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
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