If It's March - It's Uttanasana!

Happy March! With March comes a new pose here at Musasana - Uttanasana. Here is a study point to get you started:

How does the pose change when your legs are straight versus bent?

Have fun playing and let us know what you learn.

I Don't Know Why They Call It ONE

It is not my first choice! Actually, I do know why they call it ONE and it still is not my first choice. Ask me about Virabhadrasana II or Virabhadrasana III. I love both of those versions - strong and open and free! Virabhadrasana I has never felt like my pose in all of the years I have done it. There is something about that back leg, and there is something about that front leg. Oh yes, and there is something about the lower back and the extended arms. It doesn't feel strong and it doesn't feel balanced and it doesn't feel free. Does anyone else agree?

Maybe someday I'll learn to love it - just not today.

Prasarita Padottanasana Spotlight

We are only half way through this month. You know what that means? There are still 2 more weeks of Prasarita Padottanasana in the spotlight! I have taught it in all of my yoga classes with great response! I like to start with separating the feet as far as is comfortable and then moving into the pose - and hold it. Focus on keeping the weight back and in the feet. Come up and then moving the legs in 1/3 of the way 2 more times finally ending in Uttanasana. Then follow it up with standing poses - hold them a little longer than usual. Your legs will feel very strong and steady after working in Prasarita Padottanasana. And...after all that, Savasana is glorious. Ahhhhhhh.

Parsvottanasana

I had not realized how much I enjoy this pose before this month. I cannot say that I practiced it every day. I did study it myself to come up with teaching points and I did put it in many of the classes I taught. There are so many fun variations and great ways to explore this pose. One of my favorites is with the back foot against the wall and the hands down to blocks. Feels so good and really helps you to feel the energy in this pose.

Writing about it is inspiring me to get on my mat and experience this pose right now. Bye!

Ardha Chandrasana - So sorry my love!

I love Ardha Chandrasana. Why is it that I had given it no attention in the month of October? Has another pose stolen my heart? No. I'm embarrassed to admit - I just never did it except for those two times I demonstrated it while teaching. That's it. I'm so sorry my love.

I fight: Savasana

Back in May of this year, I found myself avoiding savasana. I wrote this about my experience and what I learned about the avoidance. I forgot about it because I do not practice a long savasana - ever - until this month's challenge - and - my yoga class last night.

I forgot that the last Wednesday of the month is restorative yoga. Usually, I don't attend that class except on the days I forget that it is the last Wednesday of the month. That class always ends with a long savasana. There I was again, a few minutes in wanting, wanting, and waiting for it to be over. Why? Again, why do I dislike this pose. Oh yes, it hurts! When I begin to really relax, my very loose joints and very open body feels like it is spilling across the floor and nothing is holding it together.

Here is the final paragraph of my post from May. I'm printing it out - nice and big and putting it in my yoga room where I am headed now to practice savasana.

i fight: the feelings of instability in Savasana by accepting them and trusting that I will learn whatever they are here to teach me.

(And perhaps all I need to do is set myself up in the Judith Lasater version of savasana - many, many blankets - and I will be just fine.)

Find Trikonasana

(by Karen) When teaching, I always remind my students to "find" their pose. Anyone can do a pose, but is it your pose?

Trikonasana is one that I don't usually find quickly so it is usually added to each practice more than once and spread around. The first one is to remind my body of the technical side, but it never feels like mine. The second time is usually easier to get into and my body is "remembering" it but still not mine. Usually, the third time is it - body and pose as one. At this point, I could stay there for an hour (at least it feels that way, never tried it :-)

Five Minute Tadasana

I stood in Tadasana for 5 minutes today. At first I was flying. Everything felt light and free. After a minute or so I noticed my body start to "settle". Different muscle groups "kicked in" and then let go as I would lose and restore balance. The longer I stood there, the more I could feel my feet. At first it was just the bottoms and then the feeling crept up to the tops of the feet and then to the ankles. Every once in a while I would lose balance, my torso would feel as if it were falling back and the quads would come to the rescue. Little twitches were popping up here and there. When the concentration was lost, my knees would hyper-extend. It was a lot more work to keep them aligned! Eventually, it was not evident where my feet ended and the floor began. All the while, not a sound was heard from the upper back, shoulders or arms. Wow.

In all the years of practicing yoga, I never truly experienced Tadasana as a challenging balance pose. I guess I never gave it the chance :-)

Tadasana = Presence

For me, Tadasana is a pose of awareness. It has taught me many things On and Off The Mat. When I am On The Mat it is a very centering and grounding pose. It brings me in touch with where my body is at that moment in time.

Off The Mat is where I really feel the lesson in this pose. I am very flexible and have a tendency to hyper-extend my knees while standing. I have become aware that when I catch myself standing and my knees are hyper-extended I am not present, or as Eckhart Tolle says, "in the now". I am rehashing the past or thinking about something in the future. If I stand in Tadasana no matter where I am or what I am doing, I am fully present.