Ow, my butt!

Ashtanga seriously busts your butt (rather literally) in a way that nothing else really does. (Except maybe cycling.) My glutes are especially sore today, and I think it’s because I’ve been working on getting more lift in Setu Bandhasana. But do I really need to? John Scott in his book Ashtanga Yoga is rolled all the way back on to his forehead and has his hips way up in the air, but super-yogi Arjuna (ashtangayoga.info) demonstrates a more modest version. Too bad Ardha Matsyendrasana is all the way in the second series; that’s the kind of stretch I need right now. No harm in just doing it, I guess.

Where I’m at

So I’ve been doing full primary since. . . well, basically since I started a regular Ashtanga yoga practice because the local studio only had led classes. I had been practicing “other” forms of yoga for several years prior and had taken a few Ashtanga classes here and there, so I was somewhat prepared for the challenge. Somewhat. Anyway, right now I’m still practicing full primary, only I’m actually pretty competent now, but I’m having this annoying feeling I’m not getting anywhere. I think starting out with full primary in led classes gave me a false sense of accomplishment, and now I have to simply buckle down and refine all of my primary series postures and vinyasas. What hard work! But it’s slow going.

Yet I know the point isn’t to “get” somewhere, so I guess now is a great opportunity to get over the attitude of always getting somewhere! The place I need to get to is on the mat, and I’m doing that, so I guess I’m doing okay.