yaayy…back to yoga..!!!

i spent the last 2 month in my hometown..its about 1 hour from jakarta, and unfortunately, there’s no ashtanga studio there. so, i hardly done any yoga back there.. i only did 2 – 3 times ashtanga practice on my own..
well, sometime i do a bit of sun salutes, and some standing asanas. I found that its really3 hard to motivate myself to practice when I’m on holiday..
oh well, holiday gone already, and now, back to ashtanga.. I started to practice mysore at least 3 times a week, in the morning, which is quite amazing, considering I’m not a morning person (thats 1 of my 2009 resolutions by the way). I still found it hard to jump back, but sometimes if i engaged myself enough in my lower abdomen, its easier to spring back..not gracefully though..
i still feel nothing change with my jump through since the last time.. but, eventually, i can hold a bakasana, only a few seconds, but i gotta start somewhere.

i came across grimmly’s blog last night, and he’s been doing really well… much leaner, much2 more flexible, and he’s started doing intermediate series..wow, well done grimmly..!!!

update of my jump through practice..

Its been a while since my last update of my jump through practice, that’s because my computer crashed, so i need to share my hubby’s computer  :(

Well, anyway I started doing introduction to mysore last week, it almost like mysore, except everyone started at the same time, so if someone (or me..) forgot the sequence, i can just look around what to see what comes next. i learned a new handy tip to jump through, and for the first time, i can fly (not too high though..but still..), and bring my very2 heavy legs through between my arms, im still half-dragging them, but its just a start…

usually,after downward dog, i bend my knees, look between my hands, jump, crossing the knees, and landed on my butt, and my legs are still behind me, not coming through at all.

well, this is what he told me to do, after bending the knees, and instead of looking between the hands, look about 10 cm forward, in front of your hands, and you will find it easier to bring your legs through. trust me..but i still need to work on how to land smoothly, without any loud ‘thump’ sound that breaks the silence  

small things that makes a big difference..

yoga expo 2008

the day started at 7.30 am, to start setting up the stall. flowers, folding tables, computer screen, banners, cords..lots of thing to set up!! With my tummy rumbling, (i only eat 1 piece of toast with honey), and my eyes still half closed, we started to set up everything. Luckily, someone bought a cup of coffee for me..just what i needed..!! it took us almost 2 hrs to set up everything, but the result was really worth it..the stall looks bright, airy, and clean. Around 9.30, people started flowing in, some of them asked about our program, which offered teacher training. At this time, still not too many people, i sneaked out from the stall to get something to eat..there was 1 stall, amma’s kitchen,from amma’s ashram i bought a carob ball, which was a healthier form of rum balls-but nonetheless, still contain lots of sugar…its really yummy…perfect to face the day!! they served vegan fish and chicken curry..but i saved it for lunch.

when i came back, there’s more people coming in, and had a look at our stall, they also bought incenses, books, neti pots (i couldn’t beleive how many people interested in neti pots). there’s one little boy, came to us and saw the neti pots, then he asked his mommy, while pointing his tiny little fingers to the neti pots, “mom, can i get the watering can??” he’s sooooooo cute…!!! Meanwhile, people keep flowing in, and more and more people asked for information about our programs, this is very exciting, the responses so far was really good..i know i had to keep my energy up, i keep eating the snake lollies to keep charged up..(not very healthy, but i dont do it every day..) Around noon was the busiest time of the day, lunch time comes, and i didn’t feel hungry at all.. too excited..!! my friends from the college came to help out. It started to get quiet around 2.30 pm, at last i had a chance to  look around..!

most of the stalls are from melbourne, most of them yoga related stalls (of course) they were  yoga studios, yoga colleges, yoga clothing, accessories, props, CDs, DVDs.. there were also stalls that offers natural healing, free reiki therapy, crystal therapy, astrology, mind and body therapy. But, first stall i went was the food stalls.. i had vegan fish curry with basmati rice, sambar, and salad, only for $6..!! Usually, i’m not a big fan of vegan fake meat..but the fish curry looks and smells divine..the ‘fish’ scarily taste like fish..they are made from soy, smothered with creamy and fragrant curry gravy. the salad was a perfect combination for the rich curry, fresh and crisp. After i finished my lunch, i went to the main stage where they held performances, seminars, etc. , i watched sacred earth performance. We always play the cd while practicing asanas in the college. It was really a great performance, the vocalist has a beautiful voice, the music is very simple, it just makes the vocalist’s voice stands out beautifully.. they played my favourite song, which is ‘om nama shivaya’ it was very emotional for me, it’s hard to explain, but the song just hit me and gives me goosebumps!! I was thinking of doing free yoga classes, but the line was quite long, and i imagined it would be packed, and a bit hard to move freely.

I went back to our stall, refreshed, and satisfied.. i wish they held yoga expo in melbourne from years ago, it would be better to talk to yoga teachers directly, especially when i was searching for yoga teacher training a year ago. much better than googling, definitely, which is what i did. Around 4.30 pm, people started to thinned out..and some of the stalls even started cleaning up. I took final round, and found that the food stall sells food half price, i bought vegie burger, and savoury indian snack for my poor husband, who spend his weekend alone, cleaning up the kitchen.. i also bought apple crumble from hare khrisna catering. It’s a big plate of apple crumble, very generous portion for $4, i brought it to my stall, and share it with everybody..It’s not too sweet, a bit tangy, warm and served with custard sauce..perfect to close the day, and to give extra energy to pack up and  clean up.. I imagined it would take quite some time to clean up, but amazingly it only took us half an hour.. the day ended, it was just about sunset when i walked out to the parking lot. My friend gave me a lift home, and i started to feel reaaaaally tired..all the adrenaline had runn out apparently..but all in all, it was a great experience.

update of my jump through practice

so, I’ve been practicing my jump back and through the whole time, but so far, i can only lean my body forward, and still find it impossible to throw my legs back. I’m also still doing floating lolasana every time i can. To this day, i still cant do jump thorugh with straight legs either. But yesterday, i found it easier to do vinyasa, especially chaturanga (another pose that I thought phisically impossible for me) and i dont have to lower my knees to the floor anymore in order to continue to urdhva mukha shvanasana (upward facing dog). My chaturanga feels lighter, and i dont have to do ’scooch of shame’ (according to sadie nardini in her youtube video).

maybe I’m not there yet, but i can feel that i’m moving towards it….now I’m looking forward to my next ashtanga class..

jump back and through practice

I’ve been doing my jumping through practice in the past few days. I started my practice with lolasana and floating dandasana with blocks, just to give me some height to my arms. to practice jump back, i lean my body forward, and try to contract my abdomen, but i still find it hard to throw my legs into chaturanga.

For jump through, i did jump through practice from ‘get exercised’ video by dina prioste on youtube, you can check out the video here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GN188bXSIM&NR=1 . The method is much more aproachable. I also check out grimmly’s video, he also has a special blog dedicated to jump through, you can check it out here : grimmly2007.blogspot.com he recorded his practice time to time, and gives explanations on each pose / positions. 

i always think that jump back and jump through was physically impossible,and only very skinny yogi masters could do it, but grimmly’s videos gave me hope..maybe i will be able to do it one day..  

well, jumping back or not..i still love ashtanga..

in search of perfect yoga blocks

in order to practice my jump through and jump back, i need 2 pcs of yoga blocks, but i dont know why, i keep delaying it..if i saw yoga blocks at sport shop, it’d be around $15 – 19 a piece..which made me think twice to get it..i did a lot of ‘research’ on ebay mostly, but unfortunately, they either only have 1 pc, or they were from overseas, making the postage cost more than the price of the blocks itself. I found one on ebay, the blocks are eco friendly, made from bamboo, but it was from US, and can it will consume a lot of energy to post it all the way to melbourne..!! Suddenly, the blocks doesn’t sound so ‘eco’ anymore…I also found blocks that is made from recycled corks..(as shown in picture above) but, they’re also from US..

well, my search of the perfect yoga blocks continues, from lululemon (too expensive), 3 rebel stores ; melbourne central, prahran, and bourke street store (they only have 1 piece, and the block is too soft, and they only comes in pack, along with dvd and mat, which i dont need), nike stores, yoga shops, camberwell market..but, my heart still had some doubt about it..

Just when i started to forget the blocks, and thinking maybe i should just use my textbooks instead..i finally found the perfect pair.. one day, i was just minding my own business, walking around, and went into the organic shop near my house, and saw a box of used yoga mats and blocks!!! (well, they’re a bit worn out, but they helped many yogis to perfect their asanas) and they are $5 each..!!! Well, my heart jumps out, and scream.. ‘you blocks are coming home with me!’  long story short, they’re here now, and now i can practice my jump trough anytime i like…yaaayy…

I’ll post my attempts to practice jump through and jump back soon..

Tea break

My yoga study class started at awkward hour, 12 noon, too soon to have lunch before that hour, besides, yoga practice should be done in an empty stomach (ooh, i hope coffee doesn’t count  ). therefore, when the lunch break comes at 3 pm, we already starved. I usually made some sandwich with chickpeas and vegies, but if I’m sick of it, i just buy some seaweed sushi roll at the station. we also have some tea and biscuits or cakes if anyone baked some cake..i have sandwich almost everyday, because thats the easiest and fastest lunch i can fix. But, the ambience, the atmosphere there is very different, even just a simple food taste better..hmmm…Why did i write this again?? i don’t know..just feels like to..

anyway, i just bought a box of dandelion tea, it tasted a bit like coffee.. If i want to give up coffee (in a few hundred years..) i can just replaced it with dandy tea. It supposed to be good for your liver detoxification system, can help to dilute kidney excretion, and prevent kidney stones. I’m gonna take my dandy tea this weekend for the tea break, it’ll be a good replacement for my regular black tea. Hmmm, sipping dandy tea with milk and honey after yoga, sounds like a perfect weekend for me..

backbend in wheel (urdhva dhanurasana)

My teacher has a slightly different approach with this pose, his approach is not relying so much with the momentum, and forget to control our body. First time i do dhanurasana, ( it was a few years ago, in a yoga studio in bandung) when i try to come out of the pose, i panicked and fell sideways…it wasn’t very painful, but its quite embarassing. Well, anyway, here’s how to do it properly.

 To do urdhva dhanurasana, make sure that your back is comfortable enough in bridge pose, if you can do bridge pose easily, than bow pose would feel easy. For a start, do wheel pose at the middle of the practice, when the body is warm and flexible enough- to avoid any injuries. Lie on your back, bend your knees with your feet hip width apart, hands and arms beside your body. lift you hip as high as you can by only using your legs. try to keep your toes away from each other, and your knees hip width apart. once you reach your maximum, place your hands behind your shoulder, fingers facing forward, and lift the rest of your body up  (your chest). Don’t try to straighten your arms yet, instead, with your elbows still bent, place the top of your head to the floor, but don’t shift all your weight there. Finally, lift everything, try to straighten your arms, like you’re doing push up. stay for 5 – 6 breath, to come out of this pose, lift your head, look to your chest, and then slowly lower your body, and try to land with your shoulder first, then your head, and then the rest of your body. Round your back, hug your knees, and rock with your back forward backward, or side to side, to release any tension on your back.

Changes…

before started my sunday asthanga led class, my teacher asked the whole class to close our eyes, and asked us some questions.. mostly about changing ourselves..most of us do yoga to change something in our life, but do we really move towards the changing itself? because, practising asanas only, won’t get us anywhere near changes..he said, sometime we only love the idea of changing itself, but not the process of changing itself. How many times we imagine that we will have great, slim, body..if, for example running every morning.. but, how many times do we really do it?? 

we always have thousands excuses to stop, or avoid to do things that will bring us closer to change, because we unconsciously love to stay in our comfort zone..We became very attach to our comfort zone, it makes even harder to let it go.

so, its time to get out of the comfort zone, and change….

warrior I

there’s 1 tip from my ashtanga yoga teacher while doing warrior I and II, which is to keep your core strong by pulling your navel back into your vertebrae and keep your abdominal muscle strong. This small adjusment help to correct the alignment and to avoid turning the warrior I into a backbending pose.