Stumbling blocks

[Guest guest]

Hello all,<br><br>I have been practising Ashtanga

for several months now, and over the last few weeks

it seems as though I am no longer improving my

flexibility and balance - in fact, it sometimes feels as

though I am losing some of what I had previously

gained!<br><br>One thing that has occurred to me is that I spend

more thought/energy on my alignment than I used to

(effects of a few Iyengar classes!) and perhaps it is

simply more difficult to achieve the asanas "correctly"

than whatever I was doing before. <br><br>Anyhow, I

hope that this is temporary ... I still enjoy my

practise, but some days I have to fight my frustration with

my own progress. Has anyone else encountered a spell

like this?

[Guest guest]

PerlGrrl,<br>I think what you are feeling is

completely normal and in fact expected. Astanga yoga very

often times brings to the surface what lays dormant and

facing our frustrations is just one of many skeletons in

our closet. I often feel that doing yoga is a three

steps forward two steps back process. It feels as if we

are sliding back and losing (at times) what we have

already gained but again this is just part of the

process. Very rarely if ever is the path straight up, in

or wherever. I often feel frustration when i am

rather tight on a certain day and egotistically say to

myself that i will never be able to fully do this or

that pose but this is not the real point. We are not

contortionist but practitioners using Astanga Yoga as our

vehical. Take care and enjoy it all the ups and

downs.<br>Namaste

[Guest guest]

Hi all,<br><br> I wanted to relate my

experiences. Imporvements in flexibility for me come in two

ways. One is the improvements in postures I'm well

acquainted with, which are usually small but continuous. The

other is a bursty rapid improvement in a whole range of

related asanas following a relatively quite (sometimes a

ted frustrating period).<br> As for reduced

flexibility... There are some asanas I can achieve only while

being hot and in flow, but not 'cold'. These usually

come around shortly, though.

[Guest guest]

"Just be happy where you are, and breath"

(Raphael da Bora)<br><br>I'm in the middle (or maybe, I

hope, just coming to the end of ... ) a spell of

stagnation or maybe even regression in the outward, physical

"progress" of my practice. This has been brought about

partly by pressure of work but mainly by a severe knee

injury.<br><br>But I don't mind, and I think this is one of the most

important things that a few years of astanga practice has

taught me. It isn't about outward "progress" in looking

amazingly flexible, it's about doing the practice for its

own sake and accepting that you are where you are.

You're not competing with anybody else; you're also not

competing with yourself yesterday.<br><br>Outward physical

progress in the long term might - probably will - come as

a side effect of regular practice. But for me one

of the most important and profound things I've

learned is, as one teacher said to me, "just be happy

where you are, and breath". Which, when you think about

it, is a pretty useful maxim for a lot of situations

in life and not just for avoiding over-straining in

asanas.