(no subject)
This morning I felt like doing just about anything other than dragging my tired butt to Sunday Primary Series class. So what did I do? I dragged my tired butt to Sunday Primary Series class. That must be the love of Ashtanga that one of my teachers always talks about. You do yoga when you don't want to do yoga. You do yoga because you don't want to do yoga. It's days like that when you actually make personal progress. Strong days are great (and I do love them), but it's the tired days where you really feel like you've accomplished something by the time you're lying in Savasana, wishing you could just fall asleep.
The thing that I really love about yoga is that, if you look back, you can always tell that you've made progress. It comes slowly (often agonizingly so), but it does come. In the past year, I've accomplished a lot. I'm now able to do full Utthita Parsvakonasana with my hand flat on the floor (fully flat on my right side, fingertips touching on the left), full Marichyasana II with my leg in half lotus rather than cross-leg, Padmasana (though it's a bit shaky and I'm not as good with right leg first, which is standard) and (the big one for me) Urdhva Dhanurasana, which I can do straight-armed, all three times. I'd love to start learning full dropback eventually.
There are still quite a few poses that continue to elude me. Arm balances are very hard for me, though I feel like I am gaining ground with Bakasana and will be able to hold myself up in it soon. And I also have a very difficult time with balancing inversions. I've got great balance right-side up, but turn me upside-down and I have a tough time finding my center. A year after coming back to it, my Sirsasana is still reliant on a wall. I think that's probably a mental block at this point, rather than a physical inability, to be honest. That's a bit frustrating. I'm sure it will come in time, but who knows how long it will take.
I should practice more.
The thing that I really love about yoga is that, if you look back, you can always tell that you've made progress. It comes slowly (often agonizingly so), but it does come. In the past year, I've accomplished a lot. I'm now able to do full Utthita Parsvakonasana with my hand flat on the floor (fully flat on my right side, fingertips touching on the left), full Marichyasana II with my leg in half lotus rather than cross-leg, Padmasana (though it's a bit shaky and I'm not as good with right leg first, which is standard) and (the big one for me) Urdhva Dhanurasana, which I can do straight-armed, all three times. I'd love to start learning full dropback eventually.
There are still quite a few poses that continue to elude me. Arm balances are very hard for me, though I feel like I am gaining ground with Bakasana and will be able to hold myself up in it soon. And I also have a very difficult time with balancing inversions. I've got great balance right-side up, but turn me upside-down and I have a tough time finding my center. A year after coming back to it, my Sirsasana is still reliant on a wall. I think that's probably a mental block at this point, rather than a physical inability, to be honest. That's a bit frustrating. I'm sure it will come in time, but who knows how long it will take.
I should practice more.