Getting Back To Yin Yoga Again

After taking a short break due to joint and muscle pain, I got lazy and found it hard to get back to my stretch routine. But now I am back on it again. I was able to do the saddle pose with a higher stack of pillows and the dragon pose with a towel under my knee. I still haven't got any flexible because I wasn't consistent. So I am back to square one. Ha ha! Maybe my future blog posts will have positive results by next year.

Massage your lower leg with some tennis balls

This is another video on how to massage your legs with some tennis balls. Life is getting more interesting. Do you know massages are as good as working out?

 

All Weird At The joints

Is it possible that after long periods of stretching we can feel all weird and loose at the joints? Could it be that the body is not used to the extra feeling of looseness? I think I will take a short break of 1 or 2 days from yin yoga in case I tore anything.

My left knee has stopped feeling pain but this morning my right knee felt weirdly stiff. I'm not sure if the body is trying to adjust itself or is this a bad sign after years of tightness and inflexibility.

Knee Pain Again

My knee started hurting again as I was walking to get my lunch. The pain is on the inner left leg at the knee area. I think I have to give the saddle pose a break for now. I am not sure if it is safe to do the caterpillar pose still. I will keep my knees bent as I sit on the block and reach forward. I might do quart lifts just to strengthen the knee area.

The Saddle Pose with Knee Issues

One of the reasons why I want to be able to achieve the full saddle pose is to cure my digestion problems. In another school of yoga, this is known as vajrasana or something along that line.

Doing the saddle pose is painful. Maybe I am bony because I can feel my ankles and legs digging into the floor. So to solve that problem I do the saddle pose on the bed.

Then comes another problem. My knee screams at me. I have to pile up a stack of pillows and cushions behind me and rest my back on the pile. If I still feel knee pain, I have to raise the stack higher until I feel no more strain or pain. Great! I can now stay in this pose for 5 minutes! I have been practicing this for a few weeks now. No pain during the pose.

But there is another problem after that. Whenever I come out from that pose, my ankles feel stiff and painful. I have to slowly flex my feet to get the blood circulating again.

To go an extra step further, I tip toe around the room for one minute and then walk on my heels with my toes pointing up for another minute. My feet feel so much better after that.

To end it off I then do the tree pose for a minute in each leg. The tree pose has its own set of benefits. It trains your reflexes to balance yourself and break your fall faster. There is a saying that our reflexes tend to slow down as we age so the tree pose helps prevent this. The tree pose is also a good grounding exercise if you are into chakra stuff.

And now back to saddle pose. I always have this fear I might hurt my back. I am not sure if we can break our backs if we bend back too much. My pillows and cushions are there to assure me but still...sometimes the scary thought crosses my mind.

It's also been a few days since I modified my caterpillar pose or forward bend. I didn't practice last night as I was too tired. Not much progress there yet. Will I ever achieve my target? I don't know. What the gurus say about yin yoga, I can only confirm months or years later.

How To Massage Your Back With 2 Tennis Balls

If you have no one to massage your back for you and want to save some money, check out this interesting video on how to massage your back with 2 tennis balls. Interesting but it can be painful too because the tennis balls can be hard. I think it's ok to also use rubber balls too.

 

Tight hamstrings, a short lower back and the caterpillar pose

I have been trying forward bends for as far as I remember. Years with no results....I tend to lean back because my lower back may be tight and as I lean forwards, I get a back strain from arching the back. My hamstrings are also tight. I watched Bernie Clark's video on the caterpillar last weekend and have decided to change some things. Since a few days ago I have been sitting on a block with my knees bent and now I do feel the stretch on the lower back well. It's a better stretch. When I keep my legs straight my knees complain so I have to bend them. So far I have been holding this pose for only 2 minutes. It's already hard to sit relaxed in that pose. I think I will increase the time held once I get more comfortable. For my counter pose, I use the saddle pose. That pose itself comes with some challenges and modifications. I will blog about that later. I need to read another chapter of a novel before knocking off.

Yin yoga

I shall start documenting my progress with yin yoga in this blog from now onwards. My target is to archieve flexiblity and relax and sleep well. I want to be able to fold forwards fully and to do the saddle pose to heal my digestion problems. I also want to do more hip openers. I am not very flexible in many parts and I have the occasional knee pain whenever I stretch in the wrong direction.

I have read Paul Grilley's and Biff Mithoeffer's books. I have also been  watching Bernie Clark's YouTube videos as well. I also bought that book on Gravity Yoga from Lucus Roockwood. According to them you have to stretch for at least 5 minutes for each pose to get there. I am now at a lost on which poses to do with so little time every night. Each book has it's own suggestions too. I have been stretching for the past few months and I rely a lot on props like blocks and belts. So far I still hurt my knees and sometimes the back too.  I haven't become more flexible yet. Maybe I am too ambitious. This blog will record my progress. I regret that I have no original pictures to share at the moment. Perhaps when I am in the mood, I will draw with my tablet some of the poses. 

Yoga For Back Pain Part 3

Here's another video on how to relieve back pain again. The child pose is widely practiced in most yoga and pilates classes. Run through the whole video. There are also other poses too.

 

Yoga For Back Pain Part 2

This is a 39 minute video that focuses on yoga for backpain.  The poses are rather intermediate so don't rush it if you can't do it. Hey, the view in the backdrop is very nice. I wonder where she shot this clip.

 

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