Urdhva dhanurasana, July 2021
Being flexible can mean being able to do asana that require a stretched and flexible body.
Another level of flexibility is to switch easily from back bending to forward bending asanas and the other way round.
My back bending asanas feel good these days. Yet usually I practice easier back bending asanas first and then I move to more challenging ones. I start with salabhasana as recommended in the second Ashtanga yoga series. I exercise up to eight back bending asanas till I give my best at urdhva dhanurasana. The repetition of so many back bending asanas allows me to go deeper and deeper. At the end my body is soft and stretched. To bend backward feels good.
Today I practiced primary, because I need core strength. The movements between asanas are lost. It’s mainly jumping forward and jumping backwards. After all these vinyasa and forward bending asanas it was so difficult to practice urdhva dhanurasana. It felt so weakly and awkwarrdly that I consider to add preparation asanas next time.
The picture is taken yesterday without an intensive warm up. I think it’s visible. More is possible.
I’m sure that one can train the body to get fast from forward bending asanas to back bending asanas. It’s possible to switch fast from twists to balancing asanas. My body needs a bit more time to adjust.
These days I’m happy when I can get deeper into asanas. It’s OK to move from easy to challenging asanas. It’s fine to repeat asanas. There are ‘good’ days and ‘stiff’ days. The energy level changes every day. I learn to listen to my body.
Surely the more advanced a yogini is the less volatile is the practice. Nevertheless every day is different for everybody. This makes the yoga practice also interesting. Take care.
For me the playful practices are as precious as the ambitious practices.
Two more days and another yoga week is over.