Durga: Uniting the Power of the Divine

1. Myths are stories with underlying truth
2. The story of shiva we talked about last week is a prehistoric story, probably not describing a real person, but likely based on some real group of people or describing a spiritual archetype. When we interpret myths we imagine we are all the characters in the story (clarifying this for a student who asked last week when Shiva lived historically).
3. Tantric philosophy dates to around 8-12th century CE, though the myth of Shiva is much older (shiva is a prehistoric proto-typical diety).
4. In the story of Durga, Mahishasura was a powerful demon who conquered Indra's army of gods in heaven. Since he couldn't be defeated by any man, the only thing that could save them was a woman who would fight him. The gods asked Shakti to manifest in a powerful form using all of their weapons and arms to fight Mahishasura. So she united all of their powers
5. In a modern context this relates to the idea of Kula. When we come together as a community we share our experience and ideas and are stronger and more intelligent. Also we take all of the great philosophical ideas and teachings we come across and integrate what works for us to create a stronger durga in ourselves. We use this invincible power to clear away the dust on the mirror of the demons who obscure our highest and best intentions (heaven) from us.

6. Durga is also a great example for discussion because our modern yoga practice is alot like her. Ancient yogis just had stories of Shiva and rituals, then around 8-9th century someone got around to writing down the tantric nterpretation and documenting some of the breathing and meditation exercises that were being practiced (also the idea of women practicing and teaching was common among the Tantric Shaivists). In the last hundred years the spiritual traditions of Hatha Yoga merged with popular gymnastics and other forms of exercise propagated throughout the world by the YMCA and other similar movements. Today what we call Yoga is a sort of Durga, a playful
expression of the divine, more powerful than any of its previous forms.

7. Students asked for twists so we're doing twists focusing on the principles we learned all this month and integrating them with the final principle, organic extension. Rooting to rise. Lengthening the spine to twist deeper.

Tadasana through vinyasa focusing on organic extension Cat/Cow then
tiger twisting stretches holding back leg, lion's breath (Durga rides
a tiger or lion, the shakti is powerful don't fall off the tiger)

Also focus in centering exercise on softening the back body, return to this throughout the class.

Surya Namaskar - High Lunge, turn to front leg, twist to other side,back to center standing splits...low cobra
Surya Namaskar - Low Lunge, twist and come up to high lunge, open arms out to sky and floor...drunken cobra
Surya Namaskar - Pvakonasana, rise up to warrior II, reverse then bow and bind...wide armed cobra
Surya Namaskar - Warrior I, pvottanasana, parivrtta trikonasana, parivrtta ardha chandrasana...updog

Shiva Twists
Utkatasana chair twists
Bird of Paradise
Malasana, Bakasana, Ardha Bakasana (talk about diversity and shri as strength of the community and each person having an individual expression of the pose)
Revolved Downward facing dog

Threading the needle sucirandrasana
Ardha Matsyendrasana - half lord of the fishes
Jathara Parivartanasana bent legs/straight legs
Supta Matsyendrasana - knee down twists

Closing: Like Durga, we combine all of the best qualities in the people we admire. We bring together all the strengths we share as individuals in the community. When we come together with other like-minded beings there's nothing we can't accomplish.

Parvati: Shining with the light of the divine

Intro: Story of Parvati is a story of reincarnation. Sati was Shiva's first love, but her parents didn't approve of the marriage. Sati showed her devotion to shiva and her disdain for her father by throwing herself into a fire and burning herself up during one of his dinner parties. She said she hoped to one day be reborn to a king she could respect.

Shiva retreated away from the world into deep mediation. Ages later the world had become overrun by demonic forces who were threatening heaven. A powerful demon Taraka lead an army and the gods determined that only a child born of Shiva could defeat Taraka. They appealed to Shakti's spirit, which agreed to be reincarnated to try and win him over.

Shakti was then born as Parvati to a royal court in the Himalayas. She was told from an early age that she was to be the daughter of a great yogi, and learning her destiny she set out to win Shiva's heart. Unfortunately Shiva wasn't interested and couldn't be bothered. The gods tried to intervene by sending Kama, the god of passion (a sort of cupid) to shoot him with an arrow that would cause Shiva to awaken, but when he was struck with the arrow Shiva blasted Kama to bits. So
much for that plan.

Parvati retreated to the woods and became an aesthetic, praying and meditating. Eventually she cultivated so much fire/tapas from her practice that her skin glowed brightly and Shiva awakened to her warmth. After this they were soon married and Shiva's life became more joyful. They created their son Kartikeya/Skanda who went on to save the world from Taraka's army. Shiva learned bliss and danced the ananda tandava, learning to enjoy domestic life and the arts.

What this means in the real world: When we are embodied we can have the best or worst circumstances and upbringing, but ultimately we all share the desire for that freedom from pain and suffering that Shiva represents meditating in his cave. No one wants to be miserable. So like Parvati, we seek out the divine in our yoga practice, in a religion, in some other form maybe. The path to reaching the divine is cultivation of personal fire/tapas through dedication. When we shine out a light into the world we illuminate and attract the divine to us. When the divine awakens it dances blissfully and we are drawn along in its wake towards success, prosperity, and the other things we desire in life once we are free from fear, pain, and other
restrictions.

Inner/outer spiral:

Inner spiral like parvati turning inward to reflect, so she could cultivate the power to shine out and warm shiva's heart Do inner spiral with block standing in tadasana through chatturanga vinyasa, focusing on IS/OS. Open your thighs wide, like the cave in your tadasana mountain where shiva meditates. Mountain climbers as parvati climbs to the cave.

Tadasana - Chatturanga Vinyasa w/ block
Cat/Cow, One Handed Tiger - shiva sits on and wears tiger skin, first thing parvati probably sees in the cave.
Surya Namaskar - Pvakon - cobra (imagine you have the block) shiva has cobras wrapped around his arms, representing his thoughts mastery over distractions.
Surya Namaskar - Crescent leaning way back arms wide into backbend.
shiva wears a crescent moon in his hair
Surya Namaskar - Iguana, parvati bows to shiva, trying to awaken him

Locust, the demons plague the heavens, life is hard for them
vrksasana/Utkatasana - crow pushups, parvati goes to the woods and works hard to cultivate tapas
natarajasana - standing backbend, shiva is awakened and dances the ananda tandava - kartikeya/skanda is born and saves the heavens
dhanurasana, before shiva is won over, kama brought his bow in and tries to rouse shiva but it just makes him angry
demo/partner/self - ustrasana, find a shiva or parvati to help you melt you heart in this pose, use IS/OS to firmly ground your foundation and reach a deepen backbend

bridge - one leg each side (urdhva dhanurasana level II)
knees to chest, windshield wipers
eye of the needle, happy baby
sivasana

Lakshmi: Goddess of Wealth

Intro: Lakshmi's name derived from the Sanskrit word Lakshme or "goal". She represents the goal of life which is both worldly and spiritual prosperity. She is the bride of Vishnu the preserving force of the universe, and she incarnates in the various stories as wife to the various avatars of vishnu. Because she embodies the goal, this can symbolize that Vishnu can never embody himself as a hero on earth without his goal in mind or at his side.

She represents attainment with effort. Working towards some endeavor.

Four Sun Salutations focusing on the four embodiments of Lakshmi...

1. Light, SN - LL, LL twist, HL, HL twist
2. Beauty (Shri), SN - arms clasped FB, iguana right, back to center WLFB, then iguana to left
3. Fortune, SN - War I, Parvottan, Parivrtta Trikon, PAC
4. Wealth, SN - Parvakon, War II, Rev, Warrior Seal

Uttan bind
Elephant both sides
Demo/Self - Vasisthasana + WT
Lakshmi massages her husband Vishnus feed while he sists on the shesha cobra couch - help your partner with a cobra

Partner - Lakshmi riding a peacock, have a friend help you up into Peacock
Seated meditation in lotus, square breaths, hands in Kubera mudra
Bow forward childs pose with hand upheld to receive providence
Sivasana

Closing: We practice yoga to remember that in order to be heroic, we need to keep our goal close to our heart, so we may bring Light, Shri, Fortune, and Wealth into our lives.