YOGA NOTES JAWAHAR BIRMINGHAM 2017 "Do Yoga for the Love of it " - Jawahar
BY SUZIE DODD
JAWAHAR CONVENTION BIRMINGHAM JUNE 2017
OM SAHA NAVAVATU SAHA NAU BHUNAKTU SAHA VIRYAM KARAVAAVAHAI JEJASVI NAVADHITAMASTU MAA VIDVISAVAHAI OM SHANTI SHANTI SHANTI
MAY THE LORD PROTECT US MAY THE LORD NOURISH US MAY WE WORK TOGETHER WITH ENERGY MAY OUR LEARNING BE LUMINOUS MAY THERE BE NO ANIMOSITY BETWEEN US PEACE – (IN ME) PEACE – (IN NATURE) PEACE – (IN GOD)
DAY 1 MORNING TADASANA Rotate the inner upper arms out – easier said than done – put a belt around the wrists – arms behind the back – allow arms to be wide – rotate the whole arm from inside out palms face forward even outwards – then hit out the writsts against the belt – now lengthen the upper arms to the elbows – this is a missing piece for alot of people in tadasana and hence in alot of poses – the elbows don’t straighten and the upper arms do nada – desist ! If you learn the correct action here you will have the correct action in sirsasana and sarvangasana – the action in the arms allows the trapezius to release and soften which in turn releases the neck. The area where the 1st and 2nd rib attach to the sternum is a narrow and closed place – over time it calcifies and gets dried out – the correct action as above in the arms will correct this. Straighten knees and elbows simultaneously. Phew already my practice is transformed – I’m so glad I came !
TADASANA Rotate the inner upper arms out – easier said than done – put a belt around the w
TRIKONASANA So many good points – I will try to get them in some order but fundamentally they should all happen simultaneously. We did the pose at least 5 times with one point in each go. But not losing the points but adding to them. Going to the right – Point 1 - in the pose the right/bottom scapula pops out – the intelligence is lost when the hand goes down – so look at your chest – as you go into the pose observe how the right side of the chest collapses – that is because you have to use the right scapula – tuck it in and observe the right side of the chest again. Better. Jawahar talked alot about the point in a pose when intelligence is lost – try to find that place in each asana.
Point 2 – The left knee and the chest should go in the same direction – Jawahar talked about the connection between the conscious ie the chest and the subconscious ie the left knee – connect them – that is YOGasana – again find in each pose. What you can see is consciousness– what you cannot see is subconsciousness.
Point 3 – Use left inner thigh – move it from inside out to keep the naval moving to the left outer hip – this takes the gravitational pull of the the naval off the chest – thus preventing the collapse of the chest. Don’t drop the naval skin.
Point 4 – Don’t let the right quadricep loose – keep it as tight as the left – observe the left outer thigh grip get the same on the right – the right leg gets loaded in this pose so rather than losing the right quad keep it – the knee needs it! Other points that I loved included : Don’t let the legs OSCILLATE – this had a powerful effect on my poses. HEELS STRONG We practiced all the lateral poses with our eyes on our chests – avidya ! If you turn your head to look up don’t look at the ceiling look at your left hand – much harder plus you can see the oscillation – totally brilliant ! When you make the above corrections you will come up a bit – don’t go down too far – that is a sign you have not done it ! Jawahar talked alot about using the asanas to learn pranayama – eg inhale exhale go down – normally we do a quick inhale then a bastrika and then a rechaka/kumbacha – hilarious I never even thought of that before. So from now on – inhale exhale as you go down – the example of parsvokonasana was great as you inhale normal then a long exhalation as this pose takes a while to get into – in my practice I probably take about 3 breaths to get into the pose – if you do the correct breathing action your Ujjayi will definetly improve – so cool! I’m thinking of the Urdhva Dhanurasana Kapalabhati breathing I do – very naughty – Jawahar increases your awareness.
PARSVOKONASANA This is much much much harder than Trikonasana to get the chest opening actions and leg actions – repeat this pose with all the above points from Trikonasana. Again we did the pose at least 5 times once with each point For me the looking at the chest was a shocker! Get the right buttock bone to go down to get the right arm to go down. Use the contact of the of bent leg and right arm to get the scapula in ! Look at the chest! Get the shin vertical – look at it. Simultaneous action – Right hip socket in left top thigh back. Heels very strong. Look at raised arm not the ceiling. IF YOU DO A POSE WRONG ON ONE SIDE WE THINK WE WILL CORRECT IT ON THE OTHER SIDE – THAT IS WRONG. EXAMPLE IF WE SHORTEN ONE SIDE IN TRIKONASANA WE THINK WE WILL LENGTHEN IT WHEN WE GO TO THE OTHER SIDE – STOP THIS. WE ONLY HAVE 2 LEGS TO GET RIGHT – IMAGINE IF WE WERE A SPIDER – 8 LEGS TO CORRECT.
BADDHA HASTASANA This pose stretches the knee – lift the knee up. Observe the top of the front knee get it in to open the back of the knee. DANDASANA Jawahar used this pose to teach correct action in the legs in Sirsasana. Dandasana is a symmetrical pose so observe the legs – whichever legs goes down is the healthy leg – this teaches the other leg how to behave. Get the top of knee down to open up the back of the knee. Get the SI joint in and up. Lift arms up into Urdhva Hastasana – observe if the legs lift - get em down ! If the SI won’t lift but drops sit on something.
UPAVISTA KONASANA This pose teaches the SI joint in and up action – easier to attain than in Dandasana. Ground back of the knees. Desist in spreading the legs one at a time – this causes injury – spread the legs evenly and together. Draw a line from the heels to the sitz bones. Now get SI in and up – lift arms up – this is easier for beginners. DANDASANA – Repeat Observe its harder than Upavista Konasana to get the lift in SI. Pull the knees to the hips. UPAVISTA KONASANA – repeat Doing UPAVISTA AND DANDASANA together builds up input for the legs to learn to open and to be symmetrical – you must match up the legs and attend to the differences or nothing will change. This teaches the correct action in the legs in Sirsasana. Ridiculously brilliant sequencing.
URDHVA MUKHA PASCHIMOTTANASANA Lift the lower abdomen away from the legs. Keep looking at the legs Make the legs the same Yoga removes dualities but only if you attend to them. Citti Vritti Nirodha.
SIRSASANA Amazing after all that prep. Couple of important and brilliant points Point 1 – Suppose right little finger is on the floor observe right wrist - it will be descending the left wrist will be ascending – descend it. Point 2 – Get the correct action in the inner upper arms – how? Observe the outer elbow points – if they are going out the arms are not working correctly and the thighs will not work correctly either. The outer elbow points must resist and roll in to look forward. Point 3 – observe the bicep – it should lift up to the deltoid not drop to the elbow – pump up the deltoid. The aligned pose feels extremely light and this makes us afraid and think we will fall – so we pull out of alignment and overwork. I finally got the action in the inner groins rolling in - everyone has been trying to teach me OBSERVE THE THIGHS – when you roll the outer elbows in the thighs roll in too ! Conscious and Subconscious ! Point 4 – get the inner thighs and inner knees touching. If you need to, bend the legs a little to get inner thighs touching each other. Point 5 – Ear lobes to shoulder distance – extend THAT ! Point 6 – DANDASANA LEGS ARE ON ! If you don’t make all these actions the neck will suffer – so Jawahar taught a neck release Probably the best Sirsasana class I've ever been to.
ADHO MUKHA VIRASANA – with a brick on the floor under the chin – don’t disturb the jaw rather lift the chest – hold the brick high up with the two hands – lift the elbows up high – whichever elbow drops or is struggling is a trouble side for the neck – move C7 down down down. However Jawahar was clear – if you follow the points correctly you will not need a neck release. BHARADVAJASANA Lift the left arm up in a big circle to get the shoulder in the right position – same big arc action for right arm– nice I hadn’t done this before. If the twist isn’t coming – place left arm on left inner thigh – better for me. Turn from the naval. Keep left thigh down as in Dandasana. Move the scapula in even more. Continue – the more you try the more they respond.
SETUBHANDU SARVANGASANA With 2 bricks widthwise – on 3rd height on pelvic rim. This pose is to release the optic nerve – that is why it is so relaxing. So adjust the neck so it lengthens in both directions – and release the skin of the temples - you will know when you are in the pose as the eyes won’t want to open. Chest to the face – natural Jalandhara Bandha time. Feel the breath in the upper chest Learning pranayama here. 10 mins.
SAVASANA – 2 bricks One for the head – one for the dorsal.
Day 1 Afternoon Jawahar talked alot about how Asana prepares you for Pranayama – this morning one of the major points was the use of the scapula to keep the chest open – the reason we learnt this was for the pranayama practice. So you use the same points and inputs and imprints from this morning Roll inner upper arms out – how to learn TADASANA Tie a belt around the wrists – arms at shoulder width. Release the belt and bring the arms behind the back and put on the wrists again – roll inner upper arms out – easy hit wrists out against the belt – it is in this action that the scapula move in. If you are stiff go wider. If arm/hands go numb it means neck or shoulder problems. Roll the trapezius down. Hit the arms down. ARDHA UTTANASANA Freestanding – feel the dorsal spine – feel the block imprint made in savasana in the morning. You need this feeling/action in pranayama – it is difficult. Finally learning to use my arms !
ADHO MUKHA SVANASANA REPEAT * 3 Jawahar had a student demo from the side – he adjusted him one hand to sacrum one to dorsal – you could see the students outer armpit stretching – very interesting and clear. Stretching the outer armpit improves the pose alot! Again Jawahar insisted we support the head but CORRECTLY – we had obviously missed the fine points – as only a few students even took head support – how we like to hold on to bad habits.... So the neck must be supported without compression – without aggression – without aparigraha. We practiced in partners, same size roughly – 2 blocks 2 mats lengthwise head supported - partners press hands on opposite sides of the bricks. Communicate to eachother. You could really feel the difference than just doing it at the wall – I could feel my inner arms alot. Legs straight Arms straight Spine extending Chest open Feel the arms working NO OSCILLATION DUALITIES ARE REMOVED Lift lower elbows up. If you are flexible lift floating ribs up to protect lumbar. Legs work alot Feel the morning’s work in the legs now. Dandasana legs are unbelievable. Heels heavy. In AMS – the top of the thighs is dull – wake them up. Work the arms and legs at the same time to nourish the spine. The organs of action are purified so they do no wrong . Look at Guruji doing the pose SHARPEN IT As you repeat you may need to lower the head height.
SUPPORTED SAVASANA Always go into Savasana the same way 1 Bend knees lift pelvis adjust buttock flesh to knees. 2 Straighten legs one at a time 3 Lift one leg 1 inch extend calf to heel to release sciatic nerve 4 Adjust neck to release optic nerve – release skin of temples 5 Do Sarvangasana arms elbows bent so scapula are in so chest can open 6 Keep arms wide if you have to – be on index finger knuckle OBSERVATION OF THE BREATH IN SUPPORTED SAVASANA In skin of inner nostrils – Jawahar called them flow meters. In inner ear feel the vibrations In the floor of the pelvis In the skin of the chest Release the skin of the temples to switch off the eyes/optic nerve Watch the tongue – when there are thought waves the tongue prepares to speak and so lifts and prepares to talk – hilarious – relax the tongue don’t drop the lower jaw. Feel the diaphragm drop on the exhalation. Inhale observe how much of your trunk is filling up – 2/3’ds or 4/5th’s or 1/2 Mentally divide the trunk in two – observe where you feel the inhalation the exhalation. Observe the depth and the lenght of inhalation and exhalation. Don’t change anything just observe – be the watcher not the doer.
OBSERVATION OF THE BREATH IN SITTING – MUCH HARDER You want to move from a triangle to a rectangle the path of the breath Again divide the trunk in two pieces – observe where you feel the inhalation and the exhalation. In skin of inner nostrils – Jawahar called them flow meters. In inner ear feel the vibrations In the floor of the pelvis In the skin of the chest
SAVASANA – classic Same principles apply. Jawahar implored us to come out of savasana slowly and delicately – to keep the serenity.
JAWAHAR GEMS When we do a pose wrong on the right side we think we’ll correct it on the left side - e.g. in Trikonasana going to the right we shorten the right side trunk and over extend the left side trunk and then we think we will fix that on the left - THAT IS WRONG. We only have 2 legs - thank the Lord - imagine if we had 8 like the spider ! Do it for the love of it ! Use the asanas to learn the pranayama - e.g. Parsvokonasana to get into the pose in one exhalation - means a long extended exhalation i.e. practice that then Ujjayi breathing will improve. Symmetrical poses e.g. Dandasana, Sirsasana, Uttanasana - use them to remove dualities - do not ignore the imbalances - attend to them. Bring responsiveness to the skin and listen to that.
Jawahar Day 2 Morning Session
Tadasana - observe when the feet get active the skin on the thighs lifts. Jawahar spent some time reviewing the points from yesterday and then fine tuned and added on: TRIKONASANA Do not shorten the right side of the trunk - going to the right. Learn the theorem - the principles then apply the theorem. Bring the spine including the neck and the arm horizontal to the floor - bring the right hip to the left hip. Use the dandasana leg action learnt yesterday morning.
TADASANA Learn the tailbone action - stand in a threesome person in tadasana - Jawahar in front with a belt on middle buttock - another teacher behind with belt on top thigh - both apply belt - nutation of the sacrum . Learn this here in tadasana - you need this for Virabhadrasana 1. Patanjali : find stability first then find the ease - we find the stability and then we leave the pose - try to find sukham stithi asanam - so find the stability then observe and hold then come out. What is the whole point? To get to stability which leads to effortless effort where spirituality naturally blooms. So don’t just find stability and leave the pose. PARSVOKONASANA Get length in the side trunk Touch your waist to the thigh. Get your hand to the ankle don’t shorten the placement of the hand. Demo Same Theorem Right side - prove the theorem, left side do the application of the theorem. Let the buttock bone go down . Look at the chest.
BADDHA HASTASANA Release the abdomen move from the centre of the spine. PARSVOTONASANA 1. Get legs straight - Dandasana action. 2. Observe back leg - the skin of the back leg has to move forward - shin skin forward, outer knee skin forward, outer thigh skin - FEEL IT. 3. Move the right hip back a bit. 4. Hands on the hips - go down from the chest - go half way. Concave spine . Find the Urdhva Mukha Paschimottonasana action again. Move in C7.T1,T2 - that is not a chess move. 5. Don’t kill the cells of the body - i.e. don’t lose the concavity of the spine - don’t injure yourself. 6. Keep feet active and then the legs stay active. 7. Lift the back heel and then put it down. 8. Keep the right thigh bone long. Suck the outer hips in. 9. Go down if you can . When you go down lengthen the lower front trunk - this will lengthen the right thigh bone. 10. Observe wherever the skin feels tight - release that - don’t kill cells ! Observe where the skin is talking to you and you are not listening!
VIRABHADRASANA 1 Get correct leg work for Urdhva Dhanurasana here - imagine you’ve a knee on the back of your knee - lift it up - Back leg action. Get back leg straight. Same back leg actions here as in Parsvotonasana. We spent a lot of time on the back leg. Use a wooden block and place back leg heel on the block. Repeated *3 - stepping forward to front edge of the mat and stepping back to the block so we don’t change the distance on the two sides. Use two blocks for hands to change legs. Middle Buttock action - why do we use the term middle buttock - it gets us in touch with the tailbone - which is deeply embedded in the body and hence is inaccessible. Get the belt threesome action above for pelvic nutation - gives a posterior and anterior compaction of the pelvis. You need this in backbends. So in Virabhadrasana 1 - heel on a block - step forward to front edge of mat make the necessary adjustments to get the back leg action , straighten and rotate forward. Get nutation of the pelvis - middle buttocks forward top thighs back simultaneously both legs. Go forward into the bend with both middle buttocks moving forward. Bring right middle buttock to the right knee. New action for me keep right thigh bone long - relates to the lower abs - resist the shin back. If you drop the lower abdomen and lift the middle buttock up to the lumbar you are creating a perversion which results in many lower abdominal problems - fibroids, enlarged prostate - it also gravitationally drags down the chest and the head disaster! Using the pelvic floor and the lower abs to lift the frontal hip bones is hard to sustain - however the sacral nutation action results in the same lift of the pelvis - and is easier to sustain - very interesting. Practice this. Repeat many times. Create new imprints. Then raise the arms - the arms only lift the chest - find dorsal spine. Find the steadiness then you will find the yoga. Can you find the breath. Everything from the neck up is passive - passive throat, face and tongue. Suck the outer hips in. The right hip has to do what it learnt in trikonasana - top buttock down - middle buttock in
SIRSASANA Jawahar repeated points from yesterday. He spent a lot of time in the demonstration - showing how as we go up we close the elbow joint - then when we are up we open it - this is where the neck problems start. He recommended putting the mat lengthwise get the elbow points in - they tend to go out as we go up. Get the lift in the upper arm - move the bicep to the deltoid - pump the deltoid up, then the neck stays long - then go up with the legs together. Fix the elbows first. Move forearms to the wrists - great cue! Lift the bicep up - roll the inner upper arms out. Feel the top scapula move to the collarbones - most amazing cue of all time for Sirsasana - feel the power, Fix the pelvis - same as Tadasana belt three people above. Bend the legs a little get inner thighs touching, inner knees touching, inner ankles touching. Then straighten.
In Sirsasana you have to keep recycling the points - the wrists, the forearms, the scapula, the inner ears, the upper arms, shoulders, ribs, pelvis, thighs, knees, shins, soles of the feet. With the steadiness comes the yogasana - the yogasana is when the conscious and the subconscious join/ bond - that is Yoga. If you do all the above actions you won’t need to release your neck after sirsasana.
ADHO MUKHA SVANASANA Always support the head. Use legs much more. Heels heavy. Move your legs to your heels not your toes. Dandasana legs. Stretch the back of the knees. Imagine you have knees on the back of your knees - lift them up. SETUBHANDU SARVANGASANA Same setup - 2 wooden bricks - 3 folded blanket for neck - if neck problems - very nice Observe the action of the outer shoulders and the outer neck - the outer shoulders are down - the outer neck is lifting - this is essential and should be also done in Sarvangasana - Jawahar was saying he more often teaches this pose in lieu of Sarvangasana where this neck action is not achieved and there are many neck injuries resulting. SARVANGASANA Use Halasana to get the shoulders and neck behaving as in Setubhandu - this is really hard - usually requires way more support and an elbow lift. Go up one leg at a time. Get the hands working correctly - the thumb and index finger work a lot but you need to activate the little finger and the ring finger to work more and get the middle back ribs in. It also shifts the weight off the neck. Jawahar encouraged us to move the back to the hands ( very different) to get the weight off the head and neck and into the elbows. Get the same tailbone pelvic action as in previous Tadasana. Release the belt drop back into Setubhandu Sarvangasana practice this This dropping back gives you the correct shoulder and chest action plus brings the weight to the elbows. Then go back up to Sarvangasana - big difference in the base of the pose !
PASCHIMOTTONASANA Double blocks. Relax the head- even if the head doesn’t reach it doesn’t matter. Relax the abdomen. Lengthen the lower trunk. SAVASANA Find the passivity of the body , mind , and breath - let it all sink to a level = BEAUTIFUL.
JAWAHAR DAY 2 - AFTERNOON OM SHANTI MANTRA - LOVE IT. ADHO MUKHA SVANASANA To learn the position of the head support so as not to compress the neck. In partners with 2 wooden blocks - two mats short ends touching - blocks at short edges - for partners hands. Put in Head support. If the head is supported it saves 1/5 of circulatory energy/ heart energy - without head support the arms and legs and heart get tired quickly. Jawahar was adamant about head support - in LOY Guruji’s head is on the floor. Same points but add - Buttock bones go up , the top of the back of the thighs goes to the buttock bones. Hard. When you get it the pose comes effortlessly, feel the breath. Repeat - it takes a few goes. Lengthen the bicep and stretch the armpit.
SARVANGASANA DON’T LOSE THE CURVATURE OF THE NECK. Jawahar was not happy with the Sarvangasasna actions in the morning so we spent a lot of time working on Sarvangasana in the afternoon. Demonstrator - observe - outer shoulders are not down. Jawahar put in 2 extra blankets and an elbow lift - then he was happy ! STEP 1 - Get top of the shoulders near the top of the foam pads. STEP 2 - Adjust the neck - left it up and lenghten it. Softly. STEP 3 - With your finger lift the skin of the sternum keep that lifted and steady as you go up ! Very interesting Jawahar kept returning to Setubhandu and said he usually teaches this instead of Sarvangasana now - consider this for classes. You must get the Setubhandu feeling or you are hurting your neck. If you get pain in the wrists dropping back - its arthritis practice it.
SUPPORTED SAVASANA Observe where is the inhale where is the exhale. Lift the chest on exhalation.
SITTING PRANAYAMA Nadi Shodhan Pranayama Sit - lift SI joint, use scapula to open the chest. Learn how to hold the hand first Join tips of little finger, thumb and ring finger. Learn to join the fingers with the eyes closed - become sensitive. Arm - keep elbow space. Use Jalandhara Bandha or you will overheat the brain. Get fingers into position with eyes closed. Go to top of nose bridge and slide down - where it’s soft is the septum - stop there. In Jalandhara Bandha - empty the lungs. Slightly longer inhalation. Hold and bring fingers to septum. Inhale, it is a slower inhalation due to the restricted path but not deeper. Hold - increase JB. Remove fingers, exhale. Inhale exhale to recover. Do for 10 mins - very cooling and relaxing. SAVASANA Come out very slowly.
JAWAHAR DAY 3 Returned to Parsvottonasana, to learn Virabhadrasana 1, to learn Chataranga, to learn Urdhva Mukha, to learn Urdhva Dhanurasana.
TRIKONASANA Fingers on the hip sockets -get the hips into their moorings. PARSVOTTONASANA Hip Sockets in their moorings. Hold elbows - turn the legs from the hip so that the hips stay in their moorings - its as we turn the legs the hips come out - do it a few times observe and fix. You have done it wrong many times and so that memory is in your legs - hence you have to do a lot of repetitions to get a new memory. imprinting.
TRIKONASANA Step wide - fingers on outer hip sockets - toes forward. Turn right let out - fix right hip socket - fix left hip socket. Repeat *2 Hips don’t change PARSVOTTONASANA Hands on blocks concave pose. Front foot at the top of the mat. Step back with left foot. Left heel to block. Correct back leg, hips, middle buttock. Go half way correct the hips. To go all the way down relax the lower abdomen. Don’t over turn the chest. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Look up from the dorsal. To keep the same distance join front leg to the back leg, then step forward. VIRABHADRASANA 1 Blocks at the front of the mat. Front foot at the front of the mat. Step back foot back. First hands on the hips. Correct back leg, hips, middle buttock - hips in their sockets - more and more and more. Skin of back leg action. Get sensitive. Repeat repeat repeat. Arms up. Resist front thigh shortening.
VIRABHADRASANA 3 Same way as Virabhadrasana 1 - Come forward put hands on the blocks. bring your trunk to your thigh, release the hands from the blocks extend the arms forward. Move lower abdomen forward - the last klesha is Abhinivesha - the will to live - sages feel this so we definitely will feel it - that is what stops you in Virabhadrasana 1, Parsvottonasasna, Virabhadrasasana 3 - the fear of falling/dying holds us back - have courage - lengthen the lower abdomen forward. Hip sockets - of the raised leg roll it down - standing leg hip lift it up. Grip the hips in to the sockets. Come down hold the Virabhadrasana 1 hands to the blocks switch legs. Repeat repeat repeat. Really really really brilliant.
CHATARANGA DANDASANA Wooden Blocks for the hands. 2 foams to rest the head on. Observe the hip sockets roll them in. Dandasana legs. Get the middle buttock in to the body/Top of the thighs action. Keep the bicep moving to the deltoid - what a mega Cue. Maintain the space in the elbow joint. The skin of the back of the thigh has to move to the outer thigh. The thigh bone lifts you up. Repeat 5 times. If you cannot do Chataranga you cannot do UMS. Moving from Chataranga 1 to Chataranga 2 - rolling the toes forward - this moves you to Urdhva Mukha Svanasana - the Abhinivesha is very strong here. Protecting yourself from something you don’t know is ignorance, not doing it means you’ll never know. Try! URDHVA MUKHA SVANASANA Same actions as Chataranga - the abdomen will be heavy if all the leg actions have not been made. Dorsal in. Bicep to Deltoid to go up - amazing but tough - very different way to go up. Put a belt on the knees hit out against the belt - releases the gluten very effectively. Jawahar spent some time showing us Guruji doing these
DHANURASANA This pose helps you to feel dorsal in. Bend the legs hold the ankles - middle buttock action very important. Lift thighs up first then chest. If you look at Guruji doing the pose his knee and shoulder joints are aligned. Be fully on the abdomen, get the pelvis off the floor. The arms are like rope arms - when we use the ropes. Put 2 blocks under the middle of the thighs. Lift the legs up off the blocks - very hard - then lift the head and chest. Hit the legs out into the belt to release the glutes. Lift the thighs higher and higher. Calves to the heels. Repeat 5 times. This pose is mostly experienced on the back of the body - and so is a very subconscious pose. Back to URDHVA MUKHA SVANASANA Find all the actions. Arms vertical like full arm balance. CHATOOSH PADASANA If neck problems use a 3 folded blanket. Belt still on thigh/knee use the tail to hold if you can’t reach the ankles. Resist the shins. Go up from the outer hip. Middle buttock higher. Repeat 5 times. Continue to URDHVA DHANURASANA From Chatoosh Padasana bring arms overhead hands under shoulders. come to crown of head - lift outer hips higher - hit out against the belt - lift higher feel the legs working so much. Go up in to Urdhva Dhanurasana . Walk the feet in - keep lifting the outer hips. Coming down is when we hurt the back - Shoulders come down at the wrists - don’t travel down the mat. Repeat 5 times. From here continue to VIPARITA DANDASANA IF YOU FEEL IT IN THE LEGS THE BACK IS NOURISHED. DON’T GO UP WITH THE ARMS GO UP WITH THE LEGS.
JANU SIRSASANA VARIATION TWIST. Heel to groin. Get straight leg down. Inner knee to outer hip - sitz descends - lift left arm in a big circle bring it to the right knee. Right hand slides back . Keep the straight leg hip in its mooring. Spine lifting. Circle arms to come out. Repeat. MARICHYASANA 3 Get the turn by lifting the buttocks up off the ground - connect the left side of the trunk to the right middle thigh. Armpit closer to the knee. Then descend buttocks so you sit on the foam. Get naval turning. Release skin on the left back floating ribs away from the spine. Observe side ribcage - right side is convex, left side is concave swop that - brings spine to the centre. Make the left back ribcage more like Urdhva Dhanurasana - roll the ribs, coil them in. Resist the scapula - keep them in and collarbones stay wide like pars sirsasana - we want to rotate in the lower trunk. Bring left forearm parallel to the floor palm up - get scapula in - learn this in Parvritta Parsvokonasana - repeat and bind if you can. SUPTA BADDHA KONASANA Prop hips up so groins not hanging. Immediately the trunk especially the lower abdomen has space. Where is the breath - straight to the lower abdomen - find the rectangle of the breath.
PAVANA MUKTASANA SAVASANA