June 5, 2009

Abigail Friday!

This time Bill was with her, and I was happy to see him.

We discussed how they were feeling (low energy, sore back,), and I did a quick Q&A about what might be possible.  Savasana is not a user friendly asana for Bill, so we agreed to a short meditation for relaxation at the end of the 45 minutes.

We started in Tadasana, brought our awareness into the breath.

Shifted side to side, then forward and backward.

Did head tilts to each side.

Shoulder hugs on each side, each time bending knees, tilting chin to chest, dropping shoulders and relaxing.

Did a little massaging of shoulders in this position.

Took a moment to talk about Ujie (Ocean)Breath and suggest that they try it at home in a seated position, hands over ears, to listen to the inhalation/exhalation.

Suggested they could try it with the next flow series, if they wanted to.

Inhaled arms out to sides and back between shoulder hugs, interlacing hands,  for a good chest stretch, after each time bringing hands into Namaste.

Stepping right foot forward, used the breath to animate opening up and forward, then swing back, balancing with the Tai Chi move.

Reversed to left foot.

Did NOT suggest raising the back foot/front foot on this flow--didn't feel it was possible for either of them.

Came to Tadasana, Namaste.

Inhaled to Upward Salute, exhaled arms down, bending knees deeply, crossing hands at the mid point of the body, inhaled to Upward Salute.  

We did this flow for 5-6 breaths.

Noticed Abigail was using her Ocean Breath.

Came to sit on our mats, knees up, feet extended in front a few feet, and rolled down the legs very slowly.

Inhaled and rolled up, repeated 4-5 times.

I encouraged Abigail to really try to roll in and out of this Forward Bend, and she said that she liked getting a little back bend while upright.

Inhaled up to Reverse Table Top.  Once I checked to see that they were both okay, we repeated this asana.

Came to our knees, and Namaste.

Then into Garland Pose.

Into Table Top, where we did a few cats, 5-6 times at their own pace.  We went very slowly, and I was aware that Bill was finding his breath in this flow.

Rolled back up to our knees, made fists and rolled our wrists.

Namaste.

Back into Table Top and into Sunbird, with the extended leg resting each time on the floor.  I could feel that this was a challenge.

Rolled back up to our knees and came back into Garland.

From here I did a guided Meditation using the Lotus Mudra.

Namaste!

At first I was feeling unsure of where to take Bill, but I think the session was okay for him, especially the final meditation.  Abigail was very complimentary, as always.