home practice

i feel like i've never made any progress in my hamstrings throughout my whole yoga career and i woke up this morning wanting to work on them a little. this week i have put them to extra-special use because for some reason i've been taken over by a sudden love of cycling (it must be my cool fox shorts!).

i read that a reclining hamstring stretch (supta padangustasana) is the best way to get in there without straining the low back at all. it took me a while to find the right spot but finally it was TOTAL bliss. i took each leg up, then out then over. afterwards my legs felt so warm and light and awake. plus this was the easiest possible transition from reclining in bed--just simply lift the leg, you don't even have to open your eyes!

then

happy baby

rocked from happy baby to seated upavistha konasana with legs in the air, fingers around my big toes

landed in a squat

rocked forward to crow

fell out of crow but tried to land gracefully and ended up doing some jumbled stretch that opened my side ribs

ardha matseyendrasana to left

eka pada koundinyasana on left hip

same to right side

childs (first rolling forward onto top of head with fingers interlaced and lifting off back)

then just childs, all tucked away in a cozy little ball. ahhh! felt something a lot like sleepiness

observations--really easy to forget to breathe and go too fast and sort of mechanically. when i noticed i was doing that was after the eka padas. curling into childs brought me back into myself.

amazing how if you just START with one small step it can lead to so much more. the immense good feeling created from just one simple round of supta padangustana pulled me forward into more poses. i've just got to find those doors in--in this case my tight hamstrings were the door that got me to do my own yoga practice today and find a little magical ability to self-heal.