Diary of a yoga nobodhi

Notes from the Glenn Ceresoli workshop where I digress from my Ashtanga practice for one week only.

DAY 4: Thursday 13th January 2005

Surfing
Once again I didn’t get a chance to write up my notes after Glenn’s session this morning. We all went for coffee afterwards, then me and Sasha headed straight off down the coast for a surf. Great waves too.
I was hoping Sasha would do the driving so I could write up notes on the way down before they dissolved out of my memory forever, but Sasha’s only ever driven an automatic car, and my car’s a manual. So I did the driving. The trip down the coast takes a good hour and a quarter from the city, but it was worth it today. We arrived at the surf beach to find clean little 3 foot waves, so we had a really great time. We stayed in the water for about an hour before I started to tire, getting too weak to paddle, couldn’t even raise the effort to jump up onto my board towards the end – that’s when I know it’s time to come in. We got back home around 3pm.

I worry more about drowning than I do about sharks even though we’ve had some gruesome shark attacks around this coastline in recent years. I’ve had two scary near-drowning incidents out in the surf when I’ve been held under the water for so long that I’ve given up the effort to fight and stay alive. It’s an eerie feeling when you’re that close to drowning, quite peaceful because you just let go, give in to the power of the ocean, like it’s finally beaten you after all these years. I remember the overwhelming sadness at having to leave my children behind.
Giving up your attachment to life, accepting death, is the ultimate surrender.

Naturally after a morning session with Glenn then going surfing (and eating hot, salty chips for lunch afterwards), I thought I’d be pretty buggered for the evening session, but the ocean has a magical way of purifying your body and soul. Surfing invigorates you and leaves you with a very balanced, strong energy – lots of prana! I arrived at the yoga studio, the overhead fans were spinning madly, the big studio doors were wide open and the lady in the house facing the open doors was singing in her front garden with every ounce of her jazz loving heart and soul. What joy to be there!

A few thoughts
After doing 5 minute Sukhasana forward bends at the start of each session twice a day, and feeling a really intense stretch through my outer hips in this pose, I’m curious to experience how this work will manifest in my Ashtanga practice next week. I don’t know if I’ve gained any penetrating insights overall, but I’ve really enjoyed the opportunity to do two sessions of yoga a day.
I’ve been able to reach deep into the crevices of my body habits with this kind of work, but I’ve been asking myself “What’s the point?” “Why do it?” Is it really just another experience, another opportunity to indulge in self analysis, self enquiry, self obsession? Has it helped me in my quest to live a more enlightened life? I have my doubts.

But I have gained more insight into what makes a good teacher and Glenn really is one of the best. High on the list of attributes that good teachers exude: passion, devotion, a commanding, authoritative presence, combined with a personal touch; confident adjustments, teaching about the nature of the mind as well as the body. Glenn puts us in a pose then walks around as he talks, observing, adjusting, sometimes spending extra time to help someone modify the pose while continuing to give instructions to the rest of us. And he’s funny in a wicked way, very quick. He explains everything in a clear manner, easy to understand, and gives analogies for people who need mental pictures.
One analogy I like is when you’re working fully in a pose and then back off slightly then put effort back into it then back off again (not uncommon when holding Uttanasana for a while). Glenn likens this wavering to turning the dimmer on a light switch up and down. (He’d rather we just turned it on full power and sustained it).

Conversations
I had the lovely surprise of being invited out to pizza after tonight’s session with Darren and Susan (the senior Iyengar teachers and owners of the studio), Glenn Ceresoli and Kosta. It was a nice chance to interact with these senior teachers. Conversation was warm and casual, occasionally taken over by Glenn’s enthusiasm for some thing or other. He came dangerously close at one point to saying something about our higher purpose, but I could see him put the brakes on, as if he’s learned not to go there outside of the classroom. That was disappointing. It’s almost a taboo subject. I’m mystified why people who practice yoga seriously don’t discuss the inner aspects of yoga practice with each other, the higher motivation for practicing, our longing to rediscover our divine origin, how our yoga practice steers us towards living at our highest potential. A little whiff of this and wow, look at how fast it’s squashed by a flippant remark to divert the subject. Maybe our experience of the mystical is just too difficult to put into words, or maybe we are scared of revealing our deepest, truest selves.
Perhaps naiively I always expect that conversations with long time yogis will inevitably gravitate towards what is at the heart of our practice and at the core of our existence. And I’m always surprised at how chit chat keeps us safely away from expressing our truth. It even makes me wonder whether long time yogis and senior teachers have even moved beyond asana (especially Iyengar devotees).
The urge to bring this out of the closet fuels my impetus to teach now. At least within the confines of a yoga class we have to opportunity to reignite the spark that will eventually light up our hearts so we may live with great purpose and beauty.

For me, spiritual evolution is the motivation underpinning absolutely everything in my daily life. I am constantly questioning whether what I am doing is taking me closer to realizing my divine potential, or is it hindering my growth. Every little decision and choice I have to make in the course of the day I use these questions to guide me.
Glenn does prompt his students to think about their yoga beyond asana. He threads a constant narrative through the classes, sometimes in subtle roundabout ways, and sometimes in plain old English like “ What brings you closer to the Truth?” A question that may be too vague for beginners on the path, but a question that cuts to the very heart of practical spiritual practice. Like the question “Who am I?” that Ramana Maharshi posed to facilitate awakening from our limited perception of reality

“The simplest questions are the most profound. Where were you born? Where is your home? Where are you going? What are you doing? Think about these once in a while and watch your answers change.”
“The Messiah’s Handbook” – Richard Bach


DAY 4: Thursday 13th January 2005 – morning session

What I can remember from the morning session:

Usual opening poses:
Supta Baddha Konasana over a bolster, with a strap
Dandasana
Sukhasana forward bend (Glenn is still calling this one Swastikasana for some reason)
Dandasana
Supta Virasana
Adho Mukha Virasana

Adho Mukha Svanasana

Pada Hastasana

Urdhva Hastasana
Keep arms above head then slowly bend knees to
Utkatasana

Trikonasana
When coming into Trikonasana, extend the armpit towards the thumb on the leading arm. When going to the right, roll pubis towards the left groin then draw the navel to the left, allow the chest and head to follow. Take the head slightly back to open the front of the body.

Ardha Chandrasana

Virabhadrasana II

Parsvakonasana

Prasaritta Padottanasana
Visualise the two sides of the sacrum 1) the outer side which is in contact with the skin of the back and 2) the inner side facing the center of the body (Glenn called this the “organic” side). He then instructed to draw the organic side of the sacrum down towards the tail more than the outer side. A very intimate encounter with my inner parts, but it’s just another way of describing the pelvic action of tipping it forward.
We had to hold Prasaritta Padottanasana firstly with a flat back (spine parallel to the floor) and with the arms extended out sideways from the shoulders, parallel to the floor. Then we descended, taking the chin to the floor rather than the crown of the head.

Virasana
Sitting with hands in reverse anjali mudra (Prayer position behind the back)
Visualise yourself looking in a mirror at the epitomy of composure.

Savasana

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DAY 4 : Thursday 13th January – evening session

Usual opening poses:
Supta Baddha Konasana over a bolster, with a strap
Dandasana
Sukhasana forward bend (Glenn is still calling this one Swastikasana for some reason)
Dandasana
Supta Virasana
Adho Mukha Virasana

Adho Mukha Svanasana

Marichyasana A
With the right leg bent up and left leg extended, we started with both hands holding the left foot then kept the left hand to the foot while bending the right arm back and wrapping it around the right shin. In this position, I think we had to press the right arm strongly into the shin which receded away from the pressure of the arm. Only then did we swing the left arm back to clasp fingers or wrists.
Once clasped, the elbows must feel like they’re lifting up (keep them level with each other) and stretch hands back as if trying to straighten the arms. Then chin to knee.

Baddha Konasana
Started with knees lifted up towards armpits, hands clasped around feet and upper arms pressing down against the shins. Then we slowly took the knees down keeping the upper arms pressing to the shins, so the upper body folding forward was impelled by the pushing down of the arms as the knees descended.

Baddha Konasana with the back against the wall
We were asked to sit up on a folded blanket here, then reach the hands back to press them into the wall and use this to propel the torso into the forward bend.

Janu Sirsasana
Both arms raise up first then reach forward to the extended foot. Move pubis diagonally down and toward the inner groin of the straight leg. When left lleg is bent, roll left iliac crest towards the right knee and pull back the side of the right thigh towards the right hip.

Parivritta Janu Sirsasana
I think this must be one of Glenn’s favourite poses. When we came out of it on the second side, he enthusiastically asked “Don’t you feel euphoric?” Quite frankly, after 3-4 minutes in this one, we were feeling a lot of things, but I’m not sure if euphoria was on top of the list.
Although I had a good grip on my foot and a deep twist happening, my neck position felt all wrong. Not far into the pose, I had to relieve the tension by turning my head and looking down to untwist it, then try to turn it back up in a different way. Luckily I overheard someone else speak up about the same problem and Glenn said if the head is not positioned correctly it will feel like a dead weight. He corrected the other girl by instructing her to extend more from the inner groin of the bent leg to the inner knee which activates the spine. If there’s no activity in the spine, the upper part of it won’t be able to support the weight of the head.

Supta Konasana (forward bend)
Just when I was getting use to the deep exploration that comes with outrageously long holdings, this one seemed quite short. After 2 minutes I’d barely kissed the edge of my pain threshold and we came up.


Bharadvajasana I
I don’t know why but I’ve never really felt comfortable in this beginner’s pose. It always feels awkward and tonight was no different even with a blanket under one buttock. It’s so a-symmetrical and I have difficulty finding a lift through the spine.

Bharadvajasana II
Version II of this twist with one leg in Padmasana, feels a lot better than the first one, more malleable and workable.

Viparitta Dandasana
Backbend laying over a chair, with a rolled up blanket under the waist and the front of the chair seat pressing into the shoulderblades. We reached back with palms together trying to straighten the arms and squeezing the elbows in towards each other.

Viparitta Dandasana
We turned around in the chair, and laid back again with the tailbone positioned over the front edge of the chair seat, reached back and down to grab the cross rung. Once holding the rung we had to press the little fingers into the rung while extending triceps towards elbows.

Forward Bend seated on chair
Knees bent and feet apart. We were supposed to have the sitting bones placed in the middle of the chair seat, but being a short person, I had to sit at the front edge of the chair if I was ever going to grab the cross rung with my hands.

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana laying over a bolster
Three visualizations in this passive pose.
1) Sternum energy flows to the back of the neck, up the back of the skull and over the top of the head to the tip of the nose.
2) From earlobes to behind the ears to the front of the ears and then spiraling to the inner ears
3) The three layers of the diaphragm like we did yesterday.

Savasana

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