Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Bikram Yoga 60-Day Challenge - Day 32

Good 6:00 am class!! Practicing with complete empty stomach is the way to go. I finished the class without "resting" this time, pose after pose and very focused. I even tried to smile during awkward pose but it was challenging. Standing head to knee pose ( #5 Dandayamana Janushirasana) is still the most difficult pose for me. But this time I was able to lock the knee for the entire pose. Standing separate leg stretching pose ( 8. Dandayamana Bibhaktapada Paschimottanasana) is getting harder and harder as my feet constantly slip ( with and without towel). Need to find a solution for this.
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4 comments:

  1. bikramyogachickNovember 10, 2009 at 11:29 AM

    Hi! I love that you tried to smile in awkward. I've had teachers tell us to smile in locust and when I do that I feel like I look constipated! :)
    As far as your feet slipping in separate leg stretching pose that one is hard. I sometimes, in the juicier classes wipe my feet real quick on my towel before stepping to the left, but it's still hard. My teachers just keep telling me it's all about inner thigh strength. That once you develop that enough, your feet, although wet, will not slip. Yikes! That one is a toughie!

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  2. thedancingjNovember 10, 2009 at 1:12 PM

    Similing, yay!! Good attempt! ;-) That is a hard time to do it (awkward pose!), but like everything else, it will get easier with practice. You can also just try to relax your face. (So you don't end up being like UGH... MUST... SMILE... ) Smile at yourself a little when you're doing something easier, like just standing between poses, and you might start to get a feel for it.

    Separate leg stretching - are you holding onto your heels? If so , just pull really hard on your heels, and voila. :) The slight pigeon toe helps, too.

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  3. ciritaNovember 10, 2009 at 3:36 PM

    I have been told many times that I have a very expressive face, it never lies. I could never be a good poker player or a surprise party organizer. Also, I am known for my BIG smiles. I do it all the time. Well, all the time except during Bikram class. You can definitely tell that I don't like awkward pose by looking at my face. I want to eliminate "painful expressions" and be more neutral.

    Yes, I ended up relaxing my face as the smile didn't come out as expected during awkward pose :-( more like a constipated look, like BYchick, mentioned. LOL. At least, my eagle was smiling :-)

    As for separate leg stretching, I think I know what the problem is. One issue is that I go down very slow and my feet slip by the time I grab onto my heels. The other one is that my stand might not be wide enough or at least the teacher feels it could be wider as I am very close to touching the floor with the head. The instructor normally tells me to open up more and more and more and BOOM, I slip. I am going to try a wider stand from the beginning.

    Thanks for your comments and suggestions. It's nice having a chat with the experts :-) I started Bikram in June. I am sure my inner thighs will see significant changes in the years to come. 70 more years of practice :)

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  4. ciritaNovember 10, 2009 at 3:39 PM

    J, thanks for the post and for reminding me to smile :-)

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