Breathe In. Breathe Out.

Wow. It's been some time since I visited this blog of mine. I've been paying a lot of attention to my other blog : zindagi migzara. I might have stopped writing everyday after the hot journey got over, but I haven't stopped practicing. The last couple of months have turned my life upside down, and the one thing that has kept me rooted is my practice. Usually when I take a vacation, I give up practicing and chill for two weeks and then come back to the mat. But when I went home last November, I carried my mat and practiced everyday for 60 mins. It was nice and relaxed and not in a hot room, so that was really nice. So the overall theme for the last few months still has been strength like the tree pose or Vriksasana. But an additional thing that has helped me center myself and bring my mind and soul along with the body to the mat, is my focus on the breath. Now when I step onto that mat, I close my eyes and I'm transported to another world. And all I can hear are my teacher's voice and the sound of my breath going up and down. i no longer even look at my reflection in the mirrors in the front.

There are times when my mind in a particular asana, traces the different sensations in the different parts of the body and muscles that are involved in the asana. My mind is now aware of every small feeling that the practice brings out and has the patience and the calmness to observe it without being disturbed or distracted. It is a very powerful feeling. The rest of this world is shut out and you are only with yourself. No other thoughts! I'm not saying this has made a huge amount of difference in my asanas and now I can jump up down, left and right, but I just feel like I get so much more out of that 60 mins that I spend on the mat.

Two other things that yoga has taught me is to let go and to understand and accept your weaknesses or limitations. 

I was this person who used to hold onto things, people, places, feelings : and these used to affect me in positive and negative ways. We have a new teacher at Hom : Leigh and her flow class makes you feel like you're dancing. She stresses on transitioning from one asana to another slowly and with grace. And there was a particular sequence that made me feel like I was floating in air and there was music and I was gliding with it. There was another sequence where I stopped for about 2 mins to give my body some rest and drink water and I looked at the other yogis in the class, it was a full class, and it looked so very beautiful. So Leigh, before the class, asked us to breathe in, holding onto what we wanted to let go of in life, once our lungs were full, she asked us to breathe out and gently let go. We did this thrice and it felt nice. Not life changing, but light nevertheless. At the end of the class, she read out something she had written about letting go. And then we relaxed into our final sravasana. 

I feel more calm, patient, get angry lesser, more thoughtful of what I say to whom. I don't know if it's the happenings in my life, or the practice or a mixture of both. I don't let things affect me all that much now. I am conscious of what I am thinking and feeling each minute and try and steer away from negative emotions. When I am overwhelmed, I close my eyes and breathe in and breathe out.  And imagine myself on the mat and flowing. It brings me such inner peace, I wish I could put it in words. My attitude towards life has changed. I feel like taking time out to doing more of the things I love. One of which of course is yoga. 

So that's with letting go. Your practice at some time, or at all points teaches you that you are not super-human. you are human. You will have days when you can do all asanas without too much stress and there are days when the easiest of asanas, seem like they will break you. Your body is different on different days. So when you thank yourself for being strong and congratulate yourself on finally getting into that impossible looking asana, you have to be able to accept your weakness on certain days and in certain situations in life. This doesn't mean I go around slacking or making mistakes, but it means, that I have the power and ability to forgive myself when i don't achieve the bar I've set for myself. 

This year is about changes, loads of changes. So letting go combined with being easy on myself, will teach me to accept and adjust to those changes. Two of my favorite teachers at Hom : Daphne and Anton, left in Jan end. And I did take me some time to accept that they will be gone. That I won't start my Mondays with Daphne's flow class in the mornings or that I won't be looking forward to relaxing in Anton's Yin class on weekends. It was tough initially, but I'm slowly adjusting to their absence. And when I finally got myself to go to the studio on one Saturday, Deborah : the lovely chirpy Deb, announces that Feb will be her last month in Hom. I could have cried. It was a flow class, if it was Yin, I would have silently cried i think. But life goes on. Zindagi migzara, has become a tagline to my life recently. I am fortunate and thankful to God for making me meet Daphne, Anton and Deb in Hom and grateful that they were my teachers, but I am sure I will continue practicing, keeping in mind all the things they taught me and all the things they will continue teaching me even in their absence.

Daphne and Anton, have started a lovely organisation called Routes of Yoga. That will take you to destinations/yoga retreats all over Asia. The first one is in Ubud, Bali and I, of course, couldn't stop myself from signing up as soon as they launched it! 

The asana I will share today is Paschimotasana or the seated forward bend. It's a nice pose that streches your hamstrings, spine and shoulders. I feel like it calms the mind down after an intense practice and that is why is placed at the end of most classes. I used to find it tough initially, because I would be concentrating on pushing myself to reach out and hold my toes and would end up being stressed, my shoulders would be tensed and rounded and not relaxed. And then I learnt to let go. Relaxed my shoulders and my neck and got better at it. Here's how you do it.

(Image from yousigma.com)

1) Sit with your legs outstretched in front of you and your feet flexed. Monica, one of my teachers says, your calf muscles should be working to flex your feet, so much that your feet should actually be lifting of the mat a little bit. If you can not sit with straight back, it means you need to sit on a block.

2) On an inhalation, lengthen your spine, gently pressing your sit bones down to the ground or the block. Your hands are next to your hips (see step 1 in the picture above), press your hands down to the floor to elongate your spine. Your gaze should be on your big toes. 

3) On an exhalation you slowly begin to fold forward, hinging from the hips and not bending your back. Your fingers (index, middle and thumb or the "peace fingers) hold your big toes. he fingers help with hinging from the hips, when you pull on your big toes. You have to press your belly in towards the ribcage. And then slowly move first the belly and then the ribcage, chest and then finally your forhead towards your legs. 

4) If you can, bend your elbows towards the mat. Your shoulders shoudl be away from yoru ears all the time and relaxed not crunched up.

5) To go deeper into the asana, with every breath you take in, remember to elongate the spine and with every exhale fold deeper, always with along spine and hinging from the hips. Your neck should be in line with the spine. Eyes always gazing forward not looking inwards. Eventually you will be able to stretch yours arms beyond the feet on the mat. 

It seems like an easy asana to do, but it did take me some time to do it the right way and once i had the basics right and was pressing my belly in, I found myself hinging from the hips. There are some people who can not reach their toes with their fingers, they can always use a strap.

So that's the end of my post. I'll keep writing in, whenever I discover something wonderful my practice teaches me.