First time coming up from dropback without turning the feet out, also Diet and injury watch update

'Practicing on painkillers' poll still up over on the right of the blog. ( feel free to comment anonymously on this if you like ). I think it's an interesting topic, lots of aches and pains in a practice like Ashtanga, I'm sure we're not all using salt baths and caster oil wraps.

Think I mentioned a little while ago ( Jan 2011) the new approach I've been taking to dropping back. Basically I'm allowing my heels to lift a little as I drop and come back up. I know, I know, isn't this just switching one 'bad' habit for another. Well possibly, but it's allowing me to have my feet closer together and something interesting is happening in my hips though I can't really explain it yet, will come back to that in another post. No matter how much I practiced before I didn't seem to be able to stop turning the feet out (although I did get it down to turning out just the one) yet here I get the feeling that I might be able to eliminate the heel lift altogether.

Whatever, I kind of like the feel of this, can get a very soft, slow landing, almost touch right down to the mat on a good day, it's interesting, I like it.

Here it is from the frount to focus on the feet, also a shot from the side, at the end, so you can see the extent of the heel lift. Still work in progress but it's coming.

This head on, camera at an angle shot looks really strange, distorting somehow but is showing the feet not moving ( though watch the first toe ) which is the point.

DIET

I've allowed my diet ( by diet I just mean eating habits not Atkins or anything faddish) to get a little out of hand. Krishnamacharya would say that controlling your diet is one of the most important prescriptions for the yoga student. Here he quotes from the Gita Saram

For whom there is neither excess nor less

of sleep, food activity

For him alone it is possible

to attain the state of yoga

Well I still only eat two meals a day but since the back problem I've noticed I'm snacking a little during the day. People have been bringing in biscuits, cakes, sweets and I've had the odd bar of chocolate from the work snack machine. None of this I really need, comfort food I think. I've also been having a Martini most evenings ( although a weak one) rather than just on Saturday ( love the clean taste at the moment) and I've noticed that the two meals a day have become larger amounts of food than before, more than I need. All just reflects the lack of discipline in my practice while this back issue is messing with it.

So next week, a little more discipline of my life I think. Control freak, you think ?

Injury update : Rest day

Took the Saturday rest day for a change, as an experiment, no painkillers no practice. Back hurt like hell all day, well most of the day, seemed to loosed up around 4pm. that suggests the practice in the morning is helping as I tend to feel fine all day and I only take the painkillers once a day around 5am.

This morning was Intermediate including the dropbacks above and I feel fine, loose, mobile.

Probably give the painkillers another week then bin any that are left and practice without after that.