July 20, 2009

Gentle Yoga night.

Tonight there were 3 of us, but because those who came were on the younger, stronger side, I decided to do some more dynamic balance poses.

E said that she had gone on a 30 mile bike ride, and that her morning practice with P had been a flow of plank, down dog and cobra, so her legs were really stressed.

Decided to warm up in Tadasana with Upward Salutes, Yoga Mudra, shoulder rolls, neck rolls and Crescent Moon.  Also did the Tai Chi balance move, one foot forward, inhaling arms up, exhaling arms back, stepping back. 

We really got into this flow, then swung our arms around the torso like a washing machine.

Fun!

Came into Tree pose, grew branches, then brought the hands into Namaste.

Came to sit on our mats and did an inverted Table Top.

I gave them the option of either tucking the chin into the chest, or stretching the neck and tilting it back, because I knew E and J would want to do this.  

Came into Staff pose and with arms stretched out in front, rotated our wrists, then came into 

Bound Angle and just breathed here for a while.

We came into a gentle Seated Spinal Twist, then a Forward Bend, then a twist on the opposite side, then back to a Forward Bend.  Finally, we did a Seated Back Bend, opening the chest.  Again, I gave people the option of titling the head back or leaving the chin tucked into the chest.

From here we came into the Rock, then on to our tummies, where we did a flow of Crocodile, Sphinx, Baby Cobra, paying close attention to the breath in the tummy.

Came up into Puppy Stretch, then into Table Top.

Did a flow of Cat Bows, Threading the Needle and Sunbird.  This was kind of cool, I had never tried it before.

Came into Garland, then up to balance on the toes, hands in Namaste.

Back to the Rock, then rolled up on our knees.

Went into Closing The Gate, then back into the Rock, then onto our backs where we basically did a Supine Tree, then, Supine Bound Angle.  Finally, we came into Savasana.

This was an interesting session, I was just winging it, and things seemed to flow.  I focused a lot on pranayama, and asked that everyone find the breath in the body with each pose.  I also talked a lot about balance, and how as we age, especially as women, we have a greater need to strengthen our physical balance.  I pointed out how all the balance poses we did also encourage focus and concentration.

I felt confident.  Afterward, everyone commented on how much they liked it!