July 28, 2009

Yoga Madness continues!

My body is beginning to feel the effects, (mostly tiredness!) of daily yoga class.

I don't know how people do this several times a day, unless, like Dee in San Francisco, they just sit in one place and direct the next pose.

Went out to the Dickinson Farm last night, even tho the thermometer said 93 degrees.

We found a shady spot and just relaxed.  There were 4 of us in all, plus Pinto the dog, and then a barn cat, so 6 of us in all!

I asked people what they might need: shoulders, neck and forearms!  Wasn't sure what to do for forearms, and I said that I would try.

We started in Easy Pose and I demonstrated Bee's Breath.  Jenn was already familiar with it, but the 2 guys had never done this before, and I think maybe they were a little shy.  Of course, we were outdoors, and my hearing is not very good anymore, but I think we all hummed.

Wanted to do Bee's Breath because we were literally sitting in a patch of clover, and the bees were all around us.  So I was hoping to let them know we were friends, not foes.

Then I demonstrated Sithale Pranayama, Tongue Breathing, which is supposed to have a cooling effect on the throat and body.  Then we sat for several minutes in Meditation, just noting the effects of the Pranayama.

That actually felt really good, and I hope the others liked it.

We then came up to Tadasana, and just breathed for a few moments, checking in with the body.

Spread our toes nice and wide, wiggled them up and down, then alternated raising the heels.  Came back to wiggling and spreading out the toes.

Did a warm-up series of Upward Salute, Shoulder Rolls, Neck Stretches, Yoga Mudra, Crescent Moon, Uttanasana, Deep Knee Bends, brought the lower arms together in front of the face, then into Namaste and Tadasana.

In Uttanasana, we tucked our palms under our feet and really flexed the wrists, giving our hands a massage with the toes.

I knew I hit shoulders and neck with the warm-up, but I wasn't sure how to stretch out lower arms.

Then we came to sit on our mats in Bound Angle and did a series of Twists and Forward Bends.

From here we came into Staff Pose for a few moments, then drew the feet up and did a series of Inverted Table Top Poses, first with the chin tucked in, then with the head tilted back, focusing on the 3rd eye.  Or at least I gave them that option.  We then rolled over our knees in a Forward Bend, relaxing in the neck and shoulders for a few moments.

Came to lie on our mats, and checked in with our breathing.

Then did a series of Bridges, beginning with our arms beside our ears, then outstretched, finally arms at side, then sliding them beneath the Bridge and interlacing fingers.

Came into Alternate Knee to Chest, then Both Knees and rocked.  Did a series of Leg Lifts, then grasped big toes and allowed the legs to widen out to the sides--then brought the knees in and played with Happy Baby, rolling from side to side.

This always makes people laugh!

Came into Happy Bug, then turned into Rolling Bugs, by tucking our chins in,clasping hands to knees and rolling forward and backward, eventually coming up to sit.  Stretched out the back again in Forward Bend, then came down on the mat on our tummies.

We did a Crocodile, Sphinx, Baby Cobra series, then came up to Down Dog where we really stretched out the toes and heels.

Came down to Table top, then rolled up to our knees, came into Namaste, dropped chin to chest and just breathed.  Then came into Savasana, which couldn't be too long, since the bugs were getting bad.

But Savasana felt great, and I asked everyone to become aware of how the earth held us, and how our bodies sank into the earth.  It was nice!

And when I checked on everyone in Savasana, which I'm now in the habit of doing, just checking in, I noticed that one of Jenn's cats had come to join us and was lying on Jenn's tummy, like a sandbag!  It was so funny.

When she turned to her right side, the cat came over to my mat and chilled with me. 

Before I left I urged everyone to drink at least 2 big glasses of water, to re hydrate.  We really sweated it out!

In exchange for the hour and 1/2, I got a few gorgeous heirloom cherry tomatoes!

I'll go again next week, they seem to really like practicing.