Pranayama classes can be very useful, especially in this day and age when so much of our attention and mental energy is required just to get through the day. Pranayama classes are the equivalent of turning off your phone and turning it back on again when it’s not working properly. They give us a chance to reset. In pranayama sessions, even when performing the more active poses, such as Sirsasana or Adho Mukha Svanasana, remember: the goal is to let go, to find your neutral space, both in stasis and in motion.
We will begin this session in Supta Baddha Konasana, paying attention to opening up the chest. As you do this, visualise an open window: you do not have to force or jam more air in; all you have to do is let go and let it in. Keep this mindset throughout the practice. This session is about flowing, letting go, remaining neutral.
Go into Virasana Forward, then sit up for the invocations.
Stand up and fold forward into Uttanasana. Take your feet mat-width apart, bend at your hips, and open the backs of your legs.
Walk out into Adho Mukha Svanasana, then shift forward into Virasana Forward to mobilise the shoulders and bring life to the knees.
Then, try Adho Mukha Svanasana again but this time with your hands on blocks placed against the wall. Go through a few repetitions of Virasana Forward into Adho Mukha Svanasana. As you do this, follow your breath, let it guide you. You will see that, if you let go of control, your body knows exactly what to do; it knows exactly what it needs.
Lie down now and bring your legs up so the backs are resting against the wall: Viparita Karani. After a few minutes here, bring your legs down into a Baddha Konasana position, then press your feet to the wall: supported Pawanmuktasana.
Go into Sirsasana preparation with a block between the wall and the middle of your back. Then, if you feel up to it, go up into full Sirsasana. Hold there for a few minutes, then come down and release in Virasana Forward.
Continuing in our mission to open up the chest and let in more air, we will then lie over two blocks, seeing what changes the positioning of our spine relative to the blocks will bring.
Then, go into Ardha Halasana with your legs over a chair.
Back to Viparita Karani over a bolster. Once again, bring your legs down into supine Baddha Konasana and then do Simple Cross Legs. How does the position of your legs affect the rest of the pose?
Now go into Virasana Forward, lying over a bolster.
Lie down in Savasana. Feel all the tension seep out of you through the floor.
Sit up in Simple Cross Legs with your back against the wall. We will go through one more session of seated meditation, thus rounding up this class nicely. We rarely do incantations at the end of the class as well as the beginning. See what difference this makes. Does it make for a more contemplative experience?
After the seated meditation, lie down in Savasana again and stay here for a few minutes, giving yourself a chance to fully feel the effects of the class.
Video stills from this sequence
