Friday 29th October 2005
Weird Primary
Friday led primary with David was very unconventional this morning, not an Ashtanga class at all really.
At one point in the class we were lined up at one end of the shala and had to waltz step our way forward to the other end. Most people looked really awkward and stiff with the unfamiliar, looser dance-like movements as David tried to get us to swing the hips from side to side as we stepped diagonally forward. Maybe I did too but it felt natural and lovely for me to dance and flow like that so I forgot the objective and just let the music in my hips move me.
The objective (I think) was to learn how to move our weight side to side through the swing of our hips, rather than moving our feet then following with our bodyweight.
Then we did it with a partner, hands on each others shoulders and waltzing forward (or backward, depending which way you were facing) to the other end of the room. David even put on classical waltz music for the exercise.
Standing poses were done from an unconventional foot position; before reaching down to grab the big toe in Trikonasana the feet were so placed that the left foot was close to left side of mat and the right foot close to right side of mat instead of down the centre line.
In Prasaritta Padottanasana, the foot position was skewed as well, with one foot forward, and one foot back (so the heel of the forward foot lined up with the toes of the backward foot). To compensate, one hand was placed forward of its usual position on the mat and one was back, creating a diagonal line between them instead of a horizontal one.
And Parsvottanasana – we started by standing at the front of the mat with our feet hip distance apart, then keeping the left foot pointing forward, we swivelled on the right heel to turn the right toes out to 90 degrees (therefore the heels were only about one foot apart), we placed our hands in the usual position up the back, turned to face the right leg and down we went, head to knee. Iyengis would be horrified at this exaggerated short stance.
In between these unorthodox versions of the standing poses we did 5 Dog Pose jumps, starting from a position like Pada Hastasana, but with the hands flat to the floor and feet directly behind the hands so that the toes were bent up the back of the wrists; knees were kept bent. On the inhalation we jumped back to a bent knee, domed-spine, crouching kind of short Dog Pose, on the exhalation we jumped forward to the hands, landing with the feet apart, toes up the back of the wrists, knees bent. We did 5 of these quick jumps between all our standing poses and my breath rhythm got confused a couple of times because I’m so used to inhaling on the jump forward.
And so it went on.
It was more of an explorative movement/body class than a yoga class. But fun nevertheless.
The point of the class had something to do with the outer hips but I never quite understood what I was supposed to be focussing on here. I suspect the hip focus will surface in the Mysore classes so I should get another chance to understand the message David’s trying to get across.
Friday is almost religiously led Primary for Ashtangis, so the class wasn’t what I was expecting this morning. But damn it was good to be there anyway. I love the shala in the early mornings. We could have done belly dancing or kickboxing and I’d have been happy to be there.
Having missed out on a traditional Ashtanga practice today, I’m REALLY looking forward to doing morning Mysore classes next week. And I hear that David and Simi are team teaching in the mornings so everyone gets double attention which also means a blend of their expertise, both unconventional and traditional.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Weird Primary
Friday led primary with David was very unconventional this morning, not an Ashtanga class at all really.
At one point in the class we were lined up at one end of the shala and had to waltz step our way forward to the other end. Most people looked really awkward and stiff with the unfamiliar, looser dance-like movements as David tried to get us to swing the hips from side to side as we stepped diagonally forward. Maybe I did too but it felt natural and lovely for me to dance and flow like that so I forgot the objective and just let the music in my hips move me.
The objective (I think) was to learn how to move our weight side to side through the swing of our hips, rather than moving our feet then following with our bodyweight.
Then we did it with a partner, hands on each others shoulders and waltzing forward (or backward, depending which way you were facing) to the other end of the room. David even put on classical waltz music for the exercise.
Standing poses were done from an unconventional foot position; before reaching down to grab the big toe in Trikonasana the feet were so placed that the left foot was close to left side of mat and the right foot close to right side of mat instead of down the centre line.
In Prasaritta Padottanasana, the foot position was skewed as well, with one foot forward, and one foot back (so the heel of the forward foot lined up with the toes of the backward foot). To compensate, one hand was placed forward of its usual position on the mat and one was back, creating a diagonal line between them instead of a horizontal one.
And Parsvottanasana – we started by standing at the front of the mat with our feet hip distance apart, then keeping the left foot pointing forward, we swivelled on the right heel to turn the right toes out to 90 degrees (therefore the heels were only about one foot apart), we placed our hands in the usual position up the back, turned to face the right leg and down we went, head to knee. Iyengis would be horrified at this exaggerated short stance.
In between these unorthodox versions of the standing poses we did 5 Dog Pose jumps, starting from a position like Pada Hastasana, but with the hands flat to the floor and feet directly behind the hands so that the toes were bent up the back of the wrists; knees were kept bent. On the inhalation we jumped back to a bent knee, domed-spine, crouching kind of short Dog Pose, on the exhalation we jumped forward to the hands, landing with the feet apart, toes up the back of the wrists, knees bent. We did 5 of these quick jumps between all our standing poses and my breath rhythm got confused a couple of times because I’m so used to inhaling on the jump forward.
And so it went on.
It was more of an explorative movement/body class than a yoga class. But fun nevertheless.
The point of the class had something to do with the outer hips but I never quite understood what I was supposed to be focussing on here. I suspect the hip focus will surface in the Mysore classes so I should get another chance to understand the message David’s trying to get across.
Friday is almost religiously led Primary for Ashtangis, so the class wasn’t what I was expecting this morning. But damn it was good to be there anyway. I love the shala in the early mornings. We could have done belly dancing or kickboxing and I’d have been happy to be there.
Having missed out on a traditional Ashtanga practice today, I’m REALLY looking forward to doing morning Mysore classes next week. And I hear that David and Simi are team teaching in the mornings so everyone gets double attention which also means a blend of their expertise, both unconventional and traditional.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Wednesday 27th October 2005
Anticipation
I’d planned a big comeback to Mysore classes at the shala starting this week and what do you know, I got my period Monday morning.
So instead I did a full practice in the Gallery on Tuesday minus the inversions, and this morning I just practiced the class sequence I’ll be teaching this Saturday.
My debut back at the shala will have to be this Friday for led Primary and I’ll pay for a block of 10 classes for the next month. My last class with Simi was at the end of June, 4 months ago. Seems much longer.
Although I’ve wanted to go back to regular Mysore classes, I haven’t quite felt ready until now, mainly for three reasons:
1) My delicate back condition meant NO to adjustments, so I figured I may as well practice alone and save money
2) Then there was the fear that I’d be too wiped out from a 5 day Ashtanga practice to teach on Saturdays. That's changed. I’m not going to let myself get away with dreary "I can't do it" beliefs any more. I know we create our own reality through our thoughts, “fear sickness and you’ll attract it”. The “I’ll be too tired” thought has been replaced with something like “I have infinite energy and can do everything”
3) Lack of money kept me away too, but the extra income from teaching yoga is turning that around. And anyway, it comes down to priorities - if you want it, you’ll find the money.
Now I’m ready.
And…well…I’m just a little excited.
I’ve got goosebumps.
Something’s stirring me up – and it feels like the swivel stick of God.
I quiver in anticipation of where I’m headed but it’s not just returning to the shala and regular Mysore practice that’s got me excited. That’s just one of the minor manifestations of the massive shift that’s moving me.
Divine power is flooding me, my eyes are glowing, energy is charging through my nervous system like electricity. Everything seems possible in this lifetime.
I’m hovering on the verge of transcendence; the physical realm is receding to reveal the finest, most beautiful realms of inner space.
I feel like an exploding star, with a dangerously dense nucleus of luminous, expansive, quantum energy.
zap zap
Christian Larson.
What an extraordinary man.
I’ve been re-reading his works and they're once again catapulting me out of my small self and into the higher spheres of existence.
His words have this incredible power to elevate me in the highest sense. Every paragraph speaks to my innate desire to realise this most extraordinary potential that we all have within. He doesn’t permit ‘no’ or ‘can’t’. Because ultimately we can. And we know it.
We CAN live fully realised, powerful, positive lives. We just have to stop blaming circumstances and making excuses, we have to weed out the negativity and self doubt that is deeply entrenched in our thought patterns by replacing it with the positive – EVERY TIME. Rewire the neural pathways of the brain.
That means observing every thought and being on guard for those petty thoughts tinged with pessimism, defeat, negativity, malice, whinging, whining, stinging, sarcasm (not an easy undertaking to keep the higher self constantly watching the lower self).
And when they enter the mind, by the simple fact that we see them and recognise them as obstacles to the higher life, that recognition begins to dispel them, they lose their grip on us and we can begin the counter treatment of injecting positive thoughts to neutralise and finally banish the negativity from our minds. Super clean mind, super pure, super free.
Sounds like an ad for a shower cleaner.
If you’ve ever had an experience of enlightenment, of ‘waking up’, you’ll know that this clean out happens spontaneously. Your mind is flooded with so much divine love that all impure thoughts are dissolved away in a flash. Light and love is all that remains.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tuesday 11th October 2005
My last full practice was last Thursday – 5 days ago - but now that I’m teaching 3 classes on Saturdays, I’m counting Saturdays as the equivalent to 2 practices, but only on the physical scale.
Real practice on the spiritual scale can only happen when I’m in my own inner space.
Spiritual practice has no measuring device. To measure is to miss the point.
On the physical scale…
This morning was yet another good, strong Primary practice (similar to last Thursday’s) but today I left out the poses from Bhuja Pidasana to Garbha Pindasana because time was running short. I’d lingered overtime in the seated poses. Now that my body is slowly surrendering the trauma from its lower back injuries, forward bends are starting to return, so today I indulged in them a bit.
In last Thursday’s practice I finally got back into full Kurmasana with heels off the floor, but Supta Kurmasana still smelt dangerous. Today’s Kurmasana was a bent knee pose.
Must still be very, very careful. Go very, very slowly.
The outstanding highlight from this morning was kicking up to a perfect balance in a free Handstand at the end of my mat after Virabhadrasana B, and feeling stable and secure in the balance. I held it for an incredibly outrageous time – 10 loooong breaths. If I use a bit of mathematics here, I can calculate that my long inhalations and exhalations were at least 2 seconds each, times that by 10 breaths and that totals a 40 second balance in free Handstand. After the initial wobbling subsided, it didn’t even feel like a balance. It felt the same as standing on my feet. Now that doesn’t happen too often, but I think it happens often enough to not be a freak incident anymore.
After the Handstand I went to the wall to practice Pincha Mayurasana before continuing on to Dandasana and the seated poses. Pincha Mayurasana is great for freeing up tension and strengthening my shoulders. And the balance is more stable than Handstand though it wasn’t today because I hadn’t done it for a long time. My shoulders felt tight and weak in this pose, so I now vow to do this pose every self-practice from now on.
Forward bends might be returning, but twists feel like a stiff void.
Parivritta Parsvakonasana….this morning’s pose was not a pose I could edit – it was read only. No amendments or adjustments possible, just enter, stay, observe, try not to get bored – that was the best I could do.
In contrast, Marichyasana C was great – full wrist grab, lots of micro adjusting, deep Ujjiyi breath, mind and body working in tandem. But then I chickened out of Marichyasana D without even trying it. Slid right over it like it just wasn’t there. No excuse and not acceptable. It’s so annoying when I do that. WHY do I do that! Slippery little mind, this one.
At the end of the practice, I did my beloved twisting variation of Padmasana before bending forward into Yoga Mudra. It’s a deliciously deep twist for the hips but it also opens up the front shoulders so the arms can extend further behind the back giving a much stronger hand-to-foot bind in Baddha Padmasana.
I sense there’s something really magical about full Padmasana…the position of the feet, legs and hips sends secret, esoteric messages to that Bermuda Triangle located between the pelvic floor and sacrum – scary, exciting Kundalini territory.
Practice is pretty interesting – it’s changing.
It’s changing me.
I’m practicing less now, 2- 4 ‘real’ practices a week (not including teaching 3 classes on Saturdays or morning wake up Dog Pose stretches, or random evening poses). But I’m comfortable with that because the quality of engagement with my practice is richer than ever.
Update on Teaching
Teaching is pretty interesting too – teaching also is changing me.
It’s now been 6 weeks since I started teaching yoga classes in the Gallery on Saturdays:
9.30am - Level 1 active: 4-6 students
11.00am – a 5 week Beginners Course – 15 students
4.00pm – Level 1 – 6-9 students
It was a bit of a gamble taking on the Saturday teaching commitment while working full time Monday to Friday, but it seems to be working out at the moment. There’s a lot to learn for me here. It’s rich fertile ground to explore my own spiritual practice, my understanding and interpretation of yoga and my ability to challenge and inspire others to look inwards, not to mention being incredibly organised.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Anticipation
I’d planned a big comeback to Mysore classes at the shala starting this week and what do you know, I got my period Monday morning.
So instead I did a full practice in the Gallery on Tuesday minus the inversions, and this morning I just practiced the class sequence I’ll be teaching this Saturday.
My debut back at the shala will have to be this Friday for led Primary and I’ll pay for a block of 10 classes for the next month. My last class with Simi was at the end of June, 4 months ago. Seems much longer.
Although I’ve wanted to go back to regular Mysore classes, I haven’t quite felt ready until now, mainly for three reasons:
1) My delicate back condition meant NO to adjustments, so I figured I may as well practice alone and save money
2) Then there was the fear that I’d be too wiped out from a 5 day Ashtanga practice to teach on Saturdays. That's changed. I’m not going to let myself get away with dreary "I can't do it" beliefs any more. I know we create our own reality through our thoughts, “fear sickness and you’ll attract it”. The “I’ll be too tired” thought has been replaced with something like “I have infinite energy and can do everything”
3) Lack of money kept me away too, but the extra income from teaching yoga is turning that around. And anyway, it comes down to priorities - if you want it, you’ll find the money.
Now I’m ready.
And…well…I’m just a little excited.
I’ve got goosebumps.
Something’s stirring me up – and it feels like the swivel stick of God.
I quiver in anticipation of where I’m headed but it’s not just returning to the shala and regular Mysore practice that’s got me excited. That’s just one of the minor manifestations of the massive shift that’s moving me.
Divine power is flooding me, my eyes are glowing, energy is charging through my nervous system like electricity. Everything seems possible in this lifetime.
I’m hovering on the verge of transcendence; the physical realm is receding to reveal the finest, most beautiful realms of inner space.
I feel like an exploding star, with a dangerously dense nucleus of luminous, expansive, quantum energy.
zap zap
Christian Larson.
What an extraordinary man.
I’ve been re-reading his works and they're once again catapulting me out of my small self and into the higher spheres of existence.
His words have this incredible power to elevate me in the highest sense. Every paragraph speaks to my innate desire to realise this most extraordinary potential that we all have within. He doesn’t permit ‘no’ or ‘can’t’. Because ultimately we can. And we know it.
We CAN live fully realised, powerful, positive lives. We just have to stop blaming circumstances and making excuses, we have to weed out the negativity and self doubt that is deeply entrenched in our thought patterns by replacing it with the positive – EVERY TIME. Rewire the neural pathways of the brain.
That means observing every thought and being on guard for those petty thoughts tinged with pessimism, defeat, negativity, malice, whinging, whining, stinging, sarcasm (not an easy undertaking to keep the higher self constantly watching the lower self).
And when they enter the mind, by the simple fact that we see them and recognise them as obstacles to the higher life, that recognition begins to dispel them, they lose their grip on us and we can begin the counter treatment of injecting positive thoughts to neutralise and finally banish the negativity from our minds. Super clean mind, super pure, super free.
Sounds like an ad for a shower cleaner.
If you’ve ever had an experience of enlightenment, of ‘waking up’, you’ll know that this clean out happens spontaneously. Your mind is flooded with so much divine love that all impure thoughts are dissolved away in a flash. Light and love is all that remains.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tuesday 11th October 2005
My last full practice was last Thursday – 5 days ago - but now that I’m teaching 3 classes on Saturdays, I’m counting Saturdays as the equivalent to 2 practices, but only on the physical scale.
Real practice on the spiritual scale can only happen when I’m in my own inner space.
Spiritual practice has no measuring device. To measure is to miss the point.
On the physical scale…
This morning was yet another good, strong Primary practice (similar to last Thursday’s) but today I left out the poses from Bhuja Pidasana to Garbha Pindasana because time was running short. I’d lingered overtime in the seated poses. Now that my body is slowly surrendering the trauma from its lower back injuries, forward bends are starting to return, so today I indulged in them a bit.
In last Thursday’s practice I finally got back into full Kurmasana with heels off the floor, but Supta Kurmasana still smelt dangerous. Today’s Kurmasana was a bent knee pose.
Must still be very, very careful. Go very, very slowly.
The outstanding highlight from this morning was kicking up to a perfect balance in a free Handstand at the end of my mat after Virabhadrasana B, and feeling stable and secure in the balance. I held it for an incredibly outrageous time – 10 loooong breaths. If I use a bit of mathematics here, I can calculate that my long inhalations and exhalations were at least 2 seconds each, times that by 10 breaths and that totals a 40 second balance in free Handstand. After the initial wobbling subsided, it didn’t even feel like a balance. It felt the same as standing on my feet. Now that doesn’t happen too often, but I think it happens often enough to not be a freak incident anymore.
After the Handstand I went to the wall to practice Pincha Mayurasana before continuing on to Dandasana and the seated poses. Pincha Mayurasana is great for freeing up tension and strengthening my shoulders. And the balance is more stable than Handstand though it wasn’t today because I hadn’t done it for a long time. My shoulders felt tight and weak in this pose, so I now vow to do this pose every self-practice from now on.
Forward bends might be returning, but twists feel like a stiff void.
Parivritta Parsvakonasana….this morning’s pose was not a pose I could edit – it was read only. No amendments or adjustments possible, just enter, stay, observe, try not to get bored – that was the best I could do.
In contrast, Marichyasana C was great – full wrist grab, lots of micro adjusting, deep Ujjiyi breath, mind and body working in tandem. But then I chickened out of Marichyasana D without even trying it. Slid right over it like it just wasn’t there. No excuse and not acceptable. It’s so annoying when I do that. WHY do I do that! Slippery little mind, this one.
At the end of the practice, I did my beloved twisting variation of Padmasana before bending forward into Yoga Mudra. It’s a deliciously deep twist for the hips but it also opens up the front shoulders so the arms can extend further behind the back giving a much stronger hand-to-foot bind in Baddha Padmasana.
I sense there’s something really magical about full Padmasana…the position of the feet, legs and hips sends secret, esoteric messages to that Bermuda Triangle located between the pelvic floor and sacrum – scary, exciting Kundalini territory.
Practice is pretty interesting – it’s changing.
It’s changing me.
I’m practicing less now, 2- 4 ‘real’ practices a week (not including teaching 3 classes on Saturdays or morning wake up Dog Pose stretches, or random evening poses). But I’m comfortable with that because the quality of engagement with my practice is richer than ever.
Update on Teaching
Teaching is pretty interesting too – teaching also is changing me.
It’s now been 6 weeks since I started teaching yoga classes in the Gallery on Saturdays:
9.30am - Level 1 active: 4-6 students
11.00am – a 5 week Beginners Course – 15 students
4.00pm – Level 1 – 6-9 students
It was a bit of a gamble taking on the Saturday teaching commitment while working full time Monday to Friday, but it seems to be working out at the moment. There’s a lot to learn for me here. It’s rich fertile ground to explore my own spiritual practice, my understanding and interpretation of yoga and my ability to challenge and inspire others to look inwards, not to mention being incredibly organised.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thursday 6th October 2006
Full Primary from start to finish this morning – no short cuts, no missed poses, no cheating - a very fulfilling practice, one of those that you give a silent, gushing thanks for when you rise from Savasana and are momentarily overcome with awe.
After reading this article yesterday (and being so easily blown in the direction of whatever I read) I spent the first part of my practice fascinated with the changing sensations I was feeling under my feet! It’s interesting to watch the energetics at play between the feet and the earth and between the feet and the pelvis, especially during the sun salutes when you’re moving so much. Consistently activating the balls of the big toes while lifting the inner arches brought awareness and energy to my inner legs and inner groins – usually a neglected, dead area that I’ve never even thought of feeling out.
And another little gem from the same article that I put into practice this morning improved my standing balances instantly (Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana and Ardha Baddha Padmottanasana) not that they’re too bad anyway.
It involved pressing the upper thighbone of the standing leg inwards towards the inner groin, quite a subtle action, and more a feeling of firming the thigh and hip in rather than an obvious movement, but it instantly stabilised and strengthened the balancing poses. When I remembered, I did it in other poses too, and found it useful in seated poses like the Janus and Supta Padangusthasana.
That little internal energetic pull of the outer thigh/hip gives a feeling of consolidation and conservation of energy.
There’s a well worn instruction I often give to my students in Tadasana to squeeze the pubic bone and tailbone towards each other, then gently contract and draw up the pelvic floor (mulabandha). This squeezing in and up seems to draw the prana away from the periphery and up into the body’s core. I visualise it as a plastic bag of water – when you squeeze the base of the bag, the water can’t help but rise upwards.
The firming in of the outer hip in the balancing poses felt quite similar. It’s directing the flow of prana.
I was actually pretty surprised to have a half decent practice this morning because I ate dinner late last night. Putting ANY food into my mouth after 7pm I consider as eating late now and there I was, indulging in a double dessert session that meandered on by the spoonful past 9.30pm.
So I got up at 5.20am feeling lethargic due to all the overnight digestive activity and with a head full of monkey chatter as the millions of things going on in my life were all competing for my undivided attention.
And yet I had a good, solid, engaged practice.
The formula remains a mystery.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Full Primary from start to finish this morning – no short cuts, no missed poses, no cheating - a very fulfilling practice, one of those that you give a silent, gushing thanks for when you rise from Savasana and are momentarily overcome with awe.
After reading this article yesterday (and being so easily blown in the direction of whatever I read) I spent the first part of my practice fascinated with the changing sensations I was feeling under my feet! It’s interesting to watch the energetics at play between the feet and the earth and between the feet and the pelvis, especially during the sun salutes when you’re moving so much. Consistently activating the balls of the big toes while lifting the inner arches brought awareness and energy to my inner legs and inner groins – usually a neglected, dead area that I’ve never even thought of feeling out.
And another little gem from the same article that I put into practice this morning improved my standing balances instantly (Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana and Ardha Baddha Padmottanasana) not that they’re too bad anyway.
It involved pressing the upper thighbone of the standing leg inwards towards the inner groin, quite a subtle action, and more a feeling of firming the thigh and hip in rather than an obvious movement, but it instantly stabilised and strengthened the balancing poses. When I remembered, I did it in other poses too, and found it useful in seated poses like the Janus and Supta Padangusthasana.
That little internal energetic pull of the outer thigh/hip gives a feeling of consolidation and conservation of energy.
There’s a well worn instruction I often give to my students in Tadasana to squeeze the pubic bone and tailbone towards each other, then gently contract and draw up the pelvic floor (mulabandha). This squeezing in and up seems to draw the prana away from the periphery and up into the body’s core. I visualise it as a plastic bag of water – when you squeeze the base of the bag, the water can’t help but rise upwards.
The firming in of the outer hip in the balancing poses felt quite similar. It’s directing the flow of prana.
I was actually pretty surprised to have a half decent practice this morning because I ate dinner late last night. Putting ANY food into my mouth after 7pm I consider as eating late now and there I was, indulging in a double dessert session that meandered on by the spoonful past 9.30pm.
So I got up at 5.20am feeling lethargic due to all the overnight digestive activity and with a head full of monkey chatter as the millions of things going on in my life were all competing for my undivided attention.
And yet I had a good, solid, engaged practice.
The formula remains a mystery.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
