Getting into Sirsasana, March 2024 What could be a signature asana for me after 30 years of practice? I asked ChatGPT this question today. I liked the answer. For someone (or something) that doesn't know me, the answer is very good. The answer seems to come from someone who knows asanas and knows the classics. I came up with the question while scrolling on Instagram. A yogi commented under the asana scorpion while in handstand that this used to be his signature asana and that he hadn't practiced it for a long time. Wow, I thought, a signature asana, that would be it. That's how marketing wor ..read more

Back bending, Germany, March 2024 You have to push against the wall with your feet. This could help to open up the upper body. Pictures are always inspiring ..read more

Germany, March 2024, Dhanurasana - a variation with a strap I'm always trying out new variations of asanas that I already know. I don't mind being challenged. Reach for the stars. You might just end up on the moon. But if you hadn't reached for the stars, you wouldn't have landed on the moon either. For me, being overchallenged was always better than being underchallenged, even in my jobs in the past. In today's position, I naturally ask myself: will the hand ever reach the foot? I'll see. Life is an experiment. Translated with DeepL.com (free version ..read more

View fullsize View fullsize View fullsize On Saturday I went to the asana coaching workshop. We were four women. One of them wanted to learn the crow. The crow is called kakasana in Sanskrit. In Ashtanga yoga, the crow is the pose you practise in the second series. These two postures are usually mixed up. Kakasana: 1. the elbows are slightly bent. 2. the shin crosses the upper arm before moving forward into the pose. This is how we were taught in the lesson. This is also an important difference to bakasana. 3. the back is straight. 4. you look forward. 5. try to turn your hands inwards. As ..read more

Germany, Feb 2024, Vrschikasana, first attempts Yesterday was the Asana Coaching workshop with the Sivanandas. A lot of yogis filled the lobby pretty quickly. It turned out that most of them wanted to do soft yoga. Only four women, including myself, had signed up for the asana coaching. One woman wanted to learn the headstand, one woman wanted to learn the crow and two women, including me, wanted to learn the scorpion from the headstand. As you can see in the picture: My scorpion already looks different than it did before the workshop. I learned a lot. But I didn't manage to hold the position ..read more

From Sirsasana to vrschikasana: The devil must have been riding me when I signed up for the 2-hour workshop and wished to learn how to go from headstand to scorpion. I worked on my headstand in February. I can hold it for three minutes. I tend to get bored. Unfortunately, after three minutes I fall out of the pose. After three minutes, I don't have the strength to do slow, controlled movements. But pushing myself into scorpion requires even more strength. It's madness. As you can see, the backbend is pretty weak. When I fall out of the pose, I fall from very high up. I'm going to the session ..read more

Plank exercises can easily be incorporated into the sun salutations. It is a good idea to insert strength exercises before or after chaturanga dandasana. Ultimately, chaturanga dandasana is a plank position. The exercises are again taken from Sean Vigue's book '30 days of planks'. In today's post, I present six more plank variations. 1st exercise: Support yourself on your elbows. The body remains straight. Then bend your leg. Then change sides. 2nd exercise: From a classic plank position with outstretched arms, first place the forearm of one arm on the floor, then the other. Then return ..read more

Feb 2024, Ubbaya padangusthasana Yesterday morning I woke up feeling dizzy. I crawled straight back into bed. Somehow I still managed to get up in time for lunch. We went out to eat. Sometimes it's good not to have to do anything yourself. In the evening I managed to go to Sivananda Yoga. I enjoyed being guided through the class there too. It's fun to practise with other yogis. In the Sivananda classes, pranayama is also practiced, which I like. Tomorrow is another power day. I will see. You have to accept what is thrown at you and then make the best of it. Stay present ..read more

Trikonasana variation, Feb 2024 Small changes in an asana also change the stretch. If you pull your arm to the side, you stretch the entire side of your body. Sometimes I bring the arm behind the back to the thigh. The hand rests on the thigh and supports the body to turn up and pull the shoulder back. From trikonasana you can easily bend one knee and then practise utthita parsva konasana. This is a different way to get into the pose than in classical Ashtanga where you first bring the legs into position and then the upper body. If you stretch both arms out to the side, you need to balance be ..read more

Trikonasana, Feb 2024 I read a very interesting book at the weekend. It's called 'The art of practice' and was written by a juggler called Laido Dittmar. Laido Dittmar works for the Cinque du Soleil. I came across him via a Facebook ad. The book is not available on Amazon. This is also not an affiliate link. The best way to learn is from masters who have had difficulties themselves and have overcome them. Laido was born into a circus family, but only started juggling late in life at the age of 17. By then he was already considered far too old. He also had immense difficulties reaching a very ..read more