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22nd February - Abhi

Tamara Hockey

Updated: Jan 21

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Hot, hot and hotter. The water coming out of our ‘cold’ tap here is hotter than the water coming out of my hot tap back home. It’s not tepid, it’s actually hot! Woke late after staying up till 1am putting together information pack for holiday I am teaching in the Maldives this November. I just know that once I get home and take up ‘life duties’ once again, the time will be so hard to find. I’m in a curious state of wanting to stay (I’m beginning to make some progress and want the learning to continue) and getting excited about going home – 5 weeks is a LONG time to be away from Louis and the kids. Aside from the benefits to my personal practice, I really feel I’ve picked up a lot teaching wise – it’s so great to come here and get full of ideas for teaching – lots of light bulbs have gone on in my head.

I had some great breakthroughs in my home practice today – the sirsasana continuing to steadily improve and I’m finally managing to drop back again from sarvangasana. I have been assessed on this in previous levels and clearly managed it, but I always lose it again.

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Abhi’s intermediate class this evening (link to full sequence below) focussed on bringing light internally to dead and dull areas. Our job in the asanas is to learn to spread the consciousness to every part of the body – touching the skin from the inside. We started with opening the outer knees and thighs by learning to spread from the inner to the outer leg and by standing completely on the outer blades of the feet and maintaining that pressure as we placed the sole of the foot down. All of this of course, extremely relevant for my injured knee, which has partly been caused by a tight outer knee ligament which ‘dips’ in a concave curve on my outer knee. Up until this trip I had no idea that was a problem, but now I understand why more senior teachers have looked at my knee knowlingly and told me it was a knee problem waiting to happen.

In the sirsasana she encouraged us to come down early if the temples were ‘puffed’. First we had to see if we could relax there and if it was not possible, our time was up – not always to stay on using the will power alone. Timing, duration is not everything – quality.

We continued in this vein – searching out the dull areas in each pose and finding adjustments that brought the life to this area; the bottom corner of the chest close to the armpit in Trikonasana, the bottom breast area in Adho Mukha Svanasana, Padangusthasana and Chatushpadasana. In chatush as we pumped the shin forward several times on the exhalation (one PUSH, two PUSH, three PUSH!!) she told us we were focussing too much on the pain, giving it too much attention. So we repeated this time not looking at the pain and found the room was much quieter and that actually a conscious decision not to get caught up in the pain was surprisingly easy to manage. The final attempt we had to do the same and this time also not allow the temples to ‘puff’ and found that we could do this action silently and with proper witness of the bottom breast area that she had asked us to work on. She warned us against ‘glorifying’ the pain.

After exploring the crevices of the internal body in the active asana, we ended with some pranayama – using the breath to spread the bottom breast area from the centre to the sides and seeing how long we could maintain this touch of the breath to the side chest as we exhaled. She allowed us just 3 exquisite normal breaths after this exercise to fully appreciate what quality this brought to the breath and said “I hope you understand now, how the body has to be irrigated for the essence of the breath to be felt”.

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Often Abhi’s Father is outside minding her daughter while the class is on.


22nd February – Abhi


AMV AMS – buttock bones have to be sharp


Uttanasana – which part of your legs is further apart? The feet or the knees and thighs? Now make your knees / thighs as wide as your feet. Does this improve your contact with the outer knee / outer thigh? This method of yoga is to bring the life the consciousness to every part of the body, to light up the dull areas. We want to spread our awareness throughout, bringing the touch of the skin from the INSIDE.


Repeat uttanasana completely lifting the inner edges of the feet off the ground so you are only on the outer blade of the foot? More sensation on outer leg? Maintain this as you carefully place the sole of the foot down.


Urdhva Hastasana 1) outer edges of feet 2) lift up from armpit, what sensation in outer arms and inner arms? Inner arms not so alive – stretch inner and outer wrist up.  First these actions separately and then together. Come again on outer feet and lift up inner body – be aware from inside. Is this Urdhva Hastasana boring? No! We need to spread the mind everywhere or the pose becomes boring.


Prasarita Paddottonasana – on the outer edges of the feet, inner edges of the feet up. Awareness in outer knees.


Sirsasana – – become tall in Sirsasana

– press wrists down- forearms down and rest of body ascend up

– ascend shoulder – shoulder blades

– inner ankles to inner heels lift up

– inner to outer heel roll

– outer heels down to outer ankles

– understand the circularity

– spread the legs hip width

– inner calf to inner ankle – to inner heel – to outer heel to outer calf with this circularity bring legs together

– as long as legs are maintained like this feel their firmness

– circularity of legs: back thigh to outer thigh roll – back knee inner knee to outer knee whilst keeping outer knee where it is

– how long are you able to hold on to this action? The moment the awareness of the legs is not the same – then recharge by spreading and doing all circular actions – so recharge when necessary

– imagine block on heels inner heel touches it – take outer heel away from it

How long can you maintain this absolutely? Some of you it will only be 5 seconds, other will find you can maintain for the duration. Keep on recharging. If your temples are puffed, first see can you depuff the temples and second if you can’t depuff the temples your time in sirsasana is up, so come down – not always staying by sheer will power alone – sometimes a shorter duration is better – timing held is not everything. Quality.


Trikonasana x 3 attempts each side. Be on the outer edges of your feet. 1) Go down and observe, there is no sensation in the bottom corner of the chest close to the armpit. 2) Go down from the bottom waist – as if the arm is there and as you go down you have to reach from that arms in your waist. Once you are down see that the top waist doesn’t bulge up towards the ceiling. Now can you feel the bottom corner of the chest? 3) Repeat same action going down from the waist AND from the front of your ankle pull the leg muscles upward. Still better feeling there? Otherwise that bottom lung area never gets aeriated for the pranayama.


AMS – First observe when I give you the instruction to open the chest, which part of the chest opens? And which part can you not reach? Bottom chest?  Exhale and push armpits to the knees at the same time opening bottom chest. One PUSH, two PUSH, three PUSH

Repeat AMS – Bend the legs and open the bottom chest, spread it to the sides -Now maintaining that spread of the bottom chest, straighten the legs.


Uttan – Padangusthasana – bottom chest area not opening

1)Bend knees, head up ,open bottom chest – maintain and straighten legs

2) Bend knees and widen bottom chest – same time bringing abdomen forwards – keeping this straighten legs, then head down rest

3)Bend knees and widen bottom chest – now when straightening legs keep lower back flat, sacrum DOWN  – do it without focus and feel how lower back goes up when straightening – then go again and KEEP LOWER BACK DOWN when straightening, what happened? When you straightened the legs with sacrum pressing down, propelled abdomen and chest forward.


AMS


Repeat Padangusthasana Bend knees – all actions together and maintain when straightening legs Understand the participation of back ribs when opening front chest. Back ribs and lower back are all participating when opening chest for Pranayama .Therefore our system teaches asana first  as maintaining back in sitting not easy hence supine Pranayama taught first.


Janu Sirsasana – 1)Keep buttocks level, be vigilant on buttock as you take knee back. 2) Bend the extended leg, now holding the foot, concave the spine, as if each of your front ribs has an eye and that eye is looking at the ceiling, arms have to lift away from the floor (without lifting shoulders). Now maintain those rib eyes upward and straighten the leg, sliding gradually the heel away maintaining complete concavity, until leg is straight. Now extend forward, until you lose the movement of the bottom breast forward. The moment you lose that STOP and here only stay, but don’t lift the head. Eyes looking down.


Padangusta Dandasana into paschimottonasana – holding the big toes, bending the knees to make the concavity, bottom breast upward, slowly straighten the legs maintaining the concavity and then extend forward, going only as far as it is possible to maintain the bottom breast forward.


AMS – You know where your kidneys are? Bend the knees, cut the kidneys in and straighten the legs.


AM Virasana 1) do not make it lazy 2) front ribs forward facing  3) palms face each other 4) now let bottom lungs go closer to the ground (not the top lungs)


Chatushpadasana –1) Pump the shins towards the platform to open the bottom breast. 2) We tend to focus on the pain – DON’T focus the pain and repeat 3 times pumping shins towards the platform – wasn’t the pain less? And weren’t you less vocal? Could you focus more easily on the opening of the lower breast? We tend to glorify the pain. 3) Temples inward, no puffing of the temples and not focussing on the pain repeat 3 times – better still? And weren’t you better able to witness the lower breast area?


Sarvangasana – sirsasana quality legs – legs apart, roller inner thigh, inner knee deeper in WITHOUT disturbing position of outer knee. Lengthen from inner groin to inner ankle upward, inner ankle open to the ceiling, sole of the foot broaden and bring the legs together.

Find the chatushpadasana opening of the bottom breast, side chest and recreate in sarvangasana.

The back armpit that belongs to the back lift up. Like a border dispute between two neighbouring countries, sometimes there is confusion about what belongs to whom. Back armpit has to belong to the back, Press the upper arm down and LIFT UP!

Relax temples (brain always wants to be the leader – we relax the temples to keep the brain quiet to easier see reality)


Supta Swastikasana – because lumbar releases – compare with savasana how the lumbar lifts. Tuck the shoulders under and PIN the UPPER shoulder blades down – when shoulder blades are vigilant like this mind will be alert. When shoulderblades are loose we go into dull, sleepy state. Using the breath to open the side chest area that we had looked at in trikonasana


Savasana 2 blankets, one rolled to support entire spine, one folded for the head. Inhale to open the bottom breast area NOT toward the ceiling, but to the sides, the breath has to touch the side chest from within and when you exhale, prolong the contact of the breath to the side chest for as long as possible. After several cycles of this 3 normal inhalations, normal exhalations , observing the quality of the breath


“The body has to be irrigated for the essence of the breath to be felt”

22nd February - Abhi

AMV AMS – buttock bones have to be sharp

Uttanasana – which part of your legs is further apart? The feet or the knees and thighs? Now make your knees / thighs as wide as your feet. Does this improve your contact with the outer knee / outer thigh? This method of yoga is to bring the life the consciousness to every part of the body, to light up the dull areas. We want to spread our awareness throughout, bringing the touch of the skin from the INSIDE.

Repeat uttanasana completely lifting the inner edges of the feet off the ground so you are only on the outer blade of the foot? More sensation on outer leg? Maintain this as you carefully place the sole of the foot down.

Urdhva Hastasana 1)outer edges of feet 2) lift up from armpit, what sensation in outer arms and inner arms? Inner arms not so alive – stretch inner and outer wrist up.  First these actions separately and then together. Come again on outer feet and lift up inner body -  be aware from inside. Is this Urdhva Hastasana boring? No! We need to spread the mind everywhere or the pose becomes boring.

Prasarita Paddottonasana – on the outer edges of the feet, inner edges of the feet up. Awareness in outer knees.

Sirsasana – - become tall in Sirsasana

- press wrists down- forearms down and rest of body ascend up

- ascend shoulder – shoulderblades

- inner ankles to inner heels lift up

- inner to outer heel roll

- outer heels down to outer ankles

- understand the circularity

- spread the legs hip width

- inner calf to inner ankle – to inner heel – to outer heel to outer calf with this circularity bring legs together

- as long as legs are maintained like this feel their firmness

- circularity of legs: back thigh to outer thigh roll – back knee inner knee to outer knee whilst keeping outer knee where it is

- how long are you able to hold on to this action? The moment the awareness of the legs is not the same – then recharge by spreading and doing all circular actions – so recharge when necessary

- imagine block on heels  inner heel touches it – take outer heel away from it

How long can you maintain this absolutely? Some of you it will only be 5 seconds, other will find you can maintain for the duration. Keep on recharging. If your temples are puffed, first see can you depuff the temples and second if you can’t depuff the temples your time in sirsasana is up, so come down – not always staying by sheer will power alone – sometimes a shorter duration is better – timing held is not everything. Quality.

Trikonasana x 3 attempts each side. Be on the outer edges of your feet. 1) Go down and observe, there is no sensation in the bottom corner of the chest close to the armpit. 2) Go down from the bottom waist – as if the arm is there and as you go down you have to reach from that arms in your waist. Once you are down see that the top waist doesn’t bulge up towards the ceiling. Now can you feel the bottom corner of the chest? 3) Repeat same action going down from the waist AND from the front of your ankle pull the leg muscles upward. Still better feeling there? Otherwise that bottom lung area never gets aeriated for the pranayama.

AMS – First observe when I give you the instruction to open the chest, which part of the chest opens? And which part can you not reach? Bottom chest?  Exhale and push armpits to the knees at the same time opening bottom chest. One PUSH, two PUSH, three PUSH

Repeat AMS - Bend the legs and open the bottom chest, spread it to the sides -Now maintaining that spread of the bottom chest, straighten the legs.

Uttan – Padangusthasana - bottom chest area not opening

 1)Bend knees, head up ,open bottom chest – maintain and straighten legs

2) Bend knees and widen bottom chest – same time bringing abdomen forwards – keeping this straighten legs, then head down rest

3)Bend knees and widen bottom chest – now when straightening legs keep lower back flat, sacrum DOWN  – do it without focus and feel how lower back goes up when straightening – then go again and KEEP LOWER BACK DOWN when straightening, what happened? When you straightened the legs with sacrum pressing down, propelled abdomen and chest forward.

AMS

Repeat Padangusthasana Bend knees – all actions together and maintain when straightening legs Understand the participation of back ribs when opening front chest.Back ribs and lower back are all participating when opening chest for Pranayama .Therefore our system teaches asana first  as maintaining back in sitting not easy hence supine Pranayama taught first.

Janu Sirsasana – 1)Keep buttocks level, be vigilant on buttock as you take knee back. 2) Bend the extended leg, now holding the foot, concave the spine, as if each of your front ribs has an eye and that eye is looking at the ceiling, arms have to lift away from the floor (without lifting shoulders). Now maintain those rib eyes upward and straighten the leg, sliding gradually the heel away maintaining complete concavity, until leg is straight. Now extend forward, until you lose the movement of the bottom breast forward. The moment you lose that STOP and here only stay, but don’t lift the head. Eyes looking down.

Padangusta Dandasana into paschimottonasana – holding the big toes, bending the knees to make the concavity, bottom breast upward, slowly straighten the legs maintaining the concavity and then extend forward, going only as far as it is possible to maintain the bottom breast forward.

AMS – You know where your kidneys are? Bend the knees, cut the kidneys in and straighten the legs.

AM Virasana 1) do not make it lazy 2) front ribs forward facing  3) palms face each other  4) now let bottom lungs go closer to the ground (not the top lungs)

Chatushpadasana –1) Pump the shins towards the platform to open the bottom breast. 2) We tend to focus on the pain – DON’T focus the pain and repeat 3 times pumping shins towards the platform – wasn’t the pain less? And weren’t you less vocal? Could you focus more easily on the opening of the lower breast? We tend to glorify the pain. 3) Temples inward, no puffing of the temples and not focussing on the pain repeat 3 times – better still? And weren’t you better able to witness the lower breast area?

Sarvangasana – sirsasana quality legs – legs apart, roller inner thigh, inner knee deeper in WITHOUT disturbing position of outer knee. Lengthen from inner groin to inner ankle upward, inner ankle open to the ceiling, sole of the foot broaden and bring the legs together.

Find the chatushpadasana opening of the bottom breast, side chest and recreate in sarvangasana.

The back armpit that belongs to the back lift up. Like a border dispute between two neighbouring countries, sometimes there is confusion about what belongs to whom. Back armpit has to belong to the back, Press the upper arm down and LIFT UP!

Relax temples (brain always wants to be the leader – we relax the temples to keep the brain quiet to easier see reality)

 

Supta Swastikasana – because lumbar releases - compare with savasana how the lumbar lifts. Tuck the shoulders under and PIN the UPPER shoulder blades down – when shoulder blades are vigilant like this mind will be alert. When shoulderblades are loose we go into dull, sleepy state. Using the breath to open the side chest area that we had looked at in trikonasana

Savasana 2 blankets, one rolled to support entire spine, one folded for the head. Inhale to open the bottom breast area NOT toward the ceiling, but to the sides, the breath has to touch the side chest from within and when you exhale, prolong the contact of the breath to the side chest for as long as possible. After several cycles of this 3 normal inhalations, normal exhalations , observing the quality of the breath


“The body has to be irrigated for the essence of the breath to be felt”

 





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