Class Experiences

Getting My Head on Straight

Hot Off The Mat Class Experiences, Postures, Yoga and Life , , ,

After five years of practice, I recently learned that I do not have my head on straight. The teachers always say “where your eyes go, your body will follow,” but apparently for me, where the eyes go, the neck follows. I have been over extending my neck, craning it up to the ceiling, especially in the spine strengthening series, but also in the forward bend to Standing Separate Leg Stretching Pose. No wonder my neck and shoulders hurt so much in these postures.

It is hard to explain, but this example may help. In Full Locust Post, when you raise your eyes to the sky to help guide your body higher, I was simply craning my neck up. Sure, I could see the ceiling because I was tilting my neck and my eyes came along for the ride. What I should have been doing was keeping my head straight while looking up with my eyes, and using my back strength to raise my body higher to better see the ceiling. Oops… I guess that is why they call it a practice.

This new awareness came out of my recent yoga retreat. I am sorry if you are sick of hearing about the retreat (my family definitely is!), but it has gotten me thinking about a lot of things. If you are not sick of hearing about it, you can read about it here and here. Anyway, I learned to get my head on straight at this retreat. It was not a Bikram retreat so the postures were different and one of the teacher’s favorite postures was called the forward fold. It is as simple as it sounds. You start from a standing position and fold your body forward from your hips while keeping your back straight. Your arms hang at your sides and glide down to touch the floor at the end. Well, simple or not, I was doing it wrong. My back was curved into a back bend rather than being straight and my neck was tilted up towards the sky.

As the retreat week went on, I learned to see my head as an extension of my spine, keeping it still and straight through the bend. I also learned to engage my abdominal muscles to better support my back and keep it straight too. This was a big change for me, although so obvious, now that I understand it.

I have been working to apply this new-found straightness to my Bikram postures this week, and it has made a big difference. My neck looks much more natural in the postures — not as tense, although I never really noticed the tension before. My spine strengthening series has also taken a turn for the better. I’m not sure why I get more height holding my head straight, but I do. It is also a lot less uncomfortable now that I am working the right muscles rather than just straining. My shoulders used to ache in these postures, but now they feel like they are opening up. I am very happy about that.

All of this has also helped me to get my head on straight in another way. I always believed that since Bikram yoga works all the muscle groups and systems in the body, it was all I needed to do for my yoga practice. But I now have a broader view. Mixing it up at the retreat helped me identify muscles I was underutilizing and highlighted a bad habit I had developed. I wouldn’t have seen this without the shift in perspective that came from trying a different form of yoga. I guess it is time to add some different styles into my yoga mix.

Fellow yogis, do you have your head on straight?

My First Yoga Retreat – Stretching the Mind More Than the Body

Hot Off The Mat Class Experiences, Yoga and Life , , , ,

I am back from my first ever yoga retreat and it was amazing! But mostly in ways I never expected. I had pictured days filled with physical exploration — learning new postures, finding more space in my body, fine tuning my form. And some of that did happen. But mostly it was an internal exploration — finding better control of my breath, opening my mind through meditation, and finding a way to look inward and find peace and ease waiting there. Pretty heavy, huh? And in some ways it was, but in other ways I had never felt lighter.

At the start, I was like a fish out of water. The yoga was very different from my normal Bikram practice, with new postures and a flow style. This I expected. But it was also very different in texture and tone, which surprised me. For example, the lack of mirrors threw me. How could I know if I was properly aligned if I couldn’t see my body? There was also so much choice! In Bikram we all move together, doing the same postures for the same durations of time. But here, you could do a downward dog or a child’s pose at the end of a flow sequence. You could go through a vinyasa on the way to downward dog or not. And everyone was doing this at their own pace! How was I supposed to know which postures to do and how long to hold them? And the use of the props felt like cheating.

But I decided “when in Rome,” and so I did it their way. I tried to feel my alignment with my hands rather than see it. I sometimes chose the downward dog and other times the child’s pose depending on how I felt. I moved at my own pace or just copied the pace of whoever looked like they knew what they were doing. And I had no choice but to use the props, as some of the postures were inaccessible without them.

As the week went on, I got more comfortable with it all, and the soreness in my muscles told me I was getting the physical benefits of this new practice. In particular, I felt a big change in my ability to access and utilize the muscles in my core and shoulders. I am excited to apply that to my Bikram practice!

But the biggest transformation for me on this retreat came in the most surprising place — final savasna. These were not the final two-minute savasnas of my Bikram practice, but long and textured affairs with breath work and visualizations. True meditations. Fascinating and altering.

Of course I hated them at first. Laying on my back on a hard wood floor breathing in silence with twenty other people for up to 30 minutes was just not my idea of a good time. I felt AWKWARD! It was just SO quiet. My stomach started to gurgle. I started sweating. I could not find my breath. I kept having to swallow. I also felt lazy. Why had we stopped doing the “real” yoga only to lie here and do nothing? I could not quiet my thoughts so I could not pay attention to what the teacher was guiding us to do. That was the first night.

The next morning, I knew it was coming, so I was more mentally prepared. I set up a blanket on my mat like the other yogis had, so I was more comfortable. I forced myself to listen to the teacher’s words rather than my own panicked musings. I felt the breath moving in and out of my body more calmly. I tried to look inward and visualize the energy and light they were discussing. It didn’t work all that well, but I felt more relaxed at the end of it. That evening it went a little better. And then a little better the next morning. I remembered — it is a practice.

As my body stopped fighting it, my mind opened to it. I began to notice a new feeling of alertness and calm after the savasna/meditation. I started to actually like it and the more I liked it, the more open to it I became. By the end of the week, I looked forward to the final savasna and other meditation sessions at the retreat! My mind had been stretched. So much, in fact, that I plan to continue exploring meditation at home to see if I can incorporate it into my daily life.

Fellow yogis, is meditation an important part of your yoga practice?

How Do I Get A Grip?

Hot Off The Mat Class Experiences, Postures, Yoga and Life , , ,

My grip has been slipping in class lately. I wonder if it is the extra humidity in the room for winter, but whatever the reason, it has helped me to realize how critical the grip is to the integrity of a posture. Without a steady grip, the posture cannot develop and deepen. There is no stability, and without stability, there is no opportunity to push ourselves forward and grow.

I have always been very focused on my grip. I make sure there is a solid intertwine of the fingers and thumbs, all the way to the knuckles. As extra glue, some teachers recommend touching the fingertips of the thumb and index fingers (on the same hand) together to lock the grip in place. I like to do that. I also like to switch up my grip in the second set of each posture. See my post Switch Up Your Grip For a More Balanced Practice for more on this. I think it adds another layer of discipline to the practice, stretches the body more evenly, and creates a stronger grip overall since it works all the fingers evenly.

But even with all that focus, it has become challenging for me to maintain my grip throughout the length of certain postures. It is most noticeable in Standing Head to Knee. When I first kick out, my grip is solid and firm, but by the end, my fingers have sometimes slipped so much that only the very tips of my fingers are still interlaced. Also in Standing Bow Pose — at the start of the posture, I have a solid hold on my leg at the ankle, but by the end, it may just be the fingertips. On the floor, this sometimes happens in Bow Pose and Head to Knee with Stretching Pose.

Today I may have had a breakthrough, however. I began to gently squeeze the tips of my fingers onto the outside of the opposite hand like they were latching onto the hand itself rather than just the other hand’s fingers. In this way, I got the whole hand involved in the grip. I am hoping this will help.

Thinking about my grip in class got me thinking about the grip we take on things in our life as well. In Bikram, the best grip is strong, yet flexible so it can hold the posture steady, but allow it to deepen. Hold on too tight and the muscles won’t relax and stretch as the posture dictates. Hold on too loosely and you will lose the grip and fall out of the posture.

Same as in life. How steadily we hold fast to those we love, and to what we care about helps define who we are and shapes our behavior and relationships. Hold on too tightly and you can smother growth and drive important people and things away. Hold on too loosely and the connection is lost. I love when my practice informs my life like that.

Fellow yogis, how do you get a grip?

When Is the Right Time To Drink Water in Bikram Yoga Class?

Hot Off The Mat Class Experiences, First Class , , ,

It’s the start of the year, so there are a lot of new students in class lately. Sure, that can be inconvenient — super-crowded classes, lots of extra explanation up-front from the teacher — but it’s also a wonderful opportunity to re-examine your practice through a new lens. Many times new students can question the norms and provide an interesting insight.

That happened for me in class today when there was a dispute about drinking water during the warm-up. A new student (2nd class) started to drink during awkward pose, but the teacher stopped her and asked her to wait until the first water break. While I have seen this happen before, and the student usually sets aside the water and waits, this particular student said, “But I didn’t know that I wouldn’t be allowed to drink water when I wanted it. That is a problem for me.” The teacher further explained that it was proper Bikram etiquette to wait for the first drink until after the warmup, and the student decided to wait.

A little disruptive, but it got me thinking — when do I drink water in class and are those the right times to be drinking? What I discovered is that I have a very regular pattern for drinking water during class. I drink at (1) party time (of course!), (2) before standing separate leg stretching, (3) before the first savasna, (4) before cobra, (5) before fixed firm, (6) before head to knee pose with stretching pose, and (7) before final savasna. All of this adds up to one 40 oz flask of water per class.

I also noticed a few other interesting things.

1.  I drink more often during the floor series than during the arguably more strenuous standing series. Maybe all the savasnas between postures on the floor provide more opportunities to drink, while the standing series moves more rapidly. Or maybe I am just thirstier as the class goes on. Or maybe I start to lose focus and the water is a distraction.

2.  I only drink BEFORE postures, not after them. This really only applies to the floor series, where I make a point to always drink at the start of a new posture rather than at the conclusion of a posture. I believe that getting into savasna right away is important in making sure I get the full benefits of the concluding pose.

3.  I am not a sipper. I drink several full swallows each time. Teachers warn this can fill your belly with water and make you nauseous, but so far it has been fine. And boy does it feel good.

4.  I probably should not be drinking before cobra pose. Teachers warn us not to drink right before the spine strengthening series since you will be laying on your belly. I have not had any issues yet, but I can see that it really is not a good idea. I also noticed that no one else was drinking at that time. I should try to cut that out of my routine.

Fellow yogis, when do you drink water in class?

Happy 2015! – Can The New Year Give Us a Second Set?

Hot Off The Mat Class Experiences, Yoga and Life , , ,

It’s that time of year again! The calendar is changing and with that, we all get a fresh start in a new year. Just like in class, when each set is a fresh start. I love that about the Bikram yoga series – each set is a new beginning, and a new chance to move forward in your practice.  Can the change in the calendar give us a second set in life?

For as long as I can remember I have been making New Year’s resolutions.  Some years, I actually keep them :  ).  I remember a string of years when the same resolution kept appearing on the list, with no real progress made. I wanted to be more patient, which is a great goal, but that type of resolution was just too general for me, making it hard to take action against.  What did it mean exactly, and how would I measure success?  My repeated failure to keep this resolution made me realize that I was going about it the wrong way. I needed my resolutions to be more specific, with clear action steps identified.  That way I could add it into my routine, make it a habit and make progress.

So last year, I tried something very specific, and it made a big difference.  Our family decided to stop using bottled water. For years, we had probably consumed a large Costco case of 8 oz water bottles each month.  I know – pretty bad.  So last December, we just stopped buying them and instead we bought 4 stainless steel water bottles (one for each of us) and a Brita pitcher to keep in the refrigerator.  It was inconvenient at first, but then it became a habit, and that made it easy.  Now it is just second nature.  Success!

How about in the hot room?  Would a New Year’s resolution be a way to push my practice forward?  Should I pick one thing to add into my practice that could become a habit and then be easy to keep?  I think so.  In that spirit, in 2015, I will work to consistently get into Savasna within 3 counts.  I have seen teachers demonstrate it – the quick turn, straighten the legs and lie back. I do it sometimes, but this year I will work to make it second nature — a habit. Not only will this add an additional layer of discipline to my practice, but the extra Savasna time should give me more energy for the back half of class.  I am excited to try.

Fellow yogis, do you have a resolution for your practice in 2015?

Happy New Year to all my readers!  I am looking forward to a great 2015 at Hot Off The Mat and in the hot room!