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| So last week I was minding my own business, cruising along through half moon, and we went into backbend. It just so happened that day was really crowded and the only place for my mat was way in front. Instead of looking at the ceiling like I usually do, something changed, and I found myself staring at the middle of the back wall, way at the back of the room, and looking at the people in backbends behind me. Of course I couldn't see myself in this posture, but from my point of view (upside down), I was suddenly waaaay deeper in the posture than most everyone else. I could see three rows of people behind me--not just my immediate neighbor. How deep was I?
What in the hairy heck happened here? How could I make this kind of progress so fast? My back feels fine--great stimulating sensation in lower back. I love it. My theory is that I never lacked back flexibility, but possibly I needed a) strength in the thighs, butt, and front of the body to support my weight and b) confidence.
What do you think?
Also, is it normal to regress and seem to lose flexibility for a while? Quite some time ago, I was able to get my knees locked in final stretching and my standing knee locked going into toe stand. Now I am finding a big bend in my leg and having to back off on these and work toward more hamstring flexibility again. Argh.
Again, a theory--possibly I am building new muscle in the leg, and the new muscle tissue needs to be stretched out again? (That sounds weird.)
Ferret |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 574
 
| In any good yoga class you will improve in each class. Its nothing unusual or to be amazed about. Nothing to do with building new muscle tissue. Or muscle strength s determined by how many muscle fibres they have. But we can still have strong muscle that do not coordinate as they can with other parts of the body which make them bulky and useless. If you are not noticing differences or improvements in each and every class, it means that you are not going to a good class. So hopefully by the time you read this you will be able to tell me of something else wonderful that happned during yoga! Have fun! |
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| Its not out of the normal for your body to loosen up, Im under just under 3 months of practicing (4 days a week), and around the 4th week & I learned to relax the lower back muscles & viola I was looking down the back wall.. |
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| I firmly believe that 50% of a backbend is getting past the fear. I think that most of us can go further than we think we can, we just don't let our bodies do it, whether we realize it or not. I had a similar experience with half moon backbend about 2 months into my practice. I was also usually looking at the ceiling. One day, after spine strengthening and camel, I realized that I could bend my back a fair amount in those postures, so why not in the half moon back bend? The next class, I just tried to relax and tell myself - you already know you can do it, you do it in those other asanas - and bam, just like that, I was looking at the back wall.
Since then, I have made steady progress (right now I can see the floor on most days). However, I definitely get into plateaus when I start to see further and get excited and then freaked out. I saw my own mat a few times a couple months ago, and was super excited, but then I think I thought about it too much and now I can't get back there - still trying to push past that new fear!
Of course, we have physical limitations here, too, but backbends are scary, so I think the mind plays a lot into them. |
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| ferret, you are too cute right now. "I was just minding my own business...!"
I think these guys are right. The back bends are SO psychological. You just broke down a wall! Hooray! Enjoy it! Keep going... you will be looking at the floor next. (By the way, the farther you stand from the wall, the more of it you can see, so the front of the room is the best place to stand if you want to see down the wall the floor.)
And yeah, don't worry about the changing flexibility. Progress in yoga is NOT linear. It's nice when progress feels "steady" for a while, but for me that's been an exception rather than a rule! It's always 2 steps forward, one step back. (Or as Duffy said once, it's less like a walk in a straight line, more like the Ministry of Silly Walks from Monty Python. Hee!) |
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| Thanks for the feedback. Yes, dancingj, the location in the room makes it totally impossible to gauge your progress based on how much of the ceiling or the back wall you can see. The second time I tried it, I had a bit more trouble getting down, because I was excited and thinking too much, so I think much of it was just zoning out and letting go. I am actually pretty good at mindlessly doing what the dialogue tells me. I got all the way back in fixed firm for the first time this way, too. The instructor said to lay back, so I did!
I've had to miss two days of yoga, and I might not get to go tomorrow. *sigh*
Ferret |
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Backbending wow
