Kula, Community of the Heart

Theme: Kula, sanskrit for a family of spirit, the community of the heart.

Setup: two rows of mats facing each other

1. We come to class instead of working out at home to find community of like minded people...we're social beings
2. Finding a like minded community of beings like the Y gives us the support to push ourselves to improve
3. We are all separate threads woven together to form a tapestry so if one is a little weak one day the rest hold the fabric together

Seated Mediation: remember someone who supported or inspired you, and bring their strength to the community of the heart. That highest ideal is what you want to manifest in yourself and your practice so you can shine it out for others as a light in the world. By community we don't mean a group adhering to strict rules of behavior, but a collection of unique individuals bound by a common respect for the divinity in themselves and others.

Partner Stretch - Utkatasana
Tiptoe Uttanasana
Downdog stack hips and twist open to touch neighbor if you can reach
Surya Namaskar x3 (your asana practice should look different. our community celebrates diversity because it is beautiful, the many colored threads form a rich tapestry of life)
-Parsvakonasana support partner, pressing top palm into their hand
-Trikonasana
-High Lunge/Warrior III - hold partners forearms across from you and to the side

Vrksasana - support partners hands
Padangustasana - support partners ankles
Natarajasana - support partner across from you
Chatturanga Vinyasa x3 - Dhanurasana (tops of feet then ankles, and last one whichever is harder)
-partner demo, first thing we look for is Sri, beauty in the partner.
Setubanda Sarvangasana - lift the leg

Urdhva Dhanurasana x3 - pump heart toward your partner, walk toward partner and high five if possible. shine your heart out toward your friends. your uniqueness is your offering. Third UD lift leg on each side or rest if you are tired.

Eye of Needle
windshield wipers
Happy Baby
avasana

Closing: We come together as a Kula today, a community of the heart, the family of spirit, to celebrate the divine light that shines in all beings everywhere.

Success!: We had good participation in the class with the partner poses. An Anusara Certified instructor who teaches at YogaKula and the Oakland Y visited my class serendipitously and I asked her how it was. She said it was good and she enjoyed the class and theme. It was nice to get some feedback from another Anusara teacher trainee on the class. The students are giving good feedback as well. I asked one of the regular students for suggestions on things they want to work on and she said that shoulder openers would be beneficial so her, so I will work on shoulder openers and shoulder loop next class.

Concerns: I was concerned about some foundation alignment and some people had tightness that I was looking at and encouraging people to do the backbends more gently so they weren't muscling into the poses. I did several adjustments at the end of class as well. Last few classes I've had some students come into the room and open the windows so I've been negotiating with them by closing the windows during the warmup and then opening them back up after the first 30 minutes. I want to make sure all the students get adequately warmed up for the deeper poses and sometimes with the windows open it cools off too much in the room.