My frozen shoulder issues seem to be getting better. I'm amazed at how it could be healing so quickly. I can only imagine that yoga has caught the problem before it has actually become a full-blown frozen shoulder, and also that yoga has allowed my body to learn quicker by being more readily agreeable to relaxing into the pain.
My yoga growth seems to never end. Lately Downward Facing Dog and Upward Facing Dog have taken on new meanings. It used to be that I'd get into Downward Facing Dog, and in my mind I'd be thinking, "ok, I'm here... so what?". That was the first stage of my DFD growth. Then, I did more reading and studying of the pose, and realized that I should be pushing into my legs so that my calves were getting stretched. So I worked on pushing into my legs and getting those calves loosened. I interspersed that with stretching my arms and back.
Now, though, I find myself being a lot more fluid in my DFD's. I get into the position, and stretch my ankles, and stretch through my right side, and then my left side... and then it becomes as though I was doing a huge yawn through my entire body. When Rodney Yee says to stay in DFD for 30 seconds or 1 minute in "Moving Toward Balance: Yoga in 8 Weeks with Rodney Yee", I used to get into position and stay there, and it would feel like forever. Now I get into position, but then stretch here, and then there, and then do a huge "yawn" through my spine, and the entire pose is like stroking myself as though I were a dog and master as the same time. I find this transformation in my perception and abilities quite nice.
The same enlightenment has come to me about Upward Facing Dog. There's something in my back that "cracks", when I'm starting to loosen my spine through doing this pose. It's most evident in the Power Yoga with Rodney Yee DvD, where you do a gazilion of them. Once I've reached this loosening stage, then the pose becomes one of stretching and tractioning my spine, and feels so exhiliarating.
I can't miss a day of yoga now. It's etched into my being. The day that I skip my workout, I can feel my body doing virtual flips all day long. "Huh? where.... what.... where's my stretching? Where's my mind grounding? What's up? What's down?" It's discombobulated.
