Tight Hamstrings, But...

Well, I was going to write on how this particular workshop series on Iyenga Yoga (which I had over the past five days) wasn't as interesting as I'd wished because there were parts that were way too advanced for me but then I remember what one of my teachers said and about having hang-ups. So, instead of writing about how I couldn't do this and that, I decided to focus on how I physically felt (less thinking, more feeling!) and the observations I had about my body.

First of all, I thought I could twist my body until last weekend. To do a full twist, one has to turn not just the shoulders back but the entire torso, which can be extremely challenging. One way of deepening the twist is to suck in the tummy (doing the "bandha"), creating more room for movement and, subsequently, further lengthening the spine. It looks so easy in writing/theory but, in practice/reality, it's, like, omg I cannot turn any more. With help from the assistants, I was able to rotate the body a lot more and my body DID feel the stretch, particularly in the hips and entire back. It also made the body feel SO relaxed afterwards. 

No Sweat!

One interesting observation (but it's not something that I am unaware of ... it just became much more pronounced during the workshop): an imbalance in the left and right side of my body. When I try to get into utthita hasta padangusthasana (above), the right hand side always seems close to impossible. The hamstrings are tight and the hip area rigid. Even with help of the back of a chair to lift up the leg, it still takes me 2-3 minutes to get into the pose. On the other hand/side, despite of my protruding hip bone, this pose feels a lot easier on the left. What IS important though is, when I am in the pose (no matter how long it takes me), I get a nice workout on the hamstrings and sacrum/lower back area and it feels amazing.

So, yes, less hang ups and more enjoyable.

Tactics Ogre progress report: other than one drop that was supposed to drop but never dropped (after almost two hours of trying), have got a few more exclusive items as well as my first Necromancer recruitment! About to hit the first shop in PotD ...