2hr Practice - Focus: Standing Poses

I went to Patti Dusel's class in Edmonton and to the best of my memory, this was the practice we did yesterday. It was a good practice - 2 hours - and my quads worked hard in the standing poses.

Warm Up Cycle - Hold every pose 40 secs:

• Addho Mukkha Virasana
• Uttanasana
• Addho Mukkha Svanasana - feet against wall
• Chataranga Dandasana
  
• Addho Mukkha Svanasana - hands against wall *active pose, yet recovering*
• Uttanasana
• Addho Mukkha Svanasana
• Ardha Mukha Vrksasana - Half Handstand against wall
• Addho Mukkha Svanasana
• Addho Mukkha Virasana

Standing Poses

• Tadasana *take the arms back, turn the palms back, as if you were hanging off the ropes*
  
• Urdhva Hastasana
• Parvatasana in Tadasana
  
• Vrksasana (with the right leg bent: the right hip bone moves towards the center, the thigh rotates outward; standing leg: lift the knee caps, engage quads, lift front of the pelvic rim)
• Trikonasana *drop buttocks, lift front rim of pelvis, take the tb in by using the gluts, the head and torso is on the outside of the leg (back)*
• Utthita Parsvakonasana
• Ardha Chandrasana
• Utthita Hasta Padangustasana
• bend one knee and hug it into your torso
• put the strap around the foot and extend the leg out
• extend through the inner heel

Inversions

• Sirsasana Cycle (5 min)
• Salamba Sirsasana - 3 min
• Eka Pada Sirsasana -1 min
• Salamba Sirsasana - 1 min

Abdominal

• Paripurna Navasana - Feet are above eyes
• Urdhva Prasarita Padasana (90 degrees, 45 degrees) - ensure the sacrial band is pressing into the floor
• Urdhva Prasarita Padasana (90 degrees, 60 degrees, 30 degrees)

Twist

• Jathara Parivartanasana (first hovering, the second round - on floor)

Closing Sequence

• Upavista Konasana
• Supta Baddhakonasana * do always after core work like Navasana - for recovery of the hip flexors*
• Salamba Sarvangasana
• Savasana (in Supta Baddhakonasana) *the focus is on the front of our brain, our throat and our heart - to connect the 4th, 5th and 6th chakra*

back bend

Heather in
"eka pada viparita dandasana"
or
"one-foot-inverted-staff pose"

study

I haven't seen too many scientific studies about iyengar yoga yet. But one study from the University of Washington State concluded that iyengar yoga promotes well being in breast cancer survivors.

You can read the full story here.

Rather than just focusing on restorative poses, the traditional Iyengar approach was taken:

• standing poses (to develop physical strength);
• chest and shoulder openers; and
• inversions - the back bone of Iyengar yoga.

They study also concluded that yoga provides positive psychological effects on the breast cancer survivors, but doesn't elaborate on the topic.

Scientific research aside, I have observed yoga's psychophysical effects in my own experience: an asana practice usually clears my mind and balances my emotions.

The 3 Stages of Yoga Poses

A yoga pose can be divvied up into three stages:

• the going into yoga pose
  
• the being in the yoga pose
• and the coming out of the yoga pose
  

Depending on your personality (or patterns), you might be good at all three of them. My personality appears to be focusing on the first half of the three stages: I am usually enthusiastic, among the first ones in the pose, but I am also among the first ones who lose interest and come out of the pose in the fastest way possible, which often feels more like a sloppy dance move, if not a falling-over, than a mindful yoga movement.

And in real life, that's true too. 100% Enthusiasm. Not-so-many % Follow-Through.

Here is another New Year's resolution:
In my next yoga pose, I will make sure that I put as much awareness into the coming-out as the coming in. It can't be too difficult.

acarya

Today was week 7 of teaching a lunch-hour Iyengar beginner class at work. On average I introduce 1 or 2 new poses each week. Especially in the beginning, repetition is a great learning tool. I think too many new poses would just confuse the beginning student. At the same time, I work towards 1 or 2 more challenging poses, to keep the students interested. Ardha Chandrasana or Virabhadrasana III (Warrior III) are good challenging poses for beginners.

"The acarya (teacher) gives you one quarter, one quarter comes from your fellow students, one quarter comes from your own intelligence and one quarter comes from the passage of time."

Manu

(From the book Yoga Touchstone by Norman Sjoman)

Awareness & Knowledge

...People are more aware of what yoga is now. You don't need to educate people as much. People know it's not something exotic like sitting on a bed of nails. It's a deep practice of self-awareness and self-knowledge that also connects you to those around you in a way that is beneficial to everyone....

Judith Hanson Lasater

Yoga Studio

What should a yoga studio be like?

According to the Yoga Pradipika, "...the Yogi should practice Hatha Yoga in a small room, situated in a solitary place, being 4 cubits square, and free from stones, fire, water, disturbances of all kinds, and in a country where justice is properly administered, where good people live, and food can be obtained easily and plentifully..."

I think my place in Canada probably meets this description - not quite sure how big 4 cubit square are, but people are good and food is plentiful!