| |
|
GENKI_WARRIOR's Recent Blog Entries
|
Thursday, June 18, 2009
...not really. i wasn't wearing anything inappropriate. i was wearing tights and a leopard print blouse--something i'd have never dreamed of even wearing as pajamas before. ...and let me tell you something...
--i look good in those tights. i love the confidence i have now. i still have subconscious crap invade my thoughts, but that's ok (i need something to keep me humble lol). i can wear cute clothes and go to the pool with my imperfect body, now; because i'm not so concerned about what others think of it anymore. i love my body--it's strong, healthy, and my vehicle for life (i'm so glad to be finding the guts to live through my body, finally)!
i'm so grateful to be finding the guts to embrace my life.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
i like things organized. my house is a mess, but i know where everything is--because everything has its place (even in a dump). so--of course--upon having still not found any sort of solid outline of what is "beginner," "intermediate," and "advanced" in the physical aspect of yoga, i began forming in my mind an outline of my own. i decided to share it, now that it's finished (unless i continue editing, which wouldn't surprise me at all), because i was pleasantly surprised to see that my goal is to slough off my egotistical, competitive nature.
a side note: it's always bugged me when people tell me yoga isn't competitive in nature. i feel chastised--like i'm committing blasphemy by wanting a challenge. i don't think yoga itself has a nature (it's no entity), but the people who practice it do. ...it brings to my mind "christianity is not judgmental in nature." ...yet people--no matter whether they call their self yogi, christian, or whatever--cannot help but judge. what we practice (eg. yoga) isn't an ideal we aspire to per se, but a tool--a practice--through which we peel off the unnecessary layers of ourselves and cultivate into ourselves the qualities in which we are deficient. i suppose the issue i must deal with is finding out which needs to remove the unnecessary layer: those who would deem it a requirement that we all conform and aspire to an ideal; or i who thinks we perhaps should find our own ideal, and perchance be pleasantly surprised that our ideals are similar.
i might have room to grow afterall in that i don't like being told what i should do by anyone with no more knowledge than myself.
--side note end--
ok the personal, arbitrary, random, pulled out my piriformis levels:
newbie= no prior knowledge of anything "yoga." trying out a class/ checking out a book/ asking friends or others to see what it is about, and whether they might be interested.
beginner= knows some easy-basic poses (eg. forward bend, triangle, downward-facing dog, etc.) and sun salutation. knows yoga is more than "asanas," but may or may not practice other branches consciously.
seasoned beginner= practices several basic poses (eg. crow, wheel, shoulderstand, etc.) as well as proper alignment and breathing.
budding intermediate= continues proper alignment and breathing. adds more difficult poses (pigeon, half-moon, bound triangles, etc.) to practice.
flowered intermediate= continues proper alignment and breathing. perspective, diet, and practice has evolved in some way (may or may not have taken place before this stage). practices many basic-quite difficult poses (splits, dancer, scorpion, etc.) 4+ hours/week.
wilting intermediate= not only practices asanas, but studies yoga or some other practice for cultivating balance in living (may or may not have begun studies before this stage). sloughing off of unnecessary egoisms (some of this probably has already taken place; yet, there is always room to grow).
advanced= cultivating homeostatic self.
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
i've known from the time i moved in that my apartment complex had a pool. i've never used it--until today~! i took my anatomy/physiology lab book, got into my new brown/white zebra stripe tankini and marched right on out there at ten a.m. i studied arteries & veins, eyes, and ears for half an hour. after that, i was warm enough to check out the temperature of the water...
feet first, it felt great! the further down into the water i went, the colder it got, of course; so i paced myself and kicked the water around til i could dunk myself in completely.
ahhhhhhhh~! i swam~! i'm not a very good swimmer, but i can basically get the job done. i went back and forth doing a froggy breaststroke, floated on my back, and kicked water around from the steps. today was the first time i've swam in years. swimming--rather than merely hunkering down in the water self-consciously attempting to cover my flabigularis major. today is a great day.
Monday, June 08, 2009
(1 was on 11.19.08)
well, the fear i had of this thing is gone--i only have to get off my lazy bum and practice! i'm now going through the whole 100 min session with no rests, dripping sweat along the way (i always drip in the half moons and the self thai-lock--& btw--on the dvd, you can see duncan drip some sweat, too ...it's inspiring to see him perspire (heh); it's encouraging to know that he isn't superhuman afterall).
i've decided to work on my handstands separately. i used my kitchen counter the other day to try out some one-legged handstanding, which i think will lay a decent foundation to build up into handstanding with a wall, and finally without a wall.
i did the same sort of building with my headstand:
first, i practiced the kneeling tripod that is on duncan's awakening level dvd. once that got easy-peasy i "climbed" my knees up to my upper arms (kind of a crow prep w/ head on floor). i had to build balance and core strength, and so went from the "crow prep" by tilting my hips up--keeping my knees bent. i practiced each of these poses for a while before moving onto the next. finally, i built the confidence to lift one leg at a time, and am starting to work on both legs simultaneously. ultimately, i haven't used a wall for headstand that much--i fell a lot, though lol!
i'm beginning to believe that the whole of "source power" (not merely everything but the arm balance transitions) truely is attainable for me. i keep reminding myself that at one time, even parts of "awakening level" seemed to me an impossible feat (now i think back on those parts, and wonder why i ever doubted i could ever get where i am).
...heh...i look down on the moutain below, and i'm not so high up afterall....
(continued on sept. 8, 2009)
Thursday, May 28, 2009
...there was actual instruction (eg. what to do with body joints, how to breathe, what good posture is, etc.)!
i've practiced an ashtanga flow by myself at home for almost a year and a half, now. i realized how great it is to practice with people (even though i don't really talk to/ get to know any of them) when i started attending the group practices (i don't know what type we practice lol) at the library. i find it's kind of like getting in some constructive fellowship time, which i think is good for everyone to have as a part of their life in some form or another.
through the process of dropping my inhibitions (ie. 60 lbs. of not only physical, but spiritual encumberance), my notion of bodily and spiritual health being connected has grown into the firm belief that those are deeply rooted into one another. i feel that yoga is a tool well suited to my way of thinking that has allowed me to crack the door to understanding said connection. i've grown into myself, and found that i'm not passionate about many things. cultivating my health into a balanced state has become the most prominent, and i'm really happy now in the feeling that ...well, that yoga may render me capable of finding my way home.
First Page
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Last Page
|
|
Get An Email Alert Each Time GENKI_WARRIOR Posts
|
|
Member Comments About This Blog Post:
on reaching your goal and 
for celebrating the "new you".
