a nice break from stuff (I hope!) ...I don't plan to bring my laptop with me coz I think I need to decompress from the interwebs a little bit (I'll still have my Blackberry with me though. Gulp.)
So... no updates from me for about a week - but I'll come back with photos from the beach to make you very jealous. I still have awful tan lines on my... er... decolletage from when I got burnt from helping out at the Cancer Council Bondi Beach event (yes, the irony). So I will look really weird in my strapless bridesmaid's dress in all those photos forever and ever, Amen. DAMMIT!!
Anyways, hope you have a Happy New Year and all... and if you can't be good, be good at it. ;p
(Photo credit here. I heart LOLcats very much.)
LMAO! Kiss Meh Butt. Hahahahaha!
ReplyDeletesemi-splitting - interesting. I guess it's a teacher thing. I'm still doing all the standing poses; my old teacher wouldn't let you drop them until you finished second series. New teacher hasn't said anything yet, so I'm still doing them. I like them, so no tears here.
Funny about the dialogue in handstand - that used to be me in urdhva dhanurasana, then dropbacks (it's starting to quieten down now). I love handstands, though mine are still a bit dodgy. I've been arching my back a bit, too. Gotta stop that.
Have a great time in Bali - we're going to Byron in Jan, so there!
Yeah, first time I'm experiencing it too... I've seen another lady in my shala practising this way and at first I thought she had forgotten poses and skipped ahead! Haha! After a while I kinda figured that it must be some kind of special pass you get in intermediate (and that I should stop sneaking peeks from out the corner of my eye and focus on my own practice). Hehe.
ReplyDeleteThere are also people in my shala who do the full split - going straight to Pasasana after Parsvottanasana... so I wonder when that happens? (Sharath also split it this way in his led intermediate class)
Byron Bay! I've heard great things about it, and good yoga there too! Can't wait to hear your report. ;p Enjoy the new year. I have to create a playlist for this hen's night and I've been procrastinating all day now. BLERGGGHHHHHHH! xxx
The way it's being currently taught in Mysore is - you do all standing poses and all of Primary and your Second series poses until you get to your splitting point (which most often is Dwi Pada or Pincha M, depends on what your teacher decides). Once you are split, then you do Pasasana after Parvottanasana. Not to slight your teacher, I'm sure she has a very good reason for it, but I'm not sure what the reasoning is for dropping the end of the standing poses if you are still going to do all of Primary. Again, I'm sure she has her reasons - maybe you could ask and let us know? :-)
ReplyDeleteyeah, I'm curious too... weird poses to drop, especially since you're only doing 2 poses in intermediate. The poses that are now gone are so good for building strength and balance!! And why is Dandasana gone? I like it. Definitely grounding.
ReplyDeleteahhh... embrace the handstand! It's not easy, so don't be too hard on yourself. Working on it will build strength that you'll start to see in your other asanas. For sure.
Bali!! Can't wait for pics. And yes, I will be jealous! (how about some cheesy asana-on-the-beach shots? You know I love those)
Sorry for the late reply guys! HolidaysHolidaysHolidays...I've been meaning to ask my teacher why but keep forgetting. Thanks for the reminder! Will try and get an update pronto. x
ReplyDelete