4/3/2017 Practice Journal

Ashtanga Mysore Practice 

Today my focus was the KNEE. How to differentiate Straight legs from Hyperextended and Bent knees?

I have hyperextend elbows and knees. In the past 7 years of yoga practice, I thought I have corrected hyperextended knees by micro bending them. In fact, I over corrected them. My so-called micro bent knees, aka straight legs, were actually bent knees. I explored three different knee positions this morning in Trikonasana, Parsvottanasana, Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana and Ardha Baddha Padmottanasana. I found myself tend to over bend the knees in these standing poses. Well, how did I find out? My teacher pointed out to me once and I also saw myself doing that from the photos.

This was what I experimented today. I started the poses with so-called micro bent knees, then I switched to the locked knees position. From there, I transitioned to the space between bent and locked knees (straight legs). By doing so, I knew how much room I had to straighten my knees without locking them. The work I did wasn't easy because 1) it required more muscles engagement including quads and inner legs, and 2) my body was not used to the shape of straight legs. After so many years of practicing Trikonasana, it's amazing that I can still find areas to improve the posture.

In addition, I continued to work on the Kapotasana. My teacher assisted me today. I was pretty sure that she took me to the deeper back bend, deeper than ever. My hands were on the heels instead of toes where I used to touch. Yes, it was deep!!!