Thursday 6.30p Intro — Week 14 (June 4, 2009)

Focus: Increasing shoulder range of motion following left frozen shoulder and therapy in 2005. (SS)

Invocation in Swastikasana

1. Rope 1
a. Assistant pulls Rope Shoulder Harness down to prevent shrugging the shoulders.
b. Shoulder blades down, head up.

2. Adho Mukha Svanasana
a. Ears in line with upper arms to prevent sinking in the shoulder. Extend through the arms and side trunk.
b. Press forefinger knuckle down and lift inner deltoid.

3. Back Roller Supta Tadasana

4. Rope 1
a. Repeat with Adho Mukha Svanasana several times.

5. Adho Mukha Svanasana
a. Take inner edge of shoulder blades into back body without sinking.

6. Chair Sirsasana
a. Each shoulder on a chair seat to prevent shrugging the shoulders. Feet on wall, roll back and forth on shoulders to soften them.

7. Adho Mukha Svanasana

8. Rope 1
a. Belted Shoulder Jacket to widen more from sternum to the shoulders.

9. Adho Mukha Svanasana
a. Can extend arms more and thoracic starts to become more concave.

10. Chair Viparita Dandasana

11. Adho Mukha Svanasana
a. Bring inner shoulder blades into back body without sinking.

20. Sarvangasana Cycle
a. Salamba Sarvangasana
b. Ekapada Sarvangasana
Toes on chair seat.
c. Halasana
Toes on chair seat. Extend arms away from body, and lift back chest up, away from nape of neck, to get more on top of shoulders.

21. Blanket Setubandha (5 min)

Tuesday 6.30p Intro — Week 14 (June 2, 2009)

Focus: Continue work on Week 7 of syllabus. This sequence has a little bit of everything. Open the chest in standings for Urdhva Mukha Svanasana. Refine Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, introduce Surya Namaskar, work on Sarvangasana with variations. Sarvangasana arm actions improve Urdhva Mukha Svanasana. For standings during menstruation, use support and don’t hold as long.

Note new poses for this week are in bold face.

Invocation in Swastikasana

1. Tadasana/Samasthiti

2. Utthita Trikonasana (2 X)

3. Virabhadrasana II

4. Utthita Parsvakonasana

5. Prasarita Padottanasana

6. Vimanasana

7. Parivrtta Trikonasana
a. Back leg action as in Vimanasana.

b. Jathara Parivartanasana (intermediate stage)
Bend both knees and, keeping them together, swing from side to side to turn from the belly.

c. Parivrtta Trikonasana
Turn from the navel as in Jathara Parivartanasana.

d. Menstrual: Ardha Parsvottanasana

8. Uttanasana (Baddha Hasta arms)

9. Ardha Chandrasana (Right)
a. With the back to the wall, learn the stages of the pose to prevent falling due to lack of balance. Keep the inner edge of the right foot down.

10. Parsvottanasana (Right)
a. From Ardha Chandrasana, turn trunk towards floor and, with both hands on floor, drop back to Parsvottanasana.

11. Prasarita Padottanasana
a. From Parsvottanasana (Right), turn forward. Concave upper back, chest and head up.
b. Head down on floor or brick

12. Ardha Chandrasana (Left) to Parsvottanasana (Left) to Prasarita Padottanasana

13. Padangusthasana

14. Virasana (Parvatasana arms)
a. Sit on brick. Be on the center of the shins.

15. Adho Mukha Virasana
a. Sit on brick. Keep buttocks down.

16. Adho Mukha Svanasana
a. Keeping the hips flexed in Adho Mukha Virasana, come up to Adho Mukha Svanasana.

17. Urdhva Mukha Svanasana
a.. Knees on floor to learn arm actions: Hands on bricks on the floor. Walk in the feet so that the arms are vertical and near the waist. Bend the elbows, bring the armpit chest forward, and lift the biceps to lift the side chest.

b. Leg actions: Hands on bricks. Dorsiflex the feet by turning the toes under and straighten the knees as in Vimanasana.

c. Combined arm and leg actions without hands on bricks. Turn onto dorsal feet, tops of toes (harder to keep knees straight).

d. Adho Mukha Svanasana to Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (3X)

e. Surya Namaskar: Adho Mukha Svanasana to Urdhva Mukha Svanasana to Adho Mukha Svanasana to Urdhva Mukha Svanasana, jump to Adho Mukha Svanasana to Uttanasana to Urdhva Hastasana to Tadasana (2X)

f. Menstrual: Upavistha Konasana

18. Virasana
a. Neutral gear and resting pose.

19. Forward Extensions
Dandasana
Urdhva Hasta Dandasana
Padangusthasana Dandasana
Paschimottanasana
Janu Sirsasana
Paschimottanasana

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

20. Sarvangasana Cycle
a. Salamba Sarvangasana
b. Ekapada Sarvangasana
Foot on chair seat.
c. Halasana
Feet on chair seat.
d. Chair Supta Konasana
Omitted for time. Will start work on it next week.
e. Chair Karnapidasana
Omitted for time. Knees on chair seat.
f. Menstrual: Supta Baddha Konasana or Setubandha

21. Paschimottanasana

22. Savasana (5 min)