Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 16 (June 16, 2009)

Focus: Continue work on Week 7 of syllabus emphasizing chest opening and inversions. This sequence has a little bit of everything.

Note new poses for this week are in bold face.

Invocation in Swastikasana

1. 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.

2. Utthita Trikonasana
a. Jumping to Utthita Hasta Padasana, extend the “wings of the shoulder blades away from each other. Sharp action makes the arms vibrant.
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.

3. Utthita Parsvakonasana
a. Don’t turn the trunk towards the floor. From the right femur coming into the socket, turn and open the chest.

4. Vimanasana

5. 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.

6. Ardha Chandrasana
a. Right femur coming into the socket, as in Parsvakonasana and Parivrtta Trikonasana to prevent falling.

7. Uttanasana

8. Padangusthasana

9. Virasana (Parvatasana arms)

10. Adho Mukha Virasana

11. Adho Mukha Svanasana

12. Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (3 X)
a. From Adho Mukha Svanasana. 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.

13. Sirsasana Cycle
a. Chair Sirsasana: Each shoulder on a chair seat to prevent shrugging the shoulders. Roll back and forth to massage shoulders.

b. Salamba Sirsasana
Interlace and grip the webbing of the first two digits, press the ulnar wrist down, and extend forearm bone skin towards the elbows.
Brick at back chest to keep chest open and prevent shoulder collapse. Go up and come down: touch and go.

14. 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
Knees on chair seat.
Ankles on front lip of chair seat.

15. Forward Extensions
Inserted after Sarvangasana so that Sarvangasana became the “neutral gear” after Urdhva Mukha Svanasana.

Dandasana
Urdhva Hasta Dandasana
Padangusthasana Dandasana
Paschimottanasana
Janu Sirsasana
Paschimottanasana

16. Savasana (10 min)