I was given an 8:30 am schedule but arrived at Saraswathi's shala a bit earlier. Her shala is about 2 to 3 blocks away from the main shala. Already, there were a number of people practicing, about 3 deep and 7 across. There was space for me by the wall and I started with my sun salutations, 5 of each, continued on to the standing poses, then started with the primary series.
This is my first-ever Mysore style class ever. One needs to know the sequence of ashtanga asanas to make the most of it. It was a good thing that I had prepared for this 4 months before by practicing, reading and watching videos. You have to know the suryanamaskara A, the suryanamaskara B, the standing poses, then about half of the primary series ( until Navasana) then the finishing sequence. It was great to be assisted with utthita hasta padangushtasana. I was able to stand bending forward from my waist, 5 breaths, then exhale up, move leg to right, face left 5 breaths, then leg front again, exhale from waist 1 breath, then up. I am having problems with my left knee, I think related to a tightness in my hamstrings and glutes, possibly even my quadriceps, and have a pretty hard time with doing the ardha baddha padmotanasana or standing half lotus. I try to really externally rotate my thighs before getting into this pose. I have yet to catch my foot with my hand across my back ( although I had an assist and finally know how it feels! ) I also had help with both Maricyasana C and D. I still need to do a modified D without the foot in half lotus, but I can now bind with some assistance. I need to remember on the first side to relax my left arm, work my shoulder armpit area to my right knee, twist right back from the waist, slowly internally rotate my left arm, bend the elbow and reach my left hand twisting back to connect with my right hand crossing back from around my waist. I went all the way to navasana at my own pace, and did the finishing sequence. I am still having problems with holding my headstand and had assists also in this.
All in all, it was a great class for me, and hope to make more progress in the next classes.
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