Day 22 : Vinyasa Free Hatha

Date : October 22nd, Tuesday
Day  : 22

Finally a class where i don't have to do a vinyasa, was looking for a break! My schedule from a timing point of view is quite fixed 7am and 6pm. By the time i get back home from the 6pm on the force ts 7:40-8:00 and i don't like to push it further! 

My class this morning was Hot Hatha with June. the class was good except that i found myself a little stiffer than usual and rather unbendy. That could be my continued soreness from 108 Or it could be that muscle i pulled resulting in that acute pain in my right sit bone. Whatever, it did hamper my movement a bit and i realised i should REALLY listen to my body now instead of pushing it.

Like in the Standing bow pose i couldn't lift my right leg up because the pain in the sit bone was just too much to even try. 

So after class i asked June and she suggested resting and if it getavworse going to a medical specialist orba traditional medicine practionner. It was then that i decided that for this week i'll only do 1 class a day and give my body some rest.

The asana I want to tall about today is Sasangasana or Rabbit pose. It's a Bikram pose and is included in the Hatha sequence at Hom yoga. It is essentially an extension of the spine and increases it's mobility and elasticity and doeathe same for the back muscles. They say spine streching expedites the feedings of the nervous system with fresh blood and oxygen.


(Image Courtesy : yogadallas.com)

I find myself feeling very good after this asana. It helps release stress and tension on the shoulders and back.

With all the benefits listed, sasangasana is also a very dofficult asana to get right. It is very important to be in the correct alignmemt and hnece necessary that you listen to your teacher's insturctions very carefully. 

To get into the pose :

1) Sit on your shins

2) Grab your heel with your hands, with the thumbs on the outside and the fingers inside. Its very important to get this right!

3) Exhale slowly and bend the body in front.

4) Touch your forehead to your knees with the crown of your head on the mat.

5) Always hold your heel tight. Rise the hips up.

6) Try to forward the body asuch as possible 

There will be about 15% of the body weight on the head. The teacher will always tell you to lift thebhips up which is important to the asana. But never sacrifice the grip to get the hips higher. 

The pull and the grip creates the force to stretch the spine. The harder you pull on the feet the better of a compression you will create benefiting the organs. And while pulling on the heels , lift the shoulders away from the ears. 

The pose the comes after the Camel pose and both these asanas combined is very stimulating and very beneficial ! 

With that, im down to Wednesday, Thursday and Friday left and I complete 30 techilnically because, my board will be conplete and full. But i'll continue writing and blogging until I hit Day 30 :)

Namaste.