Tuesday, September 22, 2009

The pigeon pose

September 21, 2009 Yoga Session #5
Monday Week 4

We learned a few thinks in Yoga this Monday. It was an amazing way to start the week, I feel so energized and happy. I also started using iyogalife.com this week. Just to learn more about the history of yoga and how to practice the art at home.

We did some stretching as we usually do and then we did sun salutation A, the pigeon, and a mental exercise. This isn't the first time we do a mental exercise; about a week ago we did the crystal cove exercise. The yoga instructor took us to the bottom of the staircase with a light at the top and told us to relax that easy small steps will guide us to the top. It was an awesome exercise and I really enjoyed it. It was relaxing as was the rest of the yoga class.


The Pigeon.

Today we did the Pigeon which was a very great stretch of the hips. Although in iyogalife.com it says to start from downward facing dog we started it from tabletop and moved into it. We did a few long breathes and it felt amazing on my hips. I have been stretching and practicing with my hips a lot because a lot of the poses require it. The warrior pose the crescent moon and others. But the pigeon really opened us up and it was amazing.
The pigeon is a hip opener exercise which stretches the hips and releases tension from the body. We start in table top and take one knee to the wrist and then take that foot and push it toward the opposite wrist, and then we lower our body making sure we keep it straight. It felt really good on the hips and Sharkie said that later we would be ready to do a variation of the pigeon.

Sun salutation A

It wasn't the first time we practice a sun salutation with our breathing. We did sun salutation C but Sun Salutation A was different because there was more jumping and movement involved. It was a great practice regardless of my personal preference for Sun Salutation-Classic. When I got back from the yoga class today I really focused on finding out what were the benefits of the exercises we were doing and Sun Salutation-A opens and strengthens the front and back of the body while emotional balancing my mind and body with my breathing. It is a great reaction to do when you are low in energy or have bad body circulation; it is also one of the most practiced Sun Salutations.

The Sun Salutation A starts in the mountain pose and then we swan dive to tough the floor and hang in the monkey for a breath. Then we step back (later we will be able to jump back) into a high push up and slowly drop our bodies to lay on the mat and then go into upward dog. We slowly push ourselves into downward facing dog and then step back into forward fold and breath up into Namaste.

The Mind Exercise

Today our objective was to follow our thoughts without feeling and or judging. This I thought would be a good exercise for me because I always feel like I have a million thoughts in my head and I can’t think straight sometimes because I'm distracted with another thought. But when I sat down to follow my thoughts I couldn't think one thought besides how do you follow a thought, this is so dumb. But then I realized that's the point it stops you from thinking.

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