Wednesday, May 1, 2013

BLISS-IN 90: Week 2 - "Baby-Stance"



Let's check in with Laurin and see how she did with this the first week of homework! Don't forget to check out the Question of the Week at the end of the blog for your chance to share the love, too! Share your photos with us on Instragram, Facebook and Twitter, and tag 'em with #blissin90!



My "flow" notes. And yes, I am aware I spelled "Ujayi" incorrectly 
for some strange reason! :)



LAURIN'S WEEK 1 HOMEWORK EXPERIENCES

We left off last week with leaving Laurin with some breathing and meditation exercises to practice for the week, as well as a breakdown of Surya Namaskar A to study, and also left her with some resources on Ayurveda to check out if she so pleased. Laurin was going to begin reading The Yoga Sutras this week but her copy of the book didn't arrive until the day of our second session, so, that'll have to be done next week!

Laurin can't really meditate in solitude due to close-quarters living situation but she valiantly makes an effort as much as possible on subways and other quiet moments she can find. She's been using the 2:1 breath to relax before bed every night, and feels the difference and falls asleep faster (not that she had sleep trouble before but she noticed that happened). Aside from bedtime practice, when she's attempted to meditate she's only gotten up to 8 or 9 minutes due to distractions from her living situation. (The beauty is that over time it gets easier to tune out external stimuli the more you practice concentrating on the sound of your breath.)

Laurin read up on Ayurvedic diet recommendations for her Pitta/Kapha-ness and did some experimenting this week already: She tried a baked potato (okay for Pitta to eat) with sour cream (not great for Pitta to eat) and felt very sick afterwards.The next day she tried potato w/ butter (close to ghee which is good for pitta) instead, and was totally fine. With those results she said she's going to continue exploring Ayurvedic recommendations, but, instead of going crazy monitoring every morsel that goes into her mouth she's just going to increase Pitta-pacifying foods (Excellent approach, dietary changes that stress you out aren't going to do any good for you anyway).


WEEK 2 ONE-ON-ONE PRACTICE

We spent this second session breaking down the poses and transitions of Surya Namaskar A. We modified the sequence without Chaturanga/Half-Push-Up due to Laurin's cervical spine and shoulder issues. Instead we practiced Surya Namaskar while employing and modifying a movement from the Budokon system where you move in a "rolling wave" from Astangasana (8-limbed pose, colloquially known as "Knees-Chest-Chin") into a Bhujangasana (Cobra) or Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Upward Dog).
 
To protect Laurin's sensitive low back, instead of moving into Upward Facing Dog from Knees-Chest-Chin we moved into a "baby" Bhujangasana (Baby Cobra) with a less intense backbend, more bend in the elbows than in the back. And instead of moving from Baby Cobra back to Downward Dog, we moved into Balasana (Child's pose, or as Laurin referred to it in a moment where she forgot the name: "Baby-stance", which is now what I shall use to refer to Child's pose, now and forever) and then straightened the legs and lifted the hips into Down Dog from Baby-stance (I said "now and forever." I'm a lady of my word.)

For Downward Dog we modified the pose to widen the feet further than hips distance to protect her low back, and also practiced feeling the difference being both in- and out-of-alignment in Down Dog. When one has upper-back issues the tendency is to hang out in the shoulders and put too much weight in the wrists and shoulders, the remedy is to pull the heels down toward the floor, even if the heels aren't touching the floor, actively reach them toward the ground -- this helps take weight out of the shoulders. Since Laurin is building flexibility in the hips and hamstrings, I had her bend her knees super deeply when walking from Down Dog into forward fold. 

Laurin exploring Down Dog in Union Square.
 


No Savasana this time as we didn't really flow and I could tell she hadn't moved enough to feel the sweet release of Savasana. Her and I both being Pitta's, I know she needs to exhaust herself a little in order to feel good being still for a while.

Instead of Savasana, I thought it would be good to practice some hip-opening stretches. As Laurin has undiagnosed pain in her left hip, Pigeon and Firelog (with blanket under left hip when it's on top due to tightness) are some poses that could help her open up her hip pretty quickly. When practicing Pigeon, her left hip was so tight she was falling over to her right, I had her pull her right hip back and left hip over to the left to balance it out and she felt the stretch even more (with no pain). She said already she felt a difference (in a good way), can't wait to see how she feels next week!


LAURIN'S HOMEWORK
1- Read Yoga Sutras (as translated by Satchidananda) Sutras 1-16.

2 - Practice Surya Namaskar A at least 3x/week and at least 5 rounds to start, reccomend she go as long as she can/feels like then practice Pidgeon and Firelog (with a blanket) for 1-5 minutes each, as often as she would like to stretch/open up her left hip.

3 - Continue practicing Meditation and breathing exercises at least 3x/week


MY HOMEWORK

1 - Create a simple hip-opening sequence for Laurin to practice and take home the following week.


2 - Explore more restorative hip-stretches for Laurin to practice.

3 - Research hands-on adjustments in restorative poses to help open up her left hip, and relieve lower- and upper-back pain.


QUESTION OF THE WEEK!
We'd like to know: What's your dosha and how do you keep your dosha in balance? (If you don't know you can take a test here to find out! And, in a pinch, you can use Google to find more info on the doshas and Ayurveda). Share pictures of your Ayurvedic practices on Instragram and tag 'em with #blissin90!

Have you ever tried any dietary changes or changed your Asana practice to balance your dosha? If you made changes, did you notice a difference? Do you think Ayurveda is a buncha bologna? Tell us in the comments below!

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