A story about Ahimsa

From the Vedas, the vast collection of ancient philosophical teachings from India:

A certain sadhu, or wandering monk, would make a yearly circuit of villages in order to teach. One day as he entered a village he saw a large and menacing snake who was terrorizing the people. The sadhu spoke to the snake and taught him about ahimsa. The following year when the sadhu made his visit to the village, he again saw the snake. How changed he was. This once magnificent creature was skinny and bruised. The sadhu asked the snake what had happened. He replied that he had taken the teaching of ahimsa to heart and had stopped terrorizing the village. But because he was no longer menacing, the children now threw rocks and taunted him, and he was afraid to leave his hiding place to hunt. The sadhu shook his head. "I did advise against violence," he said to the snake, "but I never told you not to hiss."

Protecting ourselves and others does not violate ahimsa. Practicing ahimsa means we take responsibility for our own harmful behavior and attempt to stop the harm caused by others. Being neutral is not the point. Practicing true ahimsa springs from the clear intention to act with clarity and love. From the Yoga Journal

Non-Attachment

"The superior man makes the difficulty to be overcome hisfirst interest; success comes only later."--Confucius

Sounds like Patanjali’s “Don’t be attached to the Outcome” to me!

Practical Hint in Raised Arm Pose

Focus on extending through your ring finger in Urdhva Hastasana. This helps to gently extend from the waist up.

Other variations are

• having a block in between the palms, or
• a strap around the elbows.

It looks like an easy pose, but keeping everything aligned is actually quite a challenge. Key points in Urdhva Hastasana are:

• ground through your feet
• Calves move forward
• Knee Caps lift
• Inner thighs rotate backward
• Tailbone drops
• Extend both sides of the trunk equally
• Front ribs stay in
• Shoulders drop
• Throat relaxed
• Gaze relaxed

Wow - that's quite a list! Can you think of anything else?

On a side note :)

"I hint nothing happens. I hit everything happens." BKS Iyengar

Inversions and Twists Class

Baddha Hasta Sirsasana

Maha Mudra

Marichiasana III

Here is an intermediate sequence focusing on twists and inversions. I am still a beginner when it comes to the sanskrit terminology, therefore a mix of English and Sanskrit.

Downward Dog – head resting on a block (Note: move neck and shoulders away from the head)

Handstand – with strap on forearm below elbow
Forearm Stand (with block and strap against the wall)
Forearm Stand with palms facing up and sandbags on palms.
Sirsasana III (against the wall – hands clasp elbows – do both sides)

Gomukasana (hands only; then feet as well)
Marichiasana III (binding – both sides)
Ardha Matsyendrasana
Ardha Padmasana (Dandasana – left leg straight, right leg in Padmasana, right hand binds on the back clasps the shin of the right leg, left hand holds the left foot on the pinky side)

Maha Mudra

Salamba Sarvangasana
Sarvangasana (clasping hands – press down arms)
Sarvangasana (hands over head)
Sarvangasana (hands at your thighs)

Setu Bandasana

Savasana