Managed to touch/graze/brush my heel with a fingertip walking in, was so surprised or excited about it that I almost lost my balance. Still can't believe that was possible for me. Now I know it is, I need to calm down, back off a little and work at staying at each stage a little longer.I like the lifting up on to the toes, walking the hands in then lowering back to the heels. It probably has a similar effect as an assist and having your teacher help you bring an arm further in.
What I want to do now is lift up, walk in lower and then settle there for ten to twenty five breaths. Work at getting the hips up higher, straightening the legs a little more and just become more comfortable at each step.
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Whoa! I'm impressed. Geez. Chakra bandhasana next week? Grabbing knees before christmas?
I was told by my teacher not to lift heels when walking in; it's one of the few things I got chastised about. "It's cheating, and I know how you feel about cheating" Er, OK..... but I'm doing it again now that I'm practising at home and trying to re-establish a decent backbend. Walking in without lifting heels (with head down) takes more strength and forces me to take more of a stretch in the hip flexors, both things I desperately need, so it made sense.
Hi Lew, knees before christmas, don't think that will be happening, but ankles.....?
i was thinking that the heel lifting might count as cheating but Kino's DVD arrived yesterday and what do I see but the fair Ms. Macgeggor doing the same thing. this was in the main practice too not the How it works section. She does it slightly differntly though. she lowers from UD, goes on to tiptoe moves her hands in,lowers her heels down,comes up into UD again then uses spiderfingers to run her hands in a little towards her feet, She then settles into the now tighter UD and then repeats and repeats the process again untill she touches her heels.
you can imagine how delighted i was to see that.
Hi Grimmly,
amazing stuff! How does your back feel afterwards? Does it feel tender and tight for 24hrs or so after? I'm interested because I have just started to do drop backs (and thanks for the advice about the double mat! I took it and now can drop back in the middle of the room without having to use my soft mats! Yay! Am also working UD harder - doing five sets at 10 breaths each...it's remarkable becuse by the third one, the softness i start to feel in the lower back is so differnt from the first UD, where I pretty much feel like an 80 year old going into it!! My husband's nagging me about hurting my back though...what's your view?
So, my next step is to try coming up----feels a million miles away but I plan to start trying tomorrow!
Happy practice in the meantime,
Kate R
I want my knees!!! I WANT them... Sigh. Sigh...
Nice clip. Sorry am extra crazy & self involved. I should film one of my horrible Urdhva Ds... Maybe Sunday if I don't go to the shala.
Congrats on the dropback Kate, nice when you get it huh. Coming up will be easier now because your more prepared to take a risk as you try rocking back and forth and up, you know you can land it again if you don't get all the way up.
My back feels fine afterwards actually, which surprised me a little, if anything it's my abs that feel more worked than my back which fits with what Susan says about backbends being frount stretches. More breathes in UD do seem to be the way to go, or longer ones, are you walking in a little or moving your hands in on each one? Getting in a little closer should help with the coming up as you can shift your weight forward more over your hips, it's working for me anyway.
Yes your UD on video Boodi' we know you got the moves you can get away with a dodgy one with your rep intact. Did you see my feet on the previous post? dreadful, the shame of it. Sorry you had such a crap week.
Super awesome~you are very very naturally gifted!! and you work damn hard too! powerful combo for asana prowess.
Oh...and how can anything in asana practice be "cheating" if it works?
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! (for moderating after comments publish!!! you da best!)
No I didn't notice anything wrong with your feet!!!
I might actually go to the shala Sunday, rather than practice at home, even though I'm totally addicted to youtube attention now. We'll see.
Eventually I'll have to cough something up so you can roll your eyes, cross your fingers and tell me it's not "that bad" :)
Thanks YC, made my day to see Kino doing it pretty much the same way Yesterday.
You're right, if it works.......
Thought you'd be pleased.
No Boodi, have to be cruel to be kind. I'll draw attention to your feet in Youtube comments and give you one star. Kidding of course, sure it's not as bad as you say.
I'm sick, i'm sick, 'cough' but want to backbend, want to try forehead on the mat rather than chin in karanda, 'cough' want to try spider fingers, want to bind and float, most of all I want to be able to breathe. 'cough, cough' At least when my knee was bad I could work on my Pranayama.
Work on your epsom salt bath?
The"cheating" comment form my teacher was just an attempt to force me to lengthen more through the psoas, I think. He reckoned my backbends were more open without heels lifting in between. Hard to say from my perspective - upside down, no proprioception, and unable to be a third-party observer. Boy am I glad to hear that Kino does it! Hah! I'll have to get a copy of that DVD - I was hemming and hawing about it - it seems to be helpful for other people, I'm gathering.
Super. Sorry for short sentences, computer at office. U inspire my UD practice. Cheers, Arturo
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