August 17, 2009

Tonight for Gentle Yoga, there were 6 of us practicing.

It was damn hot, but I decided just to go with it!  M, who is really not capable of doing much, had emailed earlier in the day to let me know she would not be back for awhile, since it had become clear to her that she really wasn't ready for our poses.

I had the sense that she was really pushing herself, but I wasn't able, ultimately, to make it exactly what she needed at the expense of everyone else.

So without her there, I felt a little freer to do some more strenuous poses, all within the "gentle" limit.

I asked what people felt they needed--upper back, lower back, feet!  Okay!

We started in Tadasana, came up on our toes, then alternated toe/heel.  

Did several Upward Salutes, bending the knees, then circling the arms back, interlacing fingers and rolling down into Yoga Mudra, then Uttanasana, then rolled up.  

In one Utanasana, we slid our palm under first one foot, then the other, giving our palms a good massage with the toes and stretching the wrists.  It felt great on the souls of the feet too!

We stretched the neck on both sides, then came into Crescent Moon in a nice side stretch.

Did the Tree Pose on both sides, then since everyone seemed to be quite well balanced, did the Great Blue Heron (heron pose), and even grasped the ankle and bent the opposite hand down all the way to the floor! A heron eating a fish!

I think everyone had fun with this, and it was getting really hot!

We shook it out, then did the Washing Machine, which I've since found out is called Palm Trees.

Still on our feet, we did a Wide Legged Forward Bend, into Trikonasana, back to the bend and into a Wide Legged Dog.  Walked our hands back in, bent knees into Horse Pose and Namaste, then came up to stand.

We went from here into Warrior 1, Warrior 2, then back to Wide Legged Forward Bend, Horse Pose, and finally up to stand, in Namaste.  I got a little confused in the Warrior flow, but managed to pull it together.

We were pretty tuckered out by this time, so we came to sit on our mats and did a Spinal Twist/Forward Bend/Back Bend flow.  This actually felt great!

Came into Staff Pose and simply breathed, then did Window Washer and Rotations with the feet, also pointing and flexing.

Finally came to lie on our mats!

We did Upward Salute, Bridges, Knees to Chest, Knee Rotations, Spinal Twist, Double Leg Raise (legs and arms up and apart), Happy Baby, legs and arms back up where we did angle and wrist rotations, Supine Bound Angle, then came into Savasana.

I had everyone try Lemon Squeeze, tensing and deeply relaxing twice, then we had a nice long Savasana.

It was a work out, for sure, but I had 2 experienced college students, 2 experienced 30 somethings, and one pretty good beginner, so I felt I could push them a little.

August 10, 2009

Though it was really hot today, I managed to close the windows and shades early to the Goodyear Gallery,

which made a big difference this evening for our Gentle Yoga hour.

I had 4 people practicing tonight.  I asked what people might want, but no one was talkin', though M did say she had already done her PT, walked the dog and gone to the chiropractor--we all laughed and said, okay, just lay there!

We started in the Rock, and I directed them in a little pranayama.

Went to Table Top, did some  Cat/Cow, Thread The Needle, came into Garland, back to Table Top and then into the Rock.

We did this flow twice, then rolled up into Thunderbolt, rotated wrists, Namaste, then came to sit in Hero's Pose.  From here we did Side Stretches, stretched arms forward, up and back several times in Arms Rotations, using the breath, then brought them behind us, interlacing hands.  

Came into Yoga Mudra, released into the Rock.

Rolled up and came to sit in Easy Pose.  We did a series of Forward Bends, Chest Openers, Twists, then back to Forward Bend. Stretched the legs out in Staff Pose, and really breathed here, then tucked one foot in, opened the other leg wide and did Fore Head to Knee.  Went to opposite side, Fore Head to Knee, then opened both legs and just breathed deeply here.  Namaste.

From here, we rolled up half our mats, brought them to the wall and sat in meditation, with the Lotus Mudra.

I LOVE this mudra.

Brought the arms out straight in front, palms up, then brought the hands back in to rest on the upper chest, fingers outstretched, palms flat, in yet another mudra.  Then just sat.

We eventually made it back down on the mat and did a series of Alternate Knee to Chest, both Knees to Chest, inhaling and exhaling the knees open/closed, rocking side to side, brought the arms in Upward Salute, interlaced hands and turned them out for a super stretch, then brought the hands down beneath the head and did a bunch of Knee Rotations in both directions.

Opened the arms out to a T and did some nice Supine Spinal Twists, then deepened it by bringing the arm around and opening out again.  

Brought our arms and legs straight up, palms together, feet together and played with Happy Bug, then went into Happy Baby, rocking.

Then rested in deep Savasana.

I thought it was a really nice hour.  The only thing I keep meaning to do, and don't as often as I should, is check in with people, see how they are doing.  I also need to do more side stretching, which I don't do enough!

NEXT WEEK!

August 7, 2009

Abigail and I met for almost an hour today, an hour instead of 45 minutes because I was using a new timer and it did not work!

We started with a nice meditation, incorporating some mudras, then came down on the mats in Savasana, and stayed there!

We did all sorts of knee and legs stretches, including Knees to Chest, Knee Rotations, Leg Lifts, Ankle Rotations, Wrist Rotations, Alternating Arm/Leg Stretch, Side Stretches, Bridges, Rocking, Upward Salutes, Hands interlaced behind Head , Elbows opened and closed, Neck Massage with thumbs, on and on.

This was kind of like a big mish-mash of poses.

Also did a nice Crescent Moon, that felt great.

I wanted to see how much strength Abigail had for Legs to Ceiling, so we did that for a while, but I could see her tiring.

After all the leg work we came back to Bridge, just to check out how much we had been able to open up our hips, legs, back and shoulders.

Spent a lot of time focusing on the lower back with Pelvic Tilts and rolling down slowly after our Bridges to feel each vertabra.  Brought our awareness to the lower back continually.

Then came into a long Savasana.

Abigail said she rarely sleeps longer than an hour and a half at a time, so I wanted to give her a deeply relaxing awake Savasana.

I felt uninspired and tired myself, but I was also aware that we both got a lot out of the session, especially the meditation and Mudras.

I figure I have 2 more hours of teaching to do.

I've really been pushing myself, and I think I'm tired!

August 4, 2009

Had to add a photo of chickens, since I did an hour of Farm Yoga last night, and mid way, realized we were surrounded by chickens.

In the center of the circle we made with our mats, the cat and dog lay in Savasana, as the chickens strutted and clucked around us.  It was really funny, and I wish someone had a photo of it!

I was joined by 2 of the interns, and J said she would join us a little later.  D had a date, and he was trying to clean up his yurt....

So the guys said work had been really tough that day, lots of weeding.  And V said he was tired.

I really appreciate the fact that he just keeps coming back for an hour of stretching every week.

I asked if he had liked the Pranayama of last week (Cooling Breath & Bee's Breath), and he said not so much.  I told him that was fine, there was so much we could do otherwise, and not everyone liked everything.

So we started in Savasana, and checked in with the 3 Part Yoga Breath.  Inhaled up to Upward Salute, brought the palms together, then fore arms together over the face, then hands into Namaste.  We did this a few times, just getting a good stretch in the ribs and shoulders.

Then we did a series of Knees to Chest, Rocking, Knee Rotations and finally Spinal Twist, really stretching it out.

We did a few Bridges.

Then came up to sit and Forward Bend over the knees.  Sat in Easy Pose and did a Forward/Back Bend series, then a Seated Twist.

Came up to Table Top, did a Cat series of Cat Bow, Cat/Cow, Threading the Needle (with arms), then stretching the arm up, looking up to the fingers, stretching that whole side out, then into Garland, back to Table Top and repeated on other side.

From Garland came up into Down Dog, then to knees and Chataranga, then up in Cobra.

Relaxed into Crocodile, then came back up to Cobra, then Down Dog.  During the Down Dog, I looked over at V and noticed the cat was weaving in and out of his arms.  He looked at me and we smiled!

Walked our feet forward into Uttanasana, then into Tadasana, Upward Salute, then Namaste.

From here we came down onto our mats in Savasana.

A really nice hour.

And oh, I was stung by a bee on the inside of my arm as we rested in our first Savasana....oh well.  I lived, but I don't suppose the bee did....

August 3, 2009

For Gentle Yoga last night I had 4 people, 1 new.

They were a very talkative bunch to begin, and the energy seemed pretty high, a little frantic.

I asked what people thought they might need, and they all laughed!

3 were wearing watches, so I suggested they consider removing their watches before practicing, telling them that I would keep track of the hour and that they needn't think of time while they were here.

I also took a pair of sandals that were at the foot of someone's mat and put them down near the door.

When she said she didn't know I was so careful about "cleaning up", I told them that shoes didn't have any place in the yoga studio....it also made me realize no one had read their hand-outs, Protocol in The Yoga Studio, which they all got on the first day....

Hmmmmm

We started in Savasana and simply lay still and quiet for several long moments.

I then directed them to the 3 Part Yoga Breath, so that I could get them focused and calmed down.

From here we inhaled to Upward Salute, brought the palms together, brought the forearms together over the face, brought the hands into Namaste.  Repeated several times.

Brought the arms out to a T, and inhaled the right foot up along the left leg into a Supine Tree.  Brought the knee up, foot on mat, and did a counter stretch by allowing the knee to fall gently over the left leg.

Repeated on left side with another Tree, then came into Supine Bound Angle.  Brought the palms together in Namaste, then interlaced the fingers and brought the hands back to support the head, allowing elbows to open and drop to the mat.

Folded the elbows up beside the temples, folded the knees up, feet to mat, and brought the Knees To Chest.

Did a series of Elbow to Opposite Knee, but looking around the room, I realized this was tough for the others.

Came back to the mat, opened the legs in Supine Bound Angle, allowed the elbows to open once again.

Took a long breath here.

Brought Knees to Chest, wrapped arms around knees and rocked.

Then came into a very gentle Bridge series, which I initially demonstrated.  I explained that a Bridge could even be as easy as raising the pelvis and hips 2 inches from the mat and just breathing.

We practiced one Bridge, came down with Knees To Chest, rocked again.

Came back to a 2nd Bridge, this time with a bit more stretch if we felt like it.  Directed them in interlacing fingers, bringing arms under back for a deep stretch.

Then decided to do some Knee Rotations in both directions, then brought the knees to the right in a deep Spinal Twist, arms out to a T.

Repeated on left side, then once again on the right, this time bringing the arm up, rolling to our right sides, then opening up again for a deeper twist.  Repeated on the left side.

Came up to sit on our mats in Easy Pose.

I directed them in a new pose I call the Bored Student--elbow on knee, head relaxed and tilted into the cradle of the palm.  This actually gives a nice stretch on the opposite side of the ribs, all the way down to the upper glute and down the leg.

Changed sides.  We actually laughed while doing this, which is probably good too.

Did a series of Forward Bends and Roll-Ups, along with Back Bends from this sitting position, then came into

Staff Pose, did Windshield Wipers with feet, then Wrist Rotations, then tried to combine the two and laughed some more.

Did a few really nice Forward Bends from Staff Pose, after raising the arms up to really get a nice stretch in the torso.  Then rolled inward, and upward.

From here, we rolled our mats up a bit, found a wall and did a nice Meditation with Mudra.

Finally came into a 6 minute Savasana.

When we finally got up, everyone was very mellow, but within minutes, it was  very talky again!

Everyone seemed to have a good time.

5 more hours.

July 31, 2009

Two Yoga Sessions in one day, yikes!

This must be how the yoga masters feel.....tired!

I went up to the House of Meditation to do an hour of yoga with my dharma sisters, A & B.

I really wanted to do some more dynamic standing poses, and knew they could keep up (and more!).

So we started in Tadasana, and as I did with Abigail this morning, we focused for awhile on the bahnda in the feet.  

In Tadasana, we raised our toes, then heels, alternating feet.  Came up to High Tadasana, just on toes!

We also did the Gentle Neck Stretches, Chin to Chest, Yoga Mudra, Rag Doll, Upward Salute, Chair Pose, all in a fun sequence--basically rolling up and down.

Then came into Wide Legged Stance, did Side Stretches, and then had fun with a Wide Legged Down Dog, creeping our hands forward. 

This made us laugh.

Did several rounds of bringing the hands into Namaste, then pulling them apart and opening up the chest, stretching the shoulder blades back.

From here, we did Warriors 1 & 2, then into Extended Side Angle Pose, gazing up past the fingers.

Came down into Wide legged Uttanasana, then into Horse Pose and The Eagle Pose, then Namaste.  

Back into Wide Legged Uttanasana, into Horse and Eagle on the other side, then Namaste.

Eventually ended up back in tadasana, to really check out what was happening in the body.

Came down into the Rock, then into Child's Pose, finally into Garland.

Came to sit on our mats in Bound Angle.

We did several Sitting Twists, Forward Bends, Back Bends, going back and forth between them all.

Came into Staff Pose and Namaste, then turned hands back to back for a nice wrist stretch.

Came to lie on our mats, checked in with out 3 Part Pranayama, then brought hands behind head, interlaced fingers and allowed the elbows to flair out to the mat.  Did a series of Bridges, Knees To Chest, Knee rotations, Elbows To Knees, then back to the Bridge.  Finished with Happy Baby.

Finally came into savasana.

It was a great hour, energizing!