How to stay young?

How to stay young?

Avoid grey and beige in your clothes.

Smile more.

Have a passion.

It’s all true, but not enough.

I don’t know at what age it starts exactly, but surely above 60, people get weaker and stiffer. It’s possible to work against this natural development: Practice yoga, do strength training and work on your flexibility.

First a bit of theory regarding strength training:

• It’s possible to integrate it in daily life. Take the steps and not the elevator is such an example.

• One can integrate strength training in the daily yoga practice. For instance one can lift the body into urdhva dhanurasana (bridge pose) again and again. This makes strong arms.

• Do extra strength training. It doesn’t take long. It’s exhausting. Results can be felt quickly.

The structure of strength training:

There are repetitions and sets.

Do as much repetitions as possible minus one. In sum do 3 sets of the same number of repetitions.

First you have to find out how many reps you’re able to do. If the reps become easy add more. Ten reps could be the goal. Ten reps are also enough for beginners. More is not necessary. Belief me, sometimes 5 reps are more than enough. If 5 reps are not possible, do more sets, till 5 reps are possible.

Source: Overcoming gravity by Steven Law. I read the German edition.

Which muscles are to exercise:

A human being has 650 muscles. 50 alone are in the face. The heart muscle is a most important muscle. Muscles around the lungs allow us to breathe. The tiniest muscle is behind the ears. I saw people who could move the ears. Yes, this is funny. Think of your tongue. When we practice yoga we engage the pelvis floor.

Muscles make 40 to 60 % of the body weight of men.

Muscles make 30 to 40 % of the body weight of women.

These general statements don’t help a lot as we’re individuals, but they can give an orientation.

To simplify everything: The body has a core and limbs (arms and legs), a front side and a back side. We can exercise these body parts.

I’m sure that I haven’t been able to perform some asanas because I lacked strength. Being strong stabilizes the body, it protects us from injuries.

In comparison to cardio training it’s very rewarding as it doesn’t require much time. The strength gurus recommend to take breaks. To train three times a week could be enough. The muscles must recover from the training.

There are static and dynamic exercises.

I think this was enough theory.

I recommend doing a search on muscles and strength training. It’s a very interesting topic.

Being strong makes daily life easier. I also want to exercise my muscles because I want to perform asanas that I’m not able to do. Yet.

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The sun is shining here. I sip my second black coffee. I had a banana for breakfast. I’m more than ready for the day.

My yoga niche

There are so many excellent yoginis on that globe who share their knowledge for free, that I wondered if I can still add something to that huge knowledge available for everybody. I think I can. My back injury a few years back was a cut in my life and in my yoga practice. I had to step back, I had to reflect on what I was doing, I cursed a lot. I was disappointed. It would have been too easy to blame others. Finally I realized that I’m responsible for myself. I love the Ashtanga yoga system, but I also became more open for other styles, too. In the last year I bought a membership at the Sivananda yoga school in Munich. I’ve been there several times. It inspired me and I could make changes in my own practice. What exactly this is will be a topic in posts to come. I know that I have to listen to my body much more than I did. Rules can guide but one must break the rules if they are not useful. I adjust my practice to my needs and not to the rules. I developed a critical mind. Another huge topic of the last years was the method. How can I learn new asanas safely and effectively.

I don’t want to forget that yoga is a life style. What we eat is important. A simple life style fits to a yogini.

My niche:

1. I’m 60 now. A body with 60 is different than a body with 30 or 40, 50 or younger.. To learn new asanas takes more time. To heal from an injury takes longer. To get stronger and more flexible takes more time, too. It is said that older people lose flexibility and strength. This is true. The more important it is to work on strength and flexibility, perhaps even in special sessions. When I return to my practice after a break it’s harder than it used to be a decade ago. I get overstretched much faster. What can we older yoginis do to practice safely will be a topic. Additional strength training is a good advice for everybody, but especially for people above 60.. Yoga with 60 and above is my niche.

What I have learned during my injury can also be important for younger people. What is important for an older person can also be an advantage for a younger person. It’s the future for everybody to get older.

The very first advice is to take care not to have too long breaks. Practicing sun salutations and a few asanas and a short closing sequence is better than nothing. Between doing nothing and a long exhausting yoga practice are many possibilities.

Keep practicing.

Take short breaks. To have a day off during a week is great. The body also needs to relax. My experience is that a break that lasts a week is too long. Then it becomes hard again to practice. Most of the time I overstretch slightly. I want to avoid this. Observe yourself. Get to know yourself. What is best for me needn’t be the best for you. Not every practice must be super exhausting. Sometimes it’s OK to take it easy. Being playful is great.

Soon a new decade will start. I’m so excited.

Only one more week

Only 6 more days and a new decade begins. We have exciting times. I’m sure a lot will change again within the next 10 years. It’s important to have rituals or practices that anchor us.

For me my yoga practice is my lynchpin. It gives me a lot. It calms the mind. It keeps the body strong and flexible. It supports me in staying healthy. It’s a guide through life. A yoga practice betters every day.

There are so many fancy asanas to learn. I balance my ambition with attention towards my body. Sometimes a step back is better than ignoring signs of exhaustion of the body. Every day is different. Sometimes limits seem to be blown away. Sometimes almost nothing seems possible.

To exercise observing what is, is a technique that one can apply, too. It’s easy to judge. It’s a thinking habit that we exercise all the time. What do I like? What do I not like? What is good? What is bad? We know answers almost at once. This is fine. Yet one can also exercise another skill: observing. It broadens the possibility of the mind. It’s sort of flexibility of the mind.

Even our Madonna came to the conclusion that her body needs a break due to an injury. Not to listen to the body could make everything worse. When Madonna uses the word pain on Instagram, I know that she means pain. Hopefully she’ll feel better soon. Those who love to move, miss it a lot, when it’s not possible to move or to work out.

I could practice today. The thoughts: Every day is better with a yoga practice. It gives energy. It’s love that I give myself.

Back to elaborated routines

I love to travel. It’s always inspiring to observe how other people live. In South Africa is summer time, so this trip to this most beautiful country made the winter shorter. I also don’t need the hectic that I experience here before Christmas. Everybody seems to be downtown to shop. Often discounts are offered when you buy even more stuff in another departments. To sum it up: I had very happy days in Cape Town. The sun was shining. The wind was blowing. The people were friendly.

This time I keep practicing, I thought. A few times I practiced, but most days I didn’t. Hotel rooms are often too small. I could have put my mat in the tiny corridor. On the right side would have been the bathroom. I was conscious that this was the entrance, nobody puts off the shoes there. I was not invited to practice. It tells me that it’s important to have a clean place. To take care of the environment and to keep it clean and simple is important.

I’m back since yesterday and I can reestablish my elaborated routines. I get up at a decent hour, that is 6am or 7am and prepare a cup of coffee for myself. I sip my coffee while writing my journal. After a while I feel awake. In the meantime my dear E is up, too and we have breakfast together. Usually I have some fruit and soy yoghurt, 2 or 3 nuts, oat flakes and a tiny spoon crushed flaxseed. I don’t practice at once after breakfast, but as it is a tiny breakfast I feel ready to bend and twist.

It’s not the early morning when I step on my mat, but it’s still before lunch time.

After every break I usually overstretch my hamstrings. Back bending feels nightmarish. I curse. I regret not having practiced more often. I try to take it easy. The breath is important, I tell myself, not the fancy asanas. But I like the fancy asanas. Next time I’ll practice more often I promise myself. Will I?

What counts is NOW. I’m looking forward to my probably exhausting practice. I’ll curse because I got so weak and stiff. I admire all yoginis who keep practicing also when traveling. For me it’s hard.

I know that I’ll be more than happy after having practiced.

Important is to return to the mat, again and again. So, don’t give up. I won’t give up either. Soon a new decade will begin. This is super motivating. :)

Thank you for the likes on Facebook. Thank you for reading. This is motivating to keep writing.

Back bending again

Working on basic stretches improves automatically many other asanas, too.

Every day I work on split poses (forward and sidewards). For me the splits are a basic stretches. When the splits are mastered also back bending asanas improve enormously.

The stretching discomfort and the burning of the muscles when working on getting stronger is part of every practice. If one doesn’t like this at all a yoga practice becomes a burden. Today my tolerance to stand this discomfort was high. This always allows me to stay longer in asanas. I’ve the mental strength to repeat challenging poses. With time we learn how to handle this discomfort that comes with yoga but with other sportive activities, too. Deep breathing is a technique to make it bearable. Observing what’s happening is another tool to handle this discomfort.

With time the asanas become easier and easier. Then a practice is rather exhausting than accompanied with discomfort. I’ve been there. I fight myself back to this level.

I take my time. For me my time is spent better when I work on a few asana than to whip myself through a series. Today my focus was back bending.

Time to prepare lunch.

Wheel every Wednesday

So good to have an online yoga community. Around the globe yoginis practice urdhva dhanurasana on Wednesdays and unite on Instagram under the hashtag #wheeleverywednesday.

Urdhva dhanurasana is the first really deep back banding asana of the Ashtanga yoga series. It comes after the middle part of each series. Right now I focus on the static part of it. To drop back scares me again. I also think that my legs are too far away from my hands in order to drop back safely.. I work on holding this pose longer and longer and I work on walking the hands to the feet. I also love to exercise variations of this asana i.e. to lift one leg up to the sky. Each moment counts.

One can break down any asana into three skills: flexibility, strength and technique. One also needs the faith and self-confidence that something is possible. This develops over time.

1. To hold the pose longer betters the flexibility.

2. To lift up into the pose again and again, perhaps 10 times in a row and three sets develops strength. It’s a good idea to start with less repetitions.

3. Deep breathing is part of a correct technique. The legs should be parallel. Important is to engage the core muscles.

I exercise splits every day. This stretches the hip flexors and allows to get deeper into the pose.

I’m curious what will be possible today?

The formula for progress is a daily practice

It remains a challenge to find time to practice. There are so many distractions, but also duties and other interests. But yoga is my lynchpin. It keeps my mind and body healthy and strong. When the body starts complaining also the other activities become harder or even impossible. That’s only one reason why the yoga practice has priority.

It’s rewarding to practice daily. I realize progress when I practice every day. My new trick to get me on the mat is to start really slowly and easy-going. I’m not like a beamer anymore that is from 0 to 100 kmh within a seconds. I’d compare myself rather with a van. It takes time to start. As soon as I’ve started it’s difficult to stop. To practice alone gives a lot of freedom. The speed, the intensity, the poses it’s all my choice of the day.

When a pose seems difficult on a given day, I practice an easier variation. After that easier variation often the more challenging one is possible. I’m exercising. I work on different poses. It’s not a yoga performance what happens on the mat. I try to find out my limits and I try to stretch those with attention and a loving attitude. Nothing can be forced. Yet it’s necessary to put time and energy and knowledge into the practice.

Today I focused on back bending.

Tomorrow I’ll focus on forward bending asanas.

Every day I do twists and inversions. I think I’ve a balanced practice these days.

Picture: parsva dhanurasana

Ahimsa - self-made yoghurt

A few weeks back I got a comment. The yogini suggested to write also about further aspects about yoga and not only about asana practice. I’d like to give it a try.

My first topic touches indeed two important topics. It’s about food and about plastic. The cup on the left side contains vegan yoghurt without sugar. It doesn’t harm animals, yet the plastic cup is bad for the nature as it’s almost impossible to destroy it. It spoils the sea, insofar it has the potential to kill life in the oceans. One can use this cup only once. On the right side is a glass jar with yoghurt. It’s self-made with yoghurt microbes, but with cow milk. I use this glass jar for decades already. If I don’t break it, I’m sure I can use it for an eternity. There is no waste at all.

The best solution is to make vegan yoghurt. When using yoghurt microbes one has much better yoghurt than the bought ones. It’s a tiny bit more expensive, but one can taste the difference.

Often I’m astonished how easy it is to do something for our nature. In addition it’s also better for us. It’s a win-win situation. We avoid to eat micro plastic and the self-made yoghurt tastes better, in addition we don’t burden animals and nature.

So spent

So spent!

On Saturday was my day off from yoga. The body needs this.

On Sunday we expected friends. In the morning I felt already dizzy and exhausted. I had blisters on my lips, so my feelings were not only phantasy. Something must have exhausted me. Instead of practicing I cleaned our home. This is so much easier than 90 minutes on the mat. Later we went downtown. My Fitbit watch showed over 20.000 steps in the evening.

Yesterday the same. I felt done, tired, incapable to do anything but walking around and sitting anywhere. I walked downtown to better the general low mood and energy. I ate in a vegan restaurant. That was it.

Today I feel heavy, too, but not that low in energy. It is as if I’m recovering, but from what? I will practice today, but I will take it easy.

Not always one can find a reason for such low energy days. I know I’m not lazy. These day one practice is over and I’m looking forward to the next one. My body obviously needed my available energy for whatever, but not for an exhausting yoga practice.

I sit here, sweating. I’m sipping cold water.

My yoga practice made me sensitive for what’s going on in my body. I trust in the self-healing potential of our bodies. We are no machines. Sometimes we’re strong, sometimes weak.

September challenge #levelrebel on Instagram

This asana combines back bending with balancing. One must concentrate, otherwise one falls out of the pose, which is not a big thing. It’s even funny to fall out of this pose. All these balancing asanas don’t allow the mind to wander around. Balancing asanas forces to be in the present. Even breathing helps to balance and also gazing at one point. I forgot that everything becomes more stable when the pelvis floor and the abdomen are engaged.

It was so difficult to do the pose that I first tried an easier version:

Tomorrow I’ll practice primary. I give yoga priority again. It’s so easy to be busy all day long. One must become stubborn, obsessed and also a bit egoistic. Asana practice first. Point.

So many variations of asanas exist

Since a week I’ve a membership of the Sivananda yoga studio here. I love the structure of the classes. In the beginning the students are led through two different pranayama exercises: kapalapati and alternate nostril breathing.

After the sun salutations, which are different to those practiced in Ashtanga yoga, asanas are exercised. They have about 12 basic asanas, yet the teacher usually add variations.

In the picture is a variation of purvottanasana. The fingers of the hands point outwards. This makes the asana easier. In Ashtanga yoga the finger usually point forwards. To lift one leg can be an exhausting experience. Each variation is different. No one is easy.

In addition I joint again a September challenge on Instagram curated by @cyogalife. It’s called #levelrebel. It’s interesting to try new asanas. This deepens the understanding of asanas. One remains explorative.

There is a yoga community outside the Ashtanga world. It’s worth to explore what others do…..

Urdhva Dhanurasana

Yesterday I went to a yoga class again. The teacher led us also through more challenging asanas. When we were in urdhva dhanurasana we were asked to lift up the right leg, then the left leg, then the right arm, then the left arm. I was more than surprised that I could do this. This variation was lost. Now it’s back. This is so awesome.

It was not a piece of cake.

Lift the leg, I thought. There was no alternative to this message. And voilà.

I don’t want to give up my home practice anymore. Yet yesterday I also saw the advantages of yoga classes. I got introduced to variations of asanas that I’ve never practiced so far. To practice in a group is fun and it gives energy.

I bought a membership at the Sivananda yoga studio. It lasts one year. It shall complement my Ashtanga yoga practice at home.

I’ll write about my Sivananda classes more in the next posts.

Wheel every Wednesday

Another Wednesday has come. I took a picture of another wheel (urdhva dhanursanana). Today I took the picture after primary Ashtanga yoga series with all these forward bending asanas. To get from forward bending asanas to back bending asanas rather quickly without much preparation is an extra challenge. But sometimes I take this Wednesday wheel after many back bending asanas. When I compare all these wheels I cannot make out a difference. I should change my yoga clothes…. hahaha…….but brighter colors are better for the pictures.

I call this a plateau. On the surface nothing moves. Yet it requires discipline not to give up. One day it might seem like a miracle a difference can be seen. It might seem as if progress happened from one day to the next but this is not true. All the effort, sometimes over months/years is necessary. Perhaps I’m stronger again and the flexibility got weaker. Who knows……..

I keep wheeling. I love the community on Instagram. Worldwide are yoga practitioners who get into a wheel every Wednesday. This has power. This is amazing.

Discipline

Today and during the next weeks I wanted to write about vinyasa. It’s my weakest part of primary Asthanga yoga series. I think it’s generally neglected. Ashtanga yoga wouldn’t be what it is without the vinyasa. It makes sense to give the transitions some attention.

Instead of an exercise that could help to master also the more difficult vinyasa I realized that most important is discipline.

There is the discipline to practice on a daily basis.

There is also the discipline to do the work that seems hard. Especially when it comes to vinyasa I see a lot of avoiding what is necessary if one wants to progress.

One must develop the discipline to lift up the body even when it’s hard. Perhaps even the discipline is necessary to add an additional practice with the focus vinyasa. Strength is needed, flexibility is needed and technique, no matter what vinyasa are asana we practice. I tend to avoid the strength exercises.

Decades ago no online tutorial were available. This has changed. Thousands of tips and exercises are available these days. But one must practice them.

Getting better at anything comes with discomfort and frustration. Not avoid this requires discipline. To stretch comes with discomfort. to get stronger implies burning muscles. To practice those parts that are difficult come with frustration because we’ll experience our shortcomings. But that’s the way how to improve. One must often go through a valley.

Today I could practice rather early in the morning. I practiced before breakfast. Every practice feels so much better with an empty gut and and an empty stomach. Twists become easier and everything else, too. I even think that I had so much energy today because I practiced with an empty stomach. The breakfast was delicious after two hours on the mat.

The message: Don’t avoid the difficult parts of the practice. Develop the discipline not to avoid the discomfort and frustration which comes with learning something new.

What is vinyasa?

What is vinyasa?

It can be confusing how this word is used. In fact it has two meanings:

1. Vinyasa means transition. We move the body from a body posture to the next. This transition is a vinyasa. There are different vinyasa of different difficulties.

2. Vinyasa means also stage. One can read in the book ‘Yoga Mala’ by P. Jois: ‘The 6th vinyasa is ‘adho mukha svanasana’. When practicing sun salutation adho mukha svanasana (upward facing dog) is the 6th asana. It is held for 5 breaths.

Most of the time we mean transition, when we talk about vinyasa. Vinyasa is not only about jumping forward and backwar. Chakrasana is a vinyasa as well. There are many many other transitions, easy ones and demanding ones.

The breath determines how fast we move from one asana to the next. Inhaling and exhaling is supposed to be equally long. Sometimes a quick movement shall be done when inhaling or exhaling. Sometimes a rather complex movement is supposed to be done. The breaths remain equal. The movements adjust.

Important is to inhale fully and to exhale fully. Take your time.

It’s also important not to stop to early with the movement. This is a common mistake, but understandable. I think it’s better to take 2 extra breaths than to hurry to the next stage.

Breathing superficially and exercising all the vinyasa (stages) sloppily reduce the positive effects of this practice.

An example: After a deep forward bending asanas like supta kurmasana it can be difficult to get into urdhva mukha svanasana. To practice this stage sloppily means also that the effect is reduce. This back bend shall balance the body again. It can be useful to hold this stage a bit longer to allow the body to adjust to this position slowly.

In Ashtanga yoga we have the transitions and we have the asanas that is held for 5 breaths. it used to be 8 breaths, which would make more sense. I even recommend holding the difficult asanas up to one minute.

One breath means inhaling and exhaling. To get into an even rhythm I started counting again: one (inhale) and (exhale), pause, two (inhale) and (exhale, pause, three (inhale) and (exhale)…..

The word in bracket only describes what is done during the counting.

The first vinyasa (vinyasa) that is learned when practicing Ashtanga yoga is to get into an asana with one breath. This can be rather challenging. I’ll write more about this in my next blog post.

Picture:

1. Vinyasa as transition: It’s the movement from pic 1 to pic 2 to pic 3 to pic 4.

2. Vinyasa as stage: You can see part of the sun salutations. The 6th vinyasa is downward facing dog. It is held for 5 breaths.

Take care of your neck

There are a lot of asanas that require to move the head backwards. Setu bandhasana is such an asana. Most back bending asanas imply that the head moves backwards. The neck is a very sensitive part of the body. Our necks are of different length. Some people can move their heads backwards easily, for others it’s difficult.

My question today: Is it always necessary to move the head backwards when coming out of an asana?

Pictures with Krischnamacharya show him in forward bending asanas with the head stretched backwards.

In the meantime I think this is not necessary. With this last movement of the head one creates often pressure in the neck without any reason. A forward bending asana works on other parts of the body, the neck doesn’t play an important role. My focus is the core and not the neck when I get out of an asana.

I think that we shall not do extra movements during a practice that make no sense. I try not to adjust my clothes or my hairdo when I practice. Throwing the head backwards is for me also such a redundant movement that makes no sense. It may look wild, but that’s it. To use the own energy wisely is it instead. I try to eliminate redundant movements, also the tiny ones.

When I practice primary Ashtanga yoga these days, I keep my head, neck and spine in line.

The next movement would require to move the head forward again. The next movement prepares the vinyasa. Legs get crossed close to the chest, the arms are next to the hips. The gaze is forward not upward. If one moves the head backwards when getting out of one of the forward bending asanas it’s an endless nodding with the head.

It might not be wrong, but I prefer to keep the neck in line with the spine these days. It also looks better.

Yoga and traveling

Back bending in Utah, USA

I love traveling and I love practicing yoga. To travel and to practice yoga is often not possible. There are days of moving from one place to the other, that don’t allow to practice. Not every hotel room is as clean as I need it for a practice. Thick carpets don’t invite me either.

Sometimes I’m able t ignore all the obstacles and roll out my mat and practice. To be realistic, often I don’t practice when I’m on the road. I returned home a few weeks a ago, a bit weaker and a bit stiffer, but full of motivation and a lot of stories.

Important for me is that I don’t give up this practice, I return to it again and again. I feared the first practice after this rather long vacation. It was surprisingly good. I sweated, I bent and breathed deeply. I tried not to be too ambitious. Let’s see how the body feels tomorrow. I didn’t like to overstretch.

This rock in Utah, USA motivated me to bend backwards. It will remain a memory of a gorgeous time with my beloved one.

Trikonasana

The standing asanas build the foundation of the Asthanga series. They are practiced every day. . On a sticky mat it doesn’t matter if the legs pull apart from each other or if they move together. The sticky mat prevents the feet from sliding. On the grass it’s crucial to engage the leg muscles and to take care that the feet rather pull to each other than apart from each other. This gives stability to the asana. That’s the goal to be grounded and to stand stable.

It’s possible to engage the leg muscles without any inner direction. The legs and feet can move slightly together or apart from each other. One can feel a huge difference even though nothing might be seen.

Even when learning side split. The legs move together when they are in position.

The inner body work is important.

Correct muscle work helps to perform an asana savely. To engage the muscles also supports stretching.

Practicing on soft grass, in fresh air is a joy. I avoided sitting asanas. I didn’t like to spoil my clothes.

Nothing is needed

Not even a yoga mat is needed to do sun salutations. A green grass and the imagination that it’s possible is enough. The grass was soft and fresh. My heels were green after the tiny practice. I can wash them. If I hadn’t practiced on the grass I would have missed a practice. Ideal conditions seldom exist. But one can make the best out out of any situation. Tomorrow my body is so much better prepared for the asanas than without this tiny practice. Just doing it, is it.

Deepening the understanding of pincha mayurasana

Today I took again a couple of pictures of pincha mayurasana exercises.

1. Picture: the head is lifted

2. Picture: the head is in line with the back

3. Picture: the head is in line with the back and I bend the knees to get closer to the body

No matter what I do, it’s impossible to bring the back parallel to the wall. It’s also possible to get into pincha mayurasana from the above positions, but then one has to swing and this is very difficult. I also think that one has to get controlled into a yoga pose. That’s why it’s a first goal to bring the back parallel to the wall.

My hamstrings are flexible enough. The issues are the shoulders.

To press the feet against the wall might be indeed a good exercise…..