Not just sitting around

I know it's been a little while - I'm still here and still managing to fit my practice into the holiday season. Yoga is the perfect counter to hustle and bustle!

Recently I've started experimenting with seated poses. I chose two of the first poses I learned - Baddha Konasana(BK) and Upavistha Konasana (UK). Wow. These poses ended up opening my eyes before my hips and inner thighs. The variations of the poses I had settled into as my "practice" were just part of setting up for the full expressions of Iyengar's versions of the poses.

In UK, the second step after separating the legs, is to "catch the big toes between the respective thumbs and index fingers". That's where my work has been for the last week. I am still not flexible enough to get there on my first try, but with sufficient warm up I can get there the second time around. This is where my work will remain for now.

In BK, Iyengar enters the pose in two steps by first bringing the feet back with the knees up, then bringing the soles together and separating the knees. I had always moved into the pose in one motion. Somehow the two step process encourages my knees to the floor more effectively. Holding this pose feels good. The next step is getting my chin to the floor (who knew???) That will take some work.

It really is fun to learn how much I still have to learn :) Namaste.