Stretching pose. The one that follows head to knee pose. You set up by grabbing your big toes and inching your butt back...resting on your sits bones. Okay. I got this. I'm not rounding too much. Look how low I am getting! wow...this is..."Chris, pretend I'm grabbing your butt and pulling it back," Monica says, interrupting my feelings of awesomeness within this posture. Okay, my butt is back. "Push it back," she reiterates while pressing on my lower back and helping it to straighten out. "Okay, here, I'm going to grab your butt...okay? I'm going to pull it back for you so you can feel the difference." Um, sure. I'm completely waterlogged, but you're cool. And no one has touched my butt in a while, so hell...grab on! She, quite literally, pulls my butt out and forces me to lift up higher. Extending up with my ribs, flattening out my back and stretching properly. "Do you feel the difference?" Yup. Yes, yes I do.
My hips don't usually tilt that way. My pelvis is a firm believer in "no, I don't want to." I would welcome the discomfort if I could even figure out how to tilt my pelvis. Pelvis is an awesome word. Pel-vis. Okay, yes, so tilting that awesome anatomical structure. I just spent 5 minutes not feeling awkward about massaging my own tookus as I attempted to find the tilt I had in class. It was insane to move my pelvis with my hands, feeling my bones rotating around. Bizarre. Really, there's a lot going on down there. You should make an excuse to feel it out, too.
What I learned? Hamstrings. Has to be my hamstrings. As I stretched up, lengthened my back and tilted forward-BOOM-my hamstrings said, "oh fuck you." So, yes, I think it's my hamstrings, which are so very very tight (still).
Thank you for the very hands-on class, Monica. It was quite memorable, and brought out a few laughs.
Class: Hot 90
Instructor: The very pregnant Monica
Studio: Open Door
Wins: Butt massage; having fun with my pelvis; Key lime pie Larabars! (free at Open Door...best most amazing yes yes moment).
Bingo. Do the folks at your studio have you guys walk your hips back on the mat before you go into the pose? With Bikram, we always walk our hips back "at LEAST 10-15 times" before we start pulling in the posture, and that it what helps you move your butt back and lengthen those hamstrings out.
ReplyDeleteoh yeah. I say it every time. But, for some reason, most folks (the pherocious Chris excluded) all just sit there like I said nothing. SO, usually, if I threaten to grab their butts, they do it! :) I like doing this pose to the side so folks can really see how rounded they are. It's typical for folks to feel straight when they are rounded and therefor feel the stretch (painfully so) in their lower backs rather than hips and upper thighs.
ReplyDeleteThanks Julianna and Chris. I like all this yoga talk
The Very Pregnant Monica
Monica - LMAO! Students are so uncooperative, huh? Looks like you do a great job over there, judging by Chris's pics. Also - you're pregnant?!? Congrats!! :)
ReplyDeleteI love it when I get assistance from the teacher! I know "hands on" is "frowned on" some places, but when a teacher gives me a little help I'm totally happy!
ReplyDeleteThis is such a great post! I always think of you now in final stretching. Love your blog!
ReplyDelete