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January 27th 2025 - Rajalaxmi - Pranayama

Tamara Hockey


And just like that I'm in my last 48 hours of being in Pune. I'll be sorry to leave as I'm just getting into my stride practice wise. Some time I'd like to stay for 2 or 3 months but I've no idea when I'll have the freedom to do that work wise. A day at the pool yesterday followed by a lovely meal out at Gather with Rosana and Judy. Tired this evening after a few broken night's sleep - someone inexplicably thought it would be a good idea to set off a series of firecrackers at 5am right outside my window, so that I was abruptly startled out of sleep with each explosion lighting up my room. It took quite some time for my nerves to settle again.


It was an Intermediate 1 session with Rajalaxmi this evening which was very full with locals and visitors alike. The class concentrated on the correct hip actions, with a corkscrew of energy entwining the legs and screwing the hips into the sockets - It was particualrly helpful fixing the hips in Baddha Konasana and then very carefully maintaining the action as we moved the legs into Virasana.





January 27th 2025 – Rajalaxmi Pranayama

 

  • Invocation in Swastikasana – extend the heels to make the feet active and hips grip and become alert to lift the spine and para-spinal muscles up - the front reflects and responds to the lift of the back. Go up the spine in stages (shows hand gesture of each vertebrae moving first in and then up) but then said this is not a mechanical movement, the physical body position won’t change but energetically adjust in that way – this awareness will give you ‘unfoldedness’. Lift the sternum, lift one rib at a time from the bottom – inhale to lift up, exhale to push forward. Synchronise the lift of the side trunk, with the lift of the upper arm and the shoulders rolling out. Broaden the region behind the sternum.

  • AMSwastikasana – Lift the buttocks up so that you can release the abdomen and lower back forwards – the apanic region has to get released. Then top thigh draws back to keep abdominal length as buttocks go back down.

  • AMVirasana – Same actions , move your tailbone into you.

  • AMSvanasana – How do you lengthen that region? Unfold that region. Don’t push the back ribs too much in. Sternum and dorsal have to move into you. Sternum should not cross the skin.

  • Jump to Uttanasana legs apart – then Uttanasana Concave Back – extend side trunk, sternum UP, open clavicles. Abdomen should not hang down, move contents of abdomen towards the lumbar spine. And then extend down, sides of the body, down.

  • Parsva Uttanasana – Clasp ankle with left hand and take right hand out onto the floor. Like Uttanasana on one leg. Keep hip in position (it shouldn’t swing with you) and side trunk long.

  • Tadasana – Corkscrew action. Pressing the heels and feeling the energy ascending up in an entwining action – heels to buttocks and then continuing around the spine up to the base of the skull. Open armpits and the outer shoulder blades broadening away from the spine.

  • AMSvanasana to Parsvottanasana Right leg first – This entwining energy will give you firmness in the legs. Don’t shorten the right side trunk or ribs – the left will lengthen anyhow, but you have to extend the right side more.

  • Uttanasana

  • Tadasana – Femur heads will also screw in and front abdomen will become softer.

  • Demo of Parsvottanasana screwing the front leg outer hip into the body. Pelvis extends from leg to hip and that will align sitting bones – see how much it makes you move – it brings softness and freedom and automatically aligns sternum to thigh. It opens the lower abdominal region.

  • Prasarita Paddotanasana – Lift the thighs and roll forward from your femur heads.

  • Sirsasana (Periods Viparita Dandasana) – From femur head roll to the front, then ascend the energy of the thigh front and back. Take the legs a little further back to tuck the buttock and lengthen the front thighs.

  • Virasana in Sirsasana – Front thighs up and unfold the abdominal region. Skin of sternum and frontal chest ascending up away from the throat. Skin of ribs, armpits, sternum, inner upper arm ascending up and feel the abdominal opening and  how effectively that unfolds the front.

  • AMVirasana

  • Get Sarvangasana supports and then do Uttanasana with the heels raised up on the edge

  • Chatushpadasana on Sarvangasana supports – Don’t let your knees go out like Baddha Konasana! Sacrum, tailbone move into you. Lift the back ribs so the sternum can spread. Screw your femur heads!

  • Sarvangasana (periods Setubandha on the benches) – See how the front thigh is sagging sadly into the groins? Take the legs slightly back to cut the buttocks in and collect that energy from the sitting bones to open the front thighs – your legs should not be visible to you.

  • Halasana climbing the hands higher up the shoulder blades to lift the spine and move it in.

  • Back to Sarvangasana – Your sternum should be long, so move your hands up and push from back to front. Push the upper thighs back and bring legs to Virasana – kick the buttocks with your heels (repeatedly), open the front thighs and lengthen them upward. Maintain and straighten legs again to Sarvangasana.

  • Halasana rolling down very slowly and carefully to avoid jolting the brain.

  • Take thick mat, bolster and blanket.

  • Sit in Virasana on end of bolster and roll the thighs out to lift in Virasana as you would I Baddha Konasana – ‘Leg is leg!’.

  • Sit in Baddha Konasana on floor and don’t bring the feet to the body, but lift up the buttocks and roll the outer thighs, lifting the sacrum and tailbone forwards to bring the body closer to the feet, screwing the femur heads. Tailbone in to lift pubic up. Move sacrum UP to get the spinal extension and chest like Urdhva Mukha Svanasana.

  • Without disturbing the upper thigh rotation or femur head screwing, one at a time bring the legs into Virasana. Sacrum / tailbone move into you.

  • Rolled blanket on knees to support the palms so that upper arms lift up and don’t srop down, which pulls the outer clavicles down. Upper arms lift and outer clavicles aligned with inner. Eyes closed, slow soft inhalation from the sit bones and exhale from the brain cells downwards. Inhalation should be like when you suck from a straw then pause and move contents of the abdomen towards the spine and then a longer exhalation from the brain cells downwards.

  • Flat Savasana – bolster on thighs. Keep head parallel neither thrown back nor chin pushed towards the chest. Open the thumb joint, important for opening of the base of the wrist, which opens the armpit region. The deltoid and humeral head open the armpit and the sternum spreads from the centre to the sides.

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