Balance Poses, Sweat and Ujjayi Pranayama
Mar. 19th, 2009 10:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
muck_a_luckMore thoughts about how postures, and yoga, make me feel.
For the most part, I dislike balance poses, and mostly suffer though them. I'm terrible at them. Revolved Triangle is my arch enemy. I'm also hideous at Half Moon Pose. I fall down all the time. And my improvement has been very slow, though there has been some. This may be a deficiency of my learning yoga from DVDs.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
zats_clear said balance poses got much easier for her when she got good instruction on them from Yoga Journal's Beginner's set. Sara Ivanhoe perkily reminds us that balance poses are a great opportunity to exercise our senses of humor. Brian Kest reminds us that while we are performing yoga, even difficult poses, we should remain calm and relaxed. You just find your footing and start again.
One exception to my dislike of balance poses is Eagle, a pose I can usually do. In eagle you wind around yourself. I love the shoulder stretch (which is part of my shoulder-opening vinyasa, too, not as part of the balance pose), and you become intensely focused as you maintain your balance. That feel of intense focus is probably the best part of balance poses, when they are actually working.
Another one that I like is Dancing Shiva (performed here in an advanced version. I only hold my foot with one hand, and hold the other arm out in front.) Again, it has the component of intense concentration, and also, it feels very graceful. When it's really working, I almost feel like I'm floating.
There are sensual aspects to yoga that I find make it different from just doing some aerobics.
First, you try to maintain a specific kind of breathing called ujjayi pranayama, victorious breath. Sara Ivanhoe says you make a "Darth Vader" sound in the back of your throat as you breathe. :) Sort of like alwasy making the sound of the letter H, but while breathing through your nose. The breating sounds like waves. Often, especially in the deep seated forward bends, your breath also shifts your body in ways that feel like waves. It brings a serene component to the practice.
I also like the way yoga makes you sweat. After 15 or 20 minutes of a vigorous routine, sweat will be pouring down your face. I don't usually sweat this much even doing step aerobics, and the sweating is different, maybe because in yoga you're not bouncing around as much.
Also, the sweat drips, when you are bent forward. The beginner's version of Dancing Shiva that I do is a prime example. Also Warrior III or poses where you are on your hands and knees, or any number of other poses. The sweat just drops off you onto the mat in big splashes. The drops are fat, and the noise sounds like drops of rain. At least to me. :)
For the most part, I dislike balance poses, and mostly suffer though them. I'm terrible at them. Revolved Triangle is my arch enemy. I'm also hideous at Half Moon Pose. I fall down all the time. And my improvement has been very slow, though there has been some. This may be a deficiency of my learning yoga from DVDs.
zats_clear said balance poses got much easier for her when she got good instruction on them from Yoga Journal's Beginner's set. Sara Ivanhoe perkily reminds us that balance poses are a great opportunity to exercise our senses of humor. Brian Kest reminds us that while we are performing yoga, even difficult poses, we should remain calm and relaxed. You just find your footing and start again.One exception to my dislike of balance poses is Eagle, a pose I can usually do. In eagle you wind around yourself. I love the shoulder stretch (which is part of my shoulder-opening vinyasa, too, not as part of the balance pose), and you become intensely focused as you maintain your balance. That feel of intense focus is probably the best part of balance poses, when they are actually working.
Another one that I like is Dancing Shiva (performed here in an advanced version. I only hold my foot with one hand, and hold the other arm out in front.) Again, it has the component of intense concentration, and also, it feels very graceful. When it's really working, I almost feel like I'm floating.
There are sensual aspects to yoga that I find make it different from just doing some aerobics.
First, you try to maintain a specific kind of breathing called ujjayi pranayama, victorious breath. Sara Ivanhoe says you make a "Darth Vader" sound in the back of your throat as you breathe. :) Sort of like alwasy making the sound of the letter H, but while breathing through your nose. The breating sounds like waves. Often, especially in the deep seated forward bends, your breath also shifts your body in ways that feel like waves. It brings a serene component to the practice.
I also like the way yoga makes you sweat. After 15 or 20 minutes of a vigorous routine, sweat will be pouring down your face. I don't usually sweat this much even doing step aerobics, and the sweating is different, maybe because in yoga you're not bouncing around as much.
Also, the sweat drips, when you are bent forward. The beginner's version of Dancing Shiva that I do is a prime example. Also Warrior III or poses where you are on your hands and knees, or any number of other poses. The sweat just drops off you onto the mat in big splashes. The drops are fat, and the noise sounds like drops of rain. At least to me. :)
