Sunday, August 28, 2005

Hot Naked Mari D (click here)

And a little naked Bharadvajasana thrown in for good measure.

Sorry...sometimes I can be SO immature.

But seriously, I stumbled onto this site while searching for photos of Vatyanasana, which was mentioned on the EZ Board today. It's interesting, to say the least. Lots of wild drawings and artwork, plus a number of asana photos featuring Ian, the guy whose site it is. Ian does seem to have a fairly advanced practice (in fact, I liked his Vatyanasana better than the one on my ole asana photo fallback site, Ashtanga Yoga Info, because it shows more of the pose). So, I was was taken aback to see that his Urdvha Mukkha Svanasana (Upward Facing Dog) looks like this...

I really really want to give him an adjustment or two. Perhaps someday that too will be possible via the web.

YC

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am very disappointed..
(in the picture not you).

Yoga Chickie said...

You mean the dog, right? Not the sage...

Want to hear something weird? I must have been commenting on your blog at the EXACT moment you were commenting here...

8-)

Lauren

Anonymous said...

That is a painfully sorry looking up dog.
It's really calling out for a big adjustment.

Yoga Chickie said...

I keep trying to figure out where I would start - probably the feet...

Anonymous said...

I really want to lift him from under his armpits, get him out of his lower back and into his shoulders, then take his shoulders and pull back on them and tell him to bend his arms a little and then tell him to pull his elbows in closer, and then..

Yoga Chickie said...

His updog is pretty much what mine looked like right after my tummy tuck - when I couldn't stretch my ribcage up away from my pelvis, and my shoulders were rotated inwards toward my chest. So, my guess is that he is working with some pretty serious tightness in his front body and, like you said, putting it all into his lumbar spine (because that's the logical default - it tends to be nice and bendy). I also like your suggesting of having him bend his elbows a bit. That worked for me when I couldn't get my updog going. But his feet really trouble me. I am really surprised that they are so sickled - how can he manage that really nice Vatayanasana with such apparent stiffness in his ankles and feet? Very mysterious...

All of that being said, I do have to say something nice: his driste is really focused on the tip of his nose - and you don't often see that. Many of my students tend to look up into their eyelids as if they could will their backs to bend via their eye muscles. So, well done on the driste, Ian!

And if somehow you come to read this blog, Ian, just know that we really aren't mocking you - we just can't get out of teacher mode, even when we're typing.

Lauren

Anonymous said...

Wow. I need to be REALLY tired for mine to look like that! :-)

Anonymous said...

does it really matter what the pose looks like, as long as he's doing it? as someone who is contemplating starting an ashtanga practice, i find it really disconcerting that you'd pick apart his poses...if someone did this at the yoga place i was going to, i would be really offended.

Yoga Chickie said...

Hi Lane, I don't think any of us was being mean-spirited in critiquing his pose. This is exactly what happens in a yoga class - although on a one-to-one level. Your teacher will pick apart your pose until you are in correct anatomical alignment. If you do not execute a pose correctly, then you should at least be going in the direction of executing a pose correctly. Otherwise, you are probably not going to benefit your body, and your mind is probably going to be swirling. I hope that when you do start your Ashtanga practice, you can be open to comments and adjustments, or at least begin to be.

Best to you,

Lauren

Copyright 2005-2007 Lauren Cahn, all rights reserved. Photos appearing on this blog may be subject to third party copyright ownership. You are free to link to this blog and portions hereof, but the use of any direct content requires the prior written consent of the author.

About Me

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Northern Westchester, New York, United States
I live by a duck pond. I used to live by the East River. I don't work. I used to work a lot. Now, not so much. I used to teach a lot of yoga. Now not so much. I still practice a lot of yoga though. A LOT. I love my kids, being outdoors, taking photos, reading magazines, writing and stirring the pot. Enjoy responsibly.

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