The Day I Get To Model (again) :D

Spinal Twist [Variation]

As an instructor who blogs about how she teaches yoga for a living, it really irks me seeing yoga demonstration in magazines with lanky scrawny models demonstrating them poses wrong.

So when I bought a copy of the magazine I am supposed to model (self-acclaim, jangan risau) in today just to have rough ideas of what the shoot will be like, I got the shocker of my day. Mengucap panjang aku seeing one of my favorite pose, The Cobra looks like this

in their current issue. Even TMOMD whom I bought the magazine with can say, "Babe, I yang baru dua kali try your class pun tau, this is sooooo not a Cobra, ok?" Mind you, his last class with me was two years ago.

Please people! Cobra is done your crotch (not stomach apatah lagi chest) pressed on the floor and NEVER with your arms straight in the first place (or almost straight like in picture beside). You'll only end up hurting your shoulders if not wrists when you should feel it in your biceps. Gambar kanan tu almost betul lah, akan jadi perfect Cobra if she's got her arms bent more.

Disebabkan geram yang membuak-buak, I took some time and trouble (I'm suppose to be fast asleep by now since my shoot will be conducted early in the morning) rummaging through my magazine rack just to compile visible and annoying yoga faux pas magazines have been serving you.

* * * * * * *

Warrior I:

Apekebende perut Warrior I macam ni?

It should be done with your knee and thigh bent at a perfect 90 degree angle to not hurt your knee and to maximize work in your inner thighs. And arms pointing straight to the sky, please!

Sadly this was taken from a Malay publication I did a shoot with recently, and guess what, they translated every pose in Malay and this particular Warrior was renamed 'Aksi Wira'. He hee, macam Aksi Mat Yoyo je bunyiknya..

Can't wait for how my perut will look like in my issue that is scheduled to be ready in newstands nationwide early next week.

Please refer to picture on the right (from Yoga Journal, August 2004) for what I call 'Warrior I to the perfection'.

Downward Facing Dog:

Apekebende downward dog heels terjongket tiga inci ni (both pictures taken from a four letter word magazine that almost every girl buys)?

Come on lah, if you are in my class, heels macam ni dah kena jentik dah.. I'd be yacking "MK, high heels off!" in your first beginner's class lagi.

Not to mention about the spine melengkuk dalam gambar kat kanan tu.. I mean, you're supposed to show the whole world on how-to-do-it-right, kononnya and if your magazine is one's only source of trying out yoga for the first time, they'd be doing it wrong for as long as they finally come across this blog come to proper class and get hurt at places they shouldn't be hurting when downward dog is supposed to be a very powerful and corrective pose. I'd even say it's the mother of all poses, really!

Now, this IS a downward dog;

(Sorry lah, terpaksa self model sebab susah betul nak cari gambar models demo-ing downward dog with their heels touching floor, let alone finding any picture of them yang able touch their head to the ground.)

Yes, I agree that not everybody can effortlessly touch their heels to the floor in downward dog (tak percaya, cuba try sekarang!) but don't play-play with downward dog, man! If your heels are off the floor and you don't stretch your thighs all the way up + spine all the way in, tendency is; you're putting weight on your upper body. Most likely you'll feel work around your joints (wrists, elbows, knees) instead of feeling the correct stretch over your spine, thighs and calves.

* * * * * * *

Having said that, unless it's a reputable fitness / yoga magazine namely; Women's Health, Yoga Journal (although poses from yogajournal.com can sometimes be 'tak guna' also), Oxygen, Fit, Spa Asia OR it's me doing the demo / I'm the model (HA HAH HAA HAAA HAAA, bunyi macam sialan! Poyo tahap dewa..), try not to depend your life and spine on them. I've had Kavita (Kaur), Arianna and Lina (Teoh) in my class, and serious wehhh.. the taller they seem, they more keras kepala they are.

So till I blog back on Friday with pictures of Stella McCartney pieces that I get to don for the poses, cuba jangan tak cuba buat downward dog sehingga tumit anda mencecah lantai!