Hatha Yoga (improving arm balances.)

23rd of October, 2008.

I started the morning with Surya Namaskar and a balancing flow based on Virabhadrasana III. I added Garudasana to the flow a few days ago. I noticed that when balancing on my right side is more unstable then my left side. This is most apparent during Garudasana. The wobble is most apparent when flowing from Garudasana to Virabhadrasana III.

In the afternoon I worked on Hatha Yoga for about an hour or so.

To begin with I started with Surya Namaskar and a Virabhadrasana III flow (just to stretch a bit.) After warming up a little I began working on Arm Balances.
The first one I worked on was Lolasana. The asana went a lot better then it had in the past. I was able to maintain my balance and practice deep breathing into my back. I found that the it helped the stability of the asana if I looked forward, rather then looking down at the mat.
Vasisthasana. was the next asana and it still needs work. It was wobbly at the wrists, and so I could not do much breathing into the asana. I was unable to lift my leg into the air without loosing balance.
After that I moved to Astavakrasana. Astavakrasana went well, well better then it has for me in the past. Oddly the right side went very well. I got my right leg above my elbow, and that made a big difference in the leg extension which followed. The left side did not go as well as the right. It was OK, but I could not get my leg to stay above my elbow. Once I did the asana went much better. I was able to breath deeply and extend the spine.
Bhujapidasana followed next. I was able to breath deeply relax and balance. Boy what a change this is for me. I am slowly seeing a change in my capacity to do balances.
Well the next asana is/was the one that I enjoyed doing least. Bakasana has always been problematic. I disliked the way my knees were always pinching my skin on my arms. I spoke to my teacher Deborah Perry owner of The Yoga Canter of Jackson. Deborah suggested that I move my knees so that they more on the outside of my elbows then behind them. This did away with the pinching which I was experiencing. Having reduces the annoyance factor I could focus on the asana. Finely I was able to perform the asana successfully. I went extremely well. I am very pleased. :)
Following this success I moved to Parsva Bakasana.> Here the right side needs some work, but the left side was not bad (though it does need work too.) The problem with the right side is that it seems to sag here. Sag is an unfortunate term, but it is accurate.

The next set of Hatha I worked on is a flow called Sarvangasana and Forward Bends. Though I am able to do all of the asanam in the flow, I am still learning the sequence. When I have it 'down' it will be a fun addition to the mix.

I finished off with the Sarvangasana Cycle. By this time I was a little tired. The series was reasonable, but not as satisfying as it generally is.