4/7/2017 Practice Journal

Ashtanga Mysore Practice Journal

​My teacher had me start doing the Garbha Pindasan instead of the modified version (the left picture below) this week. It was way more difficult than I thought. I saw my friends doing it all the time in the room. I knew it wasn't easy, but I didn't expect it to be so hard.

The biggest challenge for me in the Garbha Pindasana was to slide my arms through the legs. When I looked at my legs in the lotus position, I saw no space between the calves and thighs for my arms to go through. I tried to "muscle" one arm through, but it was impossible for two. My teacher showed me a trick, which was to have more skin-to-skin contact in addition to water. (No wonder lots of Ashtangis wear shorts.)
First, roll up the pant to knees (create more skin contact).
Second,  spray lots of water on hands, arms, calves and thighs (reduce friction between skins).
Third, squeeze all fingers together and slide arms through.
Yes, the trick worked!!! But, it wasn't a comfortable position. I felt my elbows were against the ankle bones and I couldn't get my arms through far enough (passing elbows). Well, at least I was sort on in the pose and bruised my thigh, which was part of the learning experience.

I still need to experiment more to figure out the pose. The practice is getting more and more challenging. I am learning everyday. But the more I learn, the less I know. And there is more to learn.