I went back to the shala, back to Batman on Sunday. I saw Anna and Eeyore there, that was nice. It was a nice, mellow Sunday, not as crowded as usual. I assume due to the David Williams workshop. As I began to practice I realized just how much strength, stamina and flexibility I really have lost due to my slacker home practices. However, I'm trying to let go of my frustration and just get back on track. I skipped Mari D, did Navasana then tried backbending. Not happening. If I can't 'feel my feet' and I feel like it's going to be too much weight in the arms, I don't do it any more. I just end up crunching the hell out of my lower back and I REFUSE TO DO IT ANY MORE. Eeyore is sooooo sweet and he has the nicest practice. Anna too. And the best part was there was a chick in there with bigger boobs than mine!!!! Woo hoo!!!!! I always feel like such a freak in there with all the skinny teeny tiny girls. I say, good for her! Oh, and Batman put on a cd of chanting or some such. It was nice at first but then it started to sound really weird. It did distract me from the constant self-berating voice in my head though, so I was ok with it.
I got up at 4:30am this morning to go to the Shala again. Practiced with BW, I forgot just how lovely it was to go to his class. He's just soooooo great. I practiced gently and was still stiff as hell but I'm hoping that will go away in a few weeks. Also did some hip openers last night while watching tv, made BF give me some adjustments. He'll be the only yoga teacher who has never actually practiced yoga, ha! Home practice tomorrow, and back to the Shala on Wednesday morning.
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7 comments:
Aw... I'm sorry that I missed you!!! I overslept. Lazy Anna.
You should definitely talk to BW about your backbending issues/concerns. He's the best teacher with backs that I have EVER had. For real for true.
I liked that on Sunday we were able to all be in a row before I had to move for finishing!
Yes, I've heard that about BW before. However, I've had sooooo many people try to 'coach' me through backbending that it's like information overload. I know mechanically what I need to do and what the problem is. The progress is, I now know what it feels like to STOP from hurting myself, so that's good! If I can't feel my legs, I don't come up.
It was nice to be all together!
Oh, and I think I figured out who the smelly guy is. Ugh.
Why do you guys call him BW? Doesn't that imply that he is Batman's tiny ambiguously gay sidekick?
Backbending...ah, backbending. I wasn't given any backbending assistance at all until I finished Primary. Which was kind of good because it gave me a chance to really work on and commit to muscle memory everything that I was learning about forward bending and binding. When I finally was "given" backbends, I could barely lift up into one. I had backslidden so so so much in three years, it was ridiculous. But it is coming back.
If I could go back and do it all over again, I wouldnt have spent one second worrying about backbends until I finished Primary. If that is where you are at - in the middle of Primary (I saw you said that you skipped Mari D and stopped at Navasana...so I am assuming...), then give yourself a break and work on Primary. Backbending will come later.
Then you can worry about it all you want.
Not exactly sure where the BW came from originally....
Yes, I've begun to un-focus on the backbending. It was such a target for me for so long and now it just seems kind of insignificant. I've actually been given all of primary by my teachers in LA but I've decided to back it up and stop at Navasana until I can do the Marichys *mostly* on my own. I cannot do bhujapidasana, kurmasana or supta kurmasana at all, but I can pretty much do everything after that. I'm hoping if I can get the Maricys better it will help the middle section and then I can move on again. I do at least try backbending and many days they are ok. I also do mini-drop-backs against the wall to open up the front of my body. Many years of gigantic boobs has rounded my back in an unhealthy way. Mostly in backbending I work on activating my legs and 'finding my feet' as Chuck says. If I don't feel the feet, I don't come up. Period.
You should not feel like a freak among skiny girls. I bet some of them would give a year of life to have boobs like yours! But it is very funny how you measure your boobs against other peoples. It cracks me up. I immediately start thinking about the phrase "they should just take them out and measure" regarding competing guys. :D
LOL, I know what you mean. Definitely not competitive about it though. More like, just looking for some D-cup company :)
My progression was kind of like yours in that I had the strength and balance to do all of the poses that Supta Kurmasana, but I couldn't do Supta Kuramasana at all, and for a long time, I struggled to bind on my own in all of the Marichyasanas, even A! I have my own boob issues, which you must know by now. Basically, I no longer have any, but what I have is plagued with scar tissue and foreign objects like silicone.
Anyway, my experience was and still is that Supta Kurmasana and Backbending were inversely proportional..in other words, as I learned to really really round my back for Supta K, my backbending started sucking badly. Now that my backbending is improving, my Supta K has suffered somewhat. I think over time, you start to be able to backbend deeply AND put your legs behind your head. But while you're still learning one, the other suffers.
So....just do your Primary for now would be my advice. Learn to bind deeply in all of the Mari's and learn to do the Buja/Kurma/Supta trio. Then when you have all of that down, you can focus on the backbending, without confusing your body.
I think the system makes perfect sense in that way...
Of course, that's just my opinion...
lauren
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