Lately, I find myself developing the "pukey acid reflux" feeling as soon as we do the first instance of Pada-Hastasana. It lasts the rest of the class... Often seriously hampering my efforts in Standing-Head-to-Knee and Rabbit poses.
But back bends? Those I LOVE!
Bending backwards is easy-peasy for me. Standing Bow, Half Moon Backward Bending ("You're back is going to hurt like hell, don't be scared!"), Cobra, Full Locust, CAMEL... These are my favorite poses!
"Back bends are therapeutic," one of my teachers said while teaching class this past Friday evening. "There was a time in my life when I was really struggling (emotionally?)... And I would stand in my apartment and just do back bend after back bend after back bend. It helped!"
I feel this way too. I think that back bends come very easy to those of us who like to express ourselves (sometimes too much). Whatever is in my head, you can pretty much guarantee will likely end up coming out of my mouth or out of my finger tips as I type it into something.
But the point is to be "balanced." And right now, I am "out-of-balance." I am too efficient at the backward bending. And not nearly as efficient with the forward-bending. And while I am certainly not going to stop trying to progress with my back bends, I do need to do what I can to improve my forward bends.
I need to improve my ability to be more discreet.
Ah, you have a funny Asian spine! We do well in backbends but are TOTALLY LOUSY in forward bends. :)
ReplyDeleteHere's to more forward bending! :)
I think I'm the opposite. Back bends hurt like hell and I have limited flexibility. But I'm good with the forward bends.
ReplyDeleteI do like to express myself, but I'm pretty discreet about my feelings. I don't like to feel vulnerable. And those back bends make me feel vulnerable!
LOL! I don't keep my feelings in about anything. It's something I totally need to work on!
ReplyDeleteI used to be afraid of backbending as I thought something in my spine gets "stuck" and I´d stay that way...lol, and, initially, I felt I´m better at forward bending, those - oh-so-hard compressions, which make my lungs and chest feel like a squezzed lemon, but i was wrong. I´m actually better at backbending and NOW I absolutely love them!! If I had to name my 3 least favorite posture, it´d be: 1) rabbit, 2) rabbit 3) rabbit
ReplyDeleteI know. Me and my friend Rabbit. We don´t come from the same neighborhood.
Good like with your training, hope to hear/read updates here :)
namaste
S.
ps: ooops, typo, i meant "good luck"...:)
ReplyDeleteLOL! Thanks Sylvia!
ReplyDelete