Abhijatas Class Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute (RIMYI) September 20, 2014; 9:30-11:30 am posted by By Janet MacLeod Poses- - Adho Mukha Virasana - Adho Mukha Svanasana - walk back to: - Uttanasana with concave back and then full pose - Adho Mukha Svanasana - step left leg back: - Parsvottanasana - Adho Mukha Svanasana - step right leg back: - Parsvottanasana - Adho Mukha Svanasana - Adho Vrksasana Sirsasana - emphasis was on firm work of the knees; imagine a square on the front and back of each knee; visualize all the corners on all squares and move them back; I found this image very useful and found a new level of firmness in my knees making the pose lighter. Backbends: these asanas were introduced with demos by the assistants. First Goolnaz went into the pose with feet on floor; it was hard to maintain the inner rotation of the thighs and thus the lift of the outer hips; by standing in a small stool the feet and legs have to work more firmly to get up and the lift in the pelvis was much improved. Throughout several repetitions of Urdhva Danurasana the lift of the pelvis was emphasized as was the lift of the chest through the use of a variety of boxes and stools around the hall. The chest should move towards the ceiling and not towards the arms. A block was used as a resistance to guide the sternum upwards rather than forwards. Also when you move the feet closer to the hands the arms should remain exactly perpendicular to the floor. This forces the movement in the chest and does not disturb the dynamic of the pose. Moving on to Eka Pada the same firmness in the foot and leg on the standing leg was taught. Rya demonstrated the pose by slapping the thigh of the standing leg into the floor with the foot of the uplifted leg. In the up leg we were following the firm leg from Sirsasana. Chatush Padasana - using the learning from Urdhva Danurasana followed by Eka Pada. Cooling down: - sit on edge of bench or chair with legs bent and extend forwards using the hands - do not push spine towards the floor, let it release to the floor. - Eka Pada Pavanmuktasana - Jathara Parivartanasana - knees bent - Malasana - pashimottanasana to Halasana rolling back and forth several times quickly - Malasana to Karnapidasana rolling back forth several times quickly. - Pashimottanasana - Savasana - lying face down, big toes touching, heels releasing away from each other. Abhijata talked about the demanding nature of the class somewhat due to the technicalities that were presented. Technicalities are not an end in and of themselves in the practice of asanas but are important GATEWAYS for us to get into the deeper layers. She used the example of Pashimottanasana where you sit on the floor and let your body fall towards your legs as opposed to the pose done point by point - stabilizing the legs lifting the chest, bringing the shoulder blades down, etc. all the points we consider to draw the mind in and therefore discovering a more integrated approach. I really liked her use of the word gateways in this context. What can I say - another wonderful class with Gurujis craft of teaching being so well displayed by his grand daughter - yes, he is very much with us.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 17:36:24 +0000
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