Friday 27th August 2004
Darren’s Class
Darren’s led class was very solid this morning – he doesn’t stray much away from the “Darren formula”. A few warm ups including Urdhva Prasaritta Ekapadasana, then to the wall for Utthita Padangusthasana. Then a good set of Handstands to the wall before practicing free balancing which I COULD NOT nail at all today. Just couldn’t find that elusive point of balance where you’re lined up in perfect accord with gravity, bone on bone. My body’s valiantly fighting this head cold so I’m feeling like a bit of a thickhead and obviously devoid of the mind-body clarity and precision needed for fine balancing. So Pincha Mayurasana was a mess too. I made it up nicely but then tipped over into an unxpected backbend – TWICE. Chose at that point to give up, and humbly curled up into Balasana until the others came down. My mat was right next to Darren’s so I felt a bit embarrassed at my ineptitude – sniffelled a few times so he could hear I had a cold and a poor excuse.
After inversions, it was into the standard standing poses then Supta Padangusthasana, and some Padmasana work laying on our backs. A nice addition here was laying on our backs and pulling legs into Padmasana, undoing legs and refolding in opposite Padmasana, then repeating the unfolding and refolding about 4 times without pausing in the pose. The knee stiffness I felt in the first set gave way to fast, fluid fold-ins at the end. Then it was the obligatory mid class Sirsasana, 9 minutes today including leg variations of Konasana, Baddha Konasana, Eka Pada, Parivritta Eka Pada and Padmasana.
On to backbends, starting with a very long supported Setu Bandha, with one and a half blocks (one vertical, one horizontal) under the sacrum, legs straight and feet to the wall, then Eka Pada Setu Bandha, then we pressed up to Urdhva Dhanurasana a few times, lowering back down to the block. Moved to the wall for Urdhva D with hands on blocks, Viparitta Dandasana with elbows to the blocks, Eka Pada Urdhva D, then walked hands up the wall from Urdhva D to standing and back down again a few times. Preparation for a few Standing Dropbacks in the centre of the room. I felt particularly tight through the front hips today so I was very cautious dropping back, trying to really curve my upper spine in deep and lift up up out of the pelvis. When I put my fingers on the muscles at the top of the groins, they felt really hard and compacted despite doing daily dropbacks this week – go figure.
After what felt like a massive backbending session, we went straight to Hanumanasana, 3 times on both sides. You’d think it would have gotten easier each time but it didn’t (I just realised today that this is a 3rd series pose in the Ashtanga system).
Finished with the usual Ardha Halasana over a chair (some use the bench) and I think I might have fallen unconscious – my mind cut loose and went AWOL. When Darren’s little timer went off I was yanked back into the present. No idea where I’d been for the last 7 minutes.
Kosta and I are going to do our first Saturday morning practice in the studio tomorrow. We’ve invited Rebecca so that it can double as a “teacher’s practice” but Bec’s having a bad knee week and said her yoga practice at the moment consists of simply trying to walk without pain! The rest of the weekend I’ll have to devote to catching up on my Anatomy and Physiology assignments. Full moon day next Monday which means my heroic plan to go back to Mysore class with David is postponed. So all being well it’ll be a four day Ashtanga week next week, and maybe five the week after. Baby steps…always baby steps.
Reflections
I had a thought provoking conversation with a work colleague today. She was telling me how a couple of years ago, she made a poster for her bedroom and stuck onto it lots of cutout pictures of things she liked or wanted in her life– a kind of visual wish list. It had some magazine pictures of a house she liked, clothes, a dog, and she even stuck on the logo of the art school where I work because back then, before she came to work for us, she was doing a drawing subject here.
Every now and then it’s hit her out of the blue that one by one, the things in the poster have manifested into her life.
The front of the house she’s currently renting looks almost exactly the same as the house in the poster; she’s inherited her grandmother’s little dog which she adored – same as the one in the poster; she now has a full time job she loves in a place that she loves after putting the logo up on the poster, etc etc. (she’s waiting for Brad Pitt now)
So it’s been interesting to ponder whether
a) once we consciously determine what it is we desire, can the power created by crystallizing then externalizing that thought be strong enough to magnetise the desired object/situation into our life,
or whether
b) our past, present and future are not really separated by time, and hidden in our subconscious is a holistic knowledge of our future. Perhaps when making the poster she was tapping into that invisible realm where we know everything, where time is not linear, where we are connected to all that is, was and will be.
Even more interesting was when I started playing with the idea of making my own wish poster…and I couldn’t think of ONE thing to put onto it.
It was quite extraordinary to realize that I have no desires; no desire to travel, to be somewhere else, no ambitions or plans, and the very little I have in my life is more than enough for my happiness.
Over the past few years my attitude to life has become more simple, joyful, peaceful, and happy with whatever is. But it’s not a passive acceptance of life– it’s an active involvement. It seems to me that in not wanting, not striving, not trying to manipulate life according to false desires, all you need for your wellbeing and personal growth is laid at your feet. I guess that’s why the spiritual practices of all traditions teach non-attachment and faith. When we truly cultivate these, the loving universe provides it all.
In asana practice, the forward bends can be invaluable for teaching us this lesson. I taught a Level 1 class last night with a focus on forward bends and ahimsa (non-violence), not pushing and pulling to get there, but just creating the correct foundation and safe space for the opening to happen. Forward bends need patience and surrender…a bit like growing a flower or plant...you can’t pull it up to make it grow faster, just provide nourishing soil, water, light and love then surrender control, sit back and watch it open up to life in its own perfect time. I hope they got the gist of the metaphor.
(by the way I had a pretty funny moment in that class when I was demonstrating some of the finer points of Uttanasana and got a full on nosebleed).
______________________________________________________________________________
Darren’s Class
Darren’s led class was very solid this morning – he doesn’t stray much away from the “Darren formula”. A few warm ups including Urdhva Prasaritta Ekapadasana, then to the wall for Utthita Padangusthasana. Then a good set of Handstands to the wall before practicing free balancing which I COULD NOT nail at all today. Just couldn’t find that elusive point of balance where you’re lined up in perfect accord with gravity, bone on bone. My body’s valiantly fighting this head cold so I’m feeling like a bit of a thickhead and obviously devoid of the mind-body clarity and precision needed for fine balancing. So Pincha Mayurasana was a mess too. I made it up nicely but then tipped over into an unxpected backbend – TWICE. Chose at that point to give up, and humbly curled up into Balasana until the others came down. My mat was right next to Darren’s so I felt a bit embarrassed at my ineptitude – sniffelled a few times so he could hear I had a cold and a poor excuse.
After inversions, it was into the standard standing poses then Supta Padangusthasana, and some Padmasana work laying on our backs. A nice addition here was laying on our backs and pulling legs into Padmasana, undoing legs and refolding in opposite Padmasana, then repeating the unfolding and refolding about 4 times without pausing in the pose. The knee stiffness I felt in the first set gave way to fast, fluid fold-ins at the end. Then it was the obligatory mid class Sirsasana, 9 minutes today including leg variations of Konasana, Baddha Konasana, Eka Pada, Parivritta Eka Pada and Padmasana.
On to backbends, starting with a very long supported Setu Bandha, with one and a half blocks (one vertical, one horizontal) under the sacrum, legs straight and feet to the wall, then Eka Pada Setu Bandha, then we pressed up to Urdhva Dhanurasana a few times, lowering back down to the block. Moved to the wall for Urdhva D with hands on blocks, Viparitta Dandasana with elbows to the blocks, Eka Pada Urdhva D, then walked hands up the wall from Urdhva D to standing and back down again a few times. Preparation for a few Standing Dropbacks in the centre of the room. I felt particularly tight through the front hips today so I was very cautious dropping back, trying to really curve my upper spine in deep and lift up up out of the pelvis. When I put my fingers on the muscles at the top of the groins, they felt really hard and compacted despite doing daily dropbacks this week – go figure.
After what felt like a massive backbending session, we went straight to Hanumanasana, 3 times on both sides. You’d think it would have gotten easier each time but it didn’t (I just realised today that this is a 3rd series pose in the Ashtanga system).
Finished with the usual Ardha Halasana over a chair (some use the bench) and I think I might have fallen unconscious – my mind cut loose and went AWOL. When Darren’s little timer went off I was yanked back into the present. No idea where I’d been for the last 7 minutes.
Kosta and I are going to do our first Saturday morning practice in the studio tomorrow. We’ve invited Rebecca so that it can double as a “teacher’s practice” but Bec’s having a bad knee week and said her yoga practice at the moment consists of simply trying to walk without pain! The rest of the weekend I’ll have to devote to catching up on my Anatomy and Physiology assignments. Full moon day next Monday which means my heroic plan to go back to Mysore class with David is postponed. So all being well it’ll be a four day Ashtanga week next week, and maybe five the week after. Baby steps…always baby steps.
Reflections
I had a thought provoking conversation with a work colleague today. She was telling me how a couple of years ago, she made a poster for her bedroom and stuck onto it lots of cutout pictures of things she liked or wanted in her life– a kind of visual wish list. It had some magazine pictures of a house she liked, clothes, a dog, and she even stuck on the logo of the art school where I work because back then, before she came to work for us, she was doing a drawing subject here.
Every now and then it’s hit her out of the blue that one by one, the things in the poster have manifested into her life.
The front of the house she’s currently renting looks almost exactly the same as the house in the poster; she’s inherited her grandmother’s little dog which she adored – same as the one in the poster; she now has a full time job she loves in a place that she loves after putting the logo up on the poster, etc etc. (she’s waiting for Brad Pitt now)
So it’s been interesting to ponder whether
a) once we consciously determine what it is we desire, can the power created by crystallizing then externalizing that thought be strong enough to magnetise the desired object/situation into our life,
or whether
b) our past, present and future are not really separated by time, and hidden in our subconscious is a holistic knowledge of our future. Perhaps when making the poster she was tapping into that invisible realm where we know everything, where time is not linear, where we are connected to all that is, was and will be.
Even more interesting was when I started playing with the idea of making my own wish poster…and I couldn’t think of ONE thing to put onto it.
It was quite extraordinary to realize that I have no desires; no desire to travel, to be somewhere else, no ambitions or plans, and the very little I have in my life is more than enough for my happiness.
Over the past few years my attitude to life has become more simple, joyful, peaceful, and happy with whatever is. But it’s not a passive acceptance of life– it’s an active involvement. It seems to me that in not wanting, not striving, not trying to manipulate life according to false desires, all you need for your wellbeing and personal growth is laid at your feet. I guess that’s why the spiritual practices of all traditions teach non-attachment and faith. When we truly cultivate these, the loving universe provides it all.
In asana practice, the forward bends can be invaluable for teaching us this lesson. I taught a Level 1 class last night with a focus on forward bends and ahimsa (non-violence), not pushing and pulling to get there, but just creating the correct foundation and safe space for the opening to happen. Forward bends need patience and surrender…a bit like growing a flower or plant...you can’t pull it up to make it grow faster, just provide nourishing soil, water, light and love then surrender control, sit back and watch it open up to life in its own perfect time. I hope they got the gist of the metaphor.
(by the way I had a pretty funny moment in that class when I was demonstrating some of the finer points of Uttanasana and got a full on nosebleed).
______________________________________________________________________________
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: March 11, 2006
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