Asana of the Week: Utkatasana, Part II

I love Utkatasana a.k.a. Chair Pose so dang much, I decided to make it my asana of the week for another week!

Ha.  Actually, I still have so much aversion to Utkatasana that I thought I needed to sit with it a little longer.  (That's a yoga joke, see, because Utkatasana is more commonly known as a chair and you sit in a chair.  See?  Ba-da-da!) 

The Thing fears Utkatasana almost as much as I do.

So last week, I did Utkatasana daily as promised, though the frequency and duration varied from day to day.  And I still absolutely find it to be a challenging pose. Reviewing the pose's mental benefits (see the Utkatasana FYI at the end of my last post), I agree that Utkatasana does build focus and stimulates the mind.  A few things my mind is focusing on:

• Whether or not I can deepen my groin muscles further back and down to get my legs closer to a 90-degree angle
• Checking my foundation to make sure I'm balanced and not about to tip over and fall on my butt
• Wondering if I'm over-arching my back, and trying to engage the core and puff up my kidney area to give my back some support and relief, while still moving the torso towards a vertical position
• Keeping my shoulders down instead of hunched up around my ears
• Bringing my arms closer to my head while also taking them up and back further
• Not to looking down, but straight ahead. 
• Lifting the corners of my mouth. (Well, I should be trying to do this!)
• Surviving.

Another mental benefit of Utkatasana is that it helps develop willpower.  No kidding.  To sit in this pose for longer than five seconds takes super willpower.  Like with any challenge, some days the willpower is easier to muster than others.  I can be a pretty willful person, but not always.  When it comes to something difficult, I think I could always use a little more willpower to face the challenge.  Thus I'm going to keep working with Utkatasana this week.  Perhaps by the end of TWO weeks of Chair, I'll be able to comprehend how the pose offers the final mental benefit: stress reduction!

Asana of the Week: Utkatasana

AND I'm back!

Here we go...

I'm overdue for a post about yoga in the post-Lasik, post-360 days of Adho Mukha Svanasana, but there's no time for that today. But I did want to get back on the yoga-blogging horse, and I've been thinking about giving myself a new little yoga challenge, so voila: Asana of the Week.  Yes, I know, this isn't the most creative idea I've ever come up with, but I think that it is still a GOOD idea. 

Working with a specific pose everyday for a week is a way for me to really get to know that pose.  If it is a pose that inspires a degree of dread in my heart, maybe this will help me become more comfortable with the pose and more patient with myself.  Also, it is a good way for me to think about the anatomy of a pose, to consider my own body's reception of that pose, to learn modifications, and to find out about a pose's benefits as well as its contraindications. To start my asana o' week challenge off, I've selected Utkatasana, commonly known as Chair pose.

Look, I drew a chair!

Oh, Utkatasana....  Utkatasana is indeed a pose that inspires a degree of dread in my heart.  Rumor has it, it inspires dread in the hearts of many.  Of course it does, because it is kind of hard.  Utkatasana requires strength.  Thigh strength, for sure, because that's where we feel the main burn when in the pose.  But it also requires arm strength and perhaps most importantly, core strength.  See, Utkatasana not only is a standing pose, but it is also a bit of backbend.  Therefore, to prevent lower back compression and injury, it is important to keep the core strong and the arms lifting up.

Not drawn to scale, or with accurate proportions, or with proper alignment, really.

Given my strong yoga/runner's thighs, it isn't terribly surprising that the challenging core and arm work are why I hate on Utkatasana a little now and then. On reflection, these are the issues I have with all backbends.  I have a fear of hurting my back, and I don't like feeling any discomfort there.  So I feel like I'm always on this teeter totter in backbends: engage the core, go up and back, but not too far, so engage the core more, tuck the tailbone, but wait, this is a backbend, so go back, but wait, not too far, so....  Plus, I'm a little lazy about poses where I have to hold my arms up alongside my ears for too long.

Oh yeah, and I can't forget the flexibility aspect of Utkatasana.  To reach that golden 90-degree angle, to sit down and back, flexibility in the hips and groins helps.  If I'm feeling a little tight in my hips, like something isn't quite optimum, one or both of them may just pop back into alignment while I'm trying to sit down and back in Utkatasana.  Happens all the time.  And I appreciate the pose for that.

Anyway, Asana of the Week: Utkatasana.  No matter how long my daily yoga practice times are this week, I will make time to do Utkatasana two to three times. Maybe more.  I will hold it for 15 to 30 seconds each time.  My week with it began on Saturday, so I'll do Utkatasana daily until next Saturday, when I'll select a new pose of the week.  And I will do my best to write about my process with Utkatasna once more before the week is up.  I'd love to hear about your challenges, or your enthusiastic embrace, of this pose.  Also, feel free to nominate a pose for future Pose of the Week, though I'm going to be sticking to the basics for now (i.e. poses I don't need 40 minutes of warming up before executing).

Utkatasana or Chair pose FYI* 

• Physical benefits: lengthens the spine; strength-building for feet, ankles, calves, knees, tush, and thighs; chest opening; digestive, circulatory, and reproductive system stimulation.
• Mental benefits: builds focus & willpower; mind stimulation; stress reduction.
• Contraindications: low blood pressure; insomnia; back injury; knee injury (try the gentle variation with knees bent slightly). 
• Counter pose: Follow with Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend).

*Adapted from Hatha Yoga Illustrated, by Martin Kirk, Brooke Boon, & Daniel DiTuro. Human Kinetics, 2006.

The Credits

     And, in the end, the love you take/

     Is equal to the love you make.

     -The End by The Beatles (Lennon/McCartney)

Savasana view from my mat at the cabin

Many, many people have supported me over the last 360 days.  Some of them didn’t even know they were helping me, or what the heck they were helping me with, but I’d like to take this moment and give thanks.

Thank you to all my teachers this year, in particular these regular-Jess teachers: Wendy & Meg at OmTown Yoga and Denise at Seattle Yoga Arts. Also, thanks to these other teachers I’ve had the honor to learn from at some point this year: Michael W., Rainey, Mauricio, Rachel, Grace, Michael S., Ki, Irene, Mike D., Marni, and Megan. 

 

Thank you to the yoga studios and health facilities where I’ve been lucky enough to practice yoga during this year: OmTown Yoga, Seattle Yoga Arts, OmCulture Studio, Mieko’s Fitness Lake City, Hatha Yoga Center, Brio Health Spa and Fitness at the Grand Mayan (Riviera Maya), The Samarya Center, and NW Community Yoga.

I did yoga on this pier.

I also want to thank the following people for allowing me the space to practice in their homes, yards, or on their hotel bill(!) this year: Dad and Marianne (by my count, you’ve provided 4 spaces for me to practice yoga this year), Mom and Tim, Grandma, Jeremy and Marni, Jay and Jane, Kevin, Jamie, and Lizzy.  Also, I thank your pets for their patience. And I can’t forget to thank the George W. Bush International Airport in Houston.  Good times.

 My yoga mat view from Jamie's yard in Queens in late November!

Thank you to friends I’ve had the honor of practicing yoga with this year, especially Tia for our awesome jointly-led practice at the lake over my birthday, Tae for our side-by-side lake practice, and Megan for taking me to her teacher’s studio for a class and also teaching me herself at another studio.  

On that same note: Thank you to all my fellow yogis and yoginis in yoga classes, specifically Wendy’s 10 AM Wednesday class and Meg’s 5:30 PM Thursday class at OmTown, and Denise’s 7 PM Monday class at SYA.  

I HAVE to thank the other professionals: Dr. Belcher (my GP), Julie at G2 Sports (my physical therapist), and fantastic LMTs Linda at Hills Resort and Kristin at Dreamclinic. 

So many people have supported me by being flexible with time to allow me to cram in my yoga, or inquiring about how the yoga is going, or reading and commenting on my blog, or just commenting on and “liking” my Facebook link to the yoga blog.  Those people include: Alisha, Alison, April O., April V., Becca, Ben, Bob, Bronwyn, Carolyn, Cele, Charity, Chris D., Chris W., Christine, Cindy, Cricket, Dad, Dane, Dax, Don, Erica, Erika, Erin, Geoff, Gloria, Hilary, Holly, Ingrid, Jamie, Jane, Jason, Jay, Jeremy, Jillian, Jim, John B., John M., Julia, Julie, Justin, Kate M., Kate O., Katie, Kevin, Kris, Laura, Linda F., Linda R., Liz D., Liz K., Liz, Marci, Marianne, Marni, Matt, Megan, Michel, Mike K., Miyu, Mom, Nedra, Peggy, Quyen, Rachel, Ryan, Sarah, Shannon, Sonda, Tae, Tia, Tim F., Tim O., Tim R., Tim Y., Vicki, Wendy C., and Whitney.

Thank you, and thanks so many more people who have slipped my memory at this second.  I thought about ALL of you during my practice today.  Thank you for your pats on the back, your nudges, your interest, and just being great.  I could NOT have done it without you.

 Namaste!

Finale

So did doing yoga for 360 straight days transform me forever?

I suppose I am transformed.  But like I said in a recent post, yoga is a process.  As is transformation.  I did not wake up one morning during this journey and say, “Holy crap, I’ve transformed!”  It is a quiet, gradual transformation that—as I’ve come to realize in my year-end reflections—is hard to quantify.  I’ve reached the end of my 360 days of Adho Mukha Svanasana, but there is no end to transformation.  I expect I’ll keep transforming in subtle ways as I take my yoga practice into 2011.

And because I'm an over-achiever, I'm going to go ahead and turn this into a full 365-day journey.  Then, this Thursday, January 6, I will NOT do yoga. In fact, I probably won't do yoga for several days. "Why not?" you may ask. It isn't because I'm sick of yoga. I’m having Lasik surgery to correct my vision. Post-surgery, the doctor told me to avoid up and down movements or going upside down for a couple of days.  Also, no sweating for a week or two. When it comes to vision, a girl’s gotta follow the doctor’s orders. After 30 years of wearing some sort of corrective lenses, I'm really excited about waking up and seeing things clearly in the morning, and never popping a contact lens into my eyes ever again. 

I am also little nervous.  About the surgery, of course, but also about the end of my year of yoga.  Driving to and from Idaho last week, I listened to the audio book of The Golden Compass from Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. Subsequently, when I now think about my impending break from daily yoga practice, I envision it will feel like when the General Oblation Board severs the bond between a child and her daemon in The Golden Compass.  It makes my heart hurt a little to even think about it.  My yoga practice is that important a part of me.

Daemons Pantalaimon and Sophonax are never very far away from their humans, Lyra and Farder Coram

But it will only be a temporary break. While I won't berate myself for not doing yoga every single day, I plan to continue to make it a part of my days.  You can too.  If you’re interested, check out Yoga Journal’s 21-day Yoga Challenge for some structure and support. 

So besides surgery, what’s next for me now that I’ve successfully completed my yoga 360?  I really liked the focus and structure the yoga challenge brought to my life, so I’ve come up with a new challenge—more accurately, challenges—for 2011.  I’ll be blogging about that here.  Follow me on this new adventure, or better yet, join me!

While I will continue to blog here about yoga periodically, I've put together a credits roll for my 360 days of Adho Mukha Svanasana; please check it out here.

Namaste!

• Butterfly metamorphosis image from Maria Merian's Dissertatio de Generatione et Metamorphosibus Insectorum Surinamensium, The Hague, 1726 edition.

• Image of actors Tom Courtenay and Dakota Blue Richards from The Golden Compass, New Line Cinemas, 2007, dir. Chris Weitz.

More year-end reflections: sleep, drink, organization, and mindfulness!

Some more reflections on the questions I asked last January now that my year of yoga has come full circle.  I asked, by doing yoga every day for 360 days, will I:

• Sleep better? Make smarter decisions about what I eat and drink?

On days when I’ve done yoga late, in the 7 to 9 PM window, I think it has helped me get relaxed and sleep ready.  Otherwise, I can’t really say how much it has helped my overall quality/quantity of sleep.  Likewise, I think that I’ve made smarter decisions about what to eat during the day before my yoga practice, but not necessarily afterwards.  Finally, drink. The ~two times I’ve practiced with a hangover this year were not fun. But whether I do yoga or not, I really dislike hangovers and always drink in moderation to avoid them.

Funny or not, this is the quality of my hangover yoga practice. (image registered trademark of YogiBarra)

That said, yoga has served as a great indicator to me of my body’s needs in terms of sleep, food, and drink.  When I get light-headed during the up and downs of sun salutations, that is a great indication that I’m deficient in one of these three necessities, likely hydration.  When my endurance is particularly low, I’m short on rest and/or fuel. And my balance poses REALLY suffer when I’m short on sleep.  So, while the activity of yoga hasn’t changed my patterns of sleeping, eating, and drinking, yoga has made me take notice of where I’m neglecting my body’s needs, and to act accordingly to remedy that situation.

• Be more organized with my time and space? Keep my apartment cleaner so I have room for my yoga mat and to do handstand at the wall? Improve my focus and attention in other parts of my life?

not too shabby...

Why yes, my apartment in general has been more organized to accommodate my daily need for mat space.  And yes, my time has been more organized.  Putting in a physical activity like yoga or running into one’s days is a great organizational block around which to build other activities.  When to get up, when to eat breakfast, when to go running, when to shower, when to make my lunch, and when to head to the office—these things have been informed by my yoga practice.  And in turn, this has helped me focus better in other aspects of my life.  

• Be more mindful of others in my words and actions, even my thoughts? Be kinder to myself, love myself more, forgive myself for not being perfect?

There’s this expression you sometimes hear thrown out in yoga and meditation classes, “turning inward.”  It is true; there is a lot of getting in touch with yourself in yoga, and not always so much getting in touch with the world around you when on the mat.  Additionally, the act of blogging does breed a degree of narcissism.  But I do feel that my time on the mat—particularly when practicing in classes—often does facilitate more awareness of and empathy for the struggles of others, particularly in the physical realm. 

Yup, that's what empathy looks like.

There’s also an innate consideration that typically grows in the yogini the more she practices with others—more patience standing in line to put props back, an eagerness to scoot one’s mat over to make more space, a willingness to partner up with strangers and to spot them in poses in the most helpful way for their particular physical capabilities. I find this mindfulness lingers as I walk out of a yoga class into the “real” world.  Maybe not all day, but for a little while. 

I’ve already written about my mental state and self-esteem after my year of yoga here and here. 

• Levitate????

Aw, a girl can dream!

Namaste!