As teachers and advanced practitioners, we have to be able to articulate to ourselves what we’re doing. When we, for example, sit down for the invocation, it should be about more than simply sitting down, crossing the legs, and straightening the back; it should be about listening to the feedback from the body and noticing what it is telling us.
We will also explore the notion of interconnectedness in our practice as well as what Guruji described as “meditation in action.” We will approach several standing poses and standing pose mini sequences first, then seamlessly transition into backbends. All the while, we will be paying close attention not only to our shoulders and collarbones, as we have been doing over these last few weeks, but also our trapezius muscles as they come down towards the back waist area as we bend the back and open the chest.
Begin in Supta Virasana. Come into Virasana Forward, focussing on bringing the chest forward. Sit up for the invocation.
For the main part of the session, you will only need two blocks and a belt.
Stand up. Fold forward in Uttanasana, then step back into Adho Mukha Svanasana, shift into Virasana Forward, then back into Adho Mukha Svanasana.
Stand in Tadasana. Bring your arms up into Urdhva Baddhanguliyasana. Then, practice doing Garudasana arms. Notice the efffect this has on the trapezius muscle; feel it spread. Bring your hands back into Reverse Prayer (Paschima Namaskar). Think about Guruji’s “meditation in action”: can you try to apply it in this position? can you maintain it throughout the practice?
Come up into Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana 1. Pay attention: in our practice, our aim is often to connect the dots; to connect the separate points and actions so we’re no longer seeing them as separate. As you stand here in this pose, notice what is happening in the legs, the shoulders, the toes, the hips. Can you feel the linking threads running through all these points? Keep this in mind throughout the rest of the practice.
Go into Adho Mukha Vrksasana, coming down into Uttanasana to release. Then, Pincha Mayurasana, releasing in Virasana Forward. Then come up into Sirsasana, Eka Pada Sirsasana, Baddha Konasana in Sirsasana, releasing all this in Virasana Forward.
In your practice and in anything you do, be interested. Be inquisitive. Be playful. Experiment. Accept that there is no end, that you will never have it all figured out, and that that’s not the goal to begin with. If we can approach our practice with this kind of mindset, we’ll be able to experience the poses and actions on more levels, and by doing so we’ll become more able to describe and discuss the points of our practice better when we’re teaching. We’ll be more aware of what’s happening with our students because we have felt it firsthand too.
Now stand up, go through four repetitions of this Mini Sun Salutation: Tadasana, Urdhva Hastasana, Uttanasana, Adho Mukha Svanasana, Virasana Forward, Adho Mukha Svanasana, Uttanasana, Tadasana. On the fourth repetition go straight from Adho Mukha Svanasana into Utthita Trikonasana. Return to neutral (Adho Mukha Svanasana), then go into Virabhadrasana 1. Back to neutral, then Udhva Mukha Svanasana. Repeat this Adho Mukha Svanasana to Urdhva Mukha Svanasana transition three times.
We transition smoothly into backbends. First comes Salabhasana repeated two times. Then, Dhanurasana, also two times. Then, Ustrasana, two times as well. Lie down on your back and go up into Setu Bandha Sarvangasana six times. Most of our focus will go to Urdhva Dhanurasana, which we will repeat around 10 times, aiming to go deeper each time, working through the points where more tension and resistance arises. If you can, after the last Urdhva Dhanurasana, go straight into Kapotasana.
Release in Uttanasana with a block between the upper legs. Walk out into Adho Mukha Svanasana, extend the spine gently.
Lie down for Supta Padangusthasana 1 and 2 with a belt. Then, roll over backwards into Ardha Halasana with your legs over a chair or a bench. Release in Virasana Forward and lie down for your final relaxation in Savasana.
Video stills from this sequence
