Foreword
This class is based on the first week of the RIMYI Preliminary Course for Beginners syllabus. These notes highlight the underlying logic, actions, and major themes of the class. It is neither a complete transcript, nor an attempt to duplicate the instructions of the text itself.
Yoga is an ancient practice that was codified 2200 years ago by the great sage Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras. Yoga practice involves the study of consciousness. Its language, originally in Sanskrit, is replete with rich metaphors and simultaneous levels of meaning. Both by design, to make the terms more understandable, and by necessity, because English lacks the diverse vocabulary of these terms, we have used colloquial terms in this class. For example, we have substituted mind for consciousness, a more all-encompassing term used by BKS Iyengar, that includes three aspects of the mind.
For more information on yoga, Iyengar yoga, yoga practice, and Patanjali, please click on yogastlouis.us/faq.php
The teachers of Yoga St. Louis — Kathy Digby, Jean Durel, Tiki Misra, and Bruce Roger — thank you for the opportunity to team teach. Like in a good jazz band, not only are each of us able to solo, but we rejoice in the chance to work together to help each other and our pupils.
Class Goals
Strategy: To purify and stabilize the mind, move from gross to subtle, from periphery to the core, and from movement to non-movement.
Tactic: Progressively build on Virabhadrasana II and Tadasana leg and arm actions to bring a state of silence in Trikonasana and the final Tadasana.
Guidelines for Practice
1. All of us unconsciously violate our vow of non-violence when we practice something difficult or new by holding our breath. Breathe normally. Don’t hold your breath.
2. Practice requires steadfast effort, energy and enthusiasm to still the mind. So, according to BKS Iyengar, we must “Do, redo, adjust, readjust, learn, unlearn and relearn to ‘touch’ perfection.” Sometimes, in the course of our lives, we have to “unlearn” everything we “know” because it is tainted by our biases. Only then may we start over with a fresh perspective. Relearning may create an apparent conflict - a violence within ourselves - when the acute mind says, “Yes!” but the sluggish body objects with “No!” This split between body and mind is but another example of spiritual ignorance, the misapprehension that the body and mind are separate.
3. Our axiom is “by the body, for the mind.” When we start yoga practice, we perceive that the body is but a single, ill defined amorphous part, and the mind scattered in many parts. With skilled practice we learn how to correctly use all the various body parts to bring the mind to a state of “one-pointed” awareness.
4. When stretching, be non-violent: Stretching muscle pain subsides with continued practice. Overstretching causes immediate sharp and shooting pains that worsen if you continue. Other pains to avoid include headaches, nausea, dizziness, cramps (including menstrual), hot flashes, aggravation of previous injuries, etc. It is the student’s duty to inform the teacher if these pains occur. Ask if you are unsure.
Invocation in Swastikasana
1. Tadasana/Samasthiti
a. No detail. The collective mind of the group is too scattered to absorb more than gross action.
2. Virabhadrasana II
a. Take first prior to other poses to get freedom in hips without the challenge of stiff hamstrings.
b. When bending the right knee, don’t allow the knee to wander to the right or left. Keep guiding it straight, like on a train track. The knee is an object of the mind; the train track is a metaphor for maintaining mental focus.
c. The mind is king. It is more difficult to tame the mind than a tiger say the traditional texts. To tame the pose, stabilize the body to stabilize the mind. In the second iteration, turn the right leg out more to bring the right femur more into the socket. Connecting the femur into the socket supports the pelvis and trunk.
d. To create further stability, in the third iteration, starting from the base of the pose, lift the right inner ankle to lift the right inner knee. Lift the right inner knee to lift the right inner thigh. Lift the right inner thigh to lift the pelvis. Support the pelvis to keep the spine erect, as we did in Swastikasana. Keep the spine erect, as it says in the ancient yoga texts, to stabilize the mind.
e. To further refine the support, lift the right pelvic rim up, off of the thigh, to bring more freedom to the hip joint when bending the right knee. Keeping that up, then sit the right buttock down. Not only does this facilitate greater movement in the hip joint, it also makes the mind calmer.
3. Urdhva Hastasana
4. Tadasana/Samasthiti
a. Brick between thighs to learn inner thigh lift.
b. Thighs back to lift the chest, to prevent depression, and to stop lower back pain. The inner mind is a reflection of the outer body, according to BKS Iyengar.
c. The spine receives the action of the limbs. Use the legs to calm the central nervous system.
5. Urdhva Hastasana
a. Brick between thighs to learn to roll the outer thighs in and to lift the inner thighs.
b. When the legs support you, it is easier to lift the arms.
6. Virabhadrasana II
7. Tadasana (Urdhva Baddhanguliyasana)
a. Come off the mat to feel the floor, without mediation. Direct perception is necessary to apportion the weight evenly on the four corners of the feet. Divide each foot into left and right sides and then, like bipartisan legislation, press both sides jointly into the floor.
8. Tadasana (Paschima Baddha Hasta arms)
a. To bring mobility to the Urdhva arm positions.
b. Holding elbows, roll open from the sternum to the frontal shoulders. Roll the shoulders out, away from the sternum.
9. Tadasana (Gomukhasana arms)
a. Ardha Gomukhasana arms: Right arm up, bend the right elbow. Elbow behind the head. Hold the right elbow with the left hand and side bend to the right to stretch the right side ribs.
b. Left arm in Paschima Namaskarasana to complete Gomukhasana arms. For rotator cuff injuries, do not do this side. Instead, concentrate on upper arm lift, as in Ardha Gomukhasana, to lift the collar bone up and externally rotate the upper arm away from the injury site.
10. Virabhadrasana II
a. More openness of arms and groins following prior poses.
11. Tadasana/Samasthiti
a. Brick between thighs to learn inner thigh lift.
b. To straighten the knee, lift both the kneecap and the back thigh up, away from the knee, to make the back knee light. Don’t just throw the knees back. This prevents indentations at either the top or bottom knee.
c. Lift to straighten the knee, not straighten then lift. The latter locks the knee backwards and prevents lift of the leg. Because “the spine receives the action of the limbs,” unless and until the knees lift properly, the pelvis, spine and sternum will collapse, resulting in what Patanjali described as “pain, despair, shakiness, etc.” These ill effects become much more apparent in Trikonasana, where the right leg must bear a disproportionate amount of the weight of the trunk.
d. The practitioner needs to develop a language to define the perception of the knee when well open, such as “vacant”.
e. Yoga is often attributed with many positive benefits but sloppy, inattentive practice can lead to injury. Like the stock market, yoga practice requires skill to realize a benefit. Yoga is skill in action.
12. Urdhva Hastasana
a. Frontal ribs back and open armpits.
10. Utthita Trikonasana
a. Turn the right leg out more to bring the right femur more into the socket. Connecting the femur into the socket supports the pelvis and trunk, as in Virabhadrasana II.
b. Move the right knee on track, to prevent it from wandering in anteriorly, as in Virabhadrasana II.
c. Right foot must press the ball down, toes up, to stretch the back of the leg from the heel up to the buttock bone. Stretch the knee as in Tadasana.
d. Roll open the arms and lift the collar bones to open the chest as in Gomukhasana.
e. Turn and open the chest. Eyes back, head back to bring the chest, the seat of the spiritual heart, forward. This makes the mind silent.
11. Utthita Parsvakonasana
a. Turn the right leg out more to bring the right femur more into the socket. Connecting the femur into the socket supports the pelvis and trunk.
b. Move the right buttock bone in, anteriorly, to prevent the right knee from wandering in anteriorly. Then, from there, turn open the chest.
c. Eyes back, head back to make the mind silent.
12. Tadasana/Samasthiti
a. Eyes back to move them away from the objects of the senses, to make the mind passive, as in meditation. We started with the knee as an object in Virabhadrasana II. Now the senses themselves must recede.
13. Savasana
a. Bring the mind to each and every part of the body to create a vibrant awareness.
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