Backbend Sequence from Chandra's class

Theme- lift the chest, free the armpit chest, shoulder blades on the back- every time, every pose, open the chest, etc. Enjoy.
adho mukha virasana
adho mukha svanasana
uttanasana
trikonasana 2X- after you have done every wise thing to align the pose that you know, then put the shoulders on your back, roll the upper arms from inside out and then open the armpit chest
parsvakonasana- same as in trikonasana
prasarita padottonasana
sirsasana
pinca mayurasana 2-4X- Look straight ahead, stretch up the wall, maintain the stretch adn the open armpits and then look at the floor
full arm balance 2-4X- same actions/order as pinca
ustrasana 3X- use the hands claspgin behind your back to lift the armpit chest and get the shoulders to moveinto the chest then go for the feet
urdhva mukha svanasana 3X
shalabasana 3X- reach the legs back one at a time, reach the arms forward at first to lengthen the flaoting ribs forward
danurasana 3X
urdhva danurasana 6X - keep the head on the floor on the way up to keep the brain soft
dwipada viparita dandasana 2X head down, 3X head up (legs stay bent)
Adho mukha swastikasana - alternate legs, support head
parsva adho mukha swastikasana- alternate legs
baradvajasana- 2X each side
pascimottanasan with legs wide
setu bandhasana on block- legs straight and wide
padanhastasana in setu bandhasana on block
chatrush padasana- 3X from block
ardha halasana on chair
savasana

Have at it you, sequence junkies- this one was a lot of fun.

Friday Afternoon

Anne and I had another most excellent practice this morning, practicing one of Geeta's sequences. (My tailbone actually began to move in in Simhasana which, for me, is very big news. Yes, I know, I am attached and pleased with the "result of my doing"...sooo immature still....) We came home, had lunch and then made our way to a local batik seller's home where we purchased some snazzy items to add to our pile of plunder. We have a few minutes to spare before class tonight and are here at our favorite spot- the Internet cafe.

Geeta has been gone since Wednesday. So Sunita taught the ladies class on Wednesday, Rajlaksmi taught the pranayama class last night and rumour has it that Chandra will teach tonight. I am sure whoever teaches will be great.

Last night's pranayama class was beautiful and simple. Here is a great teaching lesson for all of us-- A woman asked a question about how to hold her fingers for digital pranayama. (For the uninitiated, that is digital as in using the fingers to close off the nostrils, not digital as in some new technologically advanced means of manipulating one's breath.) Rajlaksmi asked her if she had read Light on Pranayama. The woman replied that she had not. Rajlaksmi told her that is was her duty to go home and read it and that if she did not understand after reading the book then she could come back next week and someone at The Institute would answer her questions.

So it seems to me that although we are always told there are no stupid questions, there are plenty of questions that displace our responsibility for learning onto our teachers. There are plenty of questions that we ask before we have searched books, resources, ourselves and our own experiences for the answer. So I think it is a great privilege to have the resource of a teacher, I really do. But I do wonder- having been on both sides of the teaching relationship many times, that quite often we ask as a first rather than last resort. (And, of course, sometimes asking first is appropriate.) It was just so great to see Rajlaksmi place the responsibility for that piece of information on the student first and still give the student an invitation to ask if she remained unclear. I know as a teacher, it is easy to just answer and "be the one who knows" rather than to really facilitate someone's learning process in a way might actually serve them more over the long haul.

Anyway learning and teaching is never dull. So while externally, life here in Pune hasn't necessarily been action-packed, the internal activity has more than made up for it. Plus, I think Anne and I have laughed more in these three weeks than I have all year. (And I laugh a lot.)

Okay- off to yoga class.

Posts Galore, how exciting!

Thanks for posting here and also on Anne's blog.

Sharon, I love your insights about your meditation and asana practice informing one another. I think your perceptions of Iyengar Yoga are very common and from what I can gather, there is a fair amount of disappointment here that this tradition has become reduced to something like what you describe. Prashant did this whole big thing one day about how "The Iyengar clan and all of its super star teachers are so good at points. They know where to push, where to lift, and they have a point for every ailment but what they fail to communicate is what is beyond all of those points."

I think a lot of it is just the consideration of stability and freedom as it relates to the study, practice and teaching of this thing we are calling yoga. I mean, the points are great. I am happy to have the structure of forms, recipes and so on for practice. Nothing like some good biomechanical points to help us focus and keep the body safe as we practice. But perhaps they are more of a means than we have been led to believe.

I have this friend named Ed who is a great guitar player. He plays these absolutely stellar solos that have the ability to really transport the listener to different realms. For a while he was a yoga student of mine. He had done yoga before but more in the "anything goes" methods. One day after class we were talking about the precision I was asking for in my classes. He said, " I didn't really get it at first but I think it is like music. People ask me all the time how I can play such great solos. To me the answer is simple- I know my scales." I replied that not only did he know his scales but he practiced them a lot as well. So like that.

I find it takes a kind of discipline to take what Prashant is saying or what Geeta is saying and apply it to levels that are deeper than the surface. Many times, on the surface layer, the comment is not true at all. For instance the whole "accusation" that we are not interested in learning. Of course I am interested in learning. But then, it becomes obvious that I was totally inattentive to some action in my pose and in that moment I absolutely was not an interested learner. Guilty as charged, so to speak. And it is a lot to really wrap myself around that even when we can manage attention on "three points", inevitably there is a fourth point or the culture of the pose and so on to which we will be called to pay attention. (Kind of like how I say in class all the time that we are rewarded for a job well done with something harder to do.)

Rhonda- there is a great group from New York. Mostly from the Iyengar Institute in Manhattan- they are all students of Mary Dunn. Haven't met anyone who is Dutch however. Sorry I will miss you in October but I am excited to hear that your art career is taking off in a big way. Those of you in Texas who have admired some of the pretty necklaces I wear, meet Rhonda- she made them.

And Hello, to Linda. Nice to know you are out there.

One cool thing from Sunita's class (other than it was fun, she was funny and quite knowledgeable.) Sunita is one of Mr. Iyengar's daughters and she was subbing for Geeta on Wednesday mroning in the Ladies Class. Not so much anything that she said but her studentship to Mr. Iyengar was really great. She was teaching and he was in the corner practicing and then he would tell her how we could improve or what was going wrong in the pose and then she would report what he said to us and it went on like that several times throughout the class. So as she was teaching us, he was teaching her and she was so completely grateful, non-defensive and in good cheer about his help. She didn't in anyway shrink from her seat as the teacher and she was absolutely utilizing his help with utter and complete humility and gratitude. (So the next time any of you have me in a as a teacher in a teacher training scenario for practicums, this is what I will expect! Just kidding.) It was just a great teaching in action of how we could be with our teachers.

All right then, enough for now.

Anne is Sad

Anne is very sad because I got two comments on my blog today and she got none. So everyone, throw her a bone and leave a note..she says she will even take pity comments!

Seriously it is such a thrill to get comments and to get the emails that many of you are sending privately while we are here. It is nice to know that people are reading, reflecting and sharing the journey.(And nice to know that my flailing can be a source of teaching inspiration for your classes, Leanne! I can imagine the story that it made. Please give everyone up in White Rock especially Chris, Maddy and Holden) my love.

We had class with Prashant last night which is kind of like part philosophy lecture, part asana practice, part - well I am not sure what to call it exactly.

Basically, this is some of what I remember him talking about:

We are trained intially to have a very dogmatic approach to asana- do this, do not do this, press here, lift there and so forth. But eventually that must create within us the ability to advance to a pragmatic approach. The only way to make that leap is to -you guessed it - be a student of our practice, observe, learn and respond. We need to understand that every pose has a culture, a mood or a fabric and we need to understand how the culture of the pose cultures us and how the culture of poses affect the other poses we practice in a given session and so on.

Now this is my musings: This line of teaching really struck me as part of what we are getting at with the heart qualities and themes in Ansuara Yoga. While in Iynegar Yoga it seems to me that the idea is that the poses themselves are archetypeal/iconographic and each asana has a distinct, objective culture, the postures are also relational-the character of the pose can be influenced by the order that it is practiced and by cultivating its archetypal culture as you practice. Prashant even suggested that when you taste the tranquility of forward bends, for example, you might practice bringing that tranquility to your standing poses and so on.

Now, that sounds like Ansuara Yoga. (in a certain way) While in Asnuara Yoga we recognize archetypal domain as well, I think for us we begin to consider that the poses are more like empty vessels into which we might pour the prana of intention and so forth. So while perhaps there is an objective ideal for the posture, our emphasis is a bit different.

I thought about what John would say if posed the question, "Do we consider the poses to be archetypal with a distinct mood and culture inherent in them or are they empty vessels?" In my imagination, I saw him grin and say "Both".

Anyway, Prashant continued: Intially when we begin our practice, we have the state of being that could be characterized as "I want to do." Then we move to the state of " I am doing." Beyond that, we need to go to the state where "It is being done to me." We need to "objectify the subject" so that we no longer feel that we are the subject of the practice. Remaining the subject gives us two basic options, neither of which is ideal. The first option is "I want to do, I could not do, I am done(and upset or dissappointed)." The second option is "I want to do, I am doing, I can do, I am done (and proud)." What we want to move toward is the process of "I want to do, I am doing, it is being done to me."

So we need to allow the intial enthusiasm for doing to be transformed through practice, attention, intention so that the willful enthusiasam is sublimated and begins to direct us to a cultured state beyond being the subject of the yoga.

Okay- there is more to say and more to consider about that but it is time for practice and "I want to do".

Thanks again for reading.

Another Great Class

We had another great class last night with Geeta. Anne and I were in the front row which is where she was teaching from and at a certain point I realized Iwasn't nervous. (Just thought I would report in on that as I have so frequently shared the opposite expereince.. I think I have settled in a bit..Maybe relaxation and alerness ar finding a better balance or someting.)

That being said, I am not feeling overwhelmingly inspired to write today and since several people have wanted to see the sequences from class, (this one is for you, Devon) I thought I would post last nights class. The emphasis was on observing oneself and studying oneself in the doing. (This is obviously a huge theme here at The Institute.) Also, in terms of biomechanics the salient features of the class involved stretching the sides of the torso and keeping the arms and legs in the sockets and the middle buttocks in. When the back bends come all of that has to happen without taking the spine in too much ("Do not hit the spine") and without tensing the throat. These actions will protect the nervous system. (Please, no feedback on Sanskrit misspellings. )

Enjoy. I had fun with this one.

• Adho Mukha virasana
• Adho Mukha Svanasana
• Uttanasana
• prasarita padottanasana
• parsvottanasa with hands outstretched way in front of front leg in order to lengthen the sides and then bringing them back toward the back leg maintaining the length
• classic parsvottanasana, stopping half way down to establish the length of the sides, the release of the trapezius, taking the head down finally without collapsing the sternum.
• prasarita padottanasana 2
• prasarita padottanasana, with hands clasped behind back and lifting arms up to ceiling as they move more and more to the head side
• Adho Mukha Svanasana
• Sirasana, parsva sirsasana. Then repeat changing the interlace of the hands. Watch what happens. She had instructed us to monitor the difference of the lift in the shoulder depending on which hand was on top in the clasp and how that affected the rooting of the forearm and the lift of the shoulder and so on.
• Adho Mukha Virasana, placing the outer hand on the floor and lifting the wrist up, charging the elbows and firming the arms
• Adho Mukha Vrksasana, changing legs to observe the stability or lack there of on the way up and down
• Adho Mukha Vrksasana, hands turned out, observe
• sirasana 2/tadasana-- several times. Going up bent legs, going up straight legs, going up right leg, going up left leg, going up right, coming down left, etc. observe, observe, observe and respond. After each headstand we came to a strong tadasana to release the neck by stretching the arms fully and rolling the shoulders down the back.
• trikonasana-3X working on length on the bottom side, taking the hand all the way to the floor , not the ankle
• parsvakonasana Geeta then did a whole big long thing on how eve though trikonasana is usually taught first in the course and usually comes first in sequences many beginners will have a hard time in the pose and will have more success learning parsvakonasana first. She suggested that in trikonasasna you can use gravity to help stretch out the side but this is hard whens omen is tight. Then she said in parsvakonasana it is easier for someone to learn to stretch the underside of the torso and so if the can learn that action first then they can bring that to the gravity opportunity of trikonasana. I think that is what she was saying- I understand every other word or so. So then we practiced:
• parsvakonasana to trikonasana- first getting the underside long and then keeping the length in trikonasana
• urdhva danurasana 4 X
• urdva danusrasana -4X from a bolster to keep the spinal muscle spreading and to not hit the spine.
• baradvajasana
• charush padasana- 3X
• sarvangasana, using parsva halanasana to lengthen the sides and then crawl the hands further toward the shoulders, sarvangasana 2 to really pull the arms (like we did in chatush padasana) and then to niralama sarvangasana and then to halasana keeping the back side of the body lifting (like we did in nirlamaba sarvangasana)
• savasana

okay kids, have at it. There are, of course, more details to but that was the gist. Class with Prashant tonight.

Oh and Liz, join the discussion! I would love your wisdom and perspectives. (How is the baby growing?) I miss you.

And, Dad- I liked your post. It made me think there are some things to share about self-effort and grace in how the yoga philosohies of different ptradions actiually describe that quite differently. The "working out of one's salvation" and how one acutally does that in the yoga traditions varies greatly. But today, I am not up to the task of that consideration. I will cogitate on it and save the musings for a future post.

Sunday In Pune

After a great practice this morning Anne and I ate lunch and set off on an adventure. I think she is covering the details on her blog. www.theyogaplacewaco.blogspot.com I am mostly drinking water to re-hydrate from the long sweaty walk that was involved. (Plus at one stop she enjoyed two different coffee beverages so she is probably a bit more chatty than me at the moment!)

To Ride A Camel

Shortly after lunch, Anne and I went in search of a batik shop which supposedly has great batik clothing, gifts, yoga shorts and so on. As we were walking, dodging cars, and repeatedly confronting our mortality (See Anne's post, Why the Chicken Really Crossed the Road) we actually saw three camels walking down the road. They were not free-range camels, they had humans attached to them. We were very excited.

After a long walk down the road we found the shop but it was closed which, obviously, was disappointing. We then realized we could use the time to update our blogs. So we walked back to the Internet cafe and the power was out so we went back home, after procuring some bottled water and what turned out to be delicious cookies.(My recent Ayurveda regime is a bit loose here....getting looser by the day, in fact.) We rested, read, ate cookies and then began the walk back to The Institute for practice. We heard the sound of bells ringing. As we looked to see where the sound was coming from we saw that one of the camels and his human was no in our neighborhood. I quickly take out my camera and take a shot and the opportunistic human who was attached to the camel brought the camera over to us and asked us if we wanted a ride.

"How much?" I say.
"200 Rupees," he answers.
"So much?" I exclaim, pretending to be shocked.
"Yes, it will be a very long ride madam."
"What about 100 rupees."
"No madam. 200 rupees."

I look at Anne who obviously thinks that approximately 5 dollars is worth it for the ride and nods at me. Meanwhile, the camel is bending down and coming to sit so that we can mount him and the local women are gathering around laughing at us. I dig through our money and since I only have 92 rupees, the guy agrees to let us ride the camel for 92 rupees. Not a bad deal.

Now, mounting a camel is one thing, but being mounted on said camel as said camel comes up to standing is a real experience. (Definitely not something you get to do everyday.) Oh, and by the way, this was a one- hump camel and we sat on either side of the hump. Anne in front of the hump, me behind her. The guy says to me repeatedly, "Hold on tight." And I was holding tightly on to Anne but he insisted that I hold onto the cage-like saddle apparatus that was making the whole riding- a -camel- thing even possible. And thank God I was holding on tight because first, the camel lurched forward to get his back legs out from the folded position underneath him. Then, he lurched back as he unfurled his front legs and then there were several smaller, yet not less exciting lurches as he came to his full upright stature.

By this time we were laughing so hard we were crying. The near-hysterical state didn't exactly help us meet the new and very real challenge of actually staying on the camel for the walk down the street. I was thinking that it would be a real shame to fall off a camel and have to report my injuries to Geeta on Monday in class. ("Well, Geeta, I am wondering if you know a special sequence to help me with the concussion I sufferred from falling off a camel on my way to practice on Saturday....)

Anyway-we have pictures of the camel but not one of us on it as we were both on it and since I was holding on for dear life I wasn't really free to photograph the moment. I probably could have asked one of the women who was standing nearby and laughing to take a picture of the silly white girls, but well, at that point it seemed a bit much. In retrospect, I think we had crossed the threshold of "too much" when we agreed to the ride and straddled the hump....