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)]