Mysore Self Practice

After making the decision to start our Mysore self practice together on Sunday, this morning, Kathryn and myself were at Chi to do the practice when there was no yoga class going on.  

After going through the sun salutations and standing poses without any hitches, when it came to the seated poses, I had a bit of difficulty binding in Marichyasana D initially but managed to keep my fingers locked  together for the five breaths.   As there was no teacher to assist me in Supta Kurmasana, I did not managed to go deep in the pose as I was not able to cross my feet and put them behind my head and clasped my hands behind my back.  I did managed to place my hands on my lower back and slide my feet together in front of my head.

Supta Kurmasana (easier variation) 

From today's self-practice, I know that doing the full primary on my own without any teacher's assistance might take me a longer time to progress in some of the poses but I realized that I was actually getting too dependent on my teacher especially so when I was doing full Garbha Pindasana.  With Kunal around, I would normally gave up on turning around while rolling upwards in the pose on my own, but today, although it was slow and with difficulty and collapsing at the last roll instead of lifting up, I made the effort to do the pose on my own.   

I believe that doing the self-practice would give me an opportunity to watch myself grow and change.  As I would still be going to the Hatha classes, I would still be learning the techniques and getting assistance for those areas in my practice that need attention from my teachers at  Chi.   

I would also be doing research on my own  by reading yoga blogs and visiting yoga websites such as  Yoga Journal and I have also found many yoga videos posted by some of the great teachers such as Kino MacGregor, Christina Sell and David Garrigues where they provide tips and techniques to go into the poses. 

I am so glad to be practicing together with Kathryn as we will be providing support to each other to keep up the self-practice.  

Below is a video on Garbha Pindaasana with Maria Villella which provides a step-by-step breakdown of the pose. 

Farewell Tribute to My Teachers

I am quite sad to have to say farewell to two of my teachers who are leaving the country and I am writing this post as a tribute to them for being part of my yoga journey.  

Yesterday morning was my last class with Kunal  who has helped me to progress in my Ashtanga practice for the past year.

I remember my first class with him was when I attended a trial class at Chi Fitness in April last year.  I was the only one who turned up for the Ashtanga class that day and ended up doing a Mysore style practice with him looking on and assisting me in some of the poses. I think it was from that class that I know I have found another teacher who will have an impact in my yoga journey as I decided to sign up for my membership with Chi Fitness after the class as I wanted to continue attending his classes so that I can learn from him. 

As I could only attend his Ashtanga class on Sunday at 4.30 pm, I always tried not to miss the class as all his other classes were in the morning or early evening when I was working.   I would also go to his Hatha class which was a breath-focused practice where he would emphasized the connection of  the  breath with the movement in the poses whenever I was on leave during a weekday. 

As Kunal teaches the traditional Mysore way, I could see my own progress during this past year under his guidance as I had to wait for him to give me the poses; from needing his help to bind in Marichyasana D to binding on my own, being able to catch my fingers in Supta Kurmasana as he helped me to go deeper in the pose, holding my chin with my fingers in Garbha Pindasana and given full Primary and also Pashasana from the Intermediate series. 

I will always remember his subtle way of telling me to align my feet correctly in the standing poses, keeping my fingers together in the poses, having me do two to three sets of going up and down for Urdhva Dhanurasana while walking my hands in and him doing crow pose on my legs as I did my bridge pose in yesterday's class which I know is his way of reminding me to keep on working on strengthening my legs for  the dropbacks. 

This morning was my last class with Tea who is a very dedicated teacher who always prepare her sequence of poses based on a theme for the class.   Her theme-based class would have us doing poses that work on opening our hip and shoulders in one class, a core strengthening sequence in another class or a back bending class which would start with poses to open the upper, middle and lower back.  

I will always remember her encouragement to hold on for one more breath in the pose, to work the legs by keeping our abductors engaged  and to listen to the breath to keep our mind  focus as we do the poses.

Thank you Kunal and Tea for all your teaching and guidance and being a light in my yoga journey and I wish both of you all the best in your endeavours.  Namaste!

Just Breathe....

Showing up for our Practice

For the past two Sundays, only two practitioners including myself were in the Ashtanga  class at 4.30 pm with Kunal.  Normally, there would be 5 to 6 practitioners coming to the class.   Although the class is an Ashtanga Led class, Kunal would ask those of us who are quite well-versed in the sequence to do a Mysore practice while he would lead the rest of the students who are not familiar with the sequence. 

I have heard some students who do not turn up for the class regularly complaining that they are not able to progress in their practice.   My answer to them is “Just show up”.   

Showing up means we are making the effort to change and along the way, we will find the transformation in our practice. 

If you do not attend the class regularly, you will always end up starting all over again each time you go to the class if you also do not have a regular home practice.     

Showing up for the class also means a lot to the teacher as most studios look at student numbers and you may one day find the class you want to attend being taken out from the schedule.

So my fellow Ashtanga practitioners, hope to see you back in class soon.

Walking the Path of Practice with Christina Sell

Last weekend, I attended a 3-day intensive yoga workshop with Christina Sell which she named  as  "Walking the Path of Practice” and she combined her teaching on the techniques to go into the poses with asana practice.   

For all three days, the morning session started with standing poses to build strength in our legs before we do handstands with variations followed with some arm balances and backbends while forward bends and twists were taught in the afternoon.   New advanced poses were added each day but Christina taught some of the same poses throughout the three days as she believes that repetition will help us to learn the poses better. 

Christina also  taught some of the obscure advanced poses from the book “Light on Yoga” and one of the pose is Yogadandasana which BKS Iyenger says “It takes time and practice to be comfortable in the asana, but when you are in it.. is restful… In this pose, the spine is rested and the body relaxed.”

At the beginning, I was feeling quite intimated as I watched the other practioners who were mostly yoga teachers going through the poses earnestly while I was struggling with them.  But Christina gave us the option to do what we can and to always remember to ask ourselves “What is my next step?”  when we were not able to do the more difficult variations given to us.    Like in handstand, while some  of practitioners were working on the more difficult  variations to the pose, some of us who cannot jumped our legs to the wall were given the option to work on poses which will help us to progress into handstand such as the upside down “L” position at the wall and the scissor kicks.   You can watch Christina’s tips and techniques on handstand here.

All in, it was wonderful learning from a great teacher and I was also inspired by the dedication shown by the yoga teachers who attended the workshop as they became students during the three days so that they can become better teachers to their students.

Below are scenes from the workshop which has been beautifully made into a video by Christina’s hubby, Kelly Sell who also practiced with us at the workshop while being the photographer and he even  assisted Christina to demonstrate the King Pigeon pose.

 

You can also read about Christina's experience teaching the students in Kuala Lumpur here. 

Notes from My Practice - Awareness

Wheel Pose (Urdvha Dhanurasana) has always been my nemesis pose and I find it even more so when doing it during the Ashtanga classes.

In the Ashtanga class, the Wheel pose is practiced after we have done the last pose we have been given.    We have to do three rounds of the pose; lifting up and holding in the pose for five breaths for each round.

I am able to lift up and hold in the pose for the 1st two rounds but would need to come down after one or two breaths for the third round.  This is especially so when I have to walk my hands closer to my shoulders after each round before lifting up again and holding in the pose for the five breaths.

As yoga teaches us to be aware of our body, I would  feel either compression in my lower back or pain in my knees when I lift up into the pose.   This has resulted in me dreading to do the pose as I would already anticipate what my body would be feeling when I lift up into the pose.

Today, I decided to place my awareness in keeping my shoulders, elbow, wrists and hands  in alignment when I lift up in the pose in each round after watching the video below by Kino MacGregor.   I found that in placing my awareness onto my shoulders alignment each time I lift up to the pose, I did not feel any pain in my lower back and I could hold the pose for the five breaths. 

Awareness of our body comes from using it, moving it, feeling it and paying attention to it. 

Notes from My Practice - Patience

After almost eight months of practicing Ashtanga with Kunal at Chi Fitness, I was finally given the first pose of the 2^nd series, Pashasana today.    I also did dropbacks  with his assistance which I have not done since my former teacher, Azmi Samdjaga left in March 2012.

I have been doing some poses of the 2^nd series with Azmi but when I started practicing with Kunal, I had to stop at Navasana as I could only bind in Marichyasana D with Kunal’s help.  I was able to progress further to Bhuja Pidasana when I managed to bind in MD on my own but I was stuck at Supta Kurmasana for some time as I was having problem clasping my fingers  behind my back even with Kunal's assistance. 

Early this year, I was given Garbha Pindasana which I am still having difficulty doing on my own especially rolling backwards and upwards but Kunal had let me continued to do full primary in the class.  

It was a surprise when my Ashtanga buddy, Kathryn, who is having the same problems  in the poses, and I were given Pashasana today.     I am glad to say that I managed to bind in the pose although I needed Kunal’s assistance especially when doing the left side. 

From the Ashtanga class which I only get to practice once a week on Sunday, besides being able to see my progress in my practice, I also learned to be patient as I wait for the next pose to be given to me.    The class also helps to settle and clear my mind to face the week ahead, as I know I will be able to deal with whatever that comes my way with patience and understanding.