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 Vinyasa outModerators: Moderators Jump to page : 1 Now viewing page 1 [25 messages per page] | View previous thread :: View next thread |
| Yoga -> Ashtanga Yoga | Message format |
slowpie6 |
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| Ok, I've posed this question before but it was suggested by Nick that I start a separate thread to address this topic. Jumping in and out seems to be the dominant theme around the forum right now, so here's a third related thread dedicated to it... I'm just going to quote myself: "Other vinyasa out moves that I am concerned about, such as the transition out of Marichyasana, or Tiryang mukha eka pada paschimottanasana, I keep trying very hard, but cannot successfully get my butt up high enough to keep my straight leg off the ground... And from Bhujapidasana or supta kurmasana, I manage to go into Thittibhasana and then almost make it into bakasana, but typically end up folding my legs too early and losing my grip. All this to say, I'm trying hard, trying even harder not to get frustrated every time I fail. My question here is, should I even be trying? Is the mere *attempt* to do these vinyasas working to develop the strength needed to do them, or should I skip trying these moves and try them again in the future to see if I can do it then? Are there any particular asanas that I can practice that will help develop the core strength needed to do these vinyasas properly, or is trying to do the vinyasas the best way to learn?" And this all goes right back to Jeda's post just prior to mine about lifting into chatturanga dandasana, and as to whether it is best to step back until one can actually "float" back. I guess I'm asking the same thing, but about these other forms of jumpbacks and transitions... If this is of any significance, I can tell you that in the past couple of weeks that I've been devoting particular efforts to these vinyasa out sequences, I have progressed positively. And I can sort of feel like I'm on the brink of a mini breakthrough, like one morning I'm going to do something right and suddenly get it, and probably fail afterwards for a long while... So I'm thinking that simply attempting the vinyasas is useful, but I'm sure someone (Nick! who else?  ) has other recommendations? sp | |||
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| slowpie6 |
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| Just noticed something freakish, so thought I would show you, I hope this will work: (untitled.JPG) Attachments ----------------  untitled.JPG (15KB - 62 downloads) | |||
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| Nick |
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    Location: London, England | Hi SP, I've got an idea that the way you are being taught is very different to the way I was taught, and also, I'm a lazy git, so I'm not sure that I would have explored the vinyasa in the way that you are, but I'll try and say something helpful. These balances of which you speak, such as tittibhasana, I'll often demonstrate them, look up, and I'm the only person in the class able to do them-everyone else is sitting there laughing at me  I sometimes feel that the different ways that men and women work out provide the clue about why women find some of these pstures so difficult. Even chaturanga dandasana-I cannot remember teaching a single man who could not descend into the posture with a straight body-but with women it's actually quite common not to be able to hold the mid-section. Most of the time, bad positioning makes their arms and core weaker, like the hands are too far forwards, so the elbows flare out. But they feel weak, and give up before they begin. The look of shock on their faces when they find out they can do it is a real treat. Sometimes I feel there may be an element of male-dominance which makes women reluctant to beat men at their own game-just a theory. In the 'lifting' thread, I mentioned trying to maintain the spine's shape whilst the legs are crossed-it's even harder with postures like tittibhasana-impossible really, but the effort can still be made to straighten the spine, with the added bonus of extra flexibility in the hips as a result. Keep going with that thought-you will never be so advanced that it is not pertinent to your practice-advances can always be made in spinal positioning. I'm not sure that I could say that attempting these vinyasa will give you the strength to actually accomplish them. What quite often happens is that students develop a faulty technique early on, just so they can get to the next posture-this faulty technique will be one that involves using the least strength-and if you want to get stronger, you keep adding resistance in the form of bigger barbells or more advanced positions (or do the simple ones better)-so I think that faulty technique is responsible for lack of improvement in these vinyasa. When you do the vinyasa, try to look at which joints de-stabilize-elbows bending as you are about to lift, spine flexing, wrists hurting. Gaining extra control of these joints will add to the sum of the forces that you can use to pull up. There's also another bandha I use which I have mentioned before-pressing the tongue to the roof of the mouth. I would go so far as to say that yoga done without this action is a waste of time. So TUTALC (tongue up, teeth apart, lips closed). There's different reasons for this, but the muscles under the skull (sub-occipital muscles) are extremly important in determining the position of the rest of the spine-if you lose control of this segment of the body, you lose control of the rest of it. If you look at people doing vinyasa, you will often see the neck posture being absolutely awful, even if only for a moment. This will alter your drishti a little, go with it. There's lots of exercises to practice-if you do it right, the first series turns into a training ground-dandasana can be performed as an L-plant with the legs off the floor-you can also try lifting the legs towards the ceiling, so you are doing navasana, balancing on your hands. I'm sure most astanga teachers would be pleased to see their students try these variations, which shouldn't disrupt the class. I'm getting the impression that it's actually time which is the main factor, not strength-I was a lot stronger when I was younger, could belt out a hundred press-ups, could clap my hands behind my back in a press-up-only met one other person who could do that, but I'm still getting better at vinyasa-it's much easier than it was. So you need to be patient-don't give up on your enquiries, they serve you well, but do accept that success comes only after many years of study. Nick | ||
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| joscmt |
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| tourist |
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Expert Yogi Posts: 8442   | jos - Beware - I got a very cheeky answer when I asked this question of Nick earlier... Nick - I think women's lower center of gravity is one issue. And for some reason a lot of women think they don't have arm strength. Silly really when you think of how much we lift children, carry laundry and groceries etc. And my dear spouse, big, strong and powerful in the shoulders cannot do chaturanga for the life of him. Learning bandhas would probably help, but he is just accepting trikonasana as a daily practice so I am not pushing it. He also has a very long torso (6'1" and when sitting looks as tall as many men 6'4"or taller) and I have observed those with short torsos are more able to do the pose on their first try. | ||
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| Nick |
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Location: London, England | Hi MaryLisa, Just the flat surface, not too hard, find the hollow that's on the roof of the mouth. And I didn't give a cheeky answer to Glenda, that's just her confusing fantasy with reality Nick | ||
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| joscmt |
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| I'll give it a try today in class... Thanks for keepin' it clean, Nick  | |||
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| Nick |
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Location: London, England | |||
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| slowpie6 |
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| Nick |
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Location: London, England | |||
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