lizziebeth15

Excellent work on Camel pose - you've made a big improvement!

Update on progress so far: Sunday I did 75 minutes of Ashtanga in the morning although it was at 8:30, not 6:30 - I'm not too fussed on the timings for now but they'll be a focus for next month. I walked about 1hr30mins, though I kept forgetting to switch my stopwatch on, so may have been a little more than that. I ate paleo except I had a paneer (cheese) curry for dinner - not too bad really, it's hard for me here because I don't eat meat here and there was no fish on the menu this day so I picked the cheese option. No evening yoga as I was still out and about walking - not sure if this is a valid excuse. Monday (today) No physical yoga today as I (TMI warning) started my period and I don't practice on the first day. I have done some seated meditation and restorative yoga though. I've walked about an hour today, nearly didn't though as it looked like a storm was about to start earlier! Mostly paleo today except 2 roti with a prawn curry. Decided tonight that I'll order a side of veggies in future with a curry. Feeling pretty unmotivated today - at home I have an exercise buddy that I work with and we're always signing up to classes together and going on walks at lunch time, here I'm solo so it's all up to me. I think I've made a good start though .

Thanks for the welcome! Great work on your progress so far - I like how you've assigned points to your goals. So, onto the yoga ... Your crow pose before and afters are actually two different yoga poses though a lot of people get them confused for the same. The 'before' picture is kakasana (crow 'kaka' pose 'asana'), the 'after' picture is bakasana (crane 'baka' pose 'asana). The difference in the poses is the arms - arms bent for crow, arms straight for crane. So you've actually learnt two poses - double points! For both poses the hips should be as high as possible with a slight curve in the back (as you have). A progression from here would be moving into Sirsasana II, a tripod headstand (head 'sirsa' pose 'asana') - where you slowly lower your head, bring your hips in line with your head and raise your legs to the ceiling. It's a bit scary but you'll be able to do it after some practice. For your ustrasana (camel 'ustra' pose 'asana') - it's worth focusing on alignment before reaching for the full extension of the pose. If your hip is behind the knees (as the pic) it strains the sacrum as it causes the lower back to collapse and also prevents a long spine which you'll need to get the full pose. It looks like your feet may be slightly wider than your knees too. Try this - kneel down with your knees (knees hip width apart and feet directly behind) touching a wall, raise up so your hips are directly above your knees - your thighs and front pelvis should be touching the wall. Put your hands on the lower back and focus on relaxing your glutes and tuck your tailbone under, which lengthens the thighs. If needed add a little pressure with your hands to push the hips forward to meet the wall. Then lower your hands down the thighs to reach your ankles, or blocks if you need them. The whole time your pelvis and thighs should stay touching the wall - and this is the posture you want to have once away from the wall. When I bend I picture my whole chest rising and opening up towards the sky, focusing on lifting the lower ribs skywards as much as possible. If you need a workaround with your knee, try bow pose, which is a great back band and chest opener that wouldn't involve kneeling. I don't know if you do already, but it's also good practice to follow a back bend like this with a counter-pose to neutralise the spine, child pose is easy to move into following camel. Phew - sorry for the absolute essay! Hope it's useful to you and your knee heals well

Hey, I'm new but have been reading your posts about your yoga challenge. It's really cool that your focusing on one asana at a time - how good is the feeling when you hold bakasana for the first time! It was one of the first poses in yoga that I saw and thought 'no way' but if you trust yourself it's completely do-able. Sure you'll be transitioning from bakasana into sirasana II in no time. How's your work on ustrasana? Your picture shows that you're already almost there in the pose. If you need any adjustment advice (what I can see from the pic) let me know Lizzie

Hi, I'm brand new to the forums although I've been a long time NF reader. I'm a bit late to the party for this month's challenge but I'd rather start now than wait two weeks. A little background - I'm currently in India on a 7 month 'holiday', in February I'll be completing an intensive Yoga teacher training course in Rishikesh. My usual routine in the UK involves a yoga class 3/4 times a week, daily swimming, and weights. I mainly eat a paleo diet, although I've been gradually moving towards not eating land animals every day. So, here in India it's been really tough to eat paleo - especially my first month as I was volunteering at a school and had rice and veg curry for every meal. It's also extremely hot over here - so exercise is tough, think bikram yoga but worse for the sweat factor. Anyway here's my goals: 1. 75 mins Ashtanga yoga every day except Saturdays - I have been doing this but not daily and not to full potential. My goal is to start practising around 6:30-7:00 am when it's cooler so I don't collapse in a puddle halfway through. 2. 90 mins Hatha/Yin yoga every evening at sunset - I'm currently doing 3/4 times a week but would like daily, so I'll practice before lunch. 3. Eat paleo for the next two weeks - Over here it's a bit harder to find compliant dishes, but not at all impossible. I need to stop making excuses for eating foods that don't make me feel healthy. 4. Walk for at least 1 hour a day - I've already got a pretty cool route that takes me down onto the beach. It's too hot to be doing anything other than a gently stroll in the sun, but anything's better than nothing, right? Wish me luck! Liz x

Hey, I've just joined NF so I hope you don't mind me commenting. Your goals sound really good, I like the money challenge - it's amazing how much we spend on non-essentials. I know a good bedtime yoga routine you can do with little ones if it's something you'd be interested in? I do it with my friends kid all the time, who has behavioural issues, and he loves it. Good luck