One Year Of Yoga » Ashtanga

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!

Day 123: Intro to Ashtanga

Donna — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 19:12:10 +0000

This was a good class. Very similar to other Ashtanga classes only we skipped the pose where you twist your foot, toes down, against your leg, and we did not do full headstand. I am finding I am very stiff in the mornings. Everything seemed harder this morning. My bones were popping like Rice Krispies.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Day 66: Ashtanga

Donna — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:41:28 +0000

When I got to class, there was a girl that came in and sat next to me. She started texting while she was stretching in an inverted pose. I couldn’t help but smile, trying not to laugh out loud. It seemed like an oxymoron to be texting in yoga class where you are suppose to be looking within and maybe meditating and bringing your mind to a peaceful state. People are really addicted to texting these days.
Today I felt a little over my head. There we lots of teachers in class who knew what they were doing. The instructor had us adjust each other in downward dog. This nice girl came over and adjusted me, but I didn’t know what to do to adjust her. I wish the instructor could have explained this more. During class, I found myself bothered by the BO of another girl next to me. Then the instructor had us partner up to help each other with half moon pose. He put me with the smelly girl who actually turned out to be really nice. The smell didn’t bother me the rest of the time. It’s funny how we sometimes have to do things we don’t want to do to really grow as human beings and get “unstuck” in our minds.

Day 59: Ashtanga

Donna — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:32:18 +0000

This class went OK. I notice my Vinyasa’s (Upward & Downward Dog Poses) are very strong. I feel that I can do the transition between them correctly now. That means I am getting stronger. It feels good. The instructor was sick today so somebody different led the class. We did the Primary Ashtanga Series. Â I’m still scared to do the handstands and headstands.

Day 45: Ashtanga

Donna — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:31:48 +0000

Really liked the Ashtanga class. It went and hour and a half and is a great series. Â The poses build on each other and you do Vinyasa’s in between each pose. Â Took it easy today. I skipped some of the Vinyasa’s.