|
|
| My hamstrings are super tight and prevents me from doing this pose. I can get everything parellel, but only by rolling my hip up, so it's pointing at the wall beside me, instead of facing down. I have been taking it to that point, then trying to roll the hip down (insert burning standing leg hamstring here). Should I continue to do that, or should I keep the hip square, and only 'tilt' my body and back leg as far as my standing leg hamstring will allow?
|
|
| |
|
| If I were teaching you, I'd ask you to respect the integrity of the pose, but more importantly, your body.
I'd suggest you tilt only as far as you can, keeping that hip pointer squared with the floor. Rotating your hips open doesn't really do much for you except strain your hip and shoulders and who needs that!? Plus, it's not the same pose, and Bikram wants you to be doing Tulandandasana (or Virabhradrasana III to others out there).
Take it slowly, lift your kneecaps and toes, (no locking!), and watch yourself. Make this as strong a pose as your body will permit on any given day. There is extremely little hamstring or hip warm-up before this pose, so it's probably always going to be a bit tight. Just work the asana wherever you are, and I promise you'll see yourself coming down to parallel soon. Work on the extension and shoulder opening.
Enjoy it where you are and appreciate the slow and steady progress.
Christine |
|
| |
|
| Thx for the input. I will try keeping the hip pointer where it should be and just take it as far as my body will allow. I spend 3-5 mins before class doing hamstring stretches, because i know they are keeping me back from progressing in certain poses. Before starting yoga (2.5 months ago) when I tried to touch my toes standing, i could come within 4 inches of them. Now, after warm-up, I can momentarily touch my toes. It seems like I made good hamstring progress early on, but has tapered-off lately. I started commuting on my bicycle to work around the time i started yoga. Will cycling tighten my hamstrings? |
|
| |
|
| This asana cracks me up--all the women are just doing it beautifully and we guys stink--and I mean STINK! I know of no exceptions. |
|
| |
|
| You want to get the hip down while still being able to use the core of the standing hip. If you work too much on getting the hip down you can lose the ability to use the standing hip. Knee over the ankle, hip over the knee is important to use the core of the hip. As you progress with the standing hip the other hip will be able to come down more. I see many that can get their hip down to parellel with the other, but lose their ability to use the standing hip core. Try to get it so it is both, not either/or. This also goes for standing bow and standing forehead to knee. Guys don't compare youself to women. Once your hips and pelvis open and balanced,look out, you will be able to move way beyond what women can do as far as energy level and focus. Men have more power and stamina once they get unstuck and at that point should not be compared to women again because it would be unfair the other way around. I have had many competitive women in yoga class (mostly dancers) have a hard time being as graceful and powerful in the postures. They get their competitive energy going and all I do is wait for them to lose stamina then, I go even farther and deeper. Their breath is all out of wack and I start the next posture quickly. By balancing stick they have stopped the game and get into their own practice. It feels very unfair to me. Like expecting women to tackle someone in football with as much power as a man.
Wulfheir: I was invited to play infront of the NLL commision board to try out different rules they might inact this coming season. Very fun to play at the Pepsi center will NLL officials. I aslo went to the Heritage Cup. Canada creamed the USA. The USA team was pitiful while Canada did what ever they wanted. At one point Grant felt pity for the USA and did a very lazy trick shot that he did not expect to score with and it still went in, because it was so weird. Looking foward to Jan 1. |
|
| |
|
| I'm excited to go to class tomorrow and approach this pose in a new way.
innerline,
Wow, good for you with the NLL thing. That's sounds great. Yeah, Canada did well, I'm sorry I did not see the game. I think there were 4 roughnecks on the canadian squad, Go 'Necks Go. Our teams play each other Jan 1st. It'll be a great rematch from the semi-finals last year. I expect a physical game. The expansion minnesota team picked up calgary's back-up goalie. He's not consistent at all, but when he's on his 'A' game the forwards better look out!
I'm excited about hosting the all-star game this year, should be a blast.
edit: just discovered that i can see the tape delay of the heritage cup friday night! woot
Edited by Wulfheir 2004-10-20 9:18 AM
|
|
| |
|
| Wulfheir,
Biking is total contraction in action. Just like running. Yoga is extension (unless it's in the Bikram poses that ask you to crunch your spine). Yoga is excellent cross training, but given the fact you're contracting while extending, you're kind of balancing out your work.
Just a note: If you're hunching over to touch your toes without lifting your toes or quads? You're taking all this stretch in your lower back rather than your hamstrings. So if you can keep a long, straight spine, lift your toes and quads and touch your toes, great. It's good, safe form. But I must ask... why is touching your toes so important? They're there, at the bottom of your feet where we all keep them, resting on the ground. They'll be there when your hands are ready to connect.
I taught Tulandandasana (aka Virabhardasana III) to my classes yesterday. The method to enter this pose for the Anusara and Iyengar school is cumbersome, in my opinion. Virabhadrasana I, lean down and rest the torso on the thigh, hope forward and lift the back leg. It's extremely hard if your shoulders are tight. So I introduced the Bikram method of lifting the arms and tipping forward. I happen to love that and so did some of my students. It's still a tough pose, depending upon your tightness, but it was fun to experiment.
I also taught a little flow that among other things was (among other things) Virabhadrasana II, to the Bikram Trikonasana, to Parighasana, windmilling the arms down to lunge, Parsvokonasana (I forget the Bikram name), to "regular" Trikonasana, bending the knee into Parsvakonasana, turning up to Virabhadrasana II, to Parivrtta Parsvakonasana, to Baddha Parivrtta Parsvakonasana straightening the leg into Baddha Parivrtta Trikonasana releasing to Parivrtta Trikonasana, windmilling up to Parsarita Podottanasana, to Sirsasana II, (back to Parsarita Podottanasana) to lunge on the other side and repeating. There was more, but those were the standing poses. The seated were into Triang Mukha Ekapada Paschimottanasana, Krounchasana, Bharadvajasana, Surya Yantrasana, to Marichyasana F, and so on. It was pretty fun, done slowly and with the breath. Sorry I got carried away here. I was reliving the sequence.
Anyway, this disucssion reminded me how much I do like some of the Bikram variations -- the ones that extend the spine!
Give yourself time. You're new to this and yoga does not = immediate gratification.  |
|
| |
|
| I kept my hip down and went into it last night and didn't get very far, but held it where i could. It definately was harder, which is good. I don't know why I want to touch my toes, I have always viewed it as a benchmark of flexibility. Like you said, I probably shouldn't care. It's too bad about biking contracting my hamstrings, I guess I'll just take longer to stretch the hamstrings. I love biking and yoga so much, I don't want to drop one to benefit the other.
Here's a pic my fiancee took of my 2 days ago on my bike:
pic
Edited by Wulfheir 2004-10-22 11:19 AM
|
|
| |
|
| Ummm. ahhh.. Wulfheir, I hate to be the one to bring this to your attention, but in case it escaped you you're riding your bike in the snow. Where do you live that it's snowing?
When you work a pose with complete integrity, we seldom go as deeply, but we definitely work it harder. I happen to also think we get more out of it although it's not necessarily immediate gratificaiton.
I find it interesting that toe touching for you is a benchmark of flexibility. I find that benchmark differs for everyone, based upon what that particular person cannot do. Sometimes it's lotus, head or handstand, pigeon, or any variety of asanas. Many people can touch their toes, but develop the eye to see if they're doing the asana with integrity or hunching the crap out of their body to get there. Grimacing, squinting, panting, and not at all demonstrating sterum/sukham (strength and ease) in the asana.
A pose is beautiful when someone's doing it the way that's right for their body, I think. It's the integrity and intention that gives it life. Stick with it and you'll probably see yourself progress more quickly and in deeper ways.
So practice, practice, practice! As Pattabhi says, "In time, all things come." |
|
| |
|
| In physical examinations, they always ask you to touch your toes, do 10 push-ups, stuff like that. That's probably where I get it.
I live in calgary. I just dress for the weather, take my time and avoid patches of ice. |
|
| |
|
| You know, Blair, I come from the same background as you: touching the toes = flexible. That's like common knowledge and practiced in medicals and stuff. So we tend to assume it's supposed to be that way. But Christine is right, that's bull and especially we as yoga practitioners should be the first to acknowledge it.
Yesterday in class there was a girl, looking fit and skinny like the perfect yogi. She couldn't touch her toes though and I had forbidden thoughts like "whoopie, I'm better!" Then, when it came to the twists, she was oh-so bendy while I delivered my usual slapstick number.
What did I learn from that (again)? Every body is different and everybody can do some asanas better than others. I for example are quite good (for a beginner, mind you) in asanas that demand strenght and concentration but like totally suck in the subtle ones. Slowly I'm getting over it and learn to accept my limitations. And since I've gotten over my frustrations yoga is so much more fun and gratitious for me. I know that I have to keep on working hard on lots of asanas but that's life, practice and learning. Wouldn't yoga just be the most boring pastime ever if we all would be perfect right on from day one?
|
|
| |
|
Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
    
| In Calgary you get the opportunity to bike in the snow every month of the year! Honestly - as a lifelong Canadian but from the Wet Coast (no typo - we call it that for a reason. Like Seattle to you Yanks) I didn't know until recently that it has been known to snow there in the depths of an August heat wave. Then you get the opposite with the Chinook wind coming in the midst of winter (or early spring at least?), melting all the snow and then rapidly returning to winter weather. Crazy!
I always had the idea that putting my forehead to the floor in Upavista Konasana was my measure of flexibility. Something my father said to me when I was about 5 years old, I think. I had a student say "oh, you're so flexible" the other night and I wanted to tell her that she is lucky she only has to see me in forward bends. My backbends look more like a tortured tadasana, I think   We had a guest teacher who would ask "why are you so eager to touch the floor? There's no chocolate there!"  |
|
| |
Tulandandasana - Balancing Stick Pose
