Thursday 6.30p Intro — Week 15 (June 11, 2009)

Focus: Continue work on Week 7 of syllabus, where we left off in Week 11 (May 14, 2009), with special emphasis on Parsvottanasana legs in Parivrtta Trikonasana and tail bone action in Urdhva Mukha Svanasana. This sequence has a little bit of everything.

Note new poses for this week are in bold face.

Invocation in Swastikasana

1. Upavistha Konasana

2. Parsva Upavistha Konasana
a. Holding the outer right foot with left hand, press down right hand, take the navel back, lift up and turn.

3. Baddha Konasana

4. Tadasana/Samasthiti
a. Don’t shrug the shoulders. Extend the arms away from you.
b. Roll open shoulders and move inner edge of shoulder blades into the back body without throwing the navel or thighs forward. This is an essential action in Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, one of our target poses.

5. Utthita Trikonasana
a. Jumping to Utthita Hasta Padasana, extend the “wings of the shoulder blades away from each other.
b. To move inner edge of shoulder blades into the back body, take the left arm back further than normal. Then with the shoulder blades in, move the left arm back to vertical.

6. Virabhadrasana II
a. Don’t shrug the shoulders. Extend the arms away from you.

7. Vimanasana
a. As in May 14 class, 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. The lift of the left thigh helps lift the pubic plate. Take the buttock flesh down.

8. Parsvottanasana (hands on bricks, head down)
a. Added as prep for Parivrtta Trikonasana
b. Bend right knee and take right hip back to bring left hip forward. Descend tail bone to relieve lower back pain. (CG)
c. Then lift entire right leg up into hip socket to straighten the right knee.
d. Once right knee is straight, without losing stretch of right leg and the left hip coming forward, step the hands down to a lower brick height or the floor. If you hold the breath, try again, maintaining the focus.
e. Head down extends the back of the neck and pulls the hamstrings up with less effort.

9. Parivrtta Trikonasana
a. Back leg action as in Vimanasana.
b. Pin the hips to bring the body to the midline and to facilitate extension of the spine from tail bone to crown of head.

10. Ardha Chandrasana

11. Uttanasana

12. Padangusthasana

13. Virasana (Parvatasana arms)
a. Omitted for time.

14. Adho Mukha Virasana
a. Omitted for time.

15. Adho Mukha Svanasana

16. Brick Setubandha Sarvangasana
a. Vertical brick beneath sacrum teaches “tail bone in” action for Urdhva Mukha Svanasana. Get well on top of shoulders to relieve lower back pain.

17. Dhanurasana (2 X)
a. Extend inner thighs and legs up.
b. Heels push away against arms pulling in to lift chest.

18. Mayurasana palms
a. Teaches to how to keep even wrist pressure in Urdhva Mukha Svanasana.

19. Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (2 X)
a. Walk in the feet so that the arms are vertical and near the waist. Bend the elbows, bring the armpit chest forward, and lift the biceps to lift the side chest.
b. Other classes have worked on this pose since Week 12, so next week we will back up and teach Chair Urdhva Mukha Svanasana A & B, then Urdhva Mukha with Hands on Bricks on the floor.

20. Sirsasana Cycle
a. Ardha Sirsasana
Omitted for time and difficulty. Can only approach when Sarvangasana is firm.
Rope 1 and all Urdhva Hastasana arm variations are good preparations.
Next week: Stool Sirsasana?

Sarvangasana Cycle
a. Salamba Sarvangasana

b. Ekapada Sarvangasana
Foot on chair seat.

c. Halasana
Feet on chair seat.

d. Chair Supta Konasana
Omitted for time. Will start work on it next week.

e. Chair Karnapidasana
Omitted for time. Will start work on it next week.

21. Forward Extensions
Inserted after Sarvangasana so that Sarvangasana became the “neutral gear” after Urdhva Mukha Svanasana. Next week teach Paschimottanasana and Janu Sirsasana in more detail.

Dandasana
Urdhva Hasta Dandasana
Padangusthasana Dandasana
Paschimottanasana
Janu Sirsasana
Paschimottanasana

22. Savasana (5 min)