ashtanga yoga Some words

April 15, 2004

Hi--

That happens to me too....but my posture which arises the most fear is fill

foward fold....the first posture. On the days that its scary i modify it and

just stay with the breath. There is a school of thought that we hold past

emotions in out muscles and as we practice yoga when we open up our bodies these

fear/feelings come up. The important thing is to breath through them and not

judge your experence....it is what it is.

You dont want to push your self into doing anything that will cause injury

emotionly or physically.....you should look foward to your yoga practice not

fear it! So when heavy emotions arise modify the pose, and breath....dont react

to it but choose to respond to it out of a place of love and insight:O)

om shanti

Chris

anis1361 <no_reply> wrote:

Hi Everyone,

I've been practicing ashtanga for about two months. This morning at

practice when we were iniciating the sirsasana (the head posture) the

teacher told us not to let our concious led us into a "i cannot make

it" state, that we have the power to control our mind and, even not

completing the asana, to get as close as the final posture as we can,

breathing, and then when we feel it´s the right moment we will do it

(and that could be the moment). I trully believe that, but at that

exact time when I was upside down, trying to start to transfer my

body weight to my arms and head I felt an ennormous felling of fear,

and I could not concentrate or couldn't even try to do it. I really

don't know if I was afraid of did not have enough strength or if I

would fall or fail. I don't know... But I felt bad about it. I was

wandering if any of you had a similar experience and wanted to share

with me, so I can fell better. It's very important to emphasize that

it had never happened before, only today when I was preparing to try

to transfer the weight to the arms and head.

Any words of comfort?

Thanks,

Anis

ashtanga yoga

Tax Center - File online by April 15th

April 15, 2004

namaste,

Wonderful question!! And wonderful advice from your

teacher. It applies to all of the asanas, but

particularly to inverteds and arm balances, which

challenge our concepts of what we can and can't do.

First, some advice about headstand: take this one home

and practice it slowly against a wall. You can either

do it with the back facing the wall, kicking up the

legs, or do it with belly facing the wall, about three

feet away. Walk your feet up the wall until legs are

straight, then move one leg away so it goes straight

up. Just feel the pose from there. Also, be sure that

your elbows are close enough, and the head is firmly

tucked between clasped hands. The forearms should be

parallel, or close to parallel. This way, the balance

is between the elbows and hands (front to back), which

are the two directions we are likely to fall. If the

elbows are out to the side, the base of the pose is

narrow. In class, fold your mat in half to cushion

your head. Form a steady base, and raise the legs

slowly. Don't rush! If you feel like you're going to

fall, bend your knees, tuck your head and roll (watch

out for yogis in front of you!).

Now about that fear: all sorts of emotions can come up

in an asana practice. Anger, sorrow, joy, bliss, fear,

frustration, surrender, love. The first time I did

warrior 1, the teacher put his hand on my back and I

burst into tears! Later I realized that Warrior 1 is a

heart-opening pose, and my tears were a natural

cleansing of stored emotion, released by the pose.

Rabbit pose used to fill me with anger, until one day

something just "clicked" and I felt waves of bliss.

Rabbit is now my favorite pose.

It's important to honor the emotional process that our

yoga leads us through. When you feel it comming up,

just let it wash through you. Know that the pose is

helping you let something go. Stay with your breath,

and don't try to go deeper into the pose. Stay where

you are, and just breathe. Surrender to the process.

All is comming. Don't fight it. Cry if you need to

cry, laugh if you feel like laughing. Just stay

present and BREATHE BREATHE BREATHE!!!!!!!!!

There is a pretty good article on this subject in this

month's Yoga Journal, called "Tears & Laughter on the

Mat- how to work with emotions in your practice."

pranams,

Brianna

--- anis1361 <no_reply> wrote:

> Hi Everyone,

>

> I've been practicing ashtanga for about two months.

> This morning at

> practice when we were iniciating the sirsasana (the

> head posture) the

> teacher told us not to let our concious led us into

> a "i cannot make

> it" state, that we have the power to control our

> mind and, even not

> completing the asana, to get as close as the final

> posture as we can,

> breathing, and then when we feel it´s the right

> moment we will do it

> (and that could be the moment). I trully believe

> that, but at that

> exact time when I was upside down, trying to start

> to transfer my

> body weight to my arms and head I felt an ennormous

> felling of fear,

> and I could not concentrate or couldn't even try to

> do it. I really

> don't know if I was afraid of did not have enough

> strength or if I

> would fall or fail. I don't know... But I felt bad

> about it. I was

> wandering if any of you had a similar experience and

> wanted to share

> with me, so I can fell better. It's very important

> to emphasize that

> it had never happened before, only today when I was

> preparing to try

> to transfer the weight to the arms and head.

> Any words of comfort?

>

> Thanks,

>

> Anis

>

Tax Center - File online by April 15th

http://taxes./filing.html

April 18, 2004

Hi,

Emotions defiantly come up through the practice of asana's, and not all of them

are positive. I had a huge amount of anxiety and fear surrounding sirsasana

also. I also for some time felt anxiety in seated forward bends because my

hamstrings were so open I could let my face fall onto my legs and this created

the emotional response of being trapped. Strange yes, uncommon no. Your

teacher is right to tell you that you an control your minds emotions and move

through these emotional responses and let go of them and not let them hold you

back. I applaud the teacher for even bringing up the idea of negative emotions

at all. It is up to you to find a way through this. There is not one way that

I could share with you that could help you alleviate your fear. As always

having the wall behind you for sirsasana is always an option and one you should

use possibly to become more comfortable with being upside down, then some time

down the road try doing the pose in the middle of the room. There is absolutely

nothing wrong with using a prop for some time. It is more important to have the

correct alignment of the back and the arms than it is to just try to get up

there by any means.

Remind yourself that this is a new practice, one that ultimately should have an

element of fun wrapped around it. Give yourself a break, laugh at yourself for

having this fear. if you think about is you have probably not been upside down

since you were a child...that in all probability was some years ago. Of course

it feels psychologically strange to place all your weight on your head and

arms.......also your body might be fearful of falling.......when has falling

ever been fun?

Know that you are not alone with this. Others have experienced it also. I

myself have worked past this and now include sirsasana in my practice---happily

too I might add!

All with come with time,

Keep on having fun,

Dorion

-

anis1361

ashtanga yoga

Wednesday, April 14, 2004 2:09 PM