So close to Supta Kurmasana... but still not grabbing it!

December will be calmer, right now we are in the middle of students going home and new students coming in. For tomorrow my practice starts at 6.00 AM, I am still in the same group.

I met 2 French practictioner but they are living today.... 

I have reached my final point which is Supta Kurmasana, still not grabbing at all so I stop there. The rest of my practice however is absolutely awesome, improving a lot my jumping back and jumping front, a lot of strength and stamina are in my body now. Only my concern right now is my lower back. Really painful.

I have been adjusted in Kurmasana, not really an adjustment but the assistant push my torso gently down on the floor, at first I thought it was not a good idea but I did not feel any pain in my lower back, on the contrary it was really nice.

I don't know how to translate this pain. Is it the beginning of a bulge disk? Hernia? I do not have paint in the sciatica and when I do some backbend it is not painful either. During the forward fold I can feel it but it does not stop me practicing. So I am wondering if this something that I am opening or if it something damaging my back.

The same I was in huge pain about my knee now it is all gone, no more pain at all into my knees. So does that mean that the pain in the lower back is something that should happen and not something that is bad for my body? Have no clue.

Will continue the practice and see what will happen.

  - Namaste -

Reaching the end of my practice with Sharat

December 2nd will be my last day in the shala and I think I will finish it on Supta Kurmasana. Whatever the adjustments I am receiving my hands are not catching, arms too big, buttock too big, thighs too big... you name it. 

The same way Marichyasana D was completely inaccessible to me 2 months ago, now I can do it proudly without any discomfort (except for today where my right ankle was painful).

The same way Janu Shirshasana C was not going so well on my left foot now I can manage it without any trouble.

So I am not worried and not frustrated to have to stop my practice there.

It will come, I know it will and the day it will come I will wonder how comes it did not come sooner?! No I think I will be very happy, it will be a new step toward my practice.

I do connect my lower back pain to Supta Kurmasana, it is the withdraw of the sensory organs. It is an introspection to myself in order to let it go and to achieve. I am not at that level yet, my mind is still going around when I am practicing. When I unfold my mat in the shala I get distracted by others practicing...

I know it is for a good thing to happen. Keep practicing ;-)

Practicing Yoga when you are sick is not a good idea....

I have been sick since the last 2 days, I skipped two practices. So today I have decided to finish the week with the led class, at least, give me one practice ! And it was not a good idea at all..... as soon as my head reached down my brain was pushing against the skull.... horrible headache.

I caught a cold. Now I am not sneezing anymore however I am coughing.

No need to say that my practice was not the best.

On the other hand I met Iain Grysak today and I gave him my registration fees for the intensive Ashtanga immersion in Bali on February. So yes definitely I will be in Ubud by the end of January till the end of February.

Even though I am sick I am missing the practice. The benefit of a regular Ashtanga Yoga practice can not be explain, it has to be lived! It is all from the inside to the outside. I feel great and happy.

I am lucky and bless to have this life, travelling and practicing, teaching and learning. It is a good quality of life, it is the best time of my Life!

Love & Light,

- Namaste -

Supta Kurmasana......

As promised Sharat gave me the adjustment in Supta Kurmasana.... and it worked! Each time I am receiving an adjustment from him it is working, he is soft, not pushing, scolding "relaxe, why you push, relaxe, breathe, why you're not breathing?". But in the end his adjustment worked all the times.

He told me that next week I will catch on my own.... well, we'll see. Hopefully I will be "graduated" by the end of the week to continue the full Primary Series.

I am also working a lot on my jumping back and jumping front, as a result of it typing this post is getting painful to my shoulders, very heavy. I think my upper body will get wider as it takes a lot of strength to lift up and jump back.

I have decided to follow the Iain Grisak workshop in Bali, so I will be living India by January 26th and come back by February 25th. 

On April I am supposed to be in Montreal to teach drop in classes so I am planning to practice with Mark Darby.

Then hopefully next october will be back to practice with Sharat again.

There are so many things changing in my body and in my mind that now I really want to continue and see where it will lead me.

- Namaste -

Pathetic practice

Well it started well.... at 4.30 AM I was on my mat... but then my body did not want to follow my will.... I still did the practice without pushing anything. The yesterday full moon did not help me at all this morning.

But that is the beautiful thing about the practice, each day is different, each time my body is different and all the time a new journey toward my yoga practice is starting. In the end it is very positive as I am discovering myself a little more.

Continue the practice and it all comes!

- Namaste -

5000 applications!!!!

During the conference today this is what Sharat said. There were 5000 applications for November, December, January..... the shall is completely full and no more registrations are possible until next year. So we should feel lucky to be part of the students who got accepted. Of course I feel lucky ;-)

I met Ian Grysak today. He was in the line up, I cam to him and asked him "are you Iain Grysak?" he said yes, then I told him that I was reading his articles and get inspired by it and his point of view. So I thanked him for it and went back to the queue. He was very humble, he asked my name and told me thank you.

I was surprise that no one was around him, talking with him, he was alone on his own like any others practitioners.

If you want to real a real blog about a the real ashtanga Yoga practice and the real commitment I highly recommended his webstie:

http://spaciousyoga.com/you-stop-there-lessons-from-sharath-jois/

I am still asking myself whether I will register for his workshop "Ashtanga Immersion course" on February or not...... On March I am going to Lombok so I should ask for a 2 months visa before going to Bali if I want to attend his course.... I am really interesting in it.

Will see.

So today was the led class, I arrived late on purpose (but before the class's starting) and did my practice upstair in the changing room. I wanted it. And I did the full practice ;-) I was sweating like anything, practice is led for one small hour and when Sharat count is at 3 I am just finishing my first breathing....

Monday there is no class, full moon and then Tuesday is the led class..... Did not expect it. I won't go to it as it at 4.30 AM (I have to leave the Ashram by 3.30 AM to be at the shala by 4.00 AM and all of it for a quick led class.... no thank you). Then I will do my practice in our shala at 5.00 AM.

I feel great.

- Namaste -

Practice is flowing, blossoming from my belly!

The more I practiced the more it is easier. However I am still stuck in Supta Kurmasana, whatever the adjustment I am receiving I can not grab my fingers.

All others asanas are going very well, this is the positive side, Marichyasana D is not a problem at all for me, I do not have any pain in my knee.

The pain I am having is all around the buttocks region, I remember when I was attending glutes workouts I used to have a lot of pain all around the region by the repetition of boring exercices, it is exactly the same pain I am having right now.

Also I have noticed that the shape of my body is changing, I have a waist line coming, shoulders are getting wider, rib cage as well, legs and especially the hamstrings are getting longer and my butt is getting higher...... not to mention my arms, my biceps are really big.

The stamina is also well installed, I am draining myself into the practice, it is flowing, my breathing make me sweat a lot and I am getting more and more focus each day.

I am in a transformation phase. I feel great and my mind is calmer. I sleep a lot!

At the end of my practice Sharat asked me if I was catching, I told him no.... he said "next week call me and I will help you".

Monday is full moon day, so let see on Tuesday.

- Namaste -

Don't walk after the practice, you will get bigger thighs.....

As per Sharat the reason why I can not catch my hands in Supta Kurmasana is because my thighs are too big..... so: "you should not walk after the practice and have a rest, your thighs are too big, that is why you don't catch in Supta Kurmasana" - Sharat Jois, November 2016 - ..... :-) wow!

To give an idea of my "big thighs" from the top of my leg they are about 56 cms.... so is it too big for Supta Kurmasana? 

Not to mention that he said that in front of everybody, if I had any discomfort with my body or if I was very sensitive this sentence will have put me down..... but I am not and I just thought "OMG, does he really believe what he is saying?".... Never ever I will dare to say something like that to one of our students, could you imagine how unprofessional is it?

Today was the led class and it seems that the 4.30 am class was a bit of chaotic, students walking on other students. I was for the 6.00 AM practice and my favorite spot is the hall or the ladies changing room. I came late and choose to practice with 2 others very nice students in the hall. A place was remaining in the main shala, none of us wanted to have it :-)

Practice was okay. Monday my led practice is at 4.30 AM and I have decided to skip this one, will practice my own Mysore class in our shala, I will never go at 4.30 AM practice because students are acting like animals just to get a spot in front of the stage to be sure that Sharat is seeing them.... I think it is a bit pathetic, I also think that Sharat should say something about this.

- Namaste -

I've been adjusted by Ajay Tokas!

I was in Supta Kurmasana and finally I had the best adjustment since John Scott. My feet were behind my head but can not grab my fingers.... my shoulders are not cooperating into this asana....

Then the assistant help me to lift up while having my feet behind my head, however could not lift my head up so slightly rounding back the upper body.... anyway after all of these I noticed that the "assistant" was Ajay Tokas!!!

And then I realised how much lucky I am :-)

- Namaste -

Marichyasana D without any help - big step forward into my practice!

The shala is sooooo busy. I have to wait one hour before practicing. Sharat told us to shorten our breathing because students were waiting outside. Without any respect I did understand that the shala has been overbooked for the season, he is dealing quite pretty good so far, so I think they should accept less students but they should not ask us to fasten our practice just because students are waiting outside. We are all waiting outside, sometimes for more than one hour, we are waiting because we want to practice with Sharat and we want to practice the best as we can. 

Already the led class are just awful so do not ask us to compromise our Mysore class, if so then there is absolutely no reason to come here and practice if we have to perform the Primary Series, or the Intermediate or the Secondary Series in less than one hour.....

Back to my personal practice, I am very happy as I managed today to do my Marichyasana D alone, did not ask any assistance. I was watching how the 2 practitioners closed to me were doing and realise that the sitbone of the leg with the foot on the mat was completely up, but really up, so I did the same and damned it was easier on both side. Basically there is no alignment in Marichyasana D. The pelvis is not square at all, it is a twist with an "unaligned" pelvis. Then if you can manage the twisting in Marichyasana C you  will be able to manage Marichyasana D.

I also noticed the position of the foot (from the leg going in Ardha Padmasana), actually the foot has to be place slightly below the groin, not in the groin and certainly not above the groin so it is a pure inversion of the ankle.

If you try to put the foot toward the belly button then it won't work at all therefore there is no "comfortability" for the ankle, it can become painful in the joint but the pain can be avoid if you keep squeezing your knee toward the foot that is on the mat (so basically you will be using the hamstrings muscles of the bending leg). Not sure if I am clear about my explanation but it is how it worked for me today.

At the end of Supta Kurmasana I did a vinyasa rolled my mat and was about to leave the shala for the closing series in the changing room when Sharat asked me "where did u stop?" me: "Supta Kurmasana", Sharat: "you catch?", me: "no, I don't catch", Sharat: "You will do with me"....

So I suppose that tomorrow he will adjust my Supta Kurmasana in order for me to move forward the series.... however I am not sure he will remember so as of tomorrow I will go to the practice without any expectation.

On another note the acupuncture is making miracle to my body, don't know how to explain but I feel really good.

Looking forward to my tomorrow practice even though I am enjoying each minute of the day ;-)

- Namaste - 

Rockin' my Kurmasana

I have a new schedule. Practice is at 7.00 AM, therefore I have to be there by 6.30 AM and wait for almost one hour before entering the shala....

I practiced very slow and did 12 Sun Salutations.

Standing postures are getting easier, no real struggle with them. Sitting postures as well until I reach the Marichyasana D.... and today could not do it on my own at all.... It seems that I am losing it, I don't understand....

However my Kurmasana was absolutely beautiful, total flat back, chin on the mat, head at the same level of my feet, could not believe it myself, easy and really relaxing pose.

My practice last for 1h30 and now I am going to my cupping therapy. I need to rebalance my chi, left side versus right side so cupping and acupuncture are now on my schedule.

The more I practice the less I want to talk.... which could become a problem as I am supposed to teach ;-)

Looking forward to my tomorrow practice!

- Namaste -