Fresh from recent Kapo success, I've decided to focus more on my back bends. This is where going to a Shala is a particularly good idea, am I the only home Ashtangi who's lazy with back bends, I suspect not. At the end of my practice I tend to do five UD's, coming up once if I'm feeling good about it and perhaps a drop back. To be fair I spend more time on them on my day off but certainly not the full works six days a week.
With the recent knee problem I had the chance to spend some more time on back bends and seem to have become more comfortable walking in. This is from this morning, probably the closest to my feet I've come but I have the feeling I could get in closer. I need one of Boodiba's egg timers and work on staying there longer, work on the breath and becoming more comfortable while in that deep.
There's this voice in my head that wont shut up 'Chakra Bandhasana, surely it's not possible, is it?' I hardly dare think it.
I find walking in on UD makes it possible to stay up for longer, as it transfers some of the weight out of the arms and back to the legs, as well as creating a deeper bend.
You are right about Shala practices, my backbends have improved a lot with having a regular teacher input
Ya the advantage of a teacher is learning Chakra Bandasana. It's hard to bind by yourself for a good long time. I still don't! But with Greg's help I can walk my hands up my legs and then free stand...
You're in there nice & tight though & I am admiring your foot position!!!
I was quite surprised when I saw how close I was. Somethings happened in my backbends, I think I know what it is but can't write about it until 1st December, I promised. Globie, I was thinking more of how being in a Shala it's probably harder to sneak out without doing your backbends. At home I'll do one drop back and call it a day. Your developing a foot fetish, Boodiba, better than the Barbie and Ken i guess. just watched a couple of my vids. My feet stay put dropping back but turn way out coming up.
Yes touching/grabbing my heels, still can't believe I might be able to do that, Would be interesting to see with someone helping me but I do like the idea of getting there on my own.
It's a funny one, chakra bandhasana. Who else but an ashtangi would want to grab ankles in a backbend?!? I remember shaking my head wildly in disbelief when my teacher mentioned CB in passing; I'm not close to doing it, but maybe it is in my future? Maybe if I go back to the shala?
UD still feels like a coffee table to me. Yours, in contrast, looks lovely and deep. I've been trying to wok on really lengthening the psoas and keeping it comfortable enough to stay in at least 10 long breaths. Don't know if it's helping.
Looking forward to seeing the progress; do you turn into a pumpkin on 1/12?
:-) Just this morning, I had a few things I wanted to try on my own. Did assisted backbends with my teacher, then as he stood there, waiting for me to sit down for my post-backbending squish, I said, "I need to do a couple of things, so you need to not watch."
He was amused. And he went off to do other things and studiously didn't watch.
Love that he would look the other way. I was the same about CB Lew, never thought it would be for me, still can't believe it might be. Went in just a little deeper this morning and then playfully tried to reach forward to see if my hand went anywhere near my ankle. It just flapped around in the air for a second then put it back very quickly. Don't think it'll be happening anytime soon. Pumpkin?
This photo made me remember something Karen posted about a particularly good backbending day when she realized her hands were a mere 13 inches away from each other (or something close to 13, maybe 12? sorry, I don't remember the exact number), measured by the width of a towel she had placed on the mat before doing the backbends...Karen are you here? I didn't think much about it at the time that I read that, but now, I can see that Grimmly is about that far, hands to feet, in his backbend, so I have to say...WOW, and I would very much like to hear from Karen how she (you) got so deep into the backbend, since I know that it is a bit more of a struggle for her than it is for Grimmly.
Hope you don't mind my hijacking the comments to hear from a special guest backbending star...
Hi guys, nope -- that was a one-time deal. Not sure what was going on that day. Still, my backbends are progressing nicely due to the daily routine -- you know the drill! ;-)
I once asked Annie Pace how many UDs to do each day and she said, "3 or 5. One or the other. Not 4, not 6, not 7 or 8." LOL! I almost inevitably do 5. Then dropbacks on my own, then assisted dropbacks with my teacher.
I figure in 10 years, my backbends'll be REALLY good. :-)
Hey it's gone! I thought you said you weren't going to post any more videos until Dec 1st, hence the stupid pumpkin comment. Did I imagine that?! Just what I need; more evidence that I'm slowly losing my mind..
Grabbing your own heels is hard (I put it on my blog once, the video is on my youtube). I can do it, or rather I attempt it, rarely these days.. should make more of an effort I guess.. but it's nothing compared with where you can go with assistance - i.e. I've never got higher than ankles on my own, but with Cary I go to my knees :) Feels completely different.
Ahh Lew, i just found my 1st December reference, fwhich explains you pumpkin comment, I'd forgotten I'd written that. So no your not losing your marbles.
Can't find it on your youtube Susan what name are you using there for your channel. Saw the squished version on your blog again though. Love the way your fingers scurry towards your ankles. Love those dropbacks too. Boodiba, check Susan's feet, they don't even flinch.
Can see what you mean about how different it is with an assist, completely different shape.
Going to try the finger scurry this morning, see if I can creep up on CB and surprise it
I used my folded mat for reference (if I fold it in half and then half again, it is 13 inches wide, and had an inch from my hands to the mat, and two inches from my feels to my mat. So a span of 16 inches.
I have no idea why it is, but when I can measure these things, I feel incredibly pleased with the universe. :-)
Karen, there has to be an easier way : ) have this image of you sitting in the shala working that out, folding your towel first this way and then that, looking up and seeing the whole Shala has stopped and is watching you.
Went a step further today and touched/grazed/brushed my heel with my finger. Post to come tomorrow, glad I hadnt cut my fingernails in a while.
Posts
22 comments:
Wow!!!
Today it's you who motivate me to start my yoga practice. Wink.
hi Grimmly
looking good! wow, you've been busy writing a lot in the last few days and i need to catch up.
cheers,
Arturo
You're backbends are looking good I must say.
I find walking in on UD makes it possible to stay up for longer, as it transfers some of the weight out of the arms and back to the legs, as well as creating a deeper bend.
You are right about Shala practices, my backbends have improved a lot with having a regular teacher input
Nice!!
Ya the advantage of a teacher is learning Chakra Bandasana. It's hard to bind by yourself for a good long time. I still don't! But with Greg's help I can walk my hands up my legs and then free stand...
You're in there nice & tight though & I am admiring your foot position!!!
Looks really deep. You're not all that far from touching your heels. When it's time to go for it, you'll know.
I was quite surprised when I saw how close I was. Somethings happened in my backbends, I think I know what it is but can't write about it until 1st December, I promised.
Globie, I was thinking more of how being in a Shala it's probably harder to sneak out without doing your backbends. At home I'll do one drop back and call it a day.
Your developing a foot fetish, Boodiba, better than the Barbie and Ken i guess. just watched a couple of my vids. My feet stay put dropping back but turn way out coming up.
Yes touching/grabbing my heels, still can't believe I might be able to do that, Would be interesting to see with someone helping me but I do like the idea of getting there on my own.
It's a funny one, chakra bandhasana. Who else but an ashtangi would want to grab ankles in a backbend?!? I remember shaking my head wildly in disbelief when my teacher mentioned CB in passing; I'm not close to doing it, but maybe it is in my future? Maybe if I go back to the shala?
UD still feels like a coffee table to me. Yours, in contrast, looks lovely and deep. I've been trying to wok on really lengthening the psoas and keeping it comfortable enough to stay in at least 10 long breaths. Don't know if it's helping.
Looking forward to seeing the progress; do you turn into a pumpkin on 1/12?
:-) Just this morning, I had a few things I wanted to try on my own. Did assisted backbends with my teacher, then as he stood there, waiting for me to sit down for my post-backbending squish, I said, "I need to do a couple of things, so you need to not watch."
He was amused. And he went off to do other things and studiously didn't watch.
:-)
Haha Karen, that's funny! You were watching him not watching you! :)
Love that he would look the other way.
I was the same about CB Lew, never thought it would be for me, still can't believe it might be. Went in just a little deeper this morning and then playfully tried to reach forward to see if my hand went anywhere near my ankle. It just flapped around in the air for a second then put it back very quickly. Don't think it'll be happening anytime soon.
Pumpkin?
This photo made me remember something Karen posted about a particularly good backbending day when she realized her hands were a mere 13 inches away from each other (or something close to 13, maybe 12? sorry, I don't remember the exact number), measured by the width of a towel she had placed on the mat before doing the backbends...Karen are you here? I didn't think much about it at the time that I read that, but now, I can see that Grimmly is about that far, hands to feet, in his backbend, so I have to say...WOW, and I would very much like to hear from Karen how she (you) got so deep into the backbend, since I know that it is a bit more of a struggle for her than it is for Grimmly.
Hope you don't mind my hijacking the comments to hear from a special guest backbending star...
I'm curious too karen, did you get in much deeper than that or has it settled there.
Hi guys, nope -- that was a one-time deal. Not sure what was going on that day. Still, my backbends are progressing nicely due to the daily routine -- you know the drill! ;-)
I once asked Annie Pace how many UDs to do each day and she said, "3 or 5. One or the other. Not 4, not 6, not 7 or 8." LOL! I almost inevitably do 5. Then dropbacks on my own, then assisted dropbacks with my teacher.
I figure in 10 years, my backbends'll be REALLY good. :-)
You know, now that we're talking about this, I'm curious to measure my UD tomorrow. Thanks for the motivation for Wednesday's practice. Ha!
i want a mat with stripes!
Hey it's gone! I thought you said you weren't going to post any more videos until Dec 1st, hence the stupid pumpkin comment. Did I imagine that?! Just what I need; more evidence that I'm slowly losing my mind..
Yeah, that is a nice-looking backbend..
Grabbing your own heels is hard (I put it on my blog once, the video is on my youtube). I can do it, or rather I attempt it, rarely these days.. should make more of an effort I guess.. but it's nothing compared with where you can go with assistance - i.e. I've never got higher than ankles on my own, but with Cary I go to my knees :) Feels completely different.
Ahh Lew, i just found my 1st December reference, fwhich explains you pumpkin comment, I'd forgotten I'd written that. So no your not losing your marbles.
Can't find it on your youtube Susan what name are you using there for your channel. Saw the squished version on your blog again though. Love the way your fingers scurry towards your ankles. Love those dropbacks too. Boodiba, check Susan's feet, they don't even flinch.
Can see what you mean about how different it is with an assist, completely different shape.
Going to try the finger scurry this morning, see if I can creep up on CB and surprise it
I used my folded mat for reference (if I fold it in half and then half again, it is 13 inches wide, and had an inch from my hands to the mat, and two inches from my feels to my mat. So a span of 16 inches.
I have no idea why it is, but when I can measure these things, I feel incredibly pleased with the universe. :-)
Karen, there has to be an easier way : ) have this image of you sitting in the shala working that out, folding your towel first this way and then that, looking up and seeing the whole Shala has stopped and is watching you.
Went a step further today and touched/grazed/brushed my heel with my finger. Post to come tomorrow, glad I hadnt cut my fingernails in a while.
Love the thought re: fingernails. I should get acrylic tips. Could get MUCH closer to my heels that way. :-)
The mat folding is very swift -- I'm pretty tidy, so I've always given it a quick fold before I set it aside for backbending.
I'm sure you appreciate the idea of turning whatever's close at hand into a useful tool :-)
Post a Comment