A new pose. Oh the thrill, the beauty, the excitement. The work! This one is a year in the making, from the sketches of the first video to the "head landing" yesterday.
I called the first video "first sketches" because that is exactly what it was. I was petrified of going down onto the floor, diving in head first. Who wouldn't?
There is some beauty in this YouTube thing, the ability to see progress year after year. I am loving it. This was 13 months ago, sometime in April of last year.
And this -below- was yesterday. I did not need to dress it in pink, perhaps I grew up in confidence once the head came to the floor, which does not mean the pose is getting TO my head. Let's hope I can be present for every moment of it.
I am aware it needs work, but I'm enjoying every nuance of it and every cracking sound my knees make as well as every failed or not attempt to come back up.
Is coming!
The coming out of it is not quite working yet. Gregor Mahele suggests in his book to stop mid air with the head at a position where one is able to return to kneeling, then, he says, over months the muscles involved in coming back up will get stronger. Might try both ways in each practice so as to learn!
I called the first video "first sketches" because that is exactly what it was. I was petrified of going down onto the floor, diving in head first. Who wouldn't?
There is some beauty in this YouTube thing, the ability to see progress year after year. I am loving it. This was 13 months ago, sometime in April of last year.
And this -below- was yesterday. I did not need to dress it in pink, perhaps I grew up in confidence once the head came to the floor, which does not mean the pose is getting TO my head. Let's hope I can be present for every moment of it.
I am aware it needs work, but I'm enjoying every nuance of it and every cracking sound my knees make as well as every failed or not attempt to come back up.
Is coming!
The coming out of it is not quite working yet. Gregor Mahele suggests in his book to stop mid air with the head at a position where one is able to return to kneeling, then, he says, over months the muscles involved in coming back up will get stronger. Might try both ways in each practice so as to learn!
Nice! That's really good progress. It has to make you feel good to have it all come together like that.
ReplyDeleteCool. Coming back up is quite simple. You just come back up. That's it.
ReplyDeleteholy craaaaap they BOTH are good...look at you! or at least look at you through someone elses eyes. be-au-ti- ful!
ReplyDeleteGood job! Try coming up off a block?
ReplyDeleteHi Susan, good to hear from you!, a block, I had not thought of that... will investigate...
ReplyDelete:-) thank you... I am feeling it in the quads today, really feeling the sensation...
ReplyDeleteha ha ha
ReplyDeleteIt does, of course one must remember "this too shall pass", but for right now, it does!
ReplyDeleteNICE soft head landing Claudia way to go, do you have a bunch of videos where the head doesn't land as softly CLUNK, BONK, THUNK
ReplyDeletere the whole coming up thing, try milking your utkatasana go a little lower and hold it for long, slowest of slow counts, should build up a little extra strength to give you some more suppor( one leg squats even better, after utthita hasta padangustasana for example, just before you let go of your toe for utthita eka padasana - see VK book),t, and of course that age old thing about staying engaged the whole time, there's a moment 29 seconds in where you camn see your body relax a little, hard to come back up once that happens. Going down and brushing the mat with the top of your head before coming straight back up is useful, no chance to stop engaging but I'm sure you know all the tips and tricks. It will of course come, once your strong enough and doing all the right things with your hips and pelvis and bandhas to land that softly everything is pretty much in place. And coming up is nice there's a floaty levitating aspect too it that's pretty cool.
Nice work, Claudia. I think Maehle's suggestion of stopping mid-air at a point where you can get back to kneeling is a good one. But for me, when I was learning this post, I just kept bringing my head down to the ground (softly, of course!) until one day, I was just able to engage the quads enough to come back up. The idea is to keep the quads engaged throughout the whole process.
ReplyDeleteI think that Laghu Vajrasana and Kapotasana really change the body with all the demands that they place on the front body. You almost feel like you have a brand-new body (one that is much, much stronger and more open in the front) after you "get" these two poses. Keep working on it. It will come.
Kino also recently made a video on Laghu Vajrasana on her Youtube channel. You might want to check it out.
Hi Nobel, thanks for sharing your experience. The one thing I can attest is that in the last couple of days all I can think while I am doing these is "opening the front of the body", it is totally where it is at for me, I feel it changing, I feel it hurting right now hee hee
ReplyDeleteDid not see the video of Kino, I searched for her and Laghu and did not come up with one, will look again.
Looking forward to the new body :-)
yaiks, Utkatasana is my least favorite position of ALL. Lately I have been doing it Ramaswami style with head down, gaze at the horizon which makes it put less demands on my neck. I find that with this adjustment I am able to stay in it longer, so maybe with that and what you say, I will try the deeper squat.
ReplyDeleteI did not know that which you say about the "relaxing" moment being a problem, now I can see how it could be... and maybe hence the wisdom of staying right above the ground almost just brushing
As per other videos with drops, plops, hard fallings, I dont do those, I like to think in those terms... ha ha ha.... seriously I am very scared on drop backs as you know so this one just happened cause I somehow knew I would be able to soft land... must give up the controlling mind!
Appreciate the tips and look forward to the levitating aspect, yes, very much so
Wow, you made the second one look easy.
ReplyDelete:-) Aim to please. just kidding, I think look easy really means years of work, and this is just the beginning of the pose. But i am running away from linear time, it is what it is now, and, as your upcoming book would read, I love myself for it!
ReplyDelete