This session aims at reviewing and consolidating the basic actions and preparations for understanding these three foundation inversions. There are always certain principles, certain actions that lead us to the deeper or fuller pose. Here we explore some of the ways to prepare and go up into these three asana-s.
Start in Supta Baddha Konasana to open the chest and settle. Notice how the back ribs are drawn up into the front chest, an action given here that is needed in all the inversions.
Come up into Virasana forward with the feet apart.
Adho Mukha Svanasana follows, where we can start to further connect the arms into the trunk.
Tadasana with the feet apart, and take the arms into a full range of shoulder actions: Baddanguliyasana, Garudasana, Namaskar, and Gomukhasana.
Take your mat to the wall and place your hands on two lengthways blocks for Adho Mukha Svanasana. Keeping the elbows up, notice how the arms draw back all the way to the side waist.
1/2 Uttanasana with a similar connection from arms to waist, and then carry that into Full Arm Balance, first preparation walking up the wall, and then using those actions to practise going up.
Headstand preparation follows: raising the hips up with hands interlocked on the floor, feet to the wall; we review the headstand grip and then taking the head down to the floor, walk halfway up the wall. Finally, full headstand (Sirsasana) for a few minutes, keeping the same actions of the arms, shoulders, hips, and legs that you worked with up to that point.
Sarvangasana, Shoulderstand, comes next.
Lie back over two blocks, one in front of the other, to find the opening of the top and side chest.
Then take a chair and lie back, holding the front legs of the chair, feet on the chair seat and lift the hips up coming onto the shoulder tips.
Then set up for full Halasana, to the chair, and Sarvangasana, staying just a few minutes. With the lift that came into the back ribs with the chair swing up to Halasana. One leg at a time, go up to Sarvangasana, back ribs in and up, moving up onto the shoulder tips.
Come down in reverse.
Simple cross-legs sitting on your blanket support, rest the head on the chair, and then sit upright in Baddha Konasana, taking the fingertips back to get a good opening and release in the dorsal spine.
Lie out for Savasana, observing the opening in the shoulders and the upper back even here. Release the eyes and the facial muscles, letting the breath come softly in and out through the nose to feel the integration in the body and the quietness inside.
Illustrated sequence of video
Download and print the free illustrated sequence of this video.
Video stills from this sequence
