In class, we look at advanced poses and techniques and I try to find ways to make them safely accessible for everyone. I believe that working towards advanced goals is beneficial to our practice. As always, be careful and mindful.
1: sūryanamaskāra five times as warm up.
2: Basic standing poses with movements. We have now looked at all the basic standing poses and we’ll continue to refine them. Practice stringing them together in your own ways at home.
3: Sumo Squat – In the West we do not squat. In most cultures, squatting is common. I love the squat that sumo wrestlers do at the start of a contest and we played with this in class. This is far from the squats in “Light On Yoga” but very beneficial. The lesson I learned from years of martial arts practice is “do not fight people who look like this”
4: Backbends and some belly strengthening poses ending with paripūrna dhanurāsana with long belts. We’ll work on shortening the belts over time.
It may not be obvious at first but the large psoas muscles in the belly are the key to backbends. We need to strengthen them and also lengthen them. They are neglected in modern seated culture.
5: Twists, core strength & forward bends
including ardhabadhapadmapaścimottānāsana (in sanskrit, there is no space character) We did not attempt to catch the foot. This pose is in the aṣṭāṅga primary series and I intend to look at all the poses in the series at least briefly in the next weeks.
for a twist, we did my favorite Matsyendra variation using a belt around the ankle. Catching the ankle is very difficult. Notice how open Mr Iyengar’s front body is here. We can get the same feeling using a belt. The internal organs get a wonderful massage from these twisting poses. The arm round your back massages your kidneys.
This gave us a chance to explore the lotus position and in particular the knee action. It’s really important not to twist the knee joint. The correct action is to completely close the knee joint without twisting and then put the top of the foot on the opposite thigh. Eventually, this becomes comfortable.
6: Headstand śīrṣāsana शीर्षासन – Dona Hollerman recommends practicing headstand in a corner. This gives excellent feedback on your alignment. Try this even if you are good at headstand.
Advanced tip: In the pose, practice coming down as far as you can with straight legs, and then back up until you have strength to get to the floor. Be patient and avoid strain or injury. This is best practiced away from the wall.
7: Bird bakāsana बकासन – Quick introduction to this advanced group of poses. I was taught to move between the variations through three point headstand. The secret is “head up and butt down!”
8: Shoulderstand – peaceful five minute stay. Students were briefly lifted with my knee supporting their back.
9: Viloma – back to basics. Reclined, bolstered and eyebagged. I do this technique often, especially if I can’t sleep or I am feeling anxious. It really is a delightful practice. Pause without tension during inhalation and exhalation. All pauses and breath movements are equal in both volume and time. This increases awareness and control of the lungs. It is very calming. You can add and subtract the number of pauses until you have a practice that works for you. My favorite is to fill the bottom lungs then pause. Then fill the middle lungs and pause. Then fill to the top of the lungs, almost to the armpits. Pause and then exhale from top to bottom with pauses.
It’s important to find your own rhythm and pace. Smooth even and comfortable. No stress. When learning this technique, stop occasionally and do a body sweep to identify areas where tension creeps in.
I love the sharp edges on the old wooden bricks I learned on. Nowadays, we use soft bolsters and blankets and I often fall asleep.
