She had her yoga mat with her this morning, but I sensed that she was weary. Her face looked puffy, as if she might be suffering from allergies. When I asked how she was doing this morning, she replied, "Just Great".
She said she had been reading an old book that has always offered sweet guidance.
I asked what her body might need, and she said simply, "Anything!"
I noticed she had come to her yoga mat still holding her car keys....
We got started facing one another, standing in Tadasana. I asked her just to become aware of her breath in her body. Keeping eyes open, I directed her to sway gently side to side, loose in the hips and upper torso. We added our arms in the mix, sort of like a little hula dance, hips to one side, arms to the other. I asked her to coordinate the breath with the motion--exhale to the left, inhale to the right.
This became a really nice, flowing, relaxing movement, and I think we could have gone on for a long time!
Came back to center.
Staggered the feet a bit and moved forward and backward, eventually incorporating the arms, and once we were in a rythm, raising the foot slightly on each pass.
Came back to center.
Namaste.
Raised forearms together in front of the face, then all the way up, exhaled arms back and down, bending knees, then back up to Namaste. We repeated this flow 2-3 times.
Interlaced hands behind back and got a good stretch across the chest. Exhaled forward into Uttanasana, releasing everything.
Rolled back up, inhaled left arm up beside ear and folded the arm over the head, touching the other ear so that we could get a nice stretch in the right side of the neck. Reversed sides.
Bent the knees and brought the hands into Namaste, then rested the chin on the chest. Breathed into the back of the neck. Inhaled into Upward Salute once again, exhaled back and down, interlacing hands and rolling down into Yoga Mudra.
Then we went into a Wide Legged Stance, hands on floor. This was difficult for Abigail, so we didn't remain. But I wanted her to bend her knees, stabilize her upper body with her hands and sway from side to side, bending one knee, straightening the other. It wasn't possible to get much of a flow going here, because it was a challenge for her.
Came to sit in Hero's Pose. Abigail sat in Bound Angle, and I taught her how to practice the Lion. At first it was a bit awkward, but after 3-4 Lions, I think she really liked it! I then taught her the Lotus Mudra, and again, we took 4-5 deep breaths here with the lotus open, then closed the hands and sat for a few moments, checking in with the energy we had created from our Pranayama. She was pretty impressed!
We then sat in meditation for about 10 minutes--I asked Abigail to focus gently on the breath from the belly, the Hara.
We practiced Bee Breath for the final few minutes of our 45 minutes, rather than going into Savasana, then sat
quietly, then stretched.
Namaste!
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