Swan Liew Yoga

A solo amble through the jungle, with Max Richter in my ears.



I love throwing weights around.
I don't love running or walking.
I still do it because steady state cardio activities can do wonders for endurance (I'm also less prone to being easily aggravated afterwards).

🎶Sunrise sunrise 🎶

A backstory :
The first time I saw this handstand entry (waaaay back in 2010), I thought, "Cool. Cannonball into the wall."

I kicked up with too much gusto, bounced off the wall, went sideways, and took out an entire row of yogis.
Introducing Newton's Third Law of Motion.

Since then, I've avoided this entry.
I'm too scared to do this in free space as I have no counterbalance (it is a symmetrical pose) - if I fell forward into a backbend, I'm sure I'll break into a million pieces.
And using the wall ... well, I've already mentioned my history with the wall.

But today, during practice, everything felt right.
I felt good; I was plenty warm but not too tired.
Decided to give this pose a go ... and surprised myself.
I then did a few more in a row, to make sure that that first one was not a complete fluke.

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See, I got better at handstands *not* because I kept throwing body parts at the wall.

I've been doing a bunch of other things that were not at all handstand-like.
Worked on core engagement so I can land lightly. Grabbed at the floor with my fingertips so I can use my hands as brakes. Dead hang-ed to open up the lats (bringing that arm into an overhead position requires flexion of the shoulders beyond what is typical functional range).

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Looking back to that first cannonball handstand, I now recognize that I was pushed too far.
We've been led to think that physical performance on the mat is an indicator of an advanced practice.
How many times have you heard a teacher say, "if it's too difficult, try this instead".

The "instead" makes us feel **less**.
So we push. We attempt things our bodies are not ready for because the interpersonal dynamics of a group class setting makes it easy to shut out our intuition, because isn't getting out of our comfort zone one way of growing?

Language matters.
Forget keeping up with the Joneses; move at your own pace.
And if your teacher is pushing you to do something that you are not ready for, find another one who can meet you where you are.

"You're cheating if your feet are not flat on the floor."

Says who, the yoga police? 🙄

With all respect to the sages, yoga postures are literally a bunch of made up poses.

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I have tight hip flexors and quads.

Going up to my tippy toes helps elevate my pelvis and thigh bones. It provides a mechanical advantage for me to get more range of motion to work through spine and shoulders.

Does it change anything in the posterior chain?

Maybe. When heels are elevated, it might be harder to engage hip extensors (glute max, hamstrings).

I see coming up to the ball of my foot as a net gain, because it gives me more range in the front of hip and thigh even though I lose some ability to engage my bum without that heel to floor connection.

Can we please move away from attaching to the idea that poses have to look a certain way and lean towards creating a yoga practice that is accessible to all students?

We've entered this weird time that's post-Christmas and pre-New Year : a sludgy, liminal, gray misted zone, where time slows, minds are still cloudy from last night's drink, and days blend into one another.



2020 was a sh*tty year.
Cut yourself some slack and give yourself permission to sit in pyjamas while half-watching Pixar movies.
Bonus if you have a fluffy friend.



In all seriousness though, I'm exhausted from all the events from this past year ... after all, we only have finite amounts of energy in our tank.



So here's a question : what can you do to support yourself and those around you, given how tired you are? The answer won't be as simple as "take a nap".
The right answer is going to involve some effort, but it should be effort that is properly directed towards your well-being.
There are many and various answers to this important question. Your answer may be different from mine. And we can both be right. But we can also both be wrong.


You'll need to dig around for your own truth.

Reeeeeeeach. T-Rex hates this pose.

23 days into a 6-week lockdown, I have learnt that :
- we have seven sinks (13 faucets) in our 2-bedroom. Why? 🤔
- the foyer is a great spot for handstands if you're missing your spotter.