tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13149662.post114227106667873129..comments2023-05-25T04:48:19.856-04:00Comments on Yoga Chickie: Individualized Ashtanga practice ...NOT an oxymoronYoga Chickiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01370141306007721604noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13149662.post-1142298056141630842006-03-13T20:00:00.000-05:002006-03-13T20:00:00.000-05:00When I first started practicing I learned the pose...When I first started practicing I learned the poses one at a time. I stopped at D for a long long time. Then bhujapidasana. Other people would come in and if they did the whole series with alot of modifications, my teacher would not stop them. But if they asked, he would suggest.<BR/><BR/>When my teacher taught me headstand he said I had to come up with straight legs,and of course, no wall. Well, I was petrified so for two years instead of headstand I did a form of dolphin. <BR/>Other people would do headstand at the wall (mostly visitors) or come up with bent knees. Not me. Dolphin. Dolphin. Dolphin. Even in led classes, dolphin dolphin dolphin. I was certainly strong enough, just totally petrified.<BR/><BR/>I finally went up went day. Fell. And got up again.<BR/><BR/>My favorite asana is headstand with all its variation. It is like an anti-depressant, a clarity pill, a way to focus on bandhas and openings and alignment without the usual gravity constraints (instead of course you have different onesJ<BR/><BR/> I also take an advanced Iyengar class twice a week which usually entails all different kinds of headstands for A LONG TIME. <BR/><BR/>I thought my teacher worked me harder than anyone else because I had the most physical challenges. Now I know he taught me as he was taught because I showed up everyday and respected him enough to actually listen to him.<BR/><BR/>He considered me his student. And I am forever grateful.<BR/><BR/>DKAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13149662.post-1142280921613145312006-03-13T15:15:00.000-05:002006-03-13T15:15:00.000-05:00K - we have to get SOME good weather around here, ...K - we have to get SOME good weather around here, it's only fair! But I hear it is going to be in the 30's again on Friday...oh well. The hose really are brilliant, and they are not JUST about the no-toes - they are really flattering, silky and totally sheer.<BR/><BR/>Tiff - being stuck in one posture (I was stuck in C for about three months and Navasana for about three months) is something you really don't know how you'll react to until you're there. I thought it would be awful. But I could have been stuck in Navasana a lot longer without reaching my ego-breaking point. <BR/><BR/>Anon - Thank you so much for the feedback. I do tend to look around before and after - although I dispute the "during", at least in Primary (possibly you may be right about me in Standing poses) since my head is usually crushed down near my shins, and despite that I am a mom, I really do NOT have eyes in the back of my head!<BR/><BR/>LaurenYoga Chickiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01370141306007721604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13149662.post-1142280208675686532006-03-13T15:03:00.000-05:002006-03-13T15:03:00.000-05:00"Anyone else out there feel like their teacher tea..."Anyone else out there feel like their teacher teaches them a very individualized yoga practice, even within the sameness of the Asthanga series?"<BR/>Well of course - that's the whole point. And that's also why some in your class sail thru primary with really bad form - we don't know what's really going on with them - but Sir does. That's all the matters. Now, about you - from what I've seen (yes, I've seen you practice) your main and pretty much ONLY issue is focus and drishti. You tend to look all around the room before / after and during each pose. There's no way to do that AND be breathing correctly and staying focused. My 2 cents...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13149662.post-1142273100644963492006-03-13T13:05:00.000-05:002006-03-13T13:05:00.000-05:00Yes, I would completely agree...everyone's practic...Yes, I would completely agree...everyone's practice is different. I think that's why it's important to have one teacher who knows you and where you are at. At Tim's studio, it's not so traditional. Everyone can practice the entire primary, even if that can't get through Mari D or Supta K. Like me for example, I can't do Supta K and it drives me up the wall...kurmasana sucks too (damn hamstrings). I do have a flexible back though, so I can grab my ankles and I'm doing viparita chakrasana after my urdhva dhanurasanas. I have mixed feelings about being stuck on one posture for forever...if that were the case, I would've been stuck at Supta K for probably three years. Maybe I would appreciate it more...Tiffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13253894801085050348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13149662.post-1142273074437349092006-03-13T13:04:00.000-05:002006-03-13T13:04:00.000-05:00You look like you could have gone to the Oscar's i...You look like you could have gone to the Oscar's in that dress! Wish I had invented those hose, brillant.<BR/><BR/>Yesterday the room was so damn cold, and yes New Yorkers, we had a collection of ice in the corner by the door, I couldn't get one drop of sweat going, not one. It just bummed me out the whole practice. Finally I took my mysore rug OFF my mat and it made such a difference, I felt much more grounded, before that I think I was trying so hard not to slide anywhere it was distracting. <BR/>When I started practicing 2nd again by itself after being sick I asked my teacher if he was going to take away poses and he said no, I could keep all of it. It hasn't been a year yet but I still haven't gotten everything back, it is slowly coming..........<BR/><BR/>KiranAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com