{"id":827,"date":"2015-04-01T15:21:39","date_gmt":"2015-04-01T15:21:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/movementformodernlife.com\/blog\/?p=827"},"modified":"2017-09-08T12:54:42","modified_gmt":"2017-09-08T12:54:42","slug":"secret-yoginis-diary-beginner-yoga-handstand-part-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movementformodernlife.com\/blog\/secret-yoginis-diary-beginner-yoga-handstand-part-7\/","title":{"rendered":"The Secret Yogini’s Diary: From Beginner Yoga to Handstand Part 7"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/a>When I go to classes, my teacher is always on at me to relax my trapezius muscles, to slide my shoulder blades down my back. Especially in down dog. Thing is, it gets a little counter productive: as soon as she heads over to me, little feet padding across the floorboards, I feel my muscles seize up and my shoulders shoot to my ears.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a tough one.<\/p>\n

Awareness of a muscle doesn\u2019t guarantee that we always have conscious control over it. Most of us aren\u2019t even aware of which muscles are active and which passive, which in extension and which in flexion, at any given time. In fact, a lot of us can\u2019t tell for sure if we are standing upright, stacked, weight evenly distributed, spine at its optimum position. Once we start to move \u2013 even just to walk \u2013 it all gets noticeably worse.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s this lack of proprioception that the Alexander Technique and Feldenkrais, for example, seek to address. The Gokhale Method works well too, I\u2019ve been told.<\/p>\n

Apparently, gymnasts and ballerinas are great to teach in any other physical practice because they can isolate muscles and put them into a state of relaxation or tension on command. And I would guess that experienced yogis fall in the same category.<\/p>\n

There are photographs of yogis, aren\u2019t there, who can control, independently, the right and left sides of their stomachs during specific breathing exercises.<\/p>\n

Me, I\u2019m not sure that I\u2019ve yet really mastered any of my Bandhas.<\/p>\n

Actually, I know that I haven\u2019t. Another dispiriting discovery on my yoga journey.<\/p>\n

I had a one-to-one a few weeks ago and Ness was peering intently at my belly. Not a happy situation for either of us, I\u2019d imagine.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy is that bit around your waist punched in? It\u2019s this bit, below your navel, that you need to hold.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gentle pokes accompanied the comments. I sucked in harder.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo! Not there \u2013 here!\u201d<\/p>\n

I tried something else.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes! Yes! That\u2019s it. Now feel as if your lower ribs are energetically connected to your hipbones \u2013 that\u2019s it. Yes. Hold that.\u201d<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t quite sure what I had done. The muscle memory wasn\u2019t there. It still isn\u2019t. I have to stand in front of the mirror trying things out (while trying not to get distracted by all the Special K inches I could pinch).<\/p>\n

In time, I suppose, I will be able to keep this bit not that bit toned on the mat.<\/p>\n

For now, I do the best I can. And that, really, is enough.<\/p>\n

\"Down<\/a>

Down Dog – Beginner Yoga<\/p><\/div>\n

Send to Facebook<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I go to classes, my teacher is always on at me to relax my trapezius muscles, to slide my shoulder blades down my back. Especially in down dog. Thing is, it gets a little counter productive: as soon as she heads over to me, little feet padding across the floorboards, I feel my muscles […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":712,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[122,123],"class_list":["post-827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-beginner-yoga-2","tag-yoga-for-beginners-blog"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Secret Yogini's Diary: From Beginner Yoga to Handstand Part 7<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The seventh part of the Secret Yogini's diary. 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