In this miscellaneous class, we will continue to work on spreading our collarbones and opening our hips in a wide range of poses with the help of wall support. This will be quite a dynamic class and it will help us incorporate a lot of the lessons we have learnt in the past 7 weeks.
Begin in Supta Virasana in order to quieten the mind and transition from a busy day to the practice. Poses like these give us a chance to look at where we are and who we are today so that we can come into the practice from a place of honesty. After a few breaths here, shift into Virasana Forward with the knees apart to allow for extra spine extension.
Then, sit up for the invocation.
You will only need 2 blocks and a belt for the main part of this session.
Stand up in Tadasana. As you stand here, feel your feet. Ask yourself: do they feel even? am I evenly grounded through them? Readjust and correct any unevenness, then look down to check what this looks like.
Bring your arms up in Urdhva Hastasana. Then, bend forward into Ardha Uttanasana with your palms against the wall. This will help you spread your collarbones. As this happens, how do your upper arms respond?
Now comes a mini sun salutation, starting in Tadasana with the arms up in Urdhva Hastasana, folding forward and walking out the arms into Adho Mukha Svanasana, and shifting back into Virasana Forward.
Come back up into Tadasana. Lift your arms up in Urdhva Namaskarasana. See what that brings to the shoulders and collarbones. Draw on what you learnt in the previous lessons. Now, bend one knee out to the side: stand in Vrksasana. Take your arms back up into Urdhva Namaskarasana. If you continue to pay attention and stay interested, you will notice how the same actions can provoke new reactions in different poses or with repetition.
Now, go into Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana 1 with the foot to the wall. Once you feel firmly rooted through your foot, twist your torso to the side and reach the arms out in opposite directions. Feel your ribs spread. Now do the same in Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana 2.
We will also practice jumping the feet out from Tadasana. In the following standing pose mini-sequence, we will always return to Tadasana and jump our feet out for each subsequent pose.
First, jump your feet out and go into Ardha Chandrasana with the lifted foot to the wall. This supported variation allows you to pay closer attention to the details of how the pose feels rather than having to put all the effort into maintaining the integrity of the pose. Back to Tadasana, then jump out again and go on to Parivritta Trikonasana. Finish this mini sequence with Parsvottanasana.
Now comes Adho Mukha Svanasana to Virasana Forward, the transition back and forth repeated 3 times. This helps warm up the shoulders for the inversions to come. We have left them late in this class. See what effect this unusual sequencing has on your practice and the way your mind and body reacts.
Stand up. Dip your hips back into Utkatasana and lift your arms up.
Now come the inversions. First, go up into Adho Mukha Vrksasana. Then come down and fold forward into Uttanasana. Next comes Pincha Mayurasana. Recovery in Virasana Forward. Finally, we will add Sirsasana here. This is the unusual part of the sequence. Usually, we will keep Sirsasana separate from the other two inversions. Notice what such sequencing brings. Also, while in Sirsasana, pay attention to your toes: don’t overtense them, keep them in neutral. Come down, fold forward in Virasana Forward.
Lie down now for Supta Padangusthasana 1 with a belt, then shift into variation 2, then 3.
Put the belt to the side. Lift both legs up into Urdhva Prasarita Padasana. Hold for a few breaths, then swing your legs backwards into Halasana.
Lift yourself up into Sarvangasana, both the full variation and the single-legged one. Then, back to Halasana. Bring your knees to your ears: Karna Pidasana. Release that and shift into Virasana Forward. Find your neutral space again, level out the sides.
Finish in Savasana.
Video stills from this sequence
