Tuesday 6.30p Intro: Week 1 (Mar 3, 2009)

2 new students for March-April session
Focus on arm poses in Tadasana and leg alignment in standings.

Discussion: Guidelines for Practice
1. 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.” 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.

3. Yoga awareness builds strength but a disturbance to the nerves creates weakness in the body. 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. To straighten the knee, lift both the kneecap and the back thigh up, away from the knee, to make the knee light. Don’t just throw the knees back. This prevents indentations at either the top or bottom knee.
b. Brick between thighs to learn inner thigh lift.

2. Urdhva Hastasana

3. Tadasana (Urdhva Baddhanguliyasana)

4. Tadasana (Paschima Baddha Hasta arms)
a. Added 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.

5. Tadasana (Gomukhasana arms)
a. Ardha Gomukhasana arms: Right arm up, bend the right elbow. 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.
c. Added to bring mobility to the Urdhva arm positions.

6. Traction Supta Urdhva Hastasana
a. Lengthen armpits, side ribs, back chest

7. Utthita Hasta Padasana

8. Parsva Hasta Padasana

9. Virabhadrasana II
a. Swap first prior to Trikonasana to get freedom in hips without the challenge of stiff hamstrings.
b. 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.
c. Move the right buttock bone in, anteriorly, to prevent the right knee from wandering in anteriorly.
d. 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.

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.
b. Move the right buttock bone in, anteriorly, to prevent the right knee from wandering in anteriorly.

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. Repeat quickly several times to free the hip joint and facilitate a more fluid Trikonasana.

12. Utthita Trikonasana

13. Parsvottanasana (hands on wall, concave back)
a. Right foot on brick, toes up the wall to pull right hip back, left hip forward.
b. Second time: Straighten left inner knee. Keeping the left shin back, turn the left calf from inner towards outer to bring the left hip forward.

14. Prasarita Padottanasana (concave back)
a. Omitted for lack of time

15. Forward Extensions
a. Omitted for lack of time

16. Savasana