Alignment of posture in Ashtanga is more important than egoistically grasping after the next pose.

When I was in Singapore, I learned Ashtanga primary series from beginner to led class. Eventually I practiced Ashtanga in Mysore style. I'm not the competitive type. I never look around but just concentrate on own practice.

After relocating to Adelaide, I did self practice at home. The transition from attending classes to self practice was so hard at the beginning. I couldn't get the sense of motivation at all while practicing alone. In addition, I had to adjust myself to cold winter weather. At first, I did only Surya Namaskara A and B. A few months later, I added the standing sequence. Then continued adding asanas from primary series …

At the same time, I started to read books and articles and watch videos related to Ashtanga. It all makes sense to me now because during the class, the instructor sometimes mentions something like activates your thighs, open up your chest …

I also found out that my alignment was incorrect. For instance, my left hamstring is tighter than the right side. I did not pay attention to keep my both leg active to maintain a level hip and straight long back before twisting for the pose of Parivritta Trikonasana. Due to tight left hamstring and hip, I could not complete the pose with correct alignment. Thus I used a block to give me the height to maintain my levelled hip and long straight back. Instantly I could feel the twist on my upper back. My breath was smoother too.

Since then I approach my practice differently by understanding the purpose of the asana before hand, knowing the part of body hinder me for getting into the pose, modify the pose to maintain the correct alignment if necessary.

It's time for a new yoga mat

Time to get a new yoga mat. I'm using Gaiam yoga mat at this moment. Kind of slippery when it's wet. Wonder what other brand of yoga mat is good. 

Adjusting Purvottanasana

What a great explanation on Purvottanasana!

He is right, I tend to put more weight on my middle, ring and small fingers. By distributing evenly on thumb and fingers, I can feel more stretch on my arm and shoulder. I am able to lift my chest even higher up.

I also discover that by applying this to jump back, When lifting myself up, I can feel the lightness of the lift and am able to swing my legs back easily.

Feel the effect of Kurmasana for the first time

I was able to put my knees next to the shoulders during Kurmasana. When I start straightening my both legs, I could really feel the stretch of my hamstrings for the first time. Next target for this asana is to straighten my legs and chin on the ground. I felt much easier to practice on Supta Kurmasana after this.

The beginning …

The first time that I heard about yoga was when Madonna released her ‘Ray of light’ album. My actual practice started when I received a call from True Yoga Singapore one afternoon around 2007. I thought just gave it a try to join yoga class. I made an appointment for the evening class. I still could recall that the first trial class was called Gentle yoga. The class was a combination of simple basic yoga asanas. Since I joined the membership and start practicing, I had tried different classes that they offered such as Hatha yoga, Bikram yoga, Yin yoga, Ashtanga yoga ...

At first, I was fascinated by watching students were jumping back and forth between asanas. I found out that they offered new Ashtanga class for beginner. So I joined the class. My first Ashtanga instructor was called Stanley. He is a certified Ashtanga instructor. At that time, he was the only certified Ashtanga instructor in Singapore. I was lucky to have him as my first Ashtanga instructor.

Before the class started, he taught us the proper alignment for some asanas especially downward and upward facing dog. This is a good start because as a beginner, I know nothing about the correct alignment and have higher risk of getting injured. I have learned a lot from his class. I also join other Ashtanga instructor class. I started from the beginner class, moved on to multi-level led class and then to Mysore class.

In July 2009, I had relocated to Adelaide from Singapore. It was winter at that period of time, and a bit much of adjustment needed for the cold weather. I did not actually practice that much of Ashtanga yoga. It’s hard to warm up my body during winter. Further more, it was my first winter over there. I found that I was still not that warmed up after 5 sets of Surya Namaskarah A and B. My hands and feet were still cold. As a result, I was harder to do asana such as Marichyasana D… However, it was not an excuse. Instead of stop practicing yoga, I chose to do some Yin yoga to maintain my flexibility. I knew that I would lose my strength and stamina but at least I could still maintain and improve my flexibility. I don’t practice Ashtanga every day. I will rest the next day or practice Yin yoga. Personally, I find that it works for me because the passive one (Yin yoga) can balance out the active one (Ashtanga).

I’ve chosen Ashtanga yoga as one of my practice because it can improve my strength and flexibility. I was always weak physically and unable to do push up more than 5 times. After start practicing Ashtanga, push up is not a problem to me anymore. Furthermore, the breathing technique has brought more awareness to my yoga practice. I prefer Ashtanga because it is a fixed sequence practice. Each time I practice, I know which asana that I need to work on based on the previous practice …