Being content

Being content

When I remember how strong and how flexible I've been already and how weak and stiff I'm now, I could get crazy. Yet, this leads to nothing. Only daily modest work helps to get out of the valley of discontentment.

Every day one has to pick up oneself. Sometime I feel tired. Sometimes I feel over motivated. Not thinking too much, stepping on the mat and exploring what is possible on exactly that day is it.

Yesterday I saw a May challenge on Instagram #untagleme. Something new is often inspiring. I have the opinion that those who practice Ashtanga yoga can easily do the poses of other styles and fantasies. So it is. Even though not every crazy pose might be possible. I learned to change anything in a way that it serves my needs.

Today I'll work on back bending again, that is second series.

Stay curious.
Stay hungry. (Not for pralinés.)
These feelings guarantee an exciting life.

Time to move.

Cardio, strength training, Yoga, nutrition

Cardio, strength training, Yoga, nutrition

Cardio:
It's overrated. It's time-consuming and boring. I have the feeling that it has not so much effect on my body. My feet have wounds now from all the walking. OK, I could find better shoes. I admit, that to walk a bit is better than sitting all day long. In order to have a good training for the heart, I think it must bump hard. That is interval training should be added.
Many people do cardio in order to lose weight. Yet not much kcal are used up when walking. In addition one has found out that people get hungry after cardio and eat more than usually.
What I take from all the researches AND my own experiences: It's good to move, but I won't set my goals higher and higher. 70.000 steps every week is enough. I will take steps fast, so that I get out of breath. I consider to go by bicycle much more often. With that goal I won't win a prize on fitbit...haha....

Strength training:
I think it's important and underestimated. It's also rewarding. 30 min every second day is enough. Breaks are important. Being strong makes daily living easier. Being stronger will help me to master some of the difficult asanas. I'm sure. I won't lift weight. My own body weight is enough to work with.

Ashtanga Yoga:
The asset of this activity is that one can get very flexible. I love it. I got stronger, I got very flexible with time. Ashtanga yoga is my focus. The rest of the activities circle around this activity.
Pranayama and meditation is part of this practice, too.

Nutrition:
Everybody knows something else. As a yogini I want to live without doing harm to other creatures. I also want to eat well. It's possible these days. Everything is available, but we also have to make smart decisions.
I had underestimated the importance of protein. I try to avoid sugar when possible and processed food. My portions are small. I have 2 meals every day, breakfast and lunch. this is enough for me. I love to eat.
I'm on my way to become a chef.


On my yoga practice:
The last few days I woke up with back pain. I was not motivated to do anything, but walking around.

Today a new Ashtanga week has started, and I practiced. Oh my it was painful. Several times I did fascia massages. NOW I feel good. To practice these days requires a lot of motivation. I have a focus and a plan. During the next week kapotasana will be my focus. I'll dedicate 20 min to that pose when I do second series. My timer supports me. I started today with the execution of this plan. I did different exercises. I also added passive stretching.
Pictures will follow.

Practice is over. I'm looking forward to the next one.

Picture: Myself 7 years ago on my former balcony.

One hour on the mat, despite Easter

One hour on the mat, despite Easter

One tiny wrong position, one wrong movement and this sacroiliac joint gets crazy and the muscle around it, too. Then I curse, not loud, but I curse. This tiny joint dominates my life. It causes pain again and again. I know what to do to calm it. I have to roll out the muscle with my fascia roll. I had forgotten it at home. Nevertheless, I also know asanas, especially the twists, that help to relax this huge muscle.

I think now strength training will stabilize my back. Let's see.

It was surely a mistake to practice only here and then. This is past, too. I'm on the right track again.

This journey is an adventure. Sometimes it's bumpy. I'm looking forward to my practice tomorrow morning.

This morning it snowed. It looked great. Some trees were green already and then the snowflakes sat on the green leaves to rest there for a while, for a moment.

Cardio, Yoga, Strength

Cardio, Yoga, Strength

I'm sitting here with rosy cheeks. I feel slightly exhausted which feels good. My lousy mood of today is like blown away. I was outside and walked. My goal was to take my daily  10,000 steps. My fit-bit tool says that I walked 7,935 stepy by now. I almost was downtown. To walk 10,000 steps, if one doesn't want to jog takes a very long time. I thought cardio training would complement my yoga practice. To be honest I think cardio training is boring.

What is cardio training? 
One repeats tiny movements again and again. The speed might change. It can be nice to be outside. But that's it. There is scarcly any variation that could make this activity more interesting. Walking, swimming, going by bicycle are typical cardio activities.

Why cardio training?
It shall strengthen the cardio-vascular-system. It's good for the heart, so to say. Sounds good. If it weren't that boring and so time-consuming.

I decided to walk much more as cardio training. Quickly I realized that I need good shoes. Not only this. The sole needs to get repaired rather soon. Or one buys new shoes. I have already red parts on the sides of my feet.10.000 steps, this is something. And in the last weeks I walked even more. The air in a big city like Munich is not so good.

Perhaps I should alter these 3 activities. Walking, swimming and going by bicycle during the summer month could be an idea to make the training for the heart more interesting.

BUT, more important for me is my yoga practice. The strength of yoga is that it's the best stretching activity that I know. Yoga makes flexible. The body and hopefully the mind, too. Yoga has almost no influence on the cardio-vascular-system. One gets stronger, but it's not enough. In order to accomplish some of the challenging asanas like laghu vajrasana it might be necessary to add strength training. Just doing it for 5 breath is definitely not enough.

Strength training is also very important, especially when we grow older. Strength training is very rewarding. Three times a week is enough. Within 30 min a lot can be done. Breaks are important. The practice is sweaty and my heart rate goes up. Results can be felt very soon. I don't want to lift weight. I tried a training that uses my own body weight. This is enough for me. That way my joints don't have so much stress.

Indeed, the fitness industry grew in the last decade. So much material is available. It can be a challenge to find valuable information. It's possible. I read so much during the last month. It can be rather confusing. In the meantime I got an overview again.

I want to do all this effort to stay fit as long as possible. This is one of the promises of diligent yoginis. This practice can help to stay fit. Am I also a bit vain? Perhaps, yes. My body is what I have. I live with it 24 hours every day. I love to take care of this perfect instrument of the divine.

Facing the obstacles can give a lot of energy. Keep practicing. 🏆

15 min longer than yesterday

15 min longer than yesterday

Yes, I did it. My practice lasted 15 min longer than yesterday. I took some pictures of the back bending asanas. It motivates me. It's also a learning tool.
I always add twists after the back bending asanas, but after the twists I had enough. To practice with back pain is not that easy.

What seemed good, turned out to be the wrong path. This is also a life lesson. One never knows what is good and what is not so good in the long run. We tend to judge things, events rather quickly. often we are wrong.
I remember how I jubilated when I learned that I could practice every single day in a yoga studio. It injured me. This rigid asana training ignored every individuality.  I had to return to my home practice. That's what I'm doing now. I practice at home.

Of course I learned something during these years when I went to a yoga class as if I went to work. My concentration improved. Also at home I focus on my practice. I don't leave the mat anymore. I remember that this was an issue during many years. I think this is a huge improvement.

A few months back I attented a yoga class again. I'd like to have a group of practitioners that allows me to exercise what I consider good for me. The teacher practiced and taught at the same time. While he was doing his asanas he observed the few students. From time to time he interrupted his practice to give adjustments.
Practicing yoga means to focus, to concentrate. This is why Indian student went to yoga teacher decades ago. They wanted to improve their concentration to pass the exams. If one tries to do several things at the same time, the energy is scattered. Yoga is also energy work.
What could I learn from this teacher? If he hadn't tried to adjust me and to give me his wrong dangerous tips, I'd probably be there more often just to be part of a group.
It's so important to learn about the own limits as a student as well as a teacher. If you don't know your limits as a student it might happen that you injure yourself. It's always an approach, because often the consequences of  a mistake show the other day and not at once. If you don't know your limits as a teacher, you might injure others.

A friend recommended a very interesting book: 'Your Body, Your Yoga' by Bernie Clark. Alone the forward by Paul Grilley is worth buying this book. Yoga became part of the fitness industry. Yoga became a sportive activity for the masses. There was a need for teacher, a lot of teacher as fast as possible. Quickly teacher trainings (TT) were created: 200 hours of yoga and you're a yoga teacher. Great. The more rigid the teaching is, the easier it is to teach.That's what we can observe in yoga classes these day. This is no more what makes me happy.

There is still one yoga teacher I'd like to see. There is hope. :)
In addition I joined omstar. Kino MacGregor has created this online yoga platform. It costs a monthly fee, I think this is more than OK. Kino is one of the best yoginis, I know. She understands a lot of didactic. And it's motivating to feel part of a group.

Let's keep practicing. What works is worth repeating. What's not working must be left behind.

One hour on the mat

One hour on the mat

It feels always good afterward. To practice with this back pain is a challenge. It requires a lot of discipline to keep practicing. I went from one painful asana to the next. Sometimes I'm also pain free. However, I don't expect anymore to return to that lightness I came from. It feels good to practice at home. I get up at 6 am again. I've time to write my journal. There is even time to sit together with my beloved E, while he has breakfast. When I'm alone I start my practice. Slow. Very slow.

I still love it. I love to stretch my body. The asanas fascinate me.

Strength training is very rewarding.  It's very effective and not so time-consuming like stretching (yoga) and cardio training. Breaks are even recommended. Strength training and yoga fits very well together.

Being alive, being able to practice is enough reason to feel more than content.

Back bending, an overview

Back bending, an overview

My focus is back bending.

How many back bending asanas has Ashtanga yoga, I wondered.

Primary:
1. Setu bandhasana
2. Urdhva dhanurasna

Second Series:
1. Salabhasana A and B
2. Bhekasana
3. Dhanurasana
4. Parsva dhanurasana
5. Ustrasana
6. Laghu vajrasana
7. Kapotasana A and B
8. Supta vajrasana
9. Urdhva dhanurasana

Advanced A:
1. Viparita dandasana
2. Eka pada viparita dandasana
3. Viparita Salabhasana (not possible for me anymore)
4. Ganda Bherundasana (in my next life)
5. Natarajana
6. Raja kapotasana
7. Eka pada raja kapotasana
8. Urdhva dhanurasana
9.. Urdhva dhanurasana

Advanced B:
1. Padangustha Dhanurasana A and B
2. Eka Pada Dhanurasana
3. Eka Pada Kapotasana
4. Parivrttasana A and B
5. Urdhva dhanurasana

OK, I give in. Kapotasana is my next Himalaya. Sometimes it requires many many attempts to climb up this mountain.

Strength training

Strength training

I started with strength training. This time I found an approach that works. It's a 90 day challenge with different levels that got me going. The book is written by Mark Lauren. I have the German version. There are strength training books for men and for women. Englisch versions exist, too. The exercises are very interesting and exhausting. The 90 day challenge is thought through. I don't agree on everything, but this is OK.

There is a group on facebook who do strenght training with this book. This helps a lot to stay committed. The training is without weight, only the weight of the body is used. After the third day only I have already sore muscles. This is a very positive sign. It means I worked hard, I didn't betray myself.

One day I'll come up from the pose on the picture. Strength is needed to accomplish this.

Is there protein in it?

Is there protein in it?

When I started Yoga over 30 years ago it was clear, a yogini doesn't eat meat. It's possible to survive without doing harm to other creatures. One should live a life full of respect for other creatures on this planet. 

There are few rules, but to live a life in peace with others is one of the few rules. 

It seems clear that muscles are build of protein. If one wants to get stronger it's recommended to eat protein. I even think that I felt so weak years ago, because my nutrition was not adjusted to my lifestyle of 2 and a half hours of Ashtanga yoga. Some poses didn't improve. I felt too weak. I think now that more protein would have made my life easier. 

No matter what sports one wants to do, nutrition is as important as the sportive activity itself. 

The asana practice is so demanding in Ashtanga yoga, that it's a must to reflect on what we eat. 

In the meantime I know people who don't go to restaurants anymore. In restaurants quantity is important, not quality. If one wants to eat well, one must become a chef. 

I go so far to say: An advanced yogini can also prepare delicious and healthy meals. 

I analysed my food with that fitbit tracker. 

Different levels of flexibility

Different levels of flexibility

There are different levels of flexibility.

Very flexible people can do a yoga pose without any warm-up. After a deep back bending asana the body allows it to go at once into a deep forward bending asana.

This all gets more difficult when the body gets older.

I need a warm up for most asanas.
Often it feels so much better to do some preparation asanas. In yoga classes this is a tabu. At home I feel free to do whatever feels good.
For me it's so much easier to do urdhva dhanurasana with my hands on a block first before I do the real thing.

I also practice this pose against a wall first. It's very helpful to have an external clue. The idea to bring the chest to the wall is much more useful than to think 'open your heart'. 

It makes sense to look for an external clue if one wants to learn an asana. The alarm clock can also be an external clue, too. It might help to hold an asana longer. Counting the breath is less effective. 

The HOW TO learn a pose is so important. It is neglected in the community. Self-study is a key word here. 

It's Sunday. The sun is shining. We have a guest, my mother-in-law is here. A Sunday excursion is planned. 

I slept longer than I wished. The plan was to get up early to practice before the common breakfast. It didn't happen. I can blame our neighbour why I didn't get up early. They had a party yesterday night. It was already after 1am, when they opened the balcony doors. Loud music could be heard everywhere. I was not the only one who checked who was so ruthless. I saw other neighbours on their balconies. to check who made such a noise at such a time. Party guests smoked on the balcony. the ash of the cigarettes flew through the air. I thought that I got older. I remember that I usually was amused when someone had party time. My life style has changed. I want to sleep before midnight. I love the early mornings. The music was not my taste either. The calm after a storm is very calm. 

Time to see what my darlings are doing.......

Saturday is rest day

Saturday is rest day

Saturday is rest day. Really?

At least it is a yoga free day.

I try to do every day some chores. Nevertheless often the Saturday is a marathon cleaning day. Especially when I expect guests. My mother-in-law is already in the train to Munich. She is on her way to visit us.

A lot is done here, I hope that I can pick myself up again to vacuum. It's usually a loud activity. If one vacuums when not alone the message is clear. Can you hear it. I'm so busy doing chores. And you?
Most chores one can do almost secretly, as if one has brownies. Things get done, but nobody realizes how. Not so when the floor is dirty.  If the vacuum cleaner must leave the storage room to do a cleaning job, it gets loud. It gets on the nerves of everybody.
I remember a story of a colleague. He used to work longer on Thursdays, because every Thursday his wife was vacuuming the floors. This was obviously not his thing. He preferred to work overtime hours than to listen to the sound of the cleaning machine.

Yes, it's possible to take my leg behind my head. It must become comfortably again. The goal is to relax in that pose. One must think: Ahhhhhh, this feels sooooooo goooooood. Right now I think: I hope I can hold this pose till it makes click. Ah, finally I can get out of the pose.

It's easier to work either on back bending or on forward bending asanas. To have both sorts of asanas in one session requires too much flexibility right now.

I'm sitting here, enjoying my Pu Errh tea, I have some ginger sticks with it. The combination of bitter, hot and sweet aroma pleases me.

I'm looking forward to my practice tomorrow morning. I'm so glad that I practice again. Action helps to stop complaining. Action helps to stop blaming others for the own situation. Focusing on the breath doesn't allow destructive thoughts.

I got a warning, a serious warning. I adjusted my practice. But I won't give it up. I see myself as a very old person, still stretching and bending on a sticky mat. Follow me.

A long way down

A long way down

 A long way down, but I'm on my way.

To take pictures forces me to hold the pose longer than I usually do, as I have to wait till it makes click.

I repeated this pose 3 times. Repetition is always good and helps to get deeper into a pose.

Next time I could lean blocks against the wall.
This could be the next tiny step.

It feels so good to practice, because it becomes easier again.
When stretching pain is felt at every asana I do, it's difficult to motivate myself to keep practicing. Stretching pain is fading away. I can focus on back bending. It requires enough willpower to do these poses and to repeat them and to get a bit deeper. But that's what it is. One must like this sort of exercise and I like it. It's not for everybody.

Advice to my younger self

Advice to my younger self

The first picture is from 2010. The second picture is taken yesterday. One can also learn from the own mistakes. Wall-walking was an exercise I knew also in the past.

I was too close to the wall in picture no 1. With bent arms I'm weak and I cannot push the body forward. The consequence is that the upper body doesn't get such an intensive stretch like in picture no 2.

One must know that there are two forms of kapotasana. In both forms the hands reach the toes. Once the arms are stretched. In the second form the forarms are on the floor. The asana with stretched arms is more difficult. The arch of the back is much more intensive.

I remember that it was not easy to hold the pose in picture no 1. I tried to walk down the wall as fast as possible. I wanted to reach my toes. Being too obsessed with a goal can be a hindrance. The body needs time to adjust.

A better goal would have been to define the next tiny step. One must feel good in a pose. One works from feeling awful to feeling good. In every pose one must search the limit. Then one relaxes, then one goes a tiny bit further. It must be possible to observe the breath when in a pose.

These days I try to reach the floor with stretched arms. My hands might be relatively far away from the toes when this happens. Yet this is the next step to get closer.