One Year Of Yoga » Ashtanga Yoga

Day 128: Ashtanga

Donna — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 23:41:25 +0000

Today’s Ashtanga class was a good one. I was able to get up into headstand again! Against the wall of course, but since I couldn’t even do that before, this is a big improvement for me! This achievement comes at a good time since I have been frustrated at myself for still having tight hips. It seems like after 128 days I should be farther along in the hip flexibility department. I know so many other factors come into play here with emotions and stress, etc. I just need to be patient with myself.

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Day 125: Ashtanga

Donna — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 05:34:42 +0000

Great Ashtanga class! I was so happy when we were told to do headstands and I didn’t think I could do it, and I tried and got right up (against the wall). I’ve never done that before. It was a good feeling. I will keep working at it and maybe someday I will be able to take headstand in the middle of the room. After class, to celebrate, my husband and I went for a drink. I had the spicy martini called “Descending Dragon”. It has Thai Chili infused Vodka!

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Day 121: Ashtanga

Donna — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 04:25:28 +0000

Today was a full moon and in Ashtanga tradition, practitioners take a day of rest. Luckily, we still had class today and it was good. The instructor made it a little less intense which was perfect for me because I woke up feeling very tired today. I guess the moon can cause this. Very interesting.

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Day 115: Ashtanga

Donna — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 00:03:40 +0000

Full class today. Luckily, I was the last student they let in. Phew! Good practice. Met a fellow Bikram teacher. My balance felt better than on Tuesday’s class. Today is a beautiful sunny, crisp winter day and perfect for all the last minute shopping and holiday traveling.

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Day 113: Ashtanga Yoga

Donna — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 06:50:37 +0000

Great class. Ashtanga really develops your upper body strength without thinking about it. The Vinyasa’s between the poses really do the trick. I always feel like I got a good workout after this class. I’m still working on my hips. They are still really tight.

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Day 102: Ashtanga Primary Series

Donna — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 23:29:36 +0000

This was a good class although, I did not realize it was teacher led, not a regular taught, yoga class. Everyone seemed to know what they were doing. Some students seemed very advanced.

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Day 101: Ashtanga

Donna — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:20:09 +0000

Great Ashtanga class today! Hips are still a little tight. Â Was able to do handstands against the wall. Â That’s an improvement.

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Day 98: Ashtanga

Donna — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:41:20 +0000

Great Ashtanga class. Still feeling some aches and pains from driving. Lower back is speaking to me. Instructor tried to adjust me in downward dog and I bent my knees to aviod a full adjustment. My lower back hurts to the touch.

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Day 85: Ashtanga Mix

Donna — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 02:15:12 +0000

Fun class today. Saw some different arm balances than I have seen before. Some things to work towards. Today the class did this thing where you were supposed to help adjust the person across from you in downward dog. Since downward dog was not in the Bikram series we did not learn how to teach it nor how to adjust it. I wouldn’t know how to adjust a person properly, so I just took child’s pose until they were done.

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Day 80: Ashtanga

Donna — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:36:11 +0000

Today’s class was great. The instructor seemed to explain things in more detail this time and assisted people deeper into the poses. I learned that my hands can go higher when I do reverse Namaste. Also, I’m not sure how many times I’ve heard this, but it finally clicked today, that when stretching in a forward bend you are supposed to engage the muscle you are stretching to protect it from injury. It seems to actually help you stretch deeper too. I knew this from teaching Bikram poses, I just hadn’t applied the same rules to the poses common in other disciplines of yoga.

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