We had a great trip, but boy, I’m happy to have my own floor back to practice yoga on. In a couple of the motels we stayed in, we just did standing poses and sun salutations so as to avoid much touching of the rug.
Posted by: Mollyavalon | June 29, 2009
Home again
Posted in general blather
Posted by: Mollyavalon | June 24, 2009
Dailyness
Today we’re in a very small hotel room, but still managed to practice before breakfast.
We’re driving on this trip, so I was able to bring a bag with yoga mats, straps and blocks. I left the blankets and bolsters at home. I’ll be glad to be home at the end of the week to practice in my own space.
I’ve still only missed one day of practice this month.
Posted in general blather
Posted by: Mollyavalon | June 20, 2009
Vasisthasana
Woohoo! I did Vasisthasana (side plank) this morning for the first time in a year and a half. It was going to be my focus pose when I got sick last year, so now I can take it up again. I’m going to take it very very easy on my shoulders so I can keep doing it and getting stronger.
Vasisthasana
My version does not involve holding my foot up. I have not yet been able do to that standing or lying down, so I’m not even trying it while balancing on one arm and one foot.
Still, yay!
Posted by: Mollyavalon | June 17, 2009
Utili-yoga
We’re traveling at the moment. The last three days were spent in the car, hurtling across the midwest towards Rhode Island. It’s hard to maintain a daily practice when you’re staying in motels, getting in at 10 pm or so, and leaving first thing in the morning. In addition to the time problem, there’s the revoltingness of motel carpets to contend with.
I’ve been able to manage it more or less, with some standing poses at night to get the car buzz out, a couple of sun salutations in the morning, and car dogs (hands against bumper, stretching hips back, tucking shoulder blades down and in), gomukhasana (cow face), and uttanasana (standing forward bend) in rest areas.
This morning I was finally able to do a reasonably complete practice in the family room at our friends’ house. My husband did it with me, or most of it. Aaah.
Posted in general blather
Posted by: Mollyavalon | June 10, 2009
Traveling
We’re getting ready to leave town, and this time we’re driving. We’ll be on the road for a couple of weeks, visiting family and friends in New England. Taking the car means that we can bring a couple of yoga mats and maybe some blocks and blankets. I’m hoping to be able to maintain my daily practice. So far, I’m doing just fine.
Posted in general blather
Posted by: Mollyavalon | June 4, 2009
June 3, so far, so good
It’s the third day of YoMo, and I’m doing fine. My husband has taken yoga classes a couple of times but found it insufficiently fast and competitive. However, he’s having back trouble, and he asked me to get him started with a short yoga routine.
I’ve practiced with him for two days now. We did Virasana (hero), Adho Mukha Virasana (downward facing hero), Adho Mukha Svanasana (downward facing dog), Uttanasana (standing forward bend), Malasana (garland), Jathara Parivartanasana (turning the belly), and Savasana (corpse). I had to restrain myself from adding more, because I want the practice to be easy and straightforward so he’ll keep doing it.
This is helpful for keeping me on track for YoMo.
Virasana
Virasana forward bend
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Uttanasana I
Jathara Parivartanasana
Savasana
Posted in YoMo, general blather
Posted by: Mollyavalon | June 3, 2009
Early morning group practice
The Yoga Center has started a 6:00 am guided practice. It’s led by Katie, who is a new teacher. Today was the first day. It was a wonderful way to start the day. Some yoga experience is required, which means that Katie doesn’t need to demonstrate much or make corrections. She told us what we were going to do, and then did it with us, talking our way through.
I can only go to one of the two weekly practices, phooey.
Is it cheating that I have structured yoga on four of the seven days of the week? I don’t think so.
Sunday – home yoga by myself
Monday – ditto
Tuesday – guided practice at the YCL
Wednesday – class with Kim
Thursday – practice with Jill and Holly
Friday – practice at my house with Dana, Priscilla, Kate, and sometimes Beth and Phyllis
Saturday – home yoga by myself.
Pretty good support for my daily practice.
Posted in mulling things over, self-talk
Posted by: Mollyavalon | June 2, 2009
Focus poses and why some stick better than others
I just figured out why, in January, when I did Upavistha Konasana (seated wide angle) and Supta Virasana (reclining hero) almost every day, Upavistha Konasana didn’t improve nearly as much as Supta Virasana did.
I’m adding Parivrtta Trikonasana (revolved triangle) as a focus pose this month. It’s such a difficult pose for me that I need to do a fair amount of prep for it, starting with Trikonasana (triangle), then Parsvottanasana (stretch to the side), some twists, e.g., Marichyasana, before I can manage it. It’s also helpful to do it against the wall or lying down.
Similarly, I simply couldn’t do Supta Virasana without preparatory poses – lunges, Virasana (hero), maybe Ustrasana (camel).
However, I can approximate Upavistha Konasana without a lot of prep. That doesn’t mean it’s good, but it means I don’t work as hard to get to it. Therefore, I did not improve much in that pose during January.
I can think of several prep poses for Upavistha Konasana: all wide angle standing poses, particularly Prasarita Padottanasana (standing wide angle forward bend), Malasana (garland), and seated poses. I guess this is my assignment to myself to do the prep work.
Upavista Konasana
Supta Virasana
Parivrtta Trikonasana
Utthita Trikonasana
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Standing Marichyasana
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Ustrasana
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Posted in mulling things over, self-talk
Posted by: Mollyavalon | June 1, 2009
YoMo begins, can’t find my notes!
During my morning practice yesterday I wrote myself several notes about things to write about relative to YoMo. I’ll be writing a couple of emails a week to participants who signed up to practice yoga every day during the month of June, and I’ve been thinking about what to say. My desk is a big mess and now I can’t find the notes.
I keep my yoga space very neat. I have a cabinet for my props, and I keep the floor clear to make it easy to get started without any fuss. My desk is another matter entirely. Maybe that should be part of my yoga practice this month: the yoga of daily living.
On the other hand, maybe I should be kinder to myself. The notes will turn up. And I just remembered one of the things I was going to write about.
Posted in YoMo, general blather, self-talk
Posted by: Mollyavalon | May 30, 2009
Focus pose
When we did YoMo in January, I chose two poses that are really hard for me to work on during that month – Upavistha Konasana (seated wide angle) and Supta Virasana (reclining hero).
Supta Virasana improved enormously, as I’ve described recently. Upavistha Konasana, not so much. So during this June YoMo I’m going to work on it some more, and I’m going to add Parivrtta Trikonasana. In that pose I have trouble staying upright, trouble twisting enough, trouble keeping my hips in the right place, oh, just trouble all around.
This method works well for me. I really like delving into one pose and paying attention to every aspect of it. I am also always delighted by my improvement.
I just don’t know about Upavistha Konasana. My hips have a lifetime of stiffness. I’ll keep trying, though.
Upavista Konasana
Supta Virasana
Parivrtta Trikonasana
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