Hangwoman

OK, this pose is called hangman. I find it very useful. It stretches the upper body. It’s very demanding to hold it for 5 minutes. In my case I progressed fast. Very soon I could also realize the result. Back bending got easier and I feel less discomfort when practicing urdhva dhanurasana. I haven’t taken pictures for a while. Yet all back bending asanas seem more doable. Important is to hold this pose. Discomfort is felt especially when moving out of the pose.

How to get into the pose:

It’s important that the crown of the head is touching the wall, when lying on the abdomen. Then the fingers shall crawl up the wall as high as possible. The hands shall be a bit more than shoulder wide apart from each other. The head and neck is relaxed and hangs forward. This is a leverage effect, like the deep breathing. Exhaling is longer than inhaling as this is more relaxing.

It’s not so important to do 15 exercises or more to learn certain asanas, one must find the effective ones. This one does miracles for me right now.

This morning I was able to lift up into urdhva dhanurasana after all these forward bending asanas.

Otherwise I was glad that I practiced this morning before breakfast. As always. Not every session is ‘oh so wonderful’. Yet I know why I’m so obsessed with my yoga practice. Just doing it, is it. How intensive it is , is of second priority. Yesterday in the late afternoon we were in a beer garden. I loved the Bavarian atmosphere. It was chilling. I realized that a lot of people don’t care so much about their health. They smoke, drink and obviously eat too much. These are behaviors which are fun, but in the long run the health gets damaged, the body becomes a burden. Life becomes difficult. The earlier one stops unhealthy behavior, the easier it is. There are other joys in that world as drinking, smoking and eating. A yoga practice forces to reflect on the own life style. Finally every behavior gets judged in relationship to the yoga practice. Does a habit support the morning practice or not, this is the question.

Stay healthy. Practice yoga.

Gravity training

Gravity training. Because learning never stops.

Since years I know that if the goal is to stretch the body or parts of the body to hold a position for 5 breaths is not enough. I aimed for 1 minute, perhaps 2 minutes, when I wanted to improve asanas. Yet that’s nothing. The results are so much better if one holds a position for five minutes, sometimes three minutes might be enough. Yet five breaths is too short to progress. This is what I learned in these five gravity classes, created by Lucas.

I found Lucas on Instagram. He is the owner of the website Yogabody. I bought his gravity training course and I haven’t regret it. This post is unpaid ‘advertising’. I’m enthusiastic, because I see results already. I practice with the 5 videos after having watched them.

Every of the 5 classes lasts about 20 minutes. I wouldn't be so determined if I weren’t led through the exercises. Some poses are held for 5 minutes and this can be like an eternity. We’re nearly there. When I hear this sentence I know I can hold the poses for a few more breaths. To listen to the explanations of Lucas helps to stay in the pose. It distracts from the discomfort. Some poses are hard.

Each of the five videos is focused on a specific area of the body: hamstrings, hips, shoulders, back, wrist and twists. Each video has 2 or 3 exercises, which is enough.

I usually do all the videos every second day. It’s so effective. Afterwards I sleep like a bear. There is no dynamic, but stretching discomfort. To stand this discomfort ‘whisky breathing’ is recommended. That is the exhaling is longer than the inhaling. This allows the nervous system to relax. Not only the nervous system relaxes, the entire body and mind is relaxed after the five videos. The exercises show me my limits.

The shoulder exercises helped me already to improve back bending.

The body needs time to stretch. It’s so easy to betray oneself and to stop too early. This is the limit, I think sometimes when the pose becomes difficult, but if one stays there, suddenly the limit moves.

For me the hip exercises are difficult. I stop after three minutes. Five minutes is the goal. I’m sure that I’ll progress fast. Gravity will help me. One must be determined. Then breakthroughs can happen.

The pose on the picture is held fo 3 minutes. It’s an arm position that I know and that is possible for me. To hold it longer is another challenge. I realize how the body is integrating this position when I hold it longer. It gets easier. The understanding deepens. Discomfort fades away. Slowly.

Key word of this blog post seems to be ‘discomfort’. I rather see the progress. I learn about new methods to stretch the body.