Day 15 : mid week holiday !
Date : Tuesday, October 15th
Day : 15
OK so i signed up for Anton's Flow class at 9:30. And I had my day planned accordingly. But I woke up in the morning and was really really sick. So after 30 mins of "Should I or Should I not" I decided against going for yoga today. The decision actually came when I got off my bed and didn't have the strength to stand! Obviously I would faint mid way through a vinyasa. As soon as I made that decision, it started to pour in Singapore. There was ferocious thunder and lightening and the sky pour for an hour before calming down. I made myself a cup of tea and got back into bed.
So I made it up with one extra class on Wednesday. Wednesday morning was Flow with Michelle. I thought my body will be a little stiff with a day of inaction in between. But it surprised me with its flexibility and stability. Maybe the day off in between did in fact do my body some good. I'm glad I listened to it.
I just remembered that I have not shared the theme for week II : Equanimity.
"The art of finding equanimity is one of the most trans-formative and transferable skills we can take from our experience on the yoga mat and out into our daily lives. Equanimity is the ability to meet the inevitable highs and lows of life with calmness and positivity, minus the drama and fuss. This week as you flow through a challenging asana practice you will be reminded to breathe, to stay centered, and to relinquish unnecessary gripping or tension. Observe how these same skills will help you to flow through your days with greater ease, receptivity and grace."
The one asana that I am going to talk about today is called Svarga Dvijasana or bird of paradise
(Image courtesy : mikayogawear.com)
It's a tricky one to get into. I tried it the first time with Daphne and then learn it in a class with Anton. The full expression of the pose is supposed to look like the flower : bird of paradise - there are loads of it in my grandmother's house by the way! To get to the full expression, you are supposed to employ all your strength and facilities from concentration and focus, balance, flexibility of the shoulder and abdominal strength. Only then will you shine out and blossom into the full expression of the asana : like the flower.
It is extremely important to have open hips for this asana and hence it's important to have opened up your hips with preparatory asanas :loads of sun salutations and the warrior poses.
As with all good things, we start with the tadasana. Flowing through our vinyasa, we reach the downward dog and then go into warrior II. From there into extended side angle pose or utthita parsvakonasana :
(Image Courtesy : yogaoutlet.com)
From there we go into a bind : bound side angle pose or baddha utthita parsvakonasana
(Image Courtesy : yogaoutlet.com)
(image courtesy : yoga.sportsxfitness.com)
From here you bring the back leg forward slowly so that the feet are parallel to the front of mat, keep the bind while doing this. Shift the weight into the free (un-bound) leg. Slowly bring yourself up, keeping the bind, hence lifting the bound leg with yourself. When you reach a stable position, extend your bound leg to straighten it. Bring your gaze to the opposite shoulder. That is the full expression of the bird of paradise asana.
To come out of it, slowly bring the bound leg down, step the free leg tot he back of the mat, reversing the steps that we used to come into the pose.
Of course then you have to all of this on the other side as well to help keep the balance in the body.
So there it is. I really like it. I haven't managed to get my legs straight yet, only been able to lift my leg up. But now that I am stable in once my bound leg is lifted, I should try and straighten it out the next time I try it in a flow class.
So that was my 15th class in my journey. With that i reach the half way mark! Woohoo! My phone is not working and so I can't click a pick of the colorful dots against my name on the board. But shall get one soon.
Namaste.
Day : 15
OK so i signed up for Anton's Flow class at 9:30. And I had my day planned accordingly. But I woke up in the morning and was really really sick. So after 30 mins of "Should I or Should I not" I decided against going for yoga today. The decision actually came when I got off my bed and didn't have the strength to stand! Obviously I would faint mid way through a vinyasa. As soon as I made that decision, it started to pour in Singapore. There was ferocious thunder and lightening and the sky pour for an hour before calming down. I made myself a cup of tea and got back into bed.
So I made it up with one extra class on Wednesday. Wednesday morning was Flow with Michelle. I thought my body will be a little stiff with a day of inaction in between. But it surprised me with its flexibility and stability. Maybe the day off in between did in fact do my body some good. I'm glad I listened to it.
I just remembered that I have not shared the theme for week II : Equanimity.
"The art of finding equanimity is one of the most trans-formative and transferable skills we can take from our experience on the yoga mat and out into our daily lives. Equanimity is the ability to meet the inevitable highs and lows of life with calmness and positivity, minus the drama and fuss. This week as you flow through a challenging asana practice you will be reminded to breathe, to stay centered, and to relinquish unnecessary gripping or tension. Observe how these same skills will help you to flow through your days with greater ease, receptivity and grace."
The one asana that I am going to talk about today is called Svarga Dvijasana or bird of paradise
(Image courtesy : mikayogawear.com)
It's a tricky one to get into. I tried it the first time with Daphne and then learn it in a class with Anton. The full expression of the pose is supposed to look like the flower : bird of paradise - there are loads of it in my grandmother's house by the way! To get to the full expression, you are supposed to employ all your strength and facilities from concentration and focus, balance, flexibility of the shoulder and abdominal strength. Only then will you shine out and blossom into the full expression of the asana : like the flower.
It is extremely important to have open hips for this asana and hence it's important to have opened up your hips with preparatory asanas :loads of sun salutations and the warrior poses.
As with all good things, we start with the tadasana. Flowing through our vinyasa, we reach the downward dog and then go into warrior II. From there into extended side angle pose or utthita parsvakonasana :
(Image Courtesy : yogaoutlet.com)
From there we go into a bind : bound side angle pose or baddha utthita parsvakonasana
(Image Courtesy : yogaoutlet.com)
(image courtesy : yoga.sportsxfitness.com)
From here you bring the back leg forward slowly so that the feet are parallel to the front of mat, keep the bind while doing this. Shift the weight into the free (un-bound) leg. Slowly bring yourself up, keeping the bind, hence lifting the bound leg with yourself. When you reach a stable position, extend your bound leg to straighten it. Bring your gaze to the opposite shoulder. That is the full expression of the bird of paradise asana.
To come out of it, slowly bring the bound leg down, step the free leg tot he back of the mat, reversing the steps that we used to come into the pose.
Of course then you have to all of this on the other side as well to help keep the balance in the body.
So there it is. I really like it. I haven't managed to get my legs straight yet, only been able to lift my leg up. But now that I am stable in once my bound leg is lifted, I should try and straighten it out the next time I try it in a flow class.
So that was my 15th class in my journey. With that i reach the half way mark! Woohoo! My phone is not working and so I can't click a pick of the colorful dots against my name on the board. But shall get one soon.
Namaste.
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