No new students.
Focus: Remedial shoulder work from AM Intensive, then restorative supine poses.
Invocation in Swastikasana
1. Rope 1
a. Belt upper arms as in Sarvangasana.
2. Rope 1 — Urdhva Mukha Svanasana
a. Knees on bolster to open dorsal spine.
3. Virabhadrasana I
a. Palms together, pressing the wrists into the upper wall rope, ascend the biceps to suck in the ulnar elbow to reduce the elbow carrying angle. It automatically helps lift the pubis.; Then do without the wall ropes.
4. Bolster Setubandha Sarvangasana
a. Belt the femoral heads into the sockets to prevent lower back pain. Slow smooth inhalation and exhalation.
5. Supta Baddha Konasana
a. Bolster beneath knees. Slow smooth inhalation and exhalation.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 7 (December 15, 2009)
Focus: Don’t allow the mind to go with the motion. Practice the poses more quickly relieves mental fatigue by reducing heaviness due to tamas and increasing sattvic clarity.
Two new students making up.
Invocation in Swastikasana
1. Tadasana/Samasthiti
2. Utthita Hasta Padasana
3. Parsva Hasta Padasana
a. Don’t turn the trunk with the leg. Don’t allow the mind to go with the motion.
4. Utthita Trikonasana
a. .i.Utthita Trikonasana:Coordinate the length of the exhalation with the amount of time it takes to take the hand to the ankle. Fear of pain causes you to hold the breath, which makes you stiffer.
b. .i.Utthita Trikonasana:Extend the spine from the tailbone to the crown of the head to bring sattvic clarity and prevent tamasic mental heaviness.
5. Utthita Parsvakonasana
6. Ardha Chandrasana
a. Stabilize the four corners of the right foot, and look at the front of the room so the chest doesn’t fall towards the floor, else the mind goes with the eyes.
b. Keeping the right knee bent, and the right inner foot pressed down, lift up the left leg several times per side, very quickly.
7. Adho Mukha Svanasana
8. Virabhadrasana I
9. Parsvottanasana (hands on bricks, head down)
a. Preparation for Adho Mukha Svanasana.
10. Parivrtta Trikonasana
a. From Vimanasana, turn to the right, take the left hand to the right ankle and then straighten the knee as much as possible without holding the breath.
11. Prasarita Padottanasana (head on brick)
a. Head on brick. Support head higher up and widen the knees apart to relieve outer ankle fatigue.
12. Baddha Hasta Uttanasana
13. Sarvangasana Cycle
a. Salamba Sarvangasana I
b. Ekapada Sarvangasana
Not for new students making up.
c. Halasana
14. Forward Extensions
a. Omitted for emphasis
15. Savasana on blanket support (10 min.)
Two new students making up.
Invocation in Swastikasana
1. Tadasana/Samasthiti
2. Utthita Hasta Padasana
3. Parsva Hasta Padasana
a. Don’t turn the trunk with the leg. Don’t allow the mind to go with the motion.
4. Utthita Trikonasana
a. .i.Utthita Trikonasana:Coordinate the length of the exhalation with the amount of time it takes to take the hand to the ankle. Fear of pain causes you to hold the breath, which makes you stiffer.
b. .i.Utthita Trikonasana:Extend the spine from the tailbone to the crown of the head to bring sattvic clarity and prevent tamasic mental heaviness.
5. Utthita Parsvakonasana
6. Ardha Chandrasana
a. Stabilize the four corners of the right foot, and look at the front of the room so the chest doesn’t fall towards the floor, else the mind goes with the eyes.
b. Keeping the right knee bent, and the right inner foot pressed down, lift up the left leg several times per side, very quickly.
7. Adho Mukha Svanasana
8. Virabhadrasana I
9. Parsvottanasana (hands on bricks, head down)
a. Preparation for Adho Mukha Svanasana.
10. Parivrtta Trikonasana
a. From Vimanasana, turn to the right, take the left hand to the right ankle and then straighten the knee as much as possible without holding the breath.
11. Prasarita Padottanasana (head on brick)
a. Head on brick. Support head higher up and widen the knees apart to relieve outer ankle fatigue.
12. Baddha Hasta Uttanasana
13. Sarvangasana Cycle
a. Salamba Sarvangasana I
b. Ekapada Sarvangasana
Not for new students making up.
c. Halasana
14. Forward Extensions
a. Omitted for emphasis
15. Savasana on blanket support (10 min.)
Tuesday 4.30p MS — Week 7 (December 15, 2009)
No new students
Focus: Backbends to open the chest.
Thinking of Guruji Iyengar’s 91st birthday on December 14, yoga practice is not limited by either class or time (or place) [Patanjali Yoga Sutra II.31]. When handing out certificates this past July at the yoga school of his nephew, Desikachar, one student complained of difficulty doing Sirsasana because of his age and stiff neck. Guruji Iyengar responded:
"Age is your enemy. It restricts you to a certain frame of mind, but the purpose of yoga is to get out of that frame of mind and go beyond. I was practicing non-stop right up to the age of 57... [until] I fell from a scooter and hurt myself so badly that I could not even lift my hands. My students thought my life was over. But I combated it. I told myself that if I stop, I it would mean I have no faith in myself. So I fought. I combated my fear. Today I am 91, but I can do headstand for 30 minutes, and my feet don't oscillate even for 30 seconds. Sadhana (practice) cannot be stopped."
Source: Times of India, July 2009:
In this class, especially, we find ways to adapt the poses so that all students can do them.
Note new poses for this week are in bold face.
Invocation in Swastikasana
1. Salamba Purvottanasana
2. Viparita Dandasana on the backbender
a. With the apex of the curve just below the shoulder blades, support the crown of the head on a bolster, the neck with a neck roll, and the lower legs on bolsters.
3. Utthita Trikonasana
a. With the back to the wall, and holding the wall ropes to prevent fatigue or falling due to lack of balance and stamina
b. Easier to do with an open chest.
4. Viparita Karani
a. Contact of leg with support to prevent clonus.
Focus: Backbends to open the chest.
Thinking of Guruji Iyengar’s 91st birthday on December 14, yoga practice is not limited by either class or time (or place) [Patanjali Yoga Sutra II.31]. When handing out certificates this past July at the yoga school of his nephew, Desikachar, one student complained of difficulty doing Sirsasana because of his age and stiff neck. Guruji Iyengar responded:
"Age is your enemy. It restricts you to a certain frame of mind, but the purpose of yoga is to get out of that frame of mind and go beyond. I was practicing non-stop right up to the age of 57... [until] I fell from a scooter and hurt myself so badly that I could not even lift my hands. My students thought my life was over. But I combated it. I told myself that if I stop, I it would mean I have no faith in myself. So I fought. I combated my fear. Today I am 91, but I can do headstand for 30 minutes, and my feet don't oscillate even for 30 seconds. Sadhana (practice) cannot be stopped."
Source: Times of India, July 2009:
In this class, especially, we find ways to adapt the poses so that all students can do them.
Note new poses for this week are in bold face.
Invocation in Swastikasana
1. Salamba Purvottanasana
2. Viparita Dandasana on the backbender
a. With the apex of the curve just below the shoulder blades, support the crown of the head on a bolster, the neck with a neck roll, and the lower legs on bolsters.
3. Utthita Trikonasana
a. With the back to the wall, and holding the wall ropes to prevent fatigue or falling due to lack of balance and stamina
b. Easier to do with an open chest.
4. Viparita Karani
a. Contact of leg with support to prevent clonus.
Thursday 6.30p Intro — Week 38 (December 10, 2009)
No new students.
Focus: Baddha Konasana and balancing the head to prevent dizziness and sinus pressure.
Discussion: What is Spiritual Yoga Practice?
[See Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 6 (December 8, 2009) for details]
1. Invocation in Swastikasana
a. [See Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 5 (December 1, 2009) and Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 6 (December 8, 2009) for details]
b. Balance the head by balancing the pressure in the ears. Relax the jaw and the skin around the ears to enlarge the ear hole. Head erect with trapezius descending results in less pressure in frontal face.
2. Upavistha Konasana
3. Baddha Konasana
a. With the back to the wall, sit on several blankets folded in half lengthwise high enough that the knees are not above the hip crests and they are supported by the blankets.
b. Narrow brick between the feet to open the groins. Sit higher if necessary.
c. Medium width brick between the feet to open the groins.
4. Rope Wall Uttanasana (5 min.)
a. With the buttocks at the Rope Wall, loop a long nylon belt around the lower rope hooks and the thighs to belt the upper thighs, just below the groins, tightly to the wall.; This provides space in the groins, and, thus, the abdominal organs, and makes the thighs recede posteriorly when extending forward, increasing range of motion. Head on bricks on chair seat. Stand on bricks if 5’-6” or less so belt is across upper thigh, not hip bones or waist.
b. Crown, or even back of head supported to prevent frontal sinus pressure.
c. Lower Wall Rope Uttanasana: variation
5. Sarvangasana Cycle
a. Salamba Sarvangasana
b. Ekapada Sarvangasana
c. Halasana
6. Savasana
Focus: Baddha Konasana and balancing the head to prevent dizziness and sinus pressure.
Discussion: What is Spiritual Yoga Practice?
[See Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 6 (December 8, 2009) for details]
1. Invocation in Swastikasana
a. [See Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 5 (December 1, 2009) and Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 6 (December 8, 2009) for details]
b. Balance the head by balancing the pressure in the ears. Relax the jaw and the skin around the ears to enlarge the ear hole. Head erect with trapezius descending results in less pressure in frontal face.
2. Upavistha Konasana
3. Baddha Konasana
a. With the back to the wall, sit on several blankets folded in half lengthwise high enough that the knees are not above the hip crests and they are supported by the blankets.
b. Narrow brick between the feet to open the groins. Sit higher if necessary.
c. Medium width brick between the feet to open the groins.
4. Rope Wall Uttanasana (5 min.)
a. With the buttocks at the Rope Wall, loop a long nylon belt around the lower rope hooks and the thighs to belt the upper thighs, just below the groins, tightly to the wall.; This provides space in the groins, and, thus, the abdominal organs, and makes the thighs recede posteriorly when extending forward, increasing range of motion. Head on bricks on chair seat. Stand on bricks if 5’-6” or less so belt is across upper thigh, not hip bones or waist.
b. Crown, or even back of head supported to prevent frontal sinus pressure.
c. Lower Wall Rope Uttanasana: variation
5. Sarvangasana Cycle
a. Salamba Sarvangasana
b. Ekapada Sarvangasana
c. Halasana
6. Savasana
Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 6 (December 8, 2009)
Focus: Add Ardha Chandrasana to the November 24 sequence.
Discussion: What is Spiritual Yoga Practice?
“Yoga practice guides the mind towards its source, the core of being, or the soul (atman)” In the West, we tend to perceive the body and mind as completely separate, but Indians hold a different point of view: “For me, the body is but the gross form of the mind,“ observes Guruji Iyengar. If they are separate, “Where does the body end and the mind begin, or where does the mind end and the Self begin?” he challenges.
[B.K.S. Iyengar, “The Yogic Mind,” 7-7-09 Guru Purnima address, Pune]
[B.K.S. Iyengar, Iyengar, His Life and Work, Timeless Books, Porthill, Idaho, 1987]
Just as in “all roads lead to Rome,” although the methods differ and the words may vary, all paths lead towards the soul. This is the great universal concept that all Indians accept implicitly.
Patanjali Yoga Sutras state that we exist both to experience worldly pleasure and to liberate ourselves from our spiritual ignorance. [PYS II.18, II.21] Along with wealth and pleasure, this inborn inclination towards liberation and dharma, or duty, comprise the four aims of life. For an Indian, following his spiritual dharma, which also means “support”, will automatically support his temporal endeavors.
Patanjali’s yoga is an internal practice. For example, the ancient Vedic agni fire ceremony became internalized in the form of early morning pranayama practice. When ghee was fed to the fire, the flame would shoot up, symbolizing a blessing from Agni, the god of fire. The fire was a metaphor for burning the impulses and desires that bind the soul. For Patanjali, this scorching comes primarily from abhyasa and vairagya, practice and detachment, which burn the “seeds” of suffering.
[Mircea Eliade, Yoga — Immortality and Freedom, Princeton, N.J. Princeton University Press, 1969]
1. Invocation in Swastikasana
a. Sit straight, back erect. Lift your spine upward, sides of the navel lifting up. Lift the sternum chest upward. Shoulders roll back. Trapezius down. Descend the triceps to keep the shoulders descending. Keep the head straight, eyes deeper in. Look within. Ear drums going deeper inside. The tongue resting on the lower palate. Remain silent.
b. Quieten the brain cells. Ascend the trunk without disturbing the brain. From the head, pull the whole body upward. Relax the jaw. Relax the tongue. Keep both eyelids receding. Both the inner corners of the eyes going deeper back.
c. From the base, legs and thighs receding. Lift the base of the pubic bone upward. Raise the sides of your navel. Ascend from the base of the spine and do not allow the skull or rib cage to fall onto the abdomen. As if there is a thread pulling on the top of your skull, lift the whole body.
d. Slow soft inhalation and a slow soft exhalation, both sides of the trunk receiving equal energy to lift. As the body gets lifted, lift from the anterior face of the sacrum and spine. Ascend the organic anterior body upward. Maintain that lift.
e. Brain quiet and body firm. The flow of quietness must penetrate from the brain to the body, without the body losing its lift. Remain silent for a while.
2. Tadasana/Samasthiti
3. Urdhva Hastasana
4. Tadasana (Gomukhasana arms)
5. Tadasana (Urdhva Baddhanguliyasana)
6. Tadasana (Paschima Baddha Hasta arms)
7. Utthita Trikonasana
a. Left outer leg and thigh in as preparation for Ardha Chandrasana.
b. The dharma of the legs in the standing poses is to support the pelvis so that the spine may elongate.
8. Virabhadrasana II
a. Left outer leg and thigh in as preparation for Ardha Chandrasana.
9. Utthita Parsvakonasana
a. Left outer leg and thigh in as preparation for Ardha Chandrasana.
10. Ardha Chandrasana
11. Virabhadrasana I
12. Utkatasana
13. Parsvottanasana
14. Prasarita Padottanasana
a. From Parsvottanasana
15. Baddha Hasta Uttanasana
16. Sarvangasana Cycle
a. Salamba Sarvangasana
b. Ekapada Sarvangasana
c. Halasana
17. Forward Extensions
a. Dandasana
b. Padangustha Dandasana
Omitted for time and emphasis.
18. Savasana
Discussion: What is Spiritual Yoga Practice?
“Yoga practice guides the mind towards its source, the core of being, or the soul (atman)” In the West, we tend to perceive the body and mind as completely separate, but Indians hold a different point of view: “For me, the body is but the gross form of the mind,“ observes Guruji Iyengar. If they are separate, “Where does the body end and the mind begin, or where does the mind end and the Self begin?” he challenges.
[B.K.S. Iyengar, “The Yogic Mind,” 7-7-09 Guru Purnima address, Pune]
[B.K.S. Iyengar, Iyengar, His Life and Work, Timeless Books, Porthill, Idaho, 1987]
Just as in “all roads lead to Rome,” although the methods differ and the words may vary, all paths lead towards the soul. This is the great universal concept that all Indians accept implicitly.
Patanjali Yoga Sutras state that we exist both to experience worldly pleasure and to liberate ourselves from our spiritual ignorance. [PYS II.18, II.21] Along with wealth and pleasure, this inborn inclination towards liberation and dharma, or duty, comprise the four aims of life. For an Indian, following his spiritual dharma, which also means “support”, will automatically support his temporal endeavors.
Patanjali’s yoga is an internal practice. For example, the ancient Vedic agni fire ceremony became internalized in the form of early morning pranayama practice. When ghee was fed to the fire, the flame would shoot up, symbolizing a blessing from Agni, the god of fire. The fire was a metaphor for burning the impulses and desires that bind the soul. For Patanjali, this scorching comes primarily from abhyasa and vairagya, practice and detachment, which burn the “seeds” of suffering.
[Mircea Eliade, Yoga — Immortality and Freedom, Princeton, N.J. Princeton University Press, 1969]
1. Invocation in Swastikasana
a. Sit straight, back erect. Lift your spine upward, sides of the navel lifting up. Lift the sternum chest upward. Shoulders roll back. Trapezius down. Descend the triceps to keep the shoulders descending. Keep the head straight, eyes deeper in. Look within. Ear drums going deeper inside. The tongue resting on the lower palate. Remain silent.
b. Quieten the brain cells. Ascend the trunk without disturbing the brain. From the head, pull the whole body upward. Relax the jaw. Relax the tongue. Keep both eyelids receding. Both the inner corners of the eyes going deeper back.
c. From the base, legs and thighs receding. Lift the base of the pubic bone upward. Raise the sides of your navel. Ascend from the base of the spine and do not allow the skull or rib cage to fall onto the abdomen. As if there is a thread pulling on the top of your skull, lift the whole body.
d. Slow soft inhalation and a slow soft exhalation, both sides of the trunk receiving equal energy to lift. As the body gets lifted, lift from the anterior face of the sacrum and spine. Ascend the organic anterior body upward. Maintain that lift.
e. Brain quiet and body firm. The flow of quietness must penetrate from the brain to the body, without the body losing its lift. Remain silent for a while.
2. Tadasana/Samasthiti
3. Urdhva Hastasana
4. Tadasana (Gomukhasana arms)
5. Tadasana (Urdhva Baddhanguliyasana)
6. Tadasana (Paschima Baddha Hasta arms)
7. Utthita Trikonasana
a. Left outer leg and thigh in as preparation for Ardha Chandrasana.
b. The dharma of the legs in the standing poses is to support the pelvis so that the spine may elongate.
8. Virabhadrasana II
a. Left outer leg and thigh in as preparation for Ardha Chandrasana.
9. Utthita Parsvakonasana
a. Left outer leg and thigh in as preparation for Ardha Chandrasana.
10. Ardha Chandrasana
11. Virabhadrasana I
12. Utkatasana
13. Parsvottanasana
14. Prasarita Padottanasana
a. From Parsvottanasana
15. Baddha Hasta Uttanasana
16. Sarvangasana Cycle
a. Salamba Sarvangasana
b. Ekapada Sarvangasana
c. Halasana
17. Forward Extensions
a. Dandasana
b. Padangustha Dandasana
Omitted for time and emphasis.
18. Savasana
Tuesday 4.30p MS — Week 6 (December 8, 2009)
Focus: Chest opening and Virasana.
No new students.
Note new poses for this week are in bold face.
Invocation in Swastikasana
1. Salamba Purvottanasana
2. Chair Bharadvajasana
3. Virasana
a. Folded sticky mat behind knee for knee pain (MF)
b. Shins on two bolsters if unable to plantar flex (LM)
4. Parvatasana in Virasana
5. Parsva Virasana
a. As in Bharadvajasana, take both legs to the left, but do not cross the left ankle on the right instep. Instead, keep the shins parallel. Sit on a brick
b. Looping a belt around the left thigh at the groin, hitch it at the top and pull down to externally rotate the thigh and descend the left hip.
6. Savasana on spinewise blankets
No new students.
Note new poses for this week are in bold face.
Invocation in Swastikasana
1. Salamba Purvottanasana
2. Chair Bharadvajasana
3. Virasana
a. Folded sticky mat behind knee for knee pain (MF)
b. Shins on two bolsters if unable to plantar flex (LM)
4. Parvatasana in Virasana
5. Parsva Virasana
a. As in Bharadvajasana, take both legs to the left, but do not cross the left ankle on the right instep. Instead, keep the shins parallel. Sit on a brick
b. Looping a belt around the left thigh at the groin, hitch it at the top and pull down to externally rotate the thigh and descend the left hip.
6. Savasana on spinewise blankets
Thursday 6.30p Intro — Week 37 (December 3, 2009)
Focus: Opening the armpit chest. Intelligizing the body with the breath. Since there are no new students in class, we can work on more advanced sitting.
Note new poses for this week are in bold face.
Discussion: What is Prana?
Prana is energy, the life force. It is the Seer; that permeates all forms of matter. The breath is the instrument of prana. [See Monday 6.30p Asana I — Week 9 (April 27, 2009) for details.]
1. Invocation in Swastikasana
[See Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 5 (December 1, 2009): Geeta Iyengar — Pune July 9, 2009]
2. Swastikasana
a. With arms belted as in Sarvangasana and the hands on stacked blankets on the thighs.
[See Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 5 (December 1, 2009)]
3. Ujjayi VII
a. “Raise the sides of the trunk. Roll the shoulders backward.... Move the shoulder blades into the body. [The belt and blankets help doing this.]
b. “Having the head down, a slow soft deep complete inhalation, a slow soft deep complete exhalation. Aerate your body with the inhalation and the exhalation.
c. “Having that inner ascendance, that inner lift, a slow soft deep complete inhalation. Observe how it can energize your body. Maintain that lift of the trunk — slow soft exhalation.
“A slow soft inhalation, slow soft exhalation.
d. “Connect your dorsal to the frontal sternum chest — that is the area where you drop. The moment you begin to drop, the sleepy state is inevitable. So, dorsal towards the frontal sternum chest — awaken yourself with a deep inhalation.... Having the inner lift of the chest, slowly exhale....
e. “So slow soft deep complete inhalation. When I say slow, you have to see that you are not harsh with your breath.... Which rhythm helps you to lift your chest upward, lift your trunk upward, activise your dorsal spine?
“A slow soft smooth exhalation, so the body and chest don’t get dropped and you don’t begin to come forward — because there will be a slight bending forward in the exhalation process.
f. “So after the inhalation you have to connect your dorsal to the frontal chest to avoid that stooping or dropping.... Coil the ribs, re-coiling the intercostal muscles, re-coiling process in the [armpit] chest....”
[Geeta Iyengar — Pune July 9, 2009]
4. Savasana with crosswise blanket
[See Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 5 (December 1, 2009)]
5. Ujjayi III in Savasana with crosswise blanket
a. Slow soft inhalation and a slow soft exhalation.
6. Ujjayi III in Savasana on spinewise blankets
[See Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 5 (December 1, 2009)]
7. Savasana on spinewise blankets
[See Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 5 (December 1, 2009)]
Note new poses for this week are in bold face.
Discussion: What is Prana?
Prana is energy, the life force. It is the Seer; that permeates all forms of matter. The breath is the instrument of prana. [See Monday 6.30p Asana I — Week 9 (April 27, 2009) for details.]
1. Invocation in Swastikasana
[See Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 5 (December 1, 2009): Geeta Iyengar — Pune July 9, 2009]
2. Swastikasana
a. With arms belted as in Sarvangasana and the hands on stacked blankets on the thighs.
[See Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 5 (December 1, 2009)]
3. Ujjayi VII
a. “Raise the sides of the trunk. Roll the shoulders backward.... Move the shoulder blades into the body. [The belt and blankets help doing this.]
b. “Having the head down, a slow soft deep complete inhalation, a slow soft deep complete exhalation. Aerate your body with the inhalation and the exhalation.
c. “Having that inner ascendance, that inner lift, a slow soft deep complete inhalation. Observe how it can energize your body. Maintain that lift of the trunk — slow soft exhalation.
“A slow soft inhalation, slow soft exhalation.
d. “Connect your dorsal to the frontal sternum chest — that is the area where you drop. The moment you begin to drop, the sleepy state is inevitable. So, dorsal towards the frontal sternum chest — awaken yourself with a deep inhalation.... Having the inner lift of the chest, slowly exhale....
e. “So slow soft deep complete inhalation. When I say slow, you have to see that you are not harsh with your breath.... Which rhythm helps you to lift your chest upward, lift your trunk upward, activise your dorsal spine?
“A slow soft smooth exhalation, so the body and chest don’t get dropped and you don’t begin to come forward — because there will be a slight bending forward in the exhalation process.
f. “So after the inhalation you have to connect your dorsal to the frontal chest to avoid that stooping or dropping.... Coil the ribs, re-coiling the intercostal muscles, re-coiling process in the [armpit] chest....”
[Geeta Iyengar — Pune July 9, 2009]
4. Savasana with crosswise blanket
[See Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 5 (December 1, 2009)]
5. Ujjayi III in Savasana with crosswise blanket
a. Slow soft inhalation and a slow soft exhalation.
6. Ujjayi III in Savasana on spinewise blankets
[See Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 5 (December 1, 2009)]
7. Savasana on spinewise blankets
[See Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 5 (December 1, 2009)]
Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 5 (December 1, 2009)
Focus: Opening the armpit chest. Intelligizing the body with the breath.
Note new poses for this week are in bold face.
Discussion: What is Prana?
Prana is energy, the life force. It is the Seer that permeates all forms of matter. The breath is the instrument of prana. [See Monday 6.30p Asana I — Week 9 (April 27, 2009) for details.]
1. Invocation in Swastikasana
a. “Sit straight, back erect. Lift your spine upward. Adjust your seat properly. Shoulders rolling back. Trapezius rolling back. Lift the sternum chest upward. Fold the palms in front of your chest and close your eyes completely. Look within. Remain silent.
b. “Quieten the brain cells. Release them from the inner walls of the skull. When the spine is ascending upward, let the brain remain quiet. The ascendance of the trunk should not disturb either the head or the brain. First, keep the head straight, with the sides of the neck well balanced, eyes deeper in. Ear drums going deeper inside. The tongue resting on the lower palate. The head has to be on such a level that it can pull the whole body upward.... Since the brain sends the message to the body, allow the body to get the freedom to ascend that much upward.
c. “But at the same time, the brain must remain quiet. Relax the jaw. Relax the tongue. Keep both eyelids receding. Both the inner corners of the eyes going deeper back.
d. “Keeping your legs receding, thighs receding, lift your base of the trunk in such a manner that the base of the pubic bone comes upward.
e. “Raise the sides of your navel. Very often the chest is likely to fall down, and compress the abdomen — and the sides of the navel [mistakenly] descend... because the head and thoracic rib cage, being heavier, drop onto the abdominal region... Ascend from the base of the spine and do not allow the skull or rib cage to fall.... In other words, the thoracic chest upward, head straight, neck straight.
f. “Like a puppet with string tied to its head, feel as if there is a thread attached to the top of your skull... that lifts the whole body. Maintain that inner ascendance.
g. “A slow soft inhalation and a slow soft exhalation, both sides receiving... equal energy. If the same amount of energy has to reach each side, both sides have to lift equally. Equal activisation and equal awareness.
h “A slow soft inhalation and a slow soft exhalation. The anterior body, from inside, coming further alive. As the body gets lifted, you find that there is something opening from the [anterior face]... of the posterior trunk. Try to give that good length. Feel its broadness, so that the whole organic anterior body ascends upward. Maintain that lift.
i. “Brain quiet and body firm. The flow of quietness must penetrate from the brain to the body. But in that state of quietness, the body should not get dropped.... The physical energy has to remain in a lifted state
j. “Remain silent and quiet, the front brain going towards the back brain. While listening to me, the front brain peeps out slightly [like from behind a curtain] to listen and catch the words. Once you have heard the words, make your frontal brain cells recede towards the back brain, and remain in that state for a while, observing that state. If every other part of the body is really free, how will you enjoy that state? How will you be in that state? How will you merge yourself into that state? Observe that very carefully.”
[Geeta Iyengar — Pune July 9, 2009]
2. Swastikasana
a. Refine the pose to prevent back pain, groin tightness and fatigue when sitting. For all three of these things, first sit on a stack of 3-5 blankets folded in half, which provides both a firmer support, more height, and a deeper base that increases the amount of thigh support.
b. For upper back pain and shoulder problems, keep the armpit chest more open by belting the arms as in Sarvangasana. Then rest the hands on stacked blankets on the thighs, so that the hands are above the elbows, to descend the triceps. Then the backs of the upper arms will feel heavier, the shoulder blades will descend, and the frontal chest will be able to lift more. This prevents the drop of the rib cage onto the abdomen.
c. For the groin tightness, support the knees and weight down the groins with sandbags.
d. “Connect your dorsal to the frontal sternum chest — that is the area where you drop. The moment you begin to drop, the sleepy state is inevitable. So, dorsal towards the frontal sternum chest — awaken yourself with a deep inhalation.... After the inhalation you have to connect your dorsal to the frontal chest to avoid that stooping or dropping.... Coil the ribs, re-coiling the intercostal muscles... in the [armpit] chest”
[Geeta Iyengar — Pune July 9, 2009]
3. Savasana with crosswise blanket
a. To further coil open the armpit chest to make sitting in Swastikasana easier. Recline, resting the shoulder blades on a blanket trifolded lengthwise (like a pranayama pillow) with each end of the blanket protruding from the armpit, over the biceps. Rest the head on a trifolded blanket.
4. Ujjayi III in Savasana with crosswise blanket
a. Slow soft inhalation and a slow soft exhalation.
5. Savasana on spinewise blankets
a. Fold two blankets in half lengthwise and use a third blanket for the head. The blanket support allows the anterior trunk to ascend from the pelvis to the top chest. Bolster weight on thighs.
b. “In pranayama savasana, don’t take any chances.... These tilts have to be avoided.” Although small physical imbalances such as leg length differences and spinal misalignments are freely acknowledged to have a negative effect, they are not commonly acknowledged in pranayama — which depends, all the more so, on the alignment to channel the prana evenly to all parts of the body to ensure “eveness of mind.” This is a more subtle understanding of learning “the direction of the pose.”
[Geeta Iyengar — Pune July 9, 2009]
6. Ujjayi III in Savasana on spinewise blankets
a. “Inhalation has to first rejuvenate the body — so gradually inhale by opening and widening the bottom ribs towards the sides. Then gradually lift the bottom ribs up towards the upper chest, moving the whole frontal region of the chest....
b. “A slow soft deep inhalation, like the fountain water spreading all over, from the center to the sides, as though the skin and muscles are spreading.... I used the word deep so that you...go until the inhalation breath is felt. Somewhere the breath vanishes, and you can’t inhale anymore, but still you can find some more freedom created in the chest region.... The inhalation elevates the center back ribs from the bolster.... Maintaining their lift, gradually exhale, keeping the lifted back ribs — where you have elevated — from [just dropping] “dead” on the bolster.... so that it forms a kind of “mountain” at the front.”
[Geeta Iyengar — Pune July 9, 2009]
7. Baddha Konasana
a. Back to wall, sit on folded blankets high enough to support the outer thighs.
b. Brick between feet.
c. Compare Ujjayi pranayama with and without brick between the feet: The wider the legs, the more the breath goes towards the side ribs.
“Intelligizing the body with the breath means that you have to get the posture, and then introduce the breath to that posture.... If the vessel is open, the prana can enter in. If the vessel itself is [closed], the breath cannot fill in that area. The breathing is the instrument in the pranayama.... It is not “breath control” as it is normally called. It is the prana control inside.... you adjust those inner areas that have to get exposed gradually to that real energy....”
[.i.Geeta Iyengar — Pune July 9, 2009;]
8. Swastikasana
a. Compare Ujjayi pranayama with Baddha Konasana: The breath is more centralized in Swastikasana.
Note new poses for this week are in bold face.
Discussion: What is Prana?
Prana is energy, the life force. It is the Seer that permeates all forms of matter. The breath is the instrument of prana. [See Monday 6.30p Asana I — Week 9 (April 27, 2009) for details.]
1. Invocation in Swastikasana
a. “Sit straight, back erect. Lift your spine upward. Adjust your seat properly. Shoulders rolling back. Trapezius rolling back. Lift the sternum chest upward. Fold the palms in front of your chest and close your eyes completely. Look within. Remain silent.
b. “Quieten the brain cells. Release them from the inner walls of the skull. When the spine is ascending upward, let the brain remain quiet. The ascendance of the trunk should not disturb either the head or the brain. First, keep the head straight, with the sides of the neck well balanced, eyes deeper in. Ear drums going deeper inside. The tongue resting on the lower palate. The head has to be on such a level that it can pull the whole body upward.... Since the brain sends the message to the body, allow the body to get the freedom to ascend that much upward.
c. “But at the same time, the brain must remain quiet. Relax the jaw. Relax the tongue. Keep both eyelids receding. Both the inner corners of the eyes going deeper back.
d. “Keeping your legs receding, thighs receding, lift your base of the trunk in such a manner that the base of the pubic bone comes upward.
e. “Raise the sides of your navel. Very often the chest is likely to fall down, and compress the abdomen — and the sides of the navel [mistakenly] descend... because the head and thoracic rib cage, being heavier, drop onto the abdominal region... Ascend from the base of the spine and do not allow the skull or rib cage to fall.... In other words, the thoracic chest upward, head straight, neck straight.
f. “Like a puppet with string tied to its head, feel as if there is a thread attached to the top of your skull... that lifts the whole body. Maintain that inner ascendance.
g. “A slow soft inhalation and a slow soft exhalation, both sides receiving... equal energy. If the same amount of energy has to reach each side, both sides have to lift equally. Equal activisation and equal awareness.
h “A slow soft inhalation and a slow soft exhalation. The anterior body, from inside, coming further alive. As the body gets lifted, you find that there is something opening from the [anterior face]... of the posterior trunk. Try to give that good length. Feel its broadness, so that the whole organic anterior body ascends upward. Maintain that lift.
i. “Brain quiet and body firm. The flow of quietness must penetrate from the brain to the body. But in that state of quietness, the body should not get dropped.... The physical energy has to remain in a lifted state
j. “Remain silent and quiet, the front brain going towards the back brain. While listening to me, the front brain peeps out slightly [like from behind a curtain] to listen and catch the words. Once you have heard the words, make your frontal brain cells recede towards the back brain, and remain in that state for a while, observing that state. If every other part of the body is really free, how will you enjoy that state? How will you be in that state? How will you merge yourself into that state? Observe that very carefully.”
[Geeta Iyengar — Pune July 9, 2009]
2. Swastikasana
a. Refine the pose to prevent back pain, groin tightness and fatigue when sitting. For all three of these things, first sit on a stack of 3-5 blankets folded in half, which provides both a firmer support, more height, and a deeper base that increases the amount of thigh support.
b. For upper back pain and shoulder problems, keep the armpit chest more open by belting the arms as in Sarvangasana. Then rest the hands on stacked blankets on the thighs, so that the hands are above the elbows, to descend the triceps. Then the backs of the upper arms will feel heavier, the shoulder blades will descend, and the frontal chest will be able to lift more. This prevents the drop of the rib cage onto the abdomen.
c. For the groin tightness, support the knees and weight down the groins with sandbags.
d. “Connect your dorsal to the frontal sternum chest — that is the area where you drop. The moment you begin to drop, the sleepy state is inevitable. So, dorsal towards the frontal sternum chest — awaken yourself with a deep inhalation.... After the inhalation you have to connect your dorsal to the frontal chest to avoid that stooping or dropping.... Coil the ribs, re-coiling the intercostal muscles... in the [armpit] chest”
[Geeta Iyengar — Pune July 9, 2009]
3. Savasana with crosswise blanket
a. To further coil open the armpit chest to make sitting in Swastikasana easier. Recline, resting the shoulder blades on a blanket trifolded lengthwise (like a pranayama pillow) with each end of the blanket protruding from the armpit, over the biceps. Rest the head on a trifolded blanket.
4. Ujjayi III in Savasana with crosswise blanket
a. Slow soft inhalation and a slow soft exhalation.
5. Savasana on spinewise blankets
a. Fold two blankets in half lengthwise and use a third blanket for the head. The blanket support allows the anterior trunk to ascend from the pelvis to the top chest. Bolster weight on thighs.
b. “In pranayama savasana, don’t take any chances.... These tilts have to be avoided.” Although small physical imbalances such as leg length differences and spinal misalignments are freely acknowledged to have a negative effect, they are not commonly acknowledged in pranayama — which depends, all the more so, on the alignment to channel the prana evenly to all parts of the body to ensure “eveness of mind.” This is a more subtle understanding of learning “the direction of the pose.”
[Geeta Iyengar — Pune July 9, 2009]
6. Ujjayi III in Savasana on spinewise blankets
a. “Inhalation has to first rejuvenate the body — so gradually inhale by opening and widening the bottom ribs towards the sides. Then gradually lift the bottom ribs up towards the upper chest, moving the whole frontal region of the chest....
b. “A slow soft deep inhalation, like the fountain water spreading all over, from the center to the sides, as though the skin and muscles are spreading.... I used the word deep so that you...go until the inhalation breath is felt. Somewhere the breath vanishes, and you can’t inhale anymore, but still you can find some more freedom created in the chest region.... The inhalation elevates the center back ribs from the bolster.... Maintaining their lift, gradually exhale, keeping the lifted back ribs — where you have elevated — from [just dropping] “dead” on the bolster.... so that it forms a kind of “mountain” at the front.”
[Geeta Iyengar — Pune July 9, 2009]
7. Baddha Konasana
a. Back to wall, sit on folded blankets high enough to support the outer thighs.
b. Brick between feet.
c. Compare Ujjayi pranayama with and without brick between the feet: The wider the legs, the more the breath goes towards the side ribs.
“Intelligizing the body with the breath means that you have to get the posture, and then introduce the breath to that posture.... If the vessel is open, the prana can enter in. If the vessel itself is [closed], the breath cannot fill in that area. The breathing is the instrument in the pranayama.... It is not “breath control” as it is normally called. It is the prana control inside.... you adjust those inner areas that have to get exposed gradually to that real energy....”
[.i.Geeta Iyengar — Pune July 9, 2009;]
8. Swastikasana
a. Compare Ujjayi pranayama with Baddha Konasana: The breath is more centralized in Swastikasana.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Tuesday 4.30p MS — Week 5 (December 1, 2009)
Focus: Opening the armpit chest to sit more upright.
Note new poses for this week are in bold face.
Discussion: What is Prana?
Prana is energy, the life force. It is the Seer that permeates all forms of matter. The breath is the instrument of prana. [See Monday 6.30p Asana I — Week 9 (April 27, 2009) for details.]
1. Invocation in Swastikasana
2. Swastikasana
a. Back to the wall, sacrum against wall and upright, and open armpit chest.
3. Savasana with crosswise blanket
a. To further coil open the armpit chest to make sitting in Swastikasana easier. Recline, resting the shoulder blades on a blanket trifolded lengthwise (like a pranayama pillow) with each end of the blanket protruding from the armpit, over the biceps. Rest the head on a trifolded blanket.
4. Swastikasana
a. Keep the armpit chest more open by belting the arms as in Sarvangasana. Then rest the hands on stacked blankets on the thighs, so that the hands are above the elbows, to descend the triceps. Then the backs of the upper arms will feel heavier, the shoulder blades will descend, and the frontal chest will be able to lift more. This prevents the drop of the rib cage onto the abdomen.
5. Savasana with crosswise blanket
a. Repetition is less dramatic since the armpit chest has already coiled open.
6. Setubandha Sarvangasana
a. Shoulders on top of crosswise bolster, buttocks on a second bolster, with bent knees, push with the feet to draw the shoulder blades down, towards the tail bone.
b. Shoulders on the two inches further forward.
c. Shoulders on the leading edge of the bolster.
d. Shoulders on the floor in full Setubandha.
7. Savasana on spinewise blankets
a. Fold two blankets in half lengthwise and use a third blanket for the head. The blanket support allows the anterior trunk to ascend from the pelvis to the top chest. Bolster weight on thighs.
b. Pratyahara, withdrawing the senses from the sense objects. Eyes recede deeper back. Ear drums going deeper inside. The tongue resting on the lower palate. Remain silent and quiet, the front brain going towards the back brain.
Note new poses for this week are in bold face.
Discussion: What is Prana?
Prana is energy, the life force. It is the Seer that permeates all forms of matter. The breath is the instrument of prana. [See Monday 6.30p Asana I — Week 9 (April 27, 2009) for details.]
1. Invocation in Swastikasana
2. Swastikasana
a. Back to the wall, sacrum against wall and upright, and open armpit chest.
3. Savasana with crosswise blanket
a. To further coil open the armpit chest to make sitting in Swastikasana easier. Recline, resting the shoulder blades on a blanket trifolded lengthwise (like a pranayama pillow) with each end of the blanket protruding from the armpit, over the biceps. Rest the head on a trifolded blanket.
4. Swastikasana
a. Keep the armpit chest more open by belting the arms as in Sarvangasana. Then rest the hands on stacked blankets on the thighs, so that the hands are above the elbows, to descend the triceps. Then the backs of the upper arms will feel heavier, the shoulder blades will descend, and the frontal chest will be able to lift more. This prevents the drop of the rib cage onto the abdomen.
5. Savasana with crosswise blanket
a. Repetition is less dramatic since the armpit chest has already coiled open.
6. Setubandha Sarvangasana
a. Shoulders on top of crosswise bolster, buttocks on a second bolster, with bent knees, push with the feet to draw the shoulder blades down, towards the tail bone.
b. Shoulders on the two inches further forward.
c. Shoulders on the leading edge of the bolster.
d. Shoulders on the floor in full Setubandha.
7. Savasana on spinewise blankets
a. Fold two blankets in half lengthwise and use a third blanket for the head. The blanket support allows the anterior trunk to ascend from the pelvis to the top chest. Bolster weight on thighs.
b. Pratyahara, withdrawing the senses from the sense objects. Eyes recede deeper back. Ear drums going deeper inside. The tongue resting on the lower palate. Remain silent and quiet, the front brain going towards the back brain.
Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 4 (November 24, 2009)
Focus: Arm actions for Sarvangasana. Vitarka - badhane pratipaksha - bhavanam: balance violence and non-violence, over-aggressiveness and laziness. [See Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 3 (November 17, 2009)]
Discussion: What is Spiritual Yoga Practice?
As we discussed last week, Patanjali stated that the intelligence exists solely to serve as the agent of the soul, to free the citta from spiritual ignorance [PYS II.21]. Thus, spiritual yoga practice takes its direction from the soul:
“When you do the asana correctly, the Self opens by itself; this is divine yoga. Here the Self is doing the asana, not the body or brain. Self involves each and every pore of the skin. It is when the rivers of the mind and the body get submerged in the sea of the core that the spiritual discipline commences.... When there is passivity, pensiveness, and tranquillity of body and mind.... the spiritual experience in yoga commences. No doubt, one may say reading holy books is spiritual practice. But what I teach is spiritual practice in action.... I use the body to discipline the mind and to reach the soul....”
[B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Life, Emmaus, PA: Rodale, 2005. p. 62]
“You must feel your intelligence, your awareness, and your consciousness in every inch of your body.... It must not be just your mind, or even your body that is doing asana. You must be in it. You must do the asana with your soul.... [or] the organ of the body that is closest to the soul — the heart. So a virtuous asana is done from the heart, not from the head. Then you are not just doing it, but you are in it.... You must feel your way into it with love and devotion. In this way, you will work from your heart, not your brain, to create harmony. The serenity of the body is the sign of spiritual tranquillity.”
[B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Life, Emmaus, PA: Rodale, 2005. p. 63]
Invocation in Swastikasana
1. Tadasana/Samasthiti
a. Shoulder blades down to unblock the ears.
2. Urdhva Hastasana
a. If you shrug the shoulders, it blocks the ears.
3. Tadasana (Gomukhasana arms)
4. Tadasana (Urdhva Baddhanguliyasana)
5. Tadasana (Paschima Baddha Hasta arms)
6. Utthita Trikonasana
7. Virabhadrasana II
a. Pratipaksha - bhavanam: Left outer edge of the foot at the Rope Wall, move the left inner thigh towards the left outer thigh to give space to bend the right leg or stop over-bending the knee.
8. Utthita Trikonasana
a. Left outer edge of the foot at the Rope Wall, as above.
b. Vitarka - badhane: Counteract over-aggressiveness in the spine, and weakness in the right knee. Bend the knee first, then lift from right knee pit up to the buttock bone, else the knee collapses and the spinal muscles harden.
9. Utthita Parsvakonasana
10. Virabhadrasana I
a. Left frontal thigh into the bone to keep the left knee straight. Then lift the frontal hip bones. Affords more lift on the left side in subsequent Tadasana.
b. Left inner thigh back.
11. Utkatasana
12. Parsvottanasana
a. Extended phase: support head on chair seat. Vitarka - badhane: Counteract over-aggressiveness by doing in a relaxed way even while working hard.
13. Prasarita Padottanasana
a. Extended phase: .i.Prasarita Padottanasana:Prasarita means “spread,” so spread the inner thighs towards the outer thighs. Head down on a brick.
14. Baddha Hasta Uttanasana
a. Ahimsa: If stiff, place hands on chair seat with buttocks at wall to relax the hamstrings.
15. Sarvangasana Cycle
a. Salamba Sarvangasana
b. Ekapada Sarvangasana
c. Halasana
16. Forward Extensions
a. Dandasana
b. Padangustha Dandasana
17. Savasana
Discussion: What is Spiritual Yoga Practice?
As we discussed last week, Patanjali stated that the intelligence exists solely to serve as the agent of the soul, to free the citta from spiritual ignorance [PYS II.21]. Thus, spiritual yoga practice takes its direction from the soul:
“When you do the asana correctly, the Self opens by itself; this is divine yoga. Here the Self is doing the asana, not the body or brain. Self involves each and every pore of the skin. It is when the rivers of the mind and the body get submerged in the sea of the core that the spiritual discipline commences.... When there is passivity, pensiveness, and tranquillity of body and mind.... the spiritual experience in yoga commences. No doubt, one may say reading holy books is spiritual practice. But what I teach is spiritual practice in action.... I use the body to discipline the mind and to reach the soul....”
[B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Life, Emmaus, PA: Rodale, 2005. p. 62]
“You must feel your intelligence, your awareness, and your consciousness in every inch of your body.... It must not be just your mind, or even your body that is doing asana. You must be in it. You must do the asana with your soul.... [or] the organ of the body that is closest to the soul — the heart. So a virtuous asana is done from the heart, not from the head. Then you are not just doing it, but you are in it.... You must feel your way into it with love and devotion. In this way, you will work from your heart, not your brain, to create harmony. The serenity of the body is the sign of spiritual tranquillity.”
[B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Life, Emmaus, PA: Rodale, 2005. p. 63]
Invocation in Swastikasana
1. Tadasana/Samasthiti
a. Shoulder blades down to unblock the ears.
2. Urdhva Hastasana
a. If you shrug the shoulders, it blocks the ears.
3. Tadasana (Gomukhasana arms)
4. Tadasana (Urdhva Baddhanguliyasana)
5. Tadasana (Paschima Baddha Hasta arms)
6. Utthita Trikonasana
7. Virabhadrasana II
a. Pratipaksha - bhavanam: Left outer edge of the foot at the Rope Wall, move the left inner thigh towards the left outer thigh to give space to bend the right leg or stop over-bending the knee.
8. Utthita Trikonasana
a. Left outer edge of the foot at the Rope Wall, as above.
b. Vitarka - badhane: Counteract over-aggressiveness in the spine, and weakness in the right knee. Bend the knee first, then lift from right knee pit up to the buttock bone, else the knee collapses and the spinal muscles harden.
9. Utthita Parsvakonasana
10. Virabhadrasana I
a. Left frontal thigh into the bone to keep the left knee straight. Then lift the frontal hip bones. Affords more lift on the left side in subsequent Tadasana.
b. Left inner thigh back.
11. Utkatasana
12. Parsvottanasana
a. Extended phase: support head on chair seat. Vitarka - badhane: Counteract over-aggressiveness by doing in a relaxed way even while working hard.
13. Prasarita Padottanasana
a. Extended phase: .i.Prasarita Padottanasana:Prasarita means “spread,” so spread the inner thighs towards the outer thighs. Head down on a brick.
14. Baddha Hasta Uttanasana
a. Ahimsa: If stiff, place hands on chair seat with buttocks at wall to relax the hamstrings.
15. Sarvangasana Cycle
a. Salamba Sarvangasana
b. Ekapada Sarvangasana
c. Halasana
16. Forward Extensions
a. Dandasana
b. Padangustha Dandasana
17. Savasana
Tuesday 4.30p MS — Week 4 (November 24, 2009)
Focus: Restorative poses following colonscopy day before. Agitation and fatigue.
No new students.
Note new poses for this week are in bold face.
Discussion: Patanjali Yoga Sutra II.30-39 — The Yamas
What is Ethical Yoga Practice? [Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 3 (November 17, 2009) for details]
Invocation in Swastikasana
1. Chair Pavanmuktasana
a. Tops of feet on blankets to relieve stomach/intestinal pain.
2. Chair Bharadvajasana
a. Lift both sides of the chest evenly to prevent back muscle cramps.
3. Salamba Purvottanasana
4. Supta Baddha Konasana
a. Knees on a second bolster.
No new students.
Note new poses for this week are in bold face.
Discussion: Patanjali Yoga Sutra II.30-39 — The Yamas
What is Ethical Yoga Practice? [Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 3 (November 17, 2009) for details]
Invocation in Swastikasana
1. Chair Pavanmuktasana
a. Tops of feet on blankets to relieve stomach/intestinal pain.
2. Chair Bharadvajasana
a. Lift both sides of the chest evenly to prevent back muscle cramps.
3. Salamba Purvottanasana
4. Supta Baddha Konasana
a. Knees on a second bolster.
Monday 6.30p Asana 1 — Week 44 (November 23, 2009)
Focus: Backbends
Discussion: Patanjali Yoga Sutra II.30-39 — The Yamas
[See Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 3 (November 17, 2009)]
Invocation in Swastikasana
1. Adho Mukha Svanasana
a. Vitarka - badhane — Counteract over-aggressiveness in the elbows by belting the upper arms and then trying to “break the belt” to prevent elbows collapse.
2. Chair Viparita Dandasana
a. Vitarka - badhane — Lying on the Viparita Dandasana bench, counteract over-aggressiveness in the lumbar by pushing the feet into a belt that encircles the bottom sacrum to lengthen the lumbar. Pratipaksha - bhavanam — Break the cycle of pain and ignorance by using the belt and backbender to learn to balance violence and non-violence — open the back chest.
3. Adho Mukha Vrksasana
4. Adho Mukha Svanasana
5. Pincha Mayurasana
6. Urdhva Dhanurasana
a. Hands on bricks. Back trunk on bolster if difficult to get up.
7. Adho Mukha Svanasana
8. Sarvangasana Cycle
a. Halasana or Karnapidasana with knees on a chair seat
9. Savasana
Discussion: Patanjali Yoga Sutra II.30-39 — The Yamas
[See Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 3 (November 17, 2009)]
Invocation in Swastikasana
1. Adho Mukha Svanasana
a. Vitarka - badhane — Counteract over-aggressiveness in the elbows by belting the upper arms and then trying to “break the belt” to prevent elbows collapse.
2. Chair Viparita Dandasana
a. Vitarka - badhane — Lying on the Viparita Dandasana bench, counteract over-aggressiveness in the lumbar by pushing the feet into a belt that encircles the bottom sacrum to lengthen the lumbar. Pratipaksha - bhavanam — Break the cycle of pain and ignorance by using the belt and backbender to learn to balance violence and non-violence — open the back chest.
3. Adho Mukha Vrksasana
4. Adho Mukha Svanasana
5. Pincha Mayurasana
6. Urdhva Dhanurasana
a. Hands on bricks. Back trunk on bolster if difficult to get up.
7. Adho Mukha Svanasana
8. Sarvangasana Cycle
a. Halasana or Karnapidasana with knees on a chair seat
9. Savasana
Monday 4.30p Intro — Week 11 (November 23, 2009)
Focus: Stretching the hips and back legs in Trikonasana and Uttanasana to learn Adho Mukha Svanasana.
Discussion: Patanjali Yoga Sutra II.30-39 — The Yamas
[See Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 3 (November 17, 2009)]
Invocation in Swastikasana
1. Adho Mukha Svanasana
2. Utthita Trikonasana
a. Left outer edge of the foot at the Rope Wall, move the left inner thigh towards the left outer thigh to give space to lengthen the right leg.
b. Vitarka - badhane: Counteract over-aggressiveness in the spine, stiffness in the hip, and weakness in the right knee. Bend the knee first, then lift from right knee pit up to the buttock bone, else the hip gets stuck and the collapse of the knee results in only bending the spine.
c. Pratipaksha - bhavanam: Cultivate an opposite tack, learning one leg at a time in Trikonasana to apply to Adho Mukha Svanasana.
3. Adho Mukha Svanasana
a. Pratipaksha - bhavanam: From Adho Mukha Virasana, keep the hips flexed coming into the pose to prevent strain in the spine when hamstrings are stiff.
4. Rope Wall Uttanasana (5 min.)
a. With the buttocks at the Rope Wall, loop a long nylon belt around the lower rope hooks and the thighs to belt the upper thighs, just below the groins, tightly to the wall.; This provides space in the groins, and, thus, the abdominal organs, and makes the thighs recede posteriorly when extending forward, increasing range of motion. Head on bricks on chair seat. Stand on bricks if 5’-6” or less so belt is across upper thigh, not hip bones or waist.
b. Vitarka - badhane pratipaksha - bhavanam: Counteract hip and hamstring stiffness by supporting the head and legs. PYS II.34: Counteract pain and ignorance.
c. “When the shape of the asana expresses the shape of the self, without forcing, deception, or distortion, then you have learned the truth (satya) in asana.” Support gives times and space for the intelligence to penetrate. Then the pose becomes and expression of ahimsa and satya.
5. Adho Mukha Svanasana
a. Derived from PYS II.36: Firmly established in satya , his actions are truly in accord with his intentions, and the asana is realized.
6. Savasana
Discussion: Patanjali Yoga Sutra II.30-39 — The Yamas
[See Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 3 (November 17, 2009)]
Invocation in Swastikasana
1. Adho Mukha Svanasana
2. Utthita Trikonasana
a. Left outer edge of the foot at the Rope Wall, move the left inner thigh towards the left outer thigh to give space to lengthen the right leg.
b. Vitarka - badhane: Counteract over-aggressiveness in the spine, stiffness in the hip, and weakness in the right knee. Bend the knee first, then lift from right knee pit up to the buttock bone, else the hip gets stuck and the collapse of the knee results in only bending the spine.
c. Pratipaksha - bhavanam: Cultivate an opposite tack, learning one leg at a time in Trikonasana to apply to Adho Mukha Svanasana.
3. Adho Mukha Svanasana
a. Pratipaksha - bhavanam: From Adho Mukha Virasana, keep the hips flexed coming into the pose to prevent strain in the spine when hamstrings are stiff.
4. Rope Wall Uttanasana (5 min.)
a. With the buttocks at the Rope Wall, loop a long nylon belt around the lower rope hooks and the thighs to belt the upper thighs, just below the groins, tightly to the wall.; This provides space in the groins, and, thus, the abdominal organs, and makes the thighs recede posteriorly when extending forward, increasing range of motion. Head on bricks on chair seat. Stand on bricks if 5’-6” or less so belt is across upper thigh, not hip bones or waist.
b. Vitarka - badhane pratipaksha - bhavanam: Counteract hip and hamstring stiffness by supporting the head and legs. PYS II.34: Counteract pain and ignorance.
c. “When the shape of the asana expresses the shape of the self, without forcing, deception, or distortion, then you have learned the truth (satya) in asana.” Support gives times and space for the intelligence to penetrate. Then the pose becomes and expression of ahimsa and satya.
5. Adho Mukha Svanasana
a. Derived from PYS II.36: Firmly established in satya , his actions are truly in accord with his intentions, and the asana is realized.
6. Savasana
Thursday 6.30p Intro — Week 3 (November 19, 2009)
Focus: Since there are no new students in class, work on the back leg in standings, Sarvangasana variations, and applying yamas to practice.
Note new poses for this week are in bold face.
Discussion: Patanjali Yoga Sutra II.30-39 — The Yamas
What is Ethical Yoga Practice? [Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 3 (November 17, 2009) for details]
Invocation in Swastikasana
1. Upavistha Konasana
2. Baddha Konasana
3. Forward Extensions
a. Dandasana
b. Padangustha Dandasana
4. Tadasana/Samasthiti
5. Tadasana (Urdhva Baddhanguliyasana)
6. Tadasana (Paschima Baddha Hasta arms)
7. Urdhva Hastasana
a. Extend the biceps to open the armpits. Extend the radial wrist, thumbs away from the inner elbows, to extend the biceps more.
8. Tadasana (Gomukhasana arms)
a. Skipped for time and emphasis.
9. Utthita Hasta Padasana
a. Outer left heel down. Left inner thigh towards outer thigh to spread the legs.
10. Parsva Hasta Padasana
a. Keep the outer left heel down and left inner thigh towards the bone to make turning the right leg out very light.
11. Utthita Trikonasana
a. Take the hand down only as far as the chest remains open.
b. Paschima Baddha Hasta arms to prevent shoulder pain.
12. Virabhadrasana II
a. Omitted for time and emphasis.
13. Utthita Parsvakonasana
14. Vrksasana
a. Like hands in namaskar: Press right sole into left inner thigh. Entire outer right leg presses into right foot.
b. Open from the inner right groin towards the inner right knee.
15. Virabhadrasana I
a. Turning the trunk, do not bend the left knee. Do not allow the knee to go with the motion. 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.
16. Utkatasana
a. Turn the outer arms in to lift the pubic plate. Lift up the biceps to open the armpits.
17. Parsvottanasana
a. Extended phase: head on chair seat
18. Prasarita Padottanasana
a. Concave back: Hands on bricks.
b. Extended phase: Head down on a brick.
19. Baddha Hasta Uttanasana
a. To straighten the knee, lift both the kneecap and the back thigh up, away from the knee, to make the knee light.
20. Sarvangasana Cycle
a. Salamba Sarvangasana
b. Ekapada Sarvangasana
c. Parsvaikapada Sarvangasana
d. Halasana
21. Savasana
Note new poses for this week are in bold face.
Discussion: Patanjali Yoga Sutra II.30-39 — The Yamas
What is Ethical Yoga Practice? [Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 3 (November 17, 2009) for details]
Invocation in Swastikasana
1. Upavistha Konasana
2. Baddha Konasana
3. Forward Extensions
a. Dandasana
b. Padangustha Dandasana
4. Tadasana/Samasthiti
5. Tadasana (Urdhva Baddhanguliyasana)
6. Tadasana (Paschima Baddha Hasta arms)
7. Urdhva Hastasana
a. Extend the biceps to open the armpits. Extend the radial wrist, thumbs away from the inner elbows, to extend the biceps more.
8. Tadasana (Gomukhasana arms)
a. Skipped for time and emphasis.
9. Utthita Hasta Padasana
a. Outer left heel down. Left inner thigh towards outer thigh to spread the legs.
10. Parsva Hasta Padasana
a. Keep the outer left heel down and left inner thigh towards the bone to make turning the right leg out very light.
11. Utthita Trikonasana
a. Take the hand down only as far as the chest remains open.
b. Paschima Baddha Hasta arms to prevent shoulder pain.
12. Virabhadrasana II
a. Omitted for time and emphasis.
13. Utthita Parsvakonasana
14. Vrksasana
a. Like hands in namaskar: Press right sole into left inner thigh. Entire outer right leg presses into right foot.
b. Open from the inner right groin towards the inner right knee.
15. Virabhadrasana I
a. Turning the trunk, do not bend the left knee. Do not allow the knee to go with the motion. 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.
16. Utkatasana
a. Turn the outer arms in to lift the pubic plate. Lift up the biceps to open the armpits.
17. Parsvottanasana
a. Extended phase: head on chair seat
18. Prasarita Padottanasana
a. Concave back: Hands on bricks.
b. Extended phase: Head down on a brick.
19. Baddha Hasta Uttanasana
a. To straighten the knee, lift both the kneecap and the back thigh up, away from the knee, to make the knee light.
20. Sarvangasana Cycle
a. Salamba Sarvangasana
b. Ekapada Sarvangasana
c. Parsvaikapada Sarvangasana
d. Halasana
21. Savasana
Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 3 (November 17, 2009)
Focus: Opening the armpits in standings, and applying yamas to practice.
Note new poses for this week are in bold face.
Discussion: Patanjali Yoga Sutra II.30-39 — The Yamas
What is Ethical Yoga Practice?
The five yamas are the ethical precepts of yoga. By listing them as the first limb of astanga yoga, they assume “pride of place” as the very foundation of spiritual illumination (samadhi). Even though yoga has been appropriated through the ages to accomplish the needs of various religions and cultures, yoga stands on its own. These “mighty vows” are the basis for yoga’s universal appeal.
PYS II.30 Ahimsa - satya - asteya - brahmacarya - aparigrahah - yamah
Non-violence - truth - non stealing - continence - non possessiveness (non greediness) (are the self) restraints.
PYS II.31 (Yamas are the) universal vows unconditioned by class, place (or) time.
Patanjali earlier stated that the intelligence exists solely to serve as the agent of the soul, to free the citta from spiritual ignorance [PYS II.21]. Thus, BKS Iyengar characterizes yoga as a spiritual practice that takes its direction from the soul:
“Spirituality is... the inner passion and urge for Self-realization and the need to find the ultimate purpose of our existence.... If the principles of yama are not followed, we deliberately act as murderers of the soul. As beginners we may try to control only our bad habits. But, as time progresses, the dictates of yama become impulses of the heart.”
[B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Life, Emmaus, PA: Rodale, 2005. p. 251]
“Ethical living... develops a feeling of oneness between man and nature, between man and man, and between man and his Maker, thus permitting the experience of a feeling of identity with the spirit that pervades all creation.... To draw closer to one’s soul is also to live more and more by the dictates of one’s conscience.”
[B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Life, Emmaus, PA: Rodale, 2005. p. 249]
The purpose of existence, how the intelligence serves the soul, and the soul residing in the spiritual heart are all topics covered in the Monday 4.30p Intro — Week 8 (April 20, 2009) Intro Class.
Patanjali’s next two sutras convey how the yoga practitioner must put these ethical precepts into practice, and what happens if he doesn’t do so:
PYS II.33 Vitarka - badhane pratipaksha - bhavanam
The principles which are against yama and niyama are to be counteracted with the knowledge of discrimination (or right knowledge and awareness).
PYS II.34 Uncertain knowledge (vitarka) giving rise to violence... is caused by greed, anger and delusion.... It result in endless pain (duhkha) and ignorance (ajnana).
BKS Iyengar explains pratipaksha - bhavanam, literally “cultivating the opposite,” and how to apply yama to asana:
“If you are acting over-aggressively in one side of your body, you are murdering (himsa) the cells on that side. By restoring energy to the weaker, passive side, you are learning to balance violence and non-violence. When the shape of the asana expresses the shape of the self, without forcing, deception, or distortion, then you have learned the truth (satya) in asana.... When a practitioner feels in asana that his intelligence is flooding his whole body throughout the sheaths, he experiences a self-contained wholeness, an integrity of being. He feels himself rise above outer attachments. That is the quality of celibacy [brahmacarya ] in action.”
[B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Life, Emmaus, PA: Rodale, 2005. p. 56
“[Ahimsa means] not to harm: you should not be violent, but be supple.”
[B.K.S. Iyengar, Sparks of Divinity, Noelle Perez-Christiaens [ed.], Institut de Yoga B.K.S. Iyengar, Paris, 1976. P.79]
“When there is strain, it is physical yoga. When the brain is passive, it is spiritual yoga.”
[B.K.S. Iyengar, Sparks of Divinity, Noelle Perez-Christiaens [ed.], Institut de Yoga B.K.S. Iyengar, Paris, 1976. P.298
“Ethics come from inside ourselves [but] ...get distorted by contact with society. This disturbs the consciousness (citta) as well as the conscience (antahkarana).... Yoga trains us away from our selfish, brutal motives and shows us how to complete our responsibilities.”
[B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Life, Emmaus, PA: Rodale, 2005. p. 250]
As a burgeoning awareness arises through the process of self-study, the yoga practitioner becomes aware that involvement with worldly objects involves endless trouble — such as gaining, guarding, losing, and consequent grief. Detachment from desires [vairagya — PYS I.15] allows those objects of enjoyment to exist without distracting the mind.
The results of yoga practice are then described in the next five sutras:
PYS II.35 (When one is) firmly established in ahimsa (non violence, there is) abandonment of hostility (in) one’s presence.
PYS II.36 (When one is) firmly established in satya (truthfulness), (his speech accords with reality and, therefore,) his words are realized (come to fruition or become true: phala).
PYS II.37 (When one is) firmly established in asteya (non stealing), all precious jewels come (to him — not the least of which is virtue—BKS).
PYS II.38 (When one is) firmly established in brahmacarya (continence), vigor (valor, knowledge and energy—BKS) flows to him.
PYS II.39 (When one is) steady in aparigrahah (lack of greed for possessions), knowledge of past and future lives unfolds (and one realizes the true meaning of life: “what I am” and “what I am meant for”—BKS).
Invocation in Swastikasana
1. Tadasana/Samasthiti
a. Arms down, triceps strong to descend the shoulders.
2. Tadasana (Paschima Baddhanguliyasana arms)
3. Tadasana (Urdhva Baddhanguliyasana)
4. Tadasana (Paschima Baddha Hasta arms)
5. Urdhva Hastasana
a. Extend the biceps to open the armpits. Extend the radial wrist, thumbs away from the inner elbows, to extend the biceps more.
6. Tadasana (Gomukhasana arms)
a. Skipped for time and emphasis.
7. Utthita Hasta Padasana
a. Outer left heel down. Left inner thigh towards outer thigh to spread the legs.
8. Parsva Hasta Padasana
a. Keep the outer left heel down and left inner thigh towards the bone to make turning the right leg out very light.
b. When turning, do not lose the opening of the sternum towards the shoulders.
9. Utthita Trikonasana
a. Take the hand down only as far as the chest remains open.
b. Paschima Baddha Hasta arms to prevent shoulder pain.
10. Virabhadrasana II
a. Keep the outer left heel down and left inner thigh towards the bone to keep the trunk in the middle.
11. Utthita Parsvakonasana
12. Vrksasana
a. Like hands in namaskar: Right knee at wall to press right sole into left inner thigh. Entire outer right leg presses into right foot.
b. Open from the inner right groin towards the inner right knee.
13. Virabhadrasana I
a. Inadvertently omitted.
14. Utkatasana
a. Turn the outer arms in to lift the pubic plate. Lift up the biceps to open the armpits.
15. Parsvottanasana
a. Concave back: hands on chair seat
b. Extended phase: head on chair seat
16. Prasarita Padottanasana
a. Concave back: Hands on bricks.
b. Extended phase: Head down on a brick.
17. Baddha Hasta Uttanasana
a. To straighten the knee, lift both the kneecap and the back thigh up, away from the knee, to make the knee light.
b. Inadvertently omitted.
18. Forward Extensions
a. Dandasana
b. Padangustha Dandasana
19. Chair Sarvangasana
20. Savasana
Note new poses for this week are in bold face.
Discussion: Patanjali Yoga Sutra II.30-39 — The Yamas
What is Ethical Yoga Practice?
The five yamas are the ethical precepts of yoga. By listing them as the first limb of astanga yoga, they assume “pride of place” as the very foundation of spiritual illumination (samadhi). Even though yoga has been appropriated through the ages to accomplish the needs of various religions and cultures, yoga stands on its own. These “mighty vows” are the basis for yoga’s universal appeal.
PYS II.30 Ahimsa - satya - asteya - brahmacarya - aparigrahah - yamah
Non-violence - truth - non stealing - continence - non possessiveness (non greediness) (are the self) restraints.
PYS II.31 (Yamas are the) universal vows unconditioned by class, place (or) time.
Patanjali earlier stated that the intelligence exists solely to serve as the agent of the soul, to free the citta from spiritual ignorance [PYS II.21]. Thus, BKS Iyengar characterizes yoga as a spiritual practice that takes its direction from the soul:
“Spirituality is... the inner passion and urge for Self-realization and the need to find the ultimate purpose of our existence.... If the principles of yama are not followed, we deliberately act as murderers of the soul. As beginners we may try to control only our bad habits. But, as time progresses, the dictates of yama become impulses of the heart.”
[B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Life, Emmaus, PA: Rodale, 2005. p. 251]
“Ethical living... develops a feeling of oneness between man and nature, between man and man, and between man and his Maker, thus permitting the experience of a feeling of identity with the spirit that pervades all creation.... To draw closer to one’s soul is also to live more and more by the dictates of one’s conscience.”
[B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Life, Emmaus, PA: Rodale, 2005. p. 249]
The purpose of existence, how the intelligence serves the soul, and the soul residing in the spiritual heart are all topics covered in the Monday 4.30p Intro — Week 8 (April 20, 2009) Intro Class.
Patanjali’s next two sutras convey how the yoga practitioner must put these ethical precepts into practice, and what happens if he doesn’t do so:
PYS II.33 Vitarka - badhane pratipaksha - bhavanam
The principles which are against yama and niyama are to be counteracted with the knowledge of discrimination (or right knowledge and awareness).
PYS II.34 Uncertain knowledge (vitarka) giving rise to violence... is caused by greed, anger and delusion.... It result in endless pain (duhkha) and ignorance (ajnana).
BKS Iyengar explains pratipaksha - bhavanam, literally “cultivating the opposite,” and how to apply yama to asana:
“If you are acting over-aggressively in one side of your body, you are murdering (himsa) the cells on that side. By restoring energy to the weaker, passive side, you are learning to balance violence and non-violence. When the shape of the asana expresses the shape of the self, without forcing, deception, or distortion, then you have learned the truth (satya) in asana.... When a practitioner feels in asana that his intelligence is flooding his whole body throughout the sheaths, he experiences a self-contained wholeness, an integrity of being. He feels himself rise above outer attachments. That is the quality of celibacy [brahmacarya ] in action.”
[B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Life, Emmaus, PA: Rodale, 2005. p. 56
“[Ahimsa means] not to harm: you should not be violent, but be supple.”
[B.K.S. Iyengar, Sparks of Divinity, Noelle Perez-Christiaens [ed.], Institut de Yoga B.K.S. Iyengar, Paris, 1976. P.79]
“When there is strain, it is physical yoga. When the brain is passive, it is spiritual yoga.”
[B.K.S. Iyengar, Sparks of Divinity, Noelle Perez-Christiaens [ed.], Institut de Yoga B.K.S. Iyengar, Paris, 1976. P.298
“Ethics come from inside ourselves [but] ...get distorted by contact with society. This disturbs the consciousness (citta) as well as the conscience (antahkarana).... Yoga trains us away from our selfish, brutal motives and shows us how to complete our responsibilities.”
[B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Life, Emmaus, PA: Rodale, 2005. p. 250]
As a burgeoning awareness arises through the process of self-study, the yoga practitioner becomes aware that involvement with worldly objects involves endless trouble — such as gaining, guarding, losing, and consequent grief. Detachment from desires [vairagya — PYS I.15] allows those objects of enjoyment to exist without distracting the mind.
The results of yoga practice are then described in the next five sutras:
PYS II.35 (When one is) firmly established in ahimsa (non violence, there is) abandonment of hostility (in) one’s presence.
PYS II.36 (When one is) firmly established in satya (truthfulness), (his speech accords with reality and, therefore,) his words are realized (come to fruition or become true: phala).
PYS II.37 (When one is) firmly established in asteya (non stealing), all precious jewels come (to him — not the least of which is virtue—BKS).
PYS II.38 (When one is) firmly established in brahmacarya (continence), vigor (valor, knowledge and energy—BKS) flows to him.
PYS II.39 (When one is) steady in aparigrahah (lack of greed for possessions), knowledge of past and future lives unfolds (and one realizes the true meaning of life: “what I am” and “what I am meant for”—BKS).
Invocation in Swastikasana
1. Tadasana/Samasthiti
a. Arms down, triceps strong to descend the shoulders.
2. Tadasana (Paschima Baddhanguliyasana arms)
3. Tadasana (Urdhva Baddhanguliyasana)
4. Tadasana (Paschima Baddha Hasta arms)
5. Urdhva Hastasana
a. Extend the biceps to open the armpits. Extend the radial wrist, thumbs away from the inner elbows, to extend the biceps more.
6. Tadasana (Gomukhasana arms)
a. Skipped for time and emphasis.
7. Utthita Hasta Padasana
a. Outer left heel down. Left inner thigh towards outer thigh to spread the legs.
8. Parsva Hasta Padasana
a. Keep the outer left heel down and left inner thigh towards the bone to make turning the right leg out very light.
b. When turning, do not lose the opening of the sternum towards the shoulders.
9. Utthita Trikonasana
a. Take the hand down only as far as the chest remains open.
b. Paschima Baddha Hasta arms to prevent shoulder pain.
10. Virabhadrasana II
a. Keep the outer left heel down and left inner thigh towards the bone to keep the trunk in the middle.
11. Utthita Parsvakonasana
12. Vrksasana
a. Like hands in namaskar: Right knee at wall to press right sole into left inner thigh. Entire outer right leg presses into right foot.
b. Open from the inner right groin towards the inner right knee.
13. Virabhadrasana I
a. Inadvertently omitted.
14. Utkatasana
a. Turn the outer arms in to lift the pubic plate. Lift up the biceps to open the armpits.
15. Parsvottanasana
a. Concave back: hands on chair seat
b. Extended phase: head on chair seat
16. Prasarita Padottanasana
a. Concave back: Hands on bricks.
b. Extended phase: Head down on a brick.
17. Baddha Hasta Uttanasana
a. To straighten the knee, lift both the kneecap and the back thigh up, away from the knee, to make the knee light.
b. Inadvertently omitted.
18. Forward Extensions
a. Dandasana
b. Padangustha Dandasana
19. Chair Sarvangasana
20. Savasana
Tuesday 4.30p MS — Week 3 (November 17, 2009)
Focus: Restorative for fatigue.
Note new poses for this week are in bold face.
Invocation in Swastikasana
1. Chair Pavanmuktasana
a. Feet on blanket to warm up hands.
2. Chair Bharadvajasana
3. Bolster Setubandha Sarvangasana (calves on chair seat)
a. Align the knee pit at the front edge of the chair seat to support the entire lower leg. To open chest, front edge of the bolster should be just below the shoulder blades, at the bra strap.
b. If back arch causes pain, lay over to staggered blankets folded in half lengthwise.
4. Viparita Karani
5. Supta Baddha Konasana
a. Knees on a second bolster. (LM)
Note new poses for this week are in bold face.
Invocation in Swastikasana
1. Chair Pavanmuktasana
a. Feet on blanket to warm up hands.
2. Chair Bharadvajasana
3. Bolster Setubandha Sarvangasana (calves on chair seat)
a. Align the knee pit at the front edge of the chair seat to support the entire lower leg. To open chest, front edge of the bolster should be just below the shoulder blades, at the bra strap.
b. If back arch causes pain, lay over to staggered blankets folded in half lengthwise.
4. Viparita Karani
5. Supta Baddha Konasana
a. Knees on a second bolster. (LM)
Monday 6.30p Asana 1 — Week 43 (November 16, 2009)
Focus: Review of Purvis Workshop groin opening poses.
1. Invocation in Swastikasana
2. Tadasana/Samasthiti
3. Utthita Trikonasana
4. Utthita Parsvakonasana
5. Ardha Chandrasana
6. a. Parsvottanasana (hands on chair seat)
Head on brick on chair seat. Left leg — while moving the left hip forward, move the left frontal thigh into bone to make space in the left groin and to bring the right hip forward.
b. Angular Parsvottanasana
Stand with the right side body at the wall and the right leg behind the left. Place the outer edge of the left foot on the mat and the inner edge up on the wall. Hands on the chair, step forward with the right leg in Parsvottanasana.
7. Baddha Konasana
a. Back to wall, sit on folded blankets high enough to support the outer thighs.
b. Brick between feet.
8. Supta Parsvakonasana
a. From Supta Baddha Konasana, toes at the wall and buttocks on a sticky mat, sidebend to the right.
b. Take the right leg out and make a square with the foot on the wall. Outer right thigh should rest on the mat. If that is impossible, put a flat brick under the right outer heel.
c. Extend the left leg, placing the bottom of the foot on the wall. If it is impossible, elevate the foot on flat brick or two, and support the left side of the sacrum. With arms out at ninety degrees, it form as Supta Virabhadrasana II.
d. Side bend to take the right hand to the right ankle to Supta Parsvakonasana.
9. Anantasana
10. Sarvangasana Cycle
a. Salamba Sarvangasana
b. Ekapada Sarvangasana
Right toes on the floor
c. Halasana
1. Invocation in Swastikasana
2. Tadasana/Samasthiti
3. Utthita Trikonasana
4. Utthita Parsvakonasana
5. Ardha Chandrasana
6. a. Parsvottanasana (hands on chair seat)
Head on brick on chair seat. Left leg — while moving the left hip forward, move the left frontal thigh into bone to make space in the left groin and to bring the right hip forward.
b. Angular Parsvottanasana
Stand with the right side body at the wall and the right leg behind the left. Place the outer edge of the left foot on the mat and the inner edge up on the wall. Hands on the chair, step forward with the right leg in Parsvottanasana.
7. Baddha Konasana
a. Back to wall, sit on folded blankets high enough to support the outer thighs.
b. Brick between feet.
8. Supta Parsvakonasana
a. From Supta Baddha Konasana, toes at the wall and buttocks on a sticky mat, sidebend to the right.
b. Take the right leg out and make a square with the foot on the wall. Outer right thigh should rest on the mat. If that is impossible, put a flat brick under the right outer heel.
c. Extend the left leg, placing the bottom of the foot on the wall. If it is impossible, elevate the foot on flat brick or two, and support the left side of the sacrum. With arms out at ninety degrees, it form as Supta Virabhadrasana II.
d. Side bend to take the right hand to the right ankle to Supta Parsvakonasana.
9. Anantasana
10. Sarvangasana Cycle
a. Salamba Sarvangasana
b. Ekapada Sarvangasana
Right toes on the floor
c. Halasana
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