January 3, 2015: Setting an intention or goal is an important method for focusing and sustaining our yogic efforts. Ultimately, that goal is moksa, liberation and Self-realization but we have to work up to that with a series of less lofty, progressive goals which lead us in the right direction. Setting our sights on a particular yoga asana is a very tangible goal that most of us can get our heads around. When we choose a pose which contains qualities that we are trying to manifest in our body and mind then we can become totally absorbed in our practice using that pose as a polestar. Several years ago, I went up before class to ask Manouso about an issue that I was having in my neck and shoulders and he simply said to me, Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana. Two limbed inverted staff pose is a backbend with the arms in Sirsasana (headstand position). The staff in the name is the spine implying that there should be a straight line from the crown of the head to the middle of the torso. This requires not just flexibility in the shoulders but an enormous amount of strength in the middle and upper back. I had been practicing the pose at the time regularly over the chair but I set my goal to do the “full pose” unsupported by outside instruments/props. In Light on Yoga, B.K.S. Iyengar describes this pose as a yogis prayer or prostration. Most people pray or prostrate with their heads facing down, he says, but a yogi prostrates with his heart open (my experience of his words). The tightness in my neck and shoulders and upper back curvature result in a caving in of my chest. This posture is one associated with anxiety and depression which I definitely am prone to. Emotional trauma from the past reinforces this pattern in my body but I have carved away at a new pattern with regular practice of yoga. This pose, Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana along with Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (bridge pose) are helping me to overcome long held fear complexes in my body and open myself to a deeper intimacy with myself, others and the world. This takes true courage. So as I began to “accomplish” Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana, I added a new goal of being able to drop back from Tadasana (mountain) to Urdhva Dhanurasana (upward facing bow) and touch my feet to my head in Vrksschikasana (Scorpion). Now, along with the strength and mobility required in Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasnaa, I am searching for an inner faith that allows me to drop back into the unknown without fear. What pose do you want to set your sights on this year? Look for a pose that you have trouble with or one that you always admire when you see photos or other people doing it. Then practice it and discover what the asana has to teach you. Be friendly with yourself and the asana. “The body is my bow, the asana my arrow and the target the soul” says B.K.S. Iyengar. When we realize that body, the asana and the soul are not separate but One, that is yoga. #iyengaryoga #dwipadaviparitadandasana #vrschikasana #cynthiabatesyoga
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 17:21:04 +0000