Ashtanga Yoga Had Me Falling On My Ashtanga.

Sorry for my horrible humor, but that was the first thing that came to my mind when my practice was over and it stuck for a few hours before writing this post.

Ashtanga yoga was really cool. I don't know how to say that professionally about a physical practice. Ashtanga yoga was an empowering act of physically demanding poses that required a lot of focus and understanding and overcoming your own body was a true experience? I guess that was more professional. But it's not a lie. I enjoyed this practice more than any of the others I have seen in my entire one and a half month yoga career. (If any true yogis see this one day please know that that comment is satire.)

Something about ashtanga stood out to me. The idea of series and advancement really caught my attention. That there are specific positions you do everyday at the request of your guru, and only when you are truly ready to move on you will. There is a structure and ritual to ashtanga, much like every other yoga type. There are repeating postures, each time flowing a little more perfectly than the next. You must continue to repeat these postures until your body, mind, breathing, and energy are in a perfect sync. Our instructor said that some people will be on sequence 1 their entire life. BUT IT'S A GOAL. It is a true goal with true rewards and true challenges.

The only thing I didn't like was the rolling of my back in order to touch my toes. In my recent posts, I have made comments that I truly believe my lumbar vertebrae are all fused together because my lower back is that inflexible. My usual instructor instructed me why this happens and how to fix it. Great! I was so excited to use this advice during my practice today. But rather than strengthening my core, bending from my hips, and slightly bending my legs so I could get the perfect forward fold where it mattered (in my 2 inch long spinal cord),  I was told to straighten my feet and only go as far as I can. That's exactly what I was doing before! That was what I was doing wrong! This was a little discouraging as I tried to sit each pose to work with my body while still following Laurie's instruction.

I had fun, though, don't get me wrong. Ashtanga is a beautiful practice with beautiful minds and beautiful determination. I definitely would like to learn more about this practice moving forward.

P.S. I tried doing a REAL headstand when I came home... didn't happen.