Last weekend was our second teacher training session (out of ten). It was intense, both physically and mentally, and I ended up leaving with a very sore back from sitting cross–legged on the floor for several hours straight each day (more on that in a minute). On Saturday we chatted about the first chapter of “Light on Yoga”, which is super dense, as I have mentioned. Then we focused on opening up our shoulder girdles and backs, and ended with backbends. The shoulder girdle is to the arms and hands as the pelvis is to the feet and legs, if that makes sense. So, the shoulder girdle needs to be strong and stable in order to do a shoulder stand, headstand or handstand. We stood at the wall and stretched our arms in ways that seemed unnatural. These stretches were excruciating and almost a week later, both of my arms are still sore. Stretching this way did make an incredible difference, though, in terms of my backbend. We mostly used metal chairs, straps, blocks (and had partners involved as well, one with a strap around the upper back and one with a strap at the low back, which helped pull us into a properly aligned backbend), so the correct feeling of the backbend was achieved. It was so awesome; I LOVE being upside down!

On Sunday we started out with an hour of pure sun salutations, Surya Namaskara. I have to tell you that I LOVE sun salutations! They make me feel so wonderful (until the following day when every single muscle hurts). By the end of the day, after the sun salutations and trying to sit up straight while our discussions were going on, I had shooting pains up my back, specifically at my thoracic spine. I decided to schedule a private session with Gloria, my teacher who is very educated in yoga therapy. She watched me move and stretch and then told me that my psoas (pronounced so-az) muscle – this crazy little muscle that is responsible for many back problems – is super tight on my right side, and my left side is having to compensate for it. So she created a 20-minute yoga practice to release my right psoas and stretch my right ribs, with plenty of breathing of course. Now, before I started on this journey, when my thoracic was sore, I would sit in the bath (maybe with a glass of yummy cabernet), maybe book a massage, but mostly just whine about the pain. It has been so incredibly fascinating to learn about muscles, such as the psoas (do you know where your psoas is?), and how to work on them to alleviate the pain. After I work on this tightness for a few months, I will then work with Gloria to create another routine, which will strengthen the muscles I need for a good, solid chaturanga, which will in turn strengthen my overall practice. To learn from the bottom up like this, creating a super solid foundation, is SO important. I feel so lucky to have this opportunity to learn how to literally fix my body and undo a lot of the damage and tightness that’s been created by bad habits. Yoga is so totally amazing!