Go Through the Portal

This is a sequence with some pretty heavy poses, so stay calm and light-hearted.  You need at least 90 minutes to do these poses. Do not skip the Chatushpadasana, Sarvangasana and the brick Setu Bandha at the end of the sequence. You will need those poses to relax your spinal muscles.
If there is a pose or 2 that you have not yet been taught and are uncertain about practicing, substitute another pose in its place. Then, tell us the changes you have made with the comment option that is available at the bottom of every post.



Adho Mukha Virasana
Parsva Adho Mukha Virasana

Jathara Parivartanasana- legs bent, slowly. Work on compacting outer hips and keeping thigh bones moving into their sockets.
Jathara Parivartanasana- legs straight, slowly. Work on compacting outer hips and moving thigh bones into their sockets.
Jathara Parivartanasana-legs straight, quickly, side to side 10x.

Dandasana-Urdhva Hastasana
Parsva Dandasana- 3 or 4x - keep feet in line with one another as you twist. Suck the legs together like the Jathara Parivartanasana

Marichyasana 3-  sit in Dandasana with your back to the wall. Be about 16 inches away from the wall. Turn and put your back hand up on the wall, spin that arm out to lift the chest. 2x each side

Dandasana-Urdhva Hastasana-Paschimottanasana- go through this cycle 3 or 4 time then hold Paschimottanasana for 1 minute the last time.

Prasarita Padottanasana- take feet wide, walk hands back, try to get the back of your head on the floor.

Sirsasana- Parsva Sirsasana and Eka Pada Sirsasana

Malasana- lift heels even if you do not need to. Keep legs together, hugs shin bones with  forearms and press the arms into the legs to lift the ribs up. Lengthen the trunk.

Malasana 2 - do this pose twice. Look at Light on Yoga p. 266 photo # 322.
Kurmasana- 2x
Eka Pada Sirsasana- 2x- Look at Light on Yoga pp.292-294.


Chatushpadasana- go up and down gently and slowly a few times before holding. Finally after a few pumps, go up into the complete pose.

Salamba Sarvangasana

Setu Bandha Sarvangasana on a brick

Savasana

What is Practice?

तत्र स्थितौ यत्नो भ्यसः 

1.13 tatra sthitau yatnah abhyasah 

Practice is the steadfast effort to still these fluctuations.

Practice is the effort to still the fluctuations in the consciousness and then to move towards silencing it: to attain a constant, steady, tranquil state of mind. 

Light on Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by BKS Iyengar p.59

 Do you practice? Or, do you simply put yourself in different positions a couple of times a week?

What is Asana?

स्थिर सुखं आसनं 

2.46 sthira sukham asanam


Asana is perfect firmness of body, steadiness of intelligence and benevolence of spirit. 
translated by BKS Iyengar


Asana is a steady, comfortable posture.
translated by Sri Swami Satchidananda


Posture should be steady and comfortable.
translated by Edwin Bryant


Essentially, the posture is a limb of the actual goal of yoga to the extent that it allows the meditator to sit firmly, sthira, and comfortably, sukha, for meditation. Indeed, as noted, asana literally means seat. Obviously one cannot fix one's attention onto something if one is sleeping or running about; one must sit, and sit without fidgeting or discomfort. In other words, asana's revelance and function for the classical Yoga tradition are to train the body so that it does not disturb or distract the mind of the yogi in any way when sitting in meditation.
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Edwin Bryant p.284


The postures of meditation should embody steadiness and ease.
translated by Chip Hartranft


Asana must embody steadiness (sthira) and ease (sukha) not only in an active, external sense, as in selecting a posture and support best suited to profound stillness, but also in an interiorized, receptive way. Moment by moment we must allow our awareness of embodiment to deepen, even as each new wave of sensation buffets our attention and threatens to unmoor it from its fixation in the present.
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Chip Hartranft p.37

Welcome Home Apollo

Welcome Home Apollo, originally uploaded by deweesescience.

Good Apollo

Apollo is our 13 week old German Shepherd puppy. We got him from a neighbor who keeps the breed. We now have 3 dogs.

Last Sunday Apollo got very sick. We took him to the emergency vet in Decatur. Upon examination and testing, they found that Apollo had been unlucky enough to catch the Parvo virus. He had previously received 3 Parvo vaccinations, but Parvo is a very hardy virus and  found it's way into his system, regardless of the shots. Parvo is a nasty virus that attacks the puppy's digestive tract and immune system. An x-ray showed that Apollo's small intestines were wrinkling up, looking as if it were attacking itself.

He stayed at the vet Sunday night and Monday night where he received medicine and fluids through intravenous tubes. We brought him home Tuesday evening, he had a relapse and had to be brought back to the vet to be again hooked back up to the antibiotics and fluids.
Apollo is now home, he returned  yesterday. He is completely recovered, ready to jump into action.

During this past week, my feelings of distress were based on Apollo's discomfort. I was not at all happy that this adorable creature was in pain. Watching a furry 26 pound body spasm and vomit is horrifying.

 Sadness felt like a selfish emotion, based on the potential of loss. When I am sad, I also feel  greedy. Greedy for something that was taken away, greedy because I want to fill up an emptiness. This time, the greed disgusted me. It was worse than any thoughts of living without this dog. There are so many dogs in this world! There are 2 more healthy dogs back at my house!  Because of this, I found I could not be sad at the prospect of losing Apollo. Death is natural and inevitable, why should the laws of nature, why should God make an exception for me. I am not special, Apollo is not special. Nothing about  this situation is special. Any feelings of sadness I felt would not be productive or helpful to Apollo. But, I definitely had some unnamed emotions that I felt needed a path.
So, I said to myself,  if I feel like do-nothing depressing grief is not helping me or Apollo, what will help?
After that thought, I made a decision. With each inhalation, I lifted my chest and said "live!" And with each exhalation, calmed myself, allowing  the sattvic realization that Apollo may not live wash over me. Where ever the soul that inhabits that puppy body went, I decided to give it my love and energy. This practice was much more calming than allowing myself to become overwhelmed with dismay, which would probably lead to hiding under a blanket for awhile in a state of foggy unawareness, only to be roused by hunger, or the need to pee, finding that my black out helped no one, including me.
I found that my efforts to create productive positive thoughts allowed me to better serve the other animals and people that I live with. 

Hooked on Props

Props are fabulous. Props make poses and actions possible.

But, we can get hooked on them to the point of attachment,convincing ourselves that practicing is
downright impossible without  props. No props does not have to equal no yoga

I remember when I first became interested in yoga. I was intrigued by the simplicity. All I need is this physical body, these arms and these legs. Now look at me, surrounded by bolsters, blankets, blocks, straps and odd looking wooden benches.
Don't get me wrong, props are amazing, wonderful tools and some things truly cannot be accomplished without them. You won't ever catch me renouncing them.  But, we should be using the props as means to a further end. What is that end?  Emotional security? Physical complacency?
Use the prop to teach you how to do an action. Do not allow the use of that prop to trap you in a state of laziness.
When is the last time you tried to do Shoulderstand without belting the arms?

When was the last time you practiced Pincha Mayurasana without a brick or belt?
Your elbows do not slide out by some odd natural occurance. The elbows are sliding out because there is still no understanding about how to engage those muscles to perform and maintain the actions needed to keep the elbows in. Perhaps you could train those muscles if you practiced without a belt sometimes.

 Are the props you use helping you progress? Or, are the props you use allowing you to fester in a place of what you think is comfort, but upon closer inspection is really laziness?

Does your desire for props bring out the greedy horder in you? Do you collect props before class, in an effort to make certain no one else gets your favorite blanket?

Do you let your practice diminish when you travel, using no props as an excuse?

 Examine yourself, examine your environment. Ask yourself, do I really need a prop to do this?  Furthermore, what is at my disposal that I can use as a prop if need be?

You may find out how to work your feet and outer hip muscles by doing standing poses on carpet instead of a mat to keep your feet from slipping.

You can backbend over anything!!

You can use towels under your shoulders in shoulderstand.

You can use a phonebook, a flower vase, a water bottle or a roll of toilet paper as a brick if you have to.

If you have props, my all means, use them when you need to, but examine that need constantly. Grow, do not stagnate.
Patanjali lists mental laziness as an obstacle that disturbs our consciousness and disrupts our practice. Styana is the word in Sanskrit. Sometimes survival can force you to be creative and innovative. How quickly do you say , "aw, screw it" before truly making an earnest effort to find a solution or a means?
Well, I don't have a wall, so I cannot practice headstand. What else can you do? How about a doorway?
Don't have anything to sit on for seated poses, what's an acceptable alternative?

Here is a sequence of poses. Most of these can be done without props. Give it a whirl. Make it a practice of non-attachment. Of course if doing any of these poses without a certain prop means your certain doom, then simply do not practice that particular pose. But keeping with the svadyaya(self-study) add an alternative. This means you have to be creative and not allow the obstacle of styana to predominate.

Adho Mukha Virasana
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Uttanasana

Tadasana
Urdhva Hastasana
Urdhva Baddanguliasana
Paschima Namaskrasana
Gomukhasana - arms only

Uttanasana- feet together
Prasarita Padottanasana
Sirsasana

Utthita Trikonasana
Utthita Parsvakonasana- what can you do if you don't have a brick and cannot get to the floor? Put your forearm on your leg.

Virabhadrasana II
Ardha Chandrasana- if your standing leg bends for lack of a brick, the world will not end.

How many standing poses can you do without a brick? Probably all of them.

Virabhadrasana 1
Virabhadrasana 3

Chatushpadasana

Salamba Sarvangsana- this is one pose you should not do without the lift of blankets or something(mats, foam) under your shoulders. So, search your environment, use whatever is available to you. The last time I traveled without props, I was in a hotel room, and I took the comforter off of the hotel bed, folded it up and stuck that under my shoulders to do the pose. If it is not as much lift as you like, then do the pose with your feet on the wall. I am happy to show that way if you are not familiar with it.

After Sarvangasana, doing some seated poses is a good idea, as long as they are not too stimulating to destroy the peacefullness and sattvaness that the pose brings.

Baddha Konasana
Swastikasana
Marichyasana 1
Janu Sirsasana
Before you take a prop, ask yourself why you need it. If you are sitting on a blanket to sit up straighter, actually work to sit up straighter before simply grabbing the prop without actually attempting the action. Very often, we look at something in our bodies as naturally occurring and uncontrollable. Change that, take control. You will be rewarded for your efforts.

Savasana

Sequence

Here's a sequence of backbends from class at Shambhala Center this past Thursday.

Adho Mukha Virasana
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Uttanasana- do concave stage for a few breaths before lengthening forward completely
Tadasana
Urdhva Hastasana
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Uttanasana- do concave stage for a few breaths before lengthening forward

Sirsasana
Setu Bandha on a brick- do this pose actively, no wall for the feet
Urdhva Mukha Svanasana
Dhanurasana
Ustrasana
Urdhva Dhanurasana

Adho Mukha Swastikasana
Parsva Adho Mukha Swastikasana
Supported Ardha Halasana or bolster Halasana

You can run through all of these poses quickly and finish this sequence in 30 minutes. You can hold each pose for a longer time, do them repeatedly and make this sequence last 2 hours.
I am interested to hear from you about the individual experiences that come from these sequences. Certainly when I teach them there are points and efforts that do not get expressed on these posts. Feel free to leave comments.

The Other Times

व्र्त्तिसरुप्यमितरत्र 

1.4 vrtti sarupyam itaratra

At other times, the seer identifies with the fluctuating consciousness.

We spend most of our time, in the "other times".