Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Retreat Day 3

Day three rolled aound and I was into the flow of the practice!  Again I got an amazing Prasarita Padottanasana C adjustment.  It was so strong it brought tears to my eyes, but I got even more movement that last time.

To help with the hip opening, Natalia suggested I use the dancer's bar that is up on the side of the room to do my half pigeon, and try to open my hips that way.  I spent a few minutes on each side that way after the Marichyasanas, and I'll continue to do that when I get the chance.  She says i really need to be doing these every day to give my hips a chance to open up.

Because of how closed my shoulders are, and the fact that I can't get my arms to go up vertically from my shoulders, we tried a different way to do Urdhva Dhanurasana.  We got a couple of blocks and put them up against the wall.  That was really good, it put less pressure on my wrists.  I was a bit worried that they would slip down, and I would come crashing down and die, but all was ok in the end.

Binding in Marichyasa A and B on both sides was really easy today.  It feel really good to be binding like that, nice and tight but comfortable.  Natalia Adjusted me into a bind in Marichyasana C on both sides.

She also taught me to do two step jump-backs.  that is, I first put my hands down by my sides, and try to lift up the body and swing back.  Then when my feet catch on the ground, I let myself back down, then move my hands further forward, and do the rest of the jump-back.  It's a lot of work, and generates a huge amount of heat, but eventually in time my knees will get closer to my chest, and I'll be able to swing my legs through.

I got an adjustment from Maya today!!!  Natalia was trying to adjust me by sitting on my legs while I was in a sort of Urdhva Balasana position, but she wasn't heavy enough to get my thighs on my chest, so she got little maya to sit on her lap.  Hahaha, it was funny, and I think Maya was quite proud to be able to do some adjusting.

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