Prana Journal
"Why didn't I think of that before?" Department
I have mastered a small maneuver when moving from Downward-Facing Dog to Lunge that saves me a hassle. I used to move one leg forward, then drop the opposite knee to the floor so that I could use both hands to get the forward leg directly under my shoulders. It made the whole transition between Downward-Facing Dog to Lunge a more complicated process than it had to be, breaking the flow.
Obviously, the ideal would be for me to swing my leg all the way up between my hands in one graceful, flexible movement. But remember that this 55 year old is trying to erase decades of sitting at a desk.
I now move one leg up as far as I can reach (I am getting closer to my target, especially after warming up a while). Then, supporting my weight on the opposite arm and leg, I scoot my advanced leg forward with the free hand. It's mainly a question of a little more strength and balance. It's faster than what I had been doing and fits into the flow better.
When I'm in the middle of a vinyasa at class, I don't have the time to think through the best way to modify the pose or movement. I just want to keep pace with the class. During home practice, however, I can pause (a button on my DVD player) to step through the movement and find an easier way.
Thrive Yoga lives up to its promise
I got up early today and dropped into
Thrive Yoga for my first class. The photos on the web site do not do the studio justice. The place is dropped dead gorgeous. Kim Groark and Susan Bowen have gone all out to make an attractive and welcoming environment for practicing yoga in Rockville. What flattered me is that they had visited this blog and they immediately said, "Oh, you're Michael! So glad you could finally make it."
What's the most striking feature? Space, space and space. I am used to taking yoga classes in DC where most studios are converted narrow townhouses. The owners are in a quandary -- giving studios the priority for space means that clothes changing, waiting and customer service areas are tight, even claustrophobic. The transition between classes in the busy evening time lots can seem like a Chinese fire drill. At TranquilSpace, the mats are separated by 9 inches, at most. At Flow Yoga, it's better but the non-studio space is congested. When a yoga center is successful, it means it gets more crowded and frustrating.
At Thrive Yoga, the two practice rooms are huge, with high ceilings and natural light. There are spacious dressing rooms for men and women, and the hallway is wide, airy and adequate for holding crowds during class transition. There's lots of space at the entrance, where students sign in and pay, and also a commercial area.
I took a Vinyasa class from Susan, 90 minutes. There were about 15 people in the session, and we have plenty of space to maneuver. She kept us moving through the poses at a good pace. I worked up a sweat. She did a nice job of managing the disparate skills levels among the participants, showing modifications and adjustments. I went into the class feeling tired and aching because of my home practice and gym work yesterday. I came out feeling energized.
Kim and Susan started up Thrive Yoga because they could not find a good place to practice in this neck of Montgomery County. They will have a challenge of ramping up business to be able to pay for the space and let's hope that success does not spoil the great environment.
When I finished by yoga sessions, I went by Bally Fitness where there's a free yoga session on Sunday morning. I usually took it with my wife. The practice floor was the fullest I have ever seen it, shoulder to shoulder, and there were even people spilling out onto the weight lifting area. I said to myself, "After Thrive, how am I going to go back to this."
One year ago and now
About this date last year, I went to my first yoga class at
TranqulSpace. A lot has happened since then. I am in the process of assessing what it all means and I may put it up here for public consumption. I have decided that I want to step my home practice up to the next level, so I have begun using a video,
Pure Sweat with Rainbeau Mars, a Vinyasa flow that really stretches me to my limits in 30 minutes. Although it does not have any really demanding poses, its pace is what really tests me. It would not be a beginner's routine.
My yoga home practices has tended to be static, with stretches held a long time and poses for strengthening my lower back. I do put in 20 minutes on pranayama and 20-40 minutes of meditation. I really haven't pushed myself very hard. I was exploring poses, matching my breath and just trying to be comfortable in my body. I've started to feel that I was stuck in a rut and I needed to pick up my physical stamina and core strength. My body has definitely lagged behind my mind and spirit in picking up yoga. And I am only going to improve steadily if I practice everyday. For the past 10 days, I've been doing the Pure Sweat routine or my classes. I can't say that I kept up through the whole routine (What are pause buttons for?), but I have made a commitment to a more energetic and complete practice.
I picked Rainbeau Mars because I was going through the options on MagRack's Yoga Retreat and liked her video the best out of nine videos online in February. And yes, she's nice to look at, too. Only a few videos ever inspire me to actually do the yoga.
Watch out who you're talking about online: A funny thing happened over at a Yoga.com fourm -- the participants were cheerfully commenting about R. Mars and her weird name and other comments that boarded on being rude when Rainbeau herself dropped in on the discussion, clarified the misunderstandings and generally carried it off very well. She scored some points with me.
Thrive Yoga
Tranquility in a strip mall?: "Transformed by carved Buddhas, earth-toned walls and even a trickling indoor waterfall, the 4,000-square-foot center focuses on the practice of Vinyasa Flow, a form of hatha yoga that integrates breath and movement in a fluid meditation, and targets the practitioner for whom yoga is more than just a gym activity to fit in between the elliptical machine and weight training."
Washington Post This
neighborhood studio in Rockville got a mention in a big time paper. Bravo! Even though they've been open less than a month.
I also got flagged by Rachel, alias YogaRachel, who is going to Thrive for her regular injection of vinyasa. She liked this blog and decided to start her own, Mindfulness / YogaRachel. She also encouraged me to drop by Thrive. I probably will have to -- maybe, this weel.
Fighting a cold
I have been under the weather since Thursday with a cold. The worst symptom is a congested, runny nose, which makes my yoga and pranayama practice pretty null. There have been moments when my nose stops dripping and I try to fit in a few routines, like my kriya. I've found that I generally feel better after doing my breathwork, and attribute it to purging the lymphatic system. The most disturbing symptom is that it makes me feel brain dead, taking the edge off of life. It frustrates me to feel inactive and dull, and not have the inclination to doing things. I keep telling myself I have to give my body time and rest to fight off the illness.
This is certainly a great time to step up my meditation practice -- my mind is already slowed down. MY meditation teacher always instructed us to think of nothing. I'm so there.
A knee injury that does not hurt
I was taking the garbage to the curb on Monday night, stepping carefully on the glazed-over, crusty snow. As I returned to the sidewalk, I gingerly leaped onto the concrete only to hit a patch of ice. My feet went out from under me, making me fall backwards awkwardly. As I was about halfway down, my right foot hit firm sidewalk and instinctively tried to exert force. As I was hitting the ground, I could feel something like the plucking of a deep bass string on a guitar in my knee. I was able to get up under my own power and get back in the house, with only sore sitting bones and a gimpy knee.
The next morning, my knee was a bit stiff, but no real serious pain. I was not even limping. Most of the stiffness disappeared with the six-block walk from the Metro station to my job. I checked in with the office doctor, and he could not find any damage, aside from some pain when pulled in a peculiar way. It was a strained muscle or ligament behind the knee, probably the biceps femoris (one of the hamstring muscles). He did not prescribe any treatement, other than care about how much pressure I put on the knee. I was relieved.
Curiously, the damaged tissue is the same one, I think, that gets injured when forcing the leg into lotus position or Padmasana because of the pressure of twisting the leg at the knee to lift the foot on top of the other thigh. Today, I did a full session of yoga without any difficulty, but I did not try lotus (nor do I ever because I'll need a couple of years to work into it). I could even do something like pigeon pose without causing discomfort.
