Monday 6.30p Asana 1 — Week 40 (October 26, 2009)

Focus: Maintain the shape of the supported supine torso when sitting up in pranayama to both keep the mind calm and facilitate the flow of prana. Learning the actions in a wide variety of asanas indirectly teaches how to adjust in Savasana, Swastikasana, and pranayama. Based on the teachings of Geeta Iyengar’s 7-2-09 pranayama class. See Light on Pranayama for more details.

1. Invocation in Swastikasana
a. Geeta Iyengar, 7-4-09 quotes. See Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 34 (October 20, 2009) for details.

2. Savasana on blanket support
a. Fold two blankets in half lengthwise and use a third blanket for the head. The wider blanket supports the paraspinals like a “bed.” Top blanket is stepped back only to support the rib cage. Allow the floating ribs, at the sides, to be off of the blanket to let the waist descend. The blanket support allows the anterior trunk to ascend from the pelvis to the top chest.

b. With the hands holding the head, elongate the back neck towards the skull. Support the head on a blanket so that it neither compresses the throat nor does it push the throat forward. Throat and tongue passive.

Keep the shoulder blades descending towards the tail bone to prevent the throat from pushing forward. Correctly positioning the throat will then, in turn, aid in preventing the abdomen from “puffing.” Relax your facial muscles, facial skin, forehead — from the top to the bottom — down. The face descends from the forehead towards the chin to both keep the mind humble, and the brain passive.

c. The back body, from the nape of the neck, must descend towards the heels while the front body ascends from the base of the pelvis to the top chest. Adjust the skin and muscle fibers to also go in these same directions. When the back chest is on the platform of blankets, it allows space for the inhalation breath to penetrate the upper chest while, at the same time, it prevents the collapse of the inner walls of the chest during the exhalation. The energy must ascend, from bottom chest to top chest.

d. Exhalation allows the mind to recede from the brain, and the face and abdomen to recede from front to back.

e. Many other adjustments contribute to this overall shape of the body. To prevent lower back pain, the practitioner moves from the gross towards the subtle, from the overall shape of the body to the details. The details support the overall shape and correct any compensation patterns that focus undue stress on the painful area.

3. Ujjayi II on blanket support
a. “Slow soft, smooth exhalation. With the exhalation, relax your brain cells, relax your eyes, relax your cheeks, relax your ear drums. Use the downward direction of the exhalation, from the top chest towards the feet, to make the whole body become passive. Descend the whole body downward, from the crown of the head to the feet. Though the exhalation is longer, don’t force it.

b. “One exhalation will not be enough for the mind to recede. The brain cells begin to recede. The face begins to recede. The eyes go deeper inside.... Creating space behind the sternum, release the center chest toward the sides. Release the upper abdomen, middle abdomen, and bottom abdomen.

c. “The first duty is the release of the physical tension — skin tightness, muscular tightness, rigidity of the brain cells due to activity and thinking. Don’t invite any hardness or tension.

d. “In the beginning, the shoulder and clavicles mistakenly sink, creating unnecessary tension in the throat. Then you exist only in your throat and head region.”

4. Ujjayi III on blanket support
a. “As the exhalation begins to lengthen, make the inhalation slightly longer than normal. Slow soft inhalation, which should not be aggressive. Slow soft inhalation, open the skin of the thoracic. Direct the intercostal muscles to move away from the center, so that the thoracic gradually finds its width. It is not you creating the width.

“With slow soft exhalation, watch how the sternum and the skin have gradually widened.

b. “Slow soft inhalation, intercostals and ribs gradually opening toward the sides. Inhalation gradually removes the hardness of the chest.

“Slow soft exhalation, the abdomen begins to recede towards the spine. Spread the abdomen from the navel toward the sides. The abdomen is round with the navel in the middle. Exhale from the navel toward the sides, releasing the skin fiber.

“Abdomen remaining in a relaxed state below the thoracic, begin a slow soft inhalation. Open the thoracic region gradually, from the bottom to the top.

“Slow soft exhalation....

c. “[Don’t] “pull” the breath to find its length. Rather, spread the breath from all over the inner torso. Slow soft inhalation, spread the breath as if it is trying to touch the extreme outer corners of the body.

“Slow soft exhalation, as if the skin fiber recedes without narrowing the chest. Spreading is possible in both inhalation and exhalation. Don’t describe the chest as “narrowing” with exhalation, else the mind becomes narrow. Let the breath touch every area [like a pool of water poured onto the floor].

“Slow soft inhalation, feel the torso through the inhalation.

“Slow soft exhalation, the breath spreads to feel the whole torso. Get the shape of the body with that breath.

d. “The more space there is in the pores of the skin, the more the widening takes place, and you can be quiet. You have to have that quietness in that vastness.”

5. Ujjayi VI
a. Learning to sit with the spine erect in Swastikasana is an increasingly subtle process. There is a struggle to find that balance of how to lift the anterior body and descend the back body without throwing the waist forward, which either results in fatigue or pain — as in Tadasana.

b. “Raise the anterior spine upward. Skin of the shoulder, roll backward. Both trapezius descend down. Shoulder blades in, open up the chest. Fingertips on the bolster beside the trunk. Sit with that inner tallness.

c. “To adjust the top dorsal spine, which refuses to backbend, slightly raise the frontal sternum to get the height. The back ribs go downward, as well as into the body. That is the area where beginners drop.

d. “To prevent stooping the dorsal when taking the head down, pressing the fingertips on the bolster, move the shoulder bone back, and look towards the ceiling to curve the top dorsal spine inward. There is a bit of backbending in the dorsal spine but not in the cervical spine. Shoulders and trapezius back, downward, and top dorsal and the base of the cervical spine, into the body.

e. “Having that shape of the chest, open the armpit chest forward to prevent your armpits from failing. Armpits coming forward is a backbending action.

f. “Now, having this position, slowly bring your head down without disturbing your top dorsal or bottom cervical spine. Else it suddenly hangs and every portion of the body gets disturbed.

g. “Shape this position with your breath — slow soft inhalation — first be in the top chest. That means that the upper sternum and armpit chest must be trained with your inhalation to maintain them slightly up. Widen.... Don’t allow your spine to stoop forward.

“Slow soft exhalation.... While exhaling, this shape should not change. Don’t drop the chest.... Don’t bend forward to exhale, as in normal breathing. Keep the dorsal upright.

h. “Pressing the thumb tips into the bolster, move the skin of the armpit chest forward, so it doesn’t get caught on the side. The life in that portion is very important. It quickly becomes lifeless. In both sitting and breathing, the armpit chest must open from the back to the front.... The upper arm must be slightly behind the armpit chest to get its freedom. [BR: Belt the upper arms as in Sarvangasana to open the front chest without throwing the waist forward when the shoulders are tight.]

i. “Maintaining the firmness of the upper chest with the head down, slowly take the hands onto the thighs, palms up, thumbs rotating out to keep the armpit chest open. Lengthen the upper arms, rolling them backwards, so that the backs of the upper arms becomes longer than the fronts of the upper arms. [BR: Hands on stacked blankets on the thighs, so that they are above the elbows, to descend the triceps.] Slow soft inhalation. Slow soft exhalation.

j. “The next intelligence has to come on the sides of the trunk.... Slow soft inhalation. Begin to lift the sides of the chest a little bit higher, so that you arrest the collapse. Slow soft inhalation from the sides of the trunk. Exhale but don’t drop the side chest all of a sudden....

“While inhaling you have to move the sides of the chest from the back to the front, forward, to go upward.... Move the wheels [of the armpit chest] from the back [on the bottom] to the front to go upward, like going backward in a wheelchair. The tendency of the body and mind is to go forward. To go backward, we have to involute and go inward....

“Slow soft exhalation. Resist [the dorsal spine] going backward by moving the bottom wheel [of the armpit chest] forward. Exhale, maintaining the trunk upward, release the breath and recede.”

k. [BR: Sit on a rolled bandage to elevate lower spine.]

6. Savasana on blanket support
a. “Top head — from the back to the front, move upward for the frontal forehead to recede towards the face. Top forehead recedes toward the eyebrows. From the eyebrows towards the eyelids, from the eyelids towards the cheeks, from the cheeks downward towards the chin, and chin down. Frontal throat completely rested towards the back of the neck.

b. “Now, mindfully, take the two eyebrows away from each other. Drawing a centerline through the forehead, taking the right towards the right and the left towards the left, as though the forehead skin is a natural bandage. Spread out that skin, which makes the inner brain recede from the front to the back. The brain recedes from the front to the back, but that brain should not frown in the front. It should not contract. So the frontal brain spreads towards the side to recede towards the back brain. That means the forehead skin should not shrink towards the eyebrows. Widen them and spread them towards the sides. Descend both side temples from the corners of the eyes towards the back of the head.

“If nothing comes, use your hands to move the skin on the forehead, temples and cheeks. The fingers give a quick direction to the skin.... Use your hands to move your eyebrows away, move the frontal forehead from the center to the sides, and move the temples, from the front to the back, downward. Move the cheeks from the top to the bottom. All of that releases the face.”

7. Bahya Viloma II on blanket support
a. “Bahya Viloma will relax you.... Completely exhaling, slow soft inhalation, which gives you a chance to maintain the shape of the front body. The energy flow will be from the bottom to the top, upward, so that the inner part of the frontal chest does not collapse all of a sudden.

“Maintaining that flow of energy upward, exhale - pause, so that there is no sudden drop of the chest. Exhale - pause, so that there is no sudden drop of the energy. Exhale - pause, the body following one order [ascending], and the exhalation breath following a different order [descending]. Where it releases the breath from inside, and feels as if everything is emptied.

“Normal breathing in between, because you can’t pay attention all the time to every single breath. So have the normal breath. Pacify yourself.... Having the passivity, the intelligence should not fade.

b. “Now, after exhalation, when everything is quiet, slowly inhale, the energy of the trunk flowing from the bottom to the top with the breath, parallel to the breath. Slowly inhale. And, having that complete inhalation, wherever the inhalation ends, now tell the body, the skin, to remain in that position.

“Exhale - wait, exhale - wait, as the breath gravitates downward. Exhale - wait, and complete the exhalation.

“Normal soft breathing. While exhaling, your brain cells and everything quiet. But the eyes, deeper inside, have to be alert. Alert in the sense that they witness this process.”

8. Savasana