Hi everyone, I have been attempting to practice ashtanga yoga six days a week. but find that after the third day I need a break for a few days as I lack the energy to practice (even though th practice not challenging as it used to be).
I usually practice rather intensely, ie, I will really try to push into a stretch.
My question is, is this how yoga should be done? or should it be a calm and relaxed affair?
It depends on your intention.
What is the goal of your practice?
Are you sure you’re going through your asans appropriatley?
I can’t say I have ever been tired from doing yoga. I’ve been tired from not doing yoga, or have felt fatigued at the beginning of class, but I always find my practice to be energizing.
Are you interested only in Hatha or are you utilizing asanas to progress towards other limbs of yoga?
Do you practice with a competitive mindset? Do you do your poses with pride and admiration in mind?
take it easy and don’t get too hard on yourself when your body demands a break. i practice mysore ashtanga yoga 6 days a week. in the first few months of my journey, i pushed myself way beyond my limits and ignored the needs of my body and found that i consistently pulled muscles thereby forcing myself to take days off of my practice. only when i learned to be content with where i was in my practice did i start to actually deepen it and reap its benefits. since then, i have been injury free and been progressing faster than before.
“do your practice and all is coming.”
The goal of my practice? Hmm, well I want a healthy body and I want to prevent it from deteriorating. Although my main goal is to awaken my kundalini, I had a K experience in the past (not related to yoga) and I want to experience it again and I consider yoga/pranayama to be the only way I might achieve that.
I’m not sure I am doing the asanas appropriately, I practice from Richard Freemans DVD. It used to be very draining, almost a workout but I have since developed strength and it isn’t half as tiring as it used to be.
I don’t really know about other limbs, I am very interested in pranayama it played a large part in my K experience, and I also feel it to be beneficial regardless of the K.
I wouldn’t say I do my poses with pride… I don’t think I have anything in mind really, maybe a little boredom. It’s not something I enjoy doing but since I benefit greatly from it I force myself to do it.
It is ashtanga that I practise and I do find it draining in the beginning, after about 45mins (about half way through) I find myself with more energy but when it comes to the corpse pose at the end I could so easily fall asleep.
If a healthy body is your secondary goal and conscious K experience is the primary, you need to approach Yoga with much more passion. A caveat: passion should not put you in an overdrive; but should make sure that when you are not in Yoga, a part of you will constantly remain hungry for the Yoga time.
But this will happen after you will keep gauging how far Yoga is instilled in your life. Are you quieter? Growing more confident? Positive? Do you economize your wasteful body movements in simple daily chores? And more such criteria of ?enriched daily life? and about facing adversities. Yoga should mean something to you, its value perceivable and change in you evident. Then you will never look back.
K experience is a difficult target that takes long practice. But it does not happen overnight and requires thousands of baby steps.
[QUOTE=childofthetao;65684]The goal of my practice? Hmm, well I want a healthy body and I want to prevent it from deteriorating. Although my main goal is to awaken my kundalini, I had a K experience in the past (not related to yoga) and I want to experience it again and I consider yoga/pranayama to be the only way I might achieve that.
[/QUOTE]
Do you practice Ujjayi breath during your practice?
I find that if I can move through my asanas with one breath per one movement, I don’t fatigue. If I reach a point where my poses are requiring more oxygen, I take childs pose until my breath calms enough to get back to one breath per one move.
My inhales are generally 6 seconds in length and my exhales are 10 to 12. During my vinyasa, I’m usually breathing at a rate of 5 breaths a minute. I never have muscle soreness if I Stick to this breathing rythm. Interestingly, if I lead a class and talk through the poses as I demonstrate them, I am always sore as I’m not getting the same amount of oxygen that my body is accustomed to.
I do try to do ujayi although I don’t think I can do it properly. I remember it from my K experience (it was automatic) but I don’t think what I am doing now is the same, almost but not quite.
I have energy restrictions in my neck which make it hard to do (I think). On certain occasions my inhales and exhales will vibrate my vocal coords.
I will keep at it though.