I wasn't sure what to expect, or if she would even show up, but she seems excited to spend Friday morning before her fitness training, doing a little stretching and breathing. Her husband decided not to join her, maybe next Friday.
Thinking that she had decided not to come, I started my practice, then realized she was there beside me, already in Tadasana! I had to laugh.
We got set up facing one another, so that she could readily see what I was doing. She asked if she could ask questions during the half hour, and of course I said yes. I asked if there were any physical challenges she was working with. She had mentioned last week a slipped disc. She showed me what sort of range of motion she had in forward & back bends, and I showed her how to support her lower back with both hands, do a gentle back bend with chin on chest, massaging the thyroid. If she felt able, I told her she could then let her head go back, and then to bring her bead back up before coming out of the bend. I stressed practicing Ahimsa!
We started in Tadasana, did a few deep breathes to center, then she followed me as I inhaled my arms up, interlaced my hands, gazed up. Exhaled down to Namaste. We repeated this 2 times. She had sneakers on, and I could tell they were more problem than help, but sensed they weren't comin' off.
We did a couple of Trees. I had her use the wall for support, then encouraged her to put her weight on one leg, turn her hip out and raise her foot to the ankle. We joined our hands in Namaste, and she gave it another try on the other side, noting that she had more strength in side than the other.
Back to Tadasana, inhaled arms up, interlaced fingers except the pointers and really got a nice stretch in the core. We exhaled our arms behind our backs, interlaced hands, bent the knees slightly, exhaling into Yoga Mudra.
Dropped the arms, relaxed in a gentle Forward Bend, then came to Table Top. We did 3 Cat/Cows, then Balancing Cat, which Abigail really liked. It was fun facing one another, quite close, doing this pose. She got very excited because she said she could feel my energy.
We then went into the Rock, and I asked her to try to notice her breath in her back. She said she couldn't. I suggested that as she practiced, that would change, that she would become quite aware of her breath whenever she focused on it.
Came to sit in Bound Angle, which was next to impossible for her with her sneakers on. She said she very stiff in this pose, so I suggested putting her feet out away from her body about 2 feet to see if she could put her souls together. This was very difficult for her. I suggested that anytime a pose was feeling particularly challenging, she could always drop into the Rock, to let her breath be the guide. I demonstrated Supine Plank, and she was really very well able to do that pose. Used her fists rather than flat hands, for greater support.
We went back to the Rock, then into Savasana, since our half hour had gone very quickly! I had her gently cover her eyes with the palms of her hands and breath, softening the face, then release the arms into full Savasana.
And Namaste. We could have easily gone another half hour. I had Knees to Chest pose, with some rocking, planned, as well as Walking Bug and Happy Bug.
So we'll see what next week brings. It's really fun!
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