Yesterday I almost fell off the chair because I had so much page views like never.
This morning I fell off the waggon due to another reason.

“Focus”, I remember now. This is what I exercise on an almost daily basis. It’s possible to shift the focus. Mainly my deep even breath is my focus. This I can also practice off the mat. Sometimes this focus get’s lost. However, the day is over, I was busy. I have bought some birthday presents for my mother downtown, this is good. It was so crowded everywhere. It’s due to the Oktoberfest and the warm weather.

Next planned practice will be on Saturday morning. Primary is planned and I’m looking forward to it.

Picture: Lisbon, Portugal.

Yesterday I almost fell off my chair. What is that, I wondered? I had 1713 page views on only one day and more than 746 unique visitors. This is more than double as much as usual. Most visitors came from this page. Thank you, thank you to that person who linked me. So it can go.

One year is over already since I was in India. I’d like to be in Mumbai to meet all the other friends who meet to think about Ramesh Balsekar who passed away a year ago. But I cannot be at 2 places at the same time. Not yet. Advanced yoginis can do this, but I guess I need still some more years of practice to be able to do this. This year I’ll be at my mother’s birthday. And I’m looking forward to this event, too.

Asthanga yoga: Yeah, I practiced yesterday, primary. It’s getting better again. Only my right leg drives me crazy. It’s still overstretched and hurts when I stretch. Grghhhh. This might be the reason, why I’ll practice without the CD of Sharath in the middle part. Friday is usual the day of the led class.
My focus was jumping through lately. Forward jumping and backward jumping is done with 2 breaths: Inhaling, pause, exhaling. The pause is important, too. This could be a topic on its own.

Time to step on my mat.

Picture: It’s a restaurant in Portugal, Lisbon.

Ramesh Balsekar:

I highly recommend this book. “Enlightenment” not excluded.

To apply the correct stretching technique is so important, because progress comes faster. It seems to be a contradition, but it isn’t: in order to stretch, it’s helpful to engage the muscles.

Let me quote Gregor Maehle (page 20): “The technique employed in Ashtanga yoga is active stretching. In this type of stretching we utilise an inherent reflex without which the body could not move. Whenever a muscle contracts, its antagonist (the muscle with the opposite function) releases. To understand this reflex one may look at the elbow joint. When the biceps (biceps brachii) contracts, the triceps (triceps brachii) releases, so that the elboy may be flexed. If the triceps also contracted, the elbow could not move. Likewise, when the triceps contracts, the nervous system simultaneously sends a signal to the biceps to release, and the elbow is extended.
A muscle that is being stretched will receive a signal to release when the opposing muscle is activated.”

Don’t overread the words “relfex” and “nervous system”. This active stretching technique really understands our body functions.

I finish quoting here, even though the text goes on evenly interesting.

The next step is to relax into a stretching pose with engaged muscles. Then the method is complete.

Let me describe 3 methods that I used to do and that have not the wished effect or if progress comes, it comes slowly:
1. In school we used to swing the body when we wanted to stretch.
2. I used to draw myself in the direction I wanted to get without engaged muscles. Re paschimottanasana my arms tried to pull my upper body in the direction of the feet.
3. Gravity should do the hole work. Simply to hang forward was the applied technique. Padangushtasana is a good example.

Paschimottanasa , an example:
Nowadays I engage my leg muscles in order to stretch forward. This is important for all the forward asanas of the first series. Feel the difference.
Important: give the body some time to relax/stretch when the opposing muscle is engaged. Give your body confidence that you won’t hurt yourself, that you won’t go too far. Relax into the stretch is a book that describes this method as well. That’s it. This makes the difference.

Comments are welcomed.

Having repeatedly failed to establish a practice in the house, I had planned to move to the Y (at the north end of town, same as last fall/winter/spring) and just set up the ritual early.

This of course did not happen (yet). There were days off daycare (and with no daycare run, said Y yoga is a waste of gasoline) and then there’s a grandparental visit going on and that requires management of vehicles and which car is where when, and who has a carseat and who’s doing pickups and at what time, and all of that alongside who teaches when and has to do what research and then suddenly time and space simply don’t permit any yoga time.

So be it. You do, or you do not.

I still have an article to compose and no time in which to do it. I get two practices a week if I’m lucky, both at the studio, and so the yoga is also getting shortened, and the kid is often at daycare for an 8 hour shift. HOW can this be done? There’s no time for anyone anywhere and everything is virtually overwhelming. It’s like the new semester beginning, and you find that you must undertake what seems like an inconceivable amount of compression and productivity in order to move from summer to fall. It’s a seasonal change, what Jim Bennitt, who was here two weeks ago, called a vata time (seasonal changes are vata apparently).

To paraphrase Ayurvedically, said flightiness requires more fire (determination) and more earth (groundedness). Precisely, if metaphorically. So be it.

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Less than a week ago I did my “Intro to Ashtanga” workshop for the studio. I opened with a pose demonstration, modeled on and inspired by the ones that Kino does on her tour this year (I think of travelling yoga teachers as something akin to a Grateful Dead tour; you get groupies and discussion and “trading of sets” as it were, with all the videos that get bandied about).

Said pose demo had a pack of advanced poses in it, many of which look pretty in the photos which I arranged to be taken. But I’m not totally settled on this photography. Let’s take a climbing detour in order to explain this ambiguity.

I used to set routes, when I had time. I like the combination of mental puzzle and physical movement, and so I set pretty hip-swingy technical-movement-oriented routes, which if I’m not there to give the “beta” (to hint to people what to do), are VERY hard routes to climb. Without my regular presence, people found these too hard, too challenging, and eventually frustrating, and then my “ratings” began to sink, largely because I was not there to teach. It’s like taking a course that is very challenging and having the professor point you only to online lectures, without either translating the content or being around for questions and consultation.

Exactly like that. I was not there to consult, so people had to take their not-as-technical experience and confront my maze, and only Theseus was going to make it out alive.

So that ended.

A photo cannot teach you; it might inspire or it might frustrate, but it cannot communicate, and that’s largely why I’m allergic to photography. I’m allergic to YouTube “teaching videos” for the same reason. A practitioner can only teach his or her own body, in a video, because the listeners are not REALLY THERE. If you’re listening and your body simply WILL NOT DO what you see, then you’re stuck, because the “teacher” is literally talking to him/herself. It takes some SERIOUS skill to be able to teach through a video (Kino has skill in this department).

So people have commented on said photos, mostly in the “wow, yikes, eek” vein, which is fine, but I notice that I want said photos to communicate, and they don’t. I do like seeing what the inner experience looks like (how it manifests, if you will) but that’s all for my own research, and I also like that the human spectators IN THAT MOMENT were able to have something that spectators of the photos were not.

How can one address the fact that an advanced pose in a photo is probably more offputting, more terrifying, than it is instructive and inspiring? How does one resolve the “Yoga Journal paradox”?

The details, the details, the details: today I refound the blog by Alan Little, who travelled to Mysore in 2001 in order to study Ashtanga yoga with P. Jois. He was one of the first who blogged about this trip. It’s really interesting to read.

He also wrote about a conference with P. Jois in that blog. Padmasana is performed differently. The knees  are supposed to be close together when doing baddha padmasana and yoga mudra. Otherwise the knees are more far apart. I will observe this the next time. The next time is tomorrow.

We (E and myself) just came home from strolling around. We saw the moon, it seemed to be full. Finally I know why no practice happened today, it was the moon who prevented me from stepping on the mat. Secretly of course. Hahaha. I feel good with it. After the last two horrible practices a day off felt good. I do miss the Brazilian weather, it was so supportive.

Comments are always welcomed.
If you like to write a post on my blog, feel free to contact me (either via a comment, or via facebook. A link can be found on the right side of this blog.) No, I got not too lazy to write posts by myself.

Yoga Mala:

I feel much better today. I must have slept, this is for sure. At 7am I woke up and I got up. I woke up without alarm clock, but I felt tired. The eyes are open and want to be closed and that at the same time. This jet lag feeling is no more that awful. I was even able to do some chores already. First I cut the dead flowers on my balcony. The freshness opened my eyes. Later I cleaned the dishes, I put our dirty clothes in the washing machine. Slowly I unpack my suitcase. I will nap 1 hour or so very soon. Afterwards I’ll practice. I am not yet ready  to step on my mat. It will be second series today, an early afternoon practice. Who cares.

PS: Jet lag and the time one has to spend in planes and at airports are part of travelling. When I go through my pictures and when I remember how it was when I sat in one of the restaurants at the beach, sipping fresh fruit juices, watching people, I know to travel the world is always worth the effort.

Picture is taken in Lisbon, Portugal.

Yesterday evening I read in the book my Gregor Maehle. It’s worth to have it. It’s so good that I will even quote from this book in one of my next posts. Thank you for buying it via my blog.

From Dena Kingsberg:

“Both full and new moon days are observed as yoga holidays in the Ashtanga Yoga tradition.

What is the reasoning behind this?

It’s only 5 hours difference to Brazil, but this makes THE difference. I still jet lag. I had difficulties to sleep in, even though I went to bed late, means 11pm. I didn’t hear my alarm clock, which I had set at 6am. At 9am I was still sooooooo tired that I didn’t find the way out of the bed. Now it’s 10:30am. In Brazil it’s 5:30am. I’m not amused that I get up so late, not at all. This jet lag makes a mess out of my day.

I need a second cup of coffee: strong and black, Jakobs Krönung.

Manduka yoga mat:

If you need a new yoga mat, or if you like a new yoga mat, go for quality, go for a Manduka. Thank you for buying your amazon products via my blog.

There are:
1. balancing asanas
2. forward bending asanas
3. back bending asanas
4. twists
5. inversions
6. others (because some asanas I cannot categorize)

The distinction is not difficult or easy.
Nevertheless in sum I had a difficult practice. The right leg is still overstretched. It heals only slowly, very slowly. This is all part of it.

A hot tip here: Asthanga yoga requires a daily practice. 3 days off is too much. To practice daily, at least some sun salutation, helps to keep the body soft and strong.
Today it was easier to practice than yesterday, but still very exhausting.
The body felt stiff.
My arms got weak.
The weather in Brazil was better, here it is already cold, this is not so supportive either. I don’t want to complain.
I had started with the CD by Sharath. This is helpful as it does not allow much thinking. I did each and every asana.
Time to go out. The sun is shining.

Here is the thing. I began reading The Mirror of Yoga  and loved it right away, got transported immediately into the present moment, into the smells and the sensations of, hum? oh yes, that thing I call my body, and then I realized, I noticed something, and fast forwarded to the chapter on the Gita, and then the chapter on Tantra, yes, I see, it is almost, word by word, The Yoga Matrix, also very much worth listening to (this one was released as an audio book only).

Thing is, I thought the Mirror of Yoga would have been different work, and it is not, but the title change made me believe so.

One more time I fall into the trap,  I think something is a specific thing and it is not not, how many times has that happened to you?  to me? all the time.  Was this intended as deception? I don’t know and I don’t care, it is none of my business and I will use this energy to focus on what I am learning. So far I am delighted this work is in print form.

I am only in the first chapter, but this is not a book to rush through, oh no! There is so much material here that my practice has been affected by it already, and it has not even been 48 hours since I started.

“Yoga begins with listening.  When we listen we re giving space to what is”.

So right there I find myself slowing down.  For a moment I am able to stop worrying about the things I think I need to do and I am not doing and drop deeply into this time, into what I am hearing right now.

I hear birds outside, how blessed am I?, but wait! that is a thought already, I have stopped listening.  So I go back, what do I hear?

“The purpose of this book…  is to allow all of us to slow down a bit so that we can delve deeply into the subject rather than skidding along on the surface side to side, from one school back to another. We are aiming at the core of the teachings.”

And so I find myself relishing the practice anew, being present even in the dreaded Uttita Hasta (left), noticing where it is that I hold something that seems to be behind the breath.  I say behind because breathing is not an issue in this point anymore, I certainly breath now, and count all five, sometimes six, slowly, yet there is something behind the breath that still wants to hold on to something. New notice. Guess I’be been present.

Picture (above) from Arjuna’s amazing German website, now available in English ) Utthita Hasta Pagangustasana in all its glory.

“Whatever tradition captures our mind,… we may dig deeply into the nature of the direct experience, that is the starting point. If it allows real work and authentic inquiry within our own unique circumstances it is the tradition to follow enthusiastically.”

All bolding in the quotes is mine by the way. This is what I live by, I am so happy to receive indication that I am on the right track.  I feel intimately that it is how we apply all teachings to our own daily life that produce the teachings, the learnings, the results.  It is right here and right now that we are doing yoga, not in some hypothetical moment far away into a projection.

And so I am taking my time these days, giving listening a chance.  I am paying a little more attention while cleaning the dishes and sweeping the floor and typing a post and reading a book.  I am coming to the yoga mat with new eyes, and it does not feel like this or like that, it kind of becomes, well, just what it is.