Thai Massage

I've been ill for two weeks, forcing me to skip my yoga practice. Well, almost. I've done a couple of sun salutations, had a short session on sunday, but not nearly enough. I've even felt guilty about it, even though I knew my body needed rest more than anything. This made me realize that I should revise how I look at my yoga practice. I mean, I believe in forcing myself onto the mat in periods when I'm extra lazy or uninspired, but it shouldn't be a chore.

So even from this little break, I've learnt something. Oh, and I've learnt something else, the topic of this post; Thai Massage! My good friend, Ieza, treated me to a thai massage class. I was sick, but it did me so much good! It certainly has aspects of yoga in it; the stretching, the focus on alignment, the easy breathing..  But then, instead of self-support and muscle work, you add massage. It was magical. We've already signed up for another class - a valentines day partner yoga and thai massage class. I'm going with Mr. S, my yoga friend. Mr. S also had a brilliant idea for cool yoga pictures the other day - yoga shadow pictures!!

Another thing I've been thinking of this week is a good soundtrack for a home practice, or a thai massage session. I've been searching the net for inspiration, and checked out numerous bands. I'll hopefully post my ultimate yoga play list here some day soon.

Namaste

Winter

"Shadows" by Boguslaw Mosielski

It's winter, I've been away, I've started a new, and I need balance and grounding.. Hopefully yoga will help me there, but as I am broke I will have to practice at home. But I have good friends keeping my spirits high, and one of them has treated me to a thai massage class by the end of the month! Yey!

Lunchbreak yoga

Here are some pictures from a hike and our lunch break on the way back from out beautiful retreat!

Retreat

I have retreated this weekend, and it was beautiful! There was yoga sessions twice a day, and every day I had a new teacher and a new yoga style. It was interesting to try out new poses, and I got to try my shoulder stand, something I haven't done since before summer. I thought I needed more props to be able to do the pose, but I must have improved my abdominal strength or something, because I flew right up into the pose. Well, not exactly, but in a much more graceful way now than before. I've always done this pose with a lot of padding under the shoulders, but this time I just did it on the mat, and it worked out fine. It feels like my neck is limiting me in this pose, or maybe it's my whole back, or just my buddah belly..? I cannot touch the feet to the floor in plough pose! I want to be better at this pose, because of all the benefits one reaps from inversions. Maybe I'll incorporate it into my daily practice.

But not this week. I'm on my "ladies holiday" - blah! When the cramps are over I'll do some light, relaxing stretches, but no inversions during this period! B. K. S. Iyengar's book "Yoga, the path to holistic health" has a recommended sequence for menstrual cramps, with baddhakonasana and virasana, both seated and reclined, and also some side stretches and forward bends, and a lot of supported poses.

The best yoga class was the last. We did Iyengar yoga, and it made me realize how much I've missed doing this type of yoga. The thorough instructions and the use of props and slow progression - I love it!! The teacher was strict, but loving - just like my teacher back home!! <3 And it was by far the best workout of all the yoga classes. This was an intermediate class, and so she made us hold the poses for a long time, then repeating them, and making sure we did them properly! We worked on the warrior poses, and as she said; there is no hiding from the warrior poses, you cannot cheat. She pointed out that during warrior 2, I tuck my butt in too much, a habit I got from my power yoga instructor, who wants us to tuck it as much as possible. I'm quite bendy and so as much as possible is quite a lot. This one class made such a difference for me, and was truly inspirational! I'm looking forwards to signing up for Iyengar yoga next quarter.

All the pictures are taken from the dharma yoga center webpage, and are from Sri Dharmas (That can't be his real name??) Master Yoga Chart.

Eka Pada Rajakapotasana

Nice picture, by Andrzej Radka:

Today I'm taking a rest. It's so cold.. even in California! I went running this morning (freezing!!) by the graveyard, and got some great ideas for photos.. I want to do a full pigeon pose in the wildlife area with wild turkeys around me! The churchyard is connected to the wildlife area, and that's why I run there. I like the quiet, the lack of (living) people. The first time I saw the turkeys, I though they were an illusion. I thought about the horses that pull the carriages at Hogwarts, that these turkeys also were only visible to people who have witness death (not that I have, unless you count my guinea pig). They are big birds, and quite majestic in the wild!

On veterans day there were a lot of people at the graveyard, and this made the turkeys uneasy. It was such a magnificent spectacle! Everywhere; gravestones, american flags, old people and flocks of wild turkeys. And me, running, feeling like I somehow blended in.

Last Power Yoga class - Natarajasana

I had my last Power Yoga class yesterday - a class I signed up for involuntarily. I wanted to take an Iyengar class at the student gym, but it got cancelled due to lack of interest (what?!). This left me with the choice of finding another class after all registration deadlines or taking a power yoga class. I sort of regret my choice, but it might have been good for me to step outside my comfort zone and try something new. It made me realize that I'm capable of going further than I think in some postures, and I got to try some arm balances and stuff I would normally not do. It also made me realize that my arms really aren't that strong - they need some more exercise! 

The last class was really hard, my arms and thigh muscles were shaking afterwards. Almost at the end of class out instructor wanted us to do Natarajasana, the dancers pose. I like this pose, but it really challenges my balance. This time I was struggling even more than usual. My teacher wanted us to hold on to the outside of our foot, not the inside, like I am used to. I looked it up, and the moderate poses show the grasp being on the inside. But my teacher aims for the sky, and I notice that advanced versions of this pose has one or both hands grasping the foot from above the head. I will focus a bit extra on this pose in the future, as it fits my other ambitions; I am working towards a royal pigeon, and also being able to do the splits and enhance my balance. 

This is what I would like to look like; beautiful picture by Elena Ray:

Bill Tipper

Here's an excellent yoga photographer I stumbled upon while procrastinating school work today. In his "Nature of Yoga" series, there is an especially cool picture of a man standing on his head alone, in the middle of a victorian garden. Beautiful!! I've searched the net for this picture, without any luck.. Maybe I'll order the poster? Check out his site for some everyday beauty, something we all need;