Gray Skies and Burnt Orange Leaves
Sometimes figuring out what to wear is as easy as looking out into nature and seeing her color palette. This past Sunday it was gray skies and burnt orange leaves. This pose however, bound lotus/baddha padmasana isn't as easy to slip into.
About a decade ago I was a dedicated Ashtanga yoga student. I practiced six days a week with my teacher or alone. I never missed a 2 1/2 hour session and took off on moon days, meaning during a full and new moon as this is required if you are an ashtangi. Being a vigorous practice both physically and spiritually it helped me to burn some old and unwanted attachments out of me so I could make my way into a difficult pose like this. Over time I felt my ashtanga yoga practicing phase was over as I felt lighter, content and ready to initiate other changes in my life that wouldn't give me the time to practice like this.
My yoga practice evolved into a slow and strong Hatha based flow with long periods of grounding in meditative postures. This style was and still is well received by myself and students so I've stuck with this method of practicing and teaching.
Last June the days of carrying my snugly 2 1/2 year old on my hip added up to some sacral pain that then created a pinched nerve running down my right leg. This along with some emotional healing I've been working on with my second and root chakras made me focus much more on healing myself. Between several deep tissue massages and visiting a mechanical link specialist twice, who adjusted my bones and more, I also practiced plenty of deep seated hip openers and standing strengthening poses for months. Practicing this way reminded me of my Ashtanga practice because the primary series is lower body focused. GRATEFULLY, the result of my self work is I can sit in an Ashtanga difficult pose like this again and be pain free all day long.
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| Bound lotus pose/baddha padmasana, this pose does require a good amount of shoulder opening. |
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| Yogic seal/yoga mudrasana, booties and earrings www.forever21.com |
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| Yoga toe lock, nail polish www.mineralfusion.com pretty penny |
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| Top and tights www.zara.com, poncho, bought in Ecuador, necklace and beads, NYC street vendor |
