July 31, 2009

I spent 45 minutes with Abigail this morning.

I asked what she might need, and she mentioned balance poses again, as well as a meditation using the Lotus Mudra, which she really likes.

So we started in Tadasana.

Even tho she likes to keep her sneakers on, I asked her to bring awareness into the insteps area of her feet and to distribute weight evenly from toe pads, around outer edges of the foot, and finally to the heel points.  I asked her to imagine sending energy to the insteps and lifting them a bit in a "lock", which I explained briefly.

Since there is a minor chakra in the feet, I wanted to give her a sense of awareness there, while in Tadasana.

This created a lot of heat for her...interesting.

We also briefly discussed the other 3 Bandhas, I could only remember 2 of the 3....time to review!

Then we stepped to the wall and placing our fingertips with arms comfortably outstretched on the wall, we did a modified Stork Pose on both sides.  

We then stepped back and bent as in Down Dog, using the wall for support.

Stepped back in, shook it out and repeated the whole sequence.

We then inhaled the arms up to Upward Salute, let one arm float down, used the other to wrap over the head, cover the ear and went into a gentle Neck Stretch.

Floated arm down, interlaced hands behind back and got a nice stretch across the chest.

Repeat this sequence.

Brought the chin to chest, bent knees and went into Namaste.

Then rolled up our mats for a meditation.  I wanted to try a new Mudra to begin, thumb tip touching middle and rings fingers, index and pinky extended.  This is a Mudra to bring energy from the hands into the heart.

We sat for 7 minutes, then went into Namaste, massaged the thalmus, then went into the Lotus Mudra for a few minutes.  Finally, closed the Lotus and peeled palms apart, bringing the hands back to back, fingers facing down like the roots of the Lotus, arms parallel with the floor.

Got a nice, gentle stretch in the wrists, then back to Namaste.

Came to unroll our mats and lay on our backs, hands on belly, checking in with the breath.

Brought Knees to Chest and did knee rotations.

Did a little rocking, brought feet to mat and inhaled into a Bridge, then repeated Knees to Chest with rotations in the opposite direction.

Then had a nice Savasana.

It was a good 45 minutes, and Abigail was very appreciative!