Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 8 (April 21, 2009)

Focus: Consolidate Week 5 and 6 with emphasis on a sequence that can be practiced at home with few props. Added Vimanasana and Ardha Chandrasana. Use the buddhi and the gunas to observe the effects of your actions, so that you may evaluate, and self correct in asana.

Note new poses for this week are in bold face.

Discussion: Patanjali Yoga Sutra I.3, What is Yoga?
See Thursday 6.30p Intro — Week 6 (April 9, 2009) for the first part of the definition of yoga in PYS I.2. See Monday 4.30p Intro — Week 8 (April 20, 2009) discussion of PYS I.3 that completes the definition of yoga. The result of citta vritti nirodhah is the awareness of the unextinguishable soul as the source of life.

Invocation in Swastikasana

1. Tadasana/Samasthiti

2. 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.

3. Tadasana (Paschima Baddha Hasta arms)
a. Urdhva Namaskarasana inserted after Gomukhasana arms
b. Holding elbows, roll open from the sternum to the frontal shoulders.

4. Tadasana (Urdhva Baddhanguliyasana)

5. Tadasana (Urdhva Namaskarasana )
a. Variation 1: Stretching the side ribs, take the arms up at the side and “clap” hands. Hold a few moments.
b. Variation 2: From Urdhva Hastasana, hook the thumbs to bring the palms together. Triceps firm.
c. Classic pose: Take the arms up in front of you, extend arms upward to make the palms meet.

6. Tadasana (Paschima Namaskarasana)
a. Students who have yet to master Paschima Baddha Hasta arms should continue working on that.

7. Utkatasana
a. Feet together.

8. Utthita Hasta Padasana
a. Open the chest when jumping. It is the seat of the soul.

9. Parsva Hasta Padasana
a. Keep the left side chest open when turning. Bring the intelligence to the surface.

10. Utthita Trikonasana

11. Virabhadrasana II
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. This stops the painful rajasic “argument” inside the hip joint, eliminates the tamasic heaviness in the hip, and results in greater clarity and strength, making the mind sattvic.

12. Utthita Parsvakonasana
a. Connecting the femur into the socket to turn open the pelvis and trunk.
b. Sit the buttock down to take the right hand to the floor.
c. Brick under the right forefoot brings greater sattvic clarity and strength.

13. Vrksasana
a. Press down inner edge of right foot by moving outer left thigh in.
b. Did Utthita Trikonasana, Virabhadrasana II, Utthita Parsvakonasana first to facilitate opening the right groin towards the knee.

14. Vimanasana
a. Variation: Bend the right knee to 90 degrees, as in Virabhadrasana I, but allow the left heel to come up as little as possible. Then, keeping the left foot turned in 60 degrees, extend the calf to take the left heel to the floor.
b. Perform classic pose without lifting the left heel.
c. Those who have difficulty opening the armpits, or have elevated blood pressure, in Urdhva Hastasana should temporarily substitute this variation for the classic Virabhadrasana I.

15. Virabhadrasana I
a. Turning the trunk, do not bend the left knee. Convert tamas to rajas . Using the intelligence, “fill up” the inner back knee to straighten it, then turn the inner calf out. Then strongly, rajasically, lifting the front and back thigh, pull up the entire thigh into the hip socket. Connect it so that, with only sattvic intelligence, you can easily lift the pelvis. This makes a heavy, tamasic, pose lighter, more sattvic. Then the mind becomes more sattvic.
b. Bend the right knee. With Urdhva Hastasana arms, press wrists into imaginary Upper Wall Rope to lift the pubic plate and sternum. This takes the pressure off of the diaphragm to help you breathe and keep the blood pressure normal.
c. Keeping the left heel down, lift the femur into the socket. The lower buttock, at the buttock crease, should be firm, but the sacral muscles and upper buttock must not grip, else the pelvis tilts forward and it is difficult to breathe.
d. Menstrual: Do only for 15 seconds to learn actions.

16. Ardha Chandrasana
a. Keeping the right knee bent, and the right inner foot pressed down, lift up the left leg. Don’t allow the right foot to rajasically “dance” up and down. Make it tamasic, firm and stable.
b. Extend the left leg through the left heel, else it becomes tamasic and heavy.
c. Press the fingers into the floor to straighten the right leg.

17. Parsvottanasana (hands on bricks, head down)
a. Turn back leg in; right hip back; left hip forward

18. Prasarita Padottanasana (hands on bricks, concave back)

19. Padangusthasana
a. Omit for time.

20. Uttanasana (hands on floor, feet apart)
a. Omit for time.

21. Adho Mukha Svanasana
a. Stretch the inner armpit towards the hip. If the legs are stiff, bend the knees to get the Urdhva Hastasana arm and trunk position.

22. Sarvangasana Cycle
a. Wall Salamba Sarvangasana
Holding rope hooks or, if shoulders too stiff, belts tied to the rope hooks, walk the feet up the wall. With the left foot on the wall, straighten the right leg vertically towards the ceiling. Then repeat on the other side.

b. Salamba Sarvangasana
Straighten both legs.
Keep upper arms down to free torso. Remember where you place the blankets relative to the wall. It is critical to place the shoulders on the blanket but have the back of the head on the floor.
Get on top of the shoulders to relieve pressure in the head. If there is throbbing pressure in the head, come down immediately and ask the instructor how to proceed.

c. Menstrual: Supta Baddha Konasana

23. Forward Extensions
a. Adho Mukha Swastikasana (forehead on chair seat)
Head on chair seat, hands up holding the arms of the chair. Relieves pressure in the head from Sarvangasana.

b. Paschimottanasana (forehead on chair seat)
Omit for time.

24. Savasana
a. Blanket beneath head.