5/1/2017 Ashtanga Practice Journal

Is It Normal to Be Asymmetrical?

Am I the only one with the asymmetrical face and body? I noticed my right eye being smaller than the left one few years ago when looking at my own pictures. Then I realized my face wasn't symmetrical. Whenever I tried on sunglasses in stores, only my right cheek touched the frames. I thought those sunglasses were not even, but what were the odds of all sunglasses not even? 

Moving to my body. I thought I was symmetrical as I practice asana on both sides. The truth was I am stronger in one side (right side) and flavor the same side than the other. As a result, one side became stronger than the other resulting in imbalance. Since I haven't been putting effort in improving the weak side, the difference was getting more profound.

I chose to improve my weaker side in various poses today. The poses included Virabhadrasana I and Marichyasana A, B, C and D, in which there were noticeable differences between sides. In Virabhadrasana I, the right side had been more challenging for me. It was hard to square my hips (right hip back and left hip forward in this case). I felt my right hip was stuck and didn't want to move back. I still haven't figured out how to improve Virabhadrasana I on the right side yet. In Marichyasana series, I could bind deeper on the right side than the left. For example, my left hand could easily grab the right wrist on the back in Marichyasana A on the right side. As to the left side, my right hand only reached the left fingers/palm. The pictures below shows the different between sides in Marichyasana A.

Arms in Marichyasana A and B: 
Internal rotate Marichyasana arm and reach forward inside the Marichyasana leg, then bend the elbow and hook the leg. Next is to reach the opposite arm behind to clasp hands.
Arms in Marichyasana C and D:
Reach the arm that is opposite side of the Marichyasana leg from the outside of the Marichyasana leg forward and internally rotate the arm. Then bend the elbow to bind the leg. The following step is to reach the opposite arm behind to clasp hands.

I got another new pose, Bakasana B, today. Instead of jumping forward into a squat before going into Bakasana (Bakasana A), I had to jump into Bakasana from Adho Mukha Svanasana for Bakasana B. This was my first time trying to do it and, of course, I failed. My toes would touch the ground first before I was able to get into Bakasana. I ruled out two reasons why I failed. First was fear. I was afraid of face planting. Second was lack of the arm strength and body control. I still couldn't do hand stand, so I didn't have control to bring the knees to armpits from Downward Facing Dog. This pose would probably take me awhile to figure out. Gotta keep practicing!!!