Arjuna and his brothers, the 5 Pandavas

Last week talked about Krishna, this week Arjuna and the Bhagavad Gita. The Bhagavad Gita or Song of God is a conversation between Krishna and Arjuna about right and wrong, and takes place on a battlefield.

War doesn’t seem very yogic, but we’re going to explore how this setting is actually appropriate and represents the inner world of every being as they often struggle with themselves to come to terms with what their own highest and best potential is in life.

Centering – focus on the five pandava brothers, the five principles in comfortable seated position. Talk briefly about cosmic headrest in the chariot to briefly introduce skull loop.

Tadasana/Utanasana/Downdog – engage the five principles in each pose, Arjuna is one of the five virtuous Pandava brothers, all heroic half gods.

Plank, knee to nose six times each leg, 12 for years in exile, childs pose for last year in hiding. The Pandavas are tricked by their cousins, the evil half demon Kauravas, into gambling away their kingdom for 13 years.

SN – HL/Warrior I/Parvottanasna/Warrior Seal – Krishna is Arjuna’s brother in law and his chariot driver, but Arjuna doesn’t know that Arjuna is actually the 8th avatar of Vishnu. Arjuna tells Krishna he wants to give up the fight rather than kill his relatives.

SN – HL/Parsvakonasana/Warrior II/Reverse Warrior – Krishna reveals himself as the 8th Avatar of Vishnu, an embodiment of the divine and demands that Arjuna fight.

SN – HL/Utkatasana Twist/Ardha Uttanasana/Warrior III – Arjuna decides to fight

Dhanurasana/Ardha Dhanurasana – eyes closed, Arjuna practiced in the dark. Used skill at festival to win the hand of his wife Draupadi. Her father the king suspended a wooden fish high above a pool of oil. The fish rotated around and the archers had to hit it in the eye looking only at the reflection to aim. Arjuna won this contest and claimed her as his bride, though he was in disguise at the time because it was his 13th year of hiding.

High Lunge/Twist/Revolved – on the 13th day of battle. Arjunas son Abhimanya is killed in chariot battle by the evil king Jayadratha’s forces. They violate the rules of warfare by luring him into a trap, disarming him, smashing the wheels of his chariot, and crushing his skull when they get him on the ground. He fights valiantly killing many Kaurava warriors before he is slain.

Padottanasana/Star – Arjuna tries to confront Jayadratha, but he hides behind his army. Krishna summons the nightfall, calling on forces of stars and moon to darken the sky.

Trikonasana/Ardha Chandrasana - Krishna finishes using his yoga powers to invoke the darkness so the days battle will end and Jayadratha will be lured out.

Urdhva Dhanurasana (right leg then left leg up) – Arjuna shoots his celestial arrow at Jayadratha when he comes out of hiding, believing that night has fallen and he is safe. Remember that Arjuna practiced shooting in the dark…oops, Jayadratha didn't know about that. So Arjuna is very angry at Jayadratha and passionate about avenging his son's death. Krishna encourages Arjuna to use his passion and anger instead of renouncing it and to break the traditional rules of engagement in battle, just as Jayadratha did to them when his forces killed Ambhimanya. So too, we want to transform our emotions and passions into a force for good, and not be bound by any rules as we pursue what's in the best interest of ourselves, our family, and our community.

Supta Padangustasana – leg extended

Savasana

Next week – talk about ujayi breath work toward Supta Virasana in restorative class with many twists.

Success!/Concerns: The students I spoke with really enjoyed the story and message of confronting difficulty. We'll continue with our discussion of the Gita. The class has consistently been around 24 students for the past several weeks with many more returning students. Also, they are communicating that they are remembering principles we discussed in previous classes and I'm seeing regular students developing by applying loops and principles. No injuries or conditions mentioned before class. Very inspiring.

One thing I would have changed with the sequence is that Warrior Seal was too early in the sequence. I should have put that in the second or third sun salutation so they could warm up the shoulders a little. A couple students remarked that it was really cold this morning and they really felt that opening. I showed them how to apply the principles in tadasana to relieve any residual discomfort they felt from this opening after class.

Krishna, Cowboy Demon Slayer

This week we are introducing Krishan, next week we talk about Arjuna and the Gita.

Krisha
8th incarnation of Vishnu the god of preservation
Embodiment of love and divine joy

Born to Devaki, the daughter of a cruel demon king Kamsa
Prophecy said Kamsa would be killed by his nephew, so the king killed the first six children. The 7th escaped, and Krishna was secretly swapped with a cowherd’s daughter

Centering - softening outer body and heart opening, hold something you love in your heart, reflect back on that thing during the practice.

Cat/Cow - focus on shoulder loop and melting the heart - krishna was sent to hide among cowherds
Chaturanga Vinyasa x5 - Krishna mastered the 5 headed demon snake Kaliya that was poisoning the holy river Yamuna.
Vrksasana - he defeated the beast by jumping down on it from a tree and dancing on it's heads.
Natarajasana
Surya Namaskar - Parsvakonasana/Trikonasana/Ardha Chandrasana - dancing with milkmaids, Krisha separates self into many versions of himself…represents the diving show up to dance with everyone equally. Sometimes you find you might be checking out in a tough pose, but to experience the divine all you have to do is show up to the moonlit barn dance. The divine supports us all equally…no one is ever left standing by the punchbowl.

cobra pose - The demon king kansa sends five demons to defeat him. One of them was the giant demon snake Aghasura who pretended to be a cave and swallowed many cowboys until Krisha saved them.

Shiva Twists - a whirlwind demon Trinivata came to get him when he was a baby, Krishna became large until the whirlwind couldn’t hold him up and fell to earth
Malasana/Bakasana (melt the heart) - an enormous crane demon Bakasura attacked him down by the river when he was playing with his friends, Krishna pulled off his beak.
Plank/Cow/Gomukasana w/ shoulder opener - demon disguised as a calf Vatasura to sneak up on the cowboys, Krishna threw him up into a tree
Ustrasana - the monsterous horse Keshisura, Krishna stuck his hand down its throat and choked the demon
Mayurasana prep (level II try balancing on hands) - Peacocks dancing in the forest, enjoyed his flute playing and gave him a feature to wear as a gift.

-Downdog/Uttanasana/Tadasana - Krisha taught the cowherd to stop giving sacrifice to Indra for the rain. Held Govardhan hill over their heads to shelter them from the rain Indra sent as his wrath until he gave up.
-Virasana - seated mediation, for pranayama, nadi shodana, breathing prana into the body, your nostrils are like the holes in the flute.
-Setubanda Sarvangasana - arms clasped underneath, lift hips high, alternate legs
-Jathara Parivartanasana - shoulders onto the mat
-Navasana/Savasana (romantic boat ride of radha and krishna) - krishna restores his great uncle to power after defeating Kansa, and he becomes and influential prince in court. This is how he meets Arjuna, the hero of the Bhagavad Gita

Closing: We practice yoga to boldly defeat any demons that cross our path in life, and we show up to the dance every day to experience the divine.

Concerns/Success!: I think people really enjoyed the theme. Got a lot of great feedback. Largest class so far (24+ students). Gave feedback from Stacey about student with jaw pain to the student who asked about it last week. Will follow up later this month or early next to find out if there's progress. I gave her several techniques to try out, from grounding her shoulders and opening the heart and laying on blocks to relieve tension in the neck (and jaw). We'll work on skull loop next week when we talk about Arjuna.

Samskaras, Making Use of Suffering

Samskaras are ruts or behaviors, and they can be both pleasurable and painful. Samskaras are part of the armor that builds up when emotional and physical trauma gets trapped in our bodies.

In Hatha yoga we cultivate a heat and power to purify our body of this energy to achieve Moksha, or liberation to act and engage freely in the world around us (we'll talk more about Moksha later this month. So today we're focusing on cultivating enough power to climb out of our rut and form a new habit. To buff away the scratches in our armor.

Centering - breathing into kidneys with partner holding hands over them - explain that kidneys are power plant of the body

Cat/Cow
Lion's breath
Chaturanga - Vinyasa - kidney loop

Until I practiced yoga I never knew how miserable I was. You don't noticed dirt and scratches on a car that's already beaten up. As you start to buff out the dings in your armor that you've accumulated through life, you'll become more sensitive to the smaller imperfections. Cultivate an awareness of this so that it doesn't distress you and you can keep your perception of these in proper proportion. Don't sweat the small stuff, just keep working on transforming it.

Surya Namaskar - HL twist/center/LL thigh stretch, skip the cobra, move on to next...
Surya Namaskar - Iguana bow twist open & thigh stretch - shalambhasana x3
Surya Namaskar - HL/Warrior II/Trikon/Ardha- dhanurasana x3

Vasisthasana/WT/Childs pose actively inflating kidneys with the breath

Lotus or Agnistambasana - Pranayama Kidney breathing several minutes to cultivate a fire, burn up the samskaras in your body, use that dead energy as fertilizer for new growth. Power your body up with pranic energy, the vital lifeforce of existence. talk about how a lotus grows up from the mire, so now that the stuck energy is unstuck what do you do with it. How do you make the best use of that suffering? With yoga we transform energy into something more auspicious.

Hanumanasana - FB then curl back opening the heart
Pigeon - FB then come to upright and open the heart

Setubanda - leg lift/urdhva dhanurasana/uttanasana
Shoulderstand - Read John Friend excerpt about Tantric philosophy in Foreward from Douglas' book "poised for grace".

Happy Baby
Savasana

Meditational Reflection:

"People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within."

- Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, was a Swiss-born psychiatrist, a pioneer in Near-death studies and author. From Daily Love.

Closing - If you desire to master the art of living better, make the best use of your suffering. Create a fire in yourself to burn away the Samskaras, and transform that energy into fertilizer for new growth.

Concerns/Success!: One student had a question about jaw tension, but I'm not very familiar with that, so I offered to talk to my teacher about it. Gave several students alignment instructions to relieve discomfort before and after class. Good results on immediately relieving discomfort by applying the principles. A few students left class early. I had a chance to speak with all of them briefly and they all said they were feeling well and just had to leave early for their schedules. I'm been trying to make sure no one leaves class uncomfortable and thus far haven't had anyone indicate that they felt anything bad going on in their bodies, though I can't always catch everyone on their way out.

In the coming weeks we are going to continue exploring the Gita from a Tantric perspective. We'll be introducing some of the characters in the story like Krishna and Arjuna and talk about how the battlefield represents the landscape of our hearts and embodiment. I had a request for shoulder and heart opening asanas so I think next week we'll do heart opening and talk about Krishna.

Halloween, the masks we wear and the light within

Continue talking about 3 A's. First we emphasized Attitude, then Alignment, now Action, specifically inner spiral and outer spiral (tailbone action).

Continuing our Halloween month practice of playfully engaging in scary poses, we shift the focus from scary inversions to more scary backbend dropbacks with partners to assist us.

Halloween is a great time to talk about masks. In non-dual tantra yoga philosophy everything in the universe shares one consciousness, but we all wear masks, our identity assemblage point, that defines us and conceals our divine nature. The supremem consciousness enjoys playing hide and seek or peek a boo by taking away the mask sometimes and experiencing the revelation that we are connected to everything else (ie...something miraculous or amazing happens in our lives).

Transformation occurs at the boundry between the inner light of our being and the outer mask we wear every day (our identity assemblage point). As the light of our inner being shines out in our practice we ccultivate a purer, brighter expression of our own unique identity.

Seated Centering...inner spiral and tailbone action.

Shining light of inner being out and draping the outer mask of the body over that light.

Stand in Tadasana - demonstrate inner/outer spiral with block between thighs...engage in next several poses

Utkatasana Surya Namaskar - High Lunge - Cobra (focus on tailbone action)
Utkatasana Surya Namaskar - Warrior II/Rev Warrior - shalambasana
Utkatasana Surya Namaskar - Trikonasana/Padottanasana/Trikonasana/padottanasana - dhanurasana
Utkatasana - Malasana - Bakasana
Utkatasana - Vrksasana - Padottanasana - Natarajasana

Vasisthasina/Wild Thing
Pincha Mayurasana at the wall with block between hands, play with tailbone action to stabilize the pose and see if you can balance without the wall.
Thigh Stretch at the wall
ustrasana facing toward the wall
Urdhva Dhanurasana dropback with partners

Ustrasana
Supta Padangusthasana
Windshield Wipers
Happy Baby
Savasana

Concerns: I didn't get to do all of the poses I intended because I wanted to really focus on the three A's and safe alignment in the standing poses. So we missed out on some backbend variations and a few hip openers I wanted to do toward the end like Hanumanasana and Pigeon. I'm going to integrate those into our class next week talking about Samskaras. We'll do pranayama and more hip openers next week.

One student had some questions after class about hand placement in Bakasana, because they experienced some wrist pain. showed how to claw floor to engage wrists and protect them and also that wrists are shoulder width apart.

Another student had some concerns about tailbone pain in standing poses and on one side in Wideshield Wipers. Had the student engage tailbone action. In windshield wiper used block to create barrier for knees moving toward the floor so she could feel an intensity in the place that was uncomfortable without it going into a painful space. I'm not sure that I was familiar with the nature of the pain, but she said she believed it was from sitting too much in meditation. I haven't seen or experienced that kind of pain before so I'll need to ask my teachers more about it. I told the student that as long as the muscles around the tailbone were engaged during the pose it should protect and relieve pain in the area, but that if they continued to experience discomfort or pain even when muscles and taiblone action was happening then they should back off and respect the boundry their body was setting.

I student had a little lower back discomfort after the dropback. I came over to work with her after having everyone take ustrasana, and she said that the forward bend relieved it and she didn't need any more help.

Success! I beleive this was an intense class from seeing the students, but I didn't get a lot of feedback after class. I felt a shift in some of the students. Since many quietly left the room I'm not entirely sure what the overall experience was. A few of the newer students left looking very happy.

There were about 20 students and half of them were regulars and I remembered almost all of their names :) Continuing to work on names with nametags and I hand out the invocaton sheets at the beginning of every class. Chanting is good and the students seem to enjoy that part of the class. The 6 or so students that come regularly are showing good form and alignment and are definitely beginning to grasp the principles. I get good questinos and feeback from them about alignment that seems to help the class at large when my teaching may not be enough to properly communicate an action.

Still praying before every class that my teaching will help the students awaken to the divinity in themselves and others in a way that will best serve their highest and best intentions. I'm really enjoying teaching and look forward to it every week.

Seeking Lord Shiva in the Cremation Grounds

Shiva lives in the cremation grounds surrounded by the gunas, his army of goblins. They frighten away any not heroic enough to approach him. So it's a great metaphor for understanding the nature of our own reality. The fog of the body clouds our divinity, shrouding it in darkness, like the ashes that Shiva and the gunas smear on their skin in the cremation ground. To reach back to our own divine power and recognize our true potential we have to brave the darkness and move past the gunas, the aches and pains of our own body.

So last week we cultivated a courageous attitude when playing on our edge in headstand and we talked about the three A's attitude, alignment, action. Today we're focusing more on the second part, alignment, as we do more inversions and hip openers.

Cat/Cow, Downdog (focus on alignment of hands)
Chaturanga Vinyasana (move with the breath throgh vinyasa with drunken halloween party cobra)
Surya Namaskar - Low Lunge with a twist
Surya Namaskar - Low Lunge with a thigh stretch
Surya Namaskar - Low Lunge - rising up to high lunge (attitude, alignment, action)

Handstand at the wall with legs in L
Handstand with partner in the middle of the room (pick a partner about your height and size)
Handstand at wall - handstand cultivates a fire, like the cremation ground that burns away all the dead energy, it's a great practice to reveal your divinity

Virabhadrasna II - only the bravest warrior will approach the cremation gounds
Trikonasana
Ardha Chandrasana - the moon shines at night over the cematary
Parvottanasana - reach into your hamstings and find those gunas
Parivrtta Trikonasana - feel the fire in your hips and your heart
feel difference in first leg before moving to second side. This isn't trick or treat, we give candy to both our legs and balance them out before the end of the practice.

Iguana, bring leg to center and turn knee down to the earthVirasana - Kapalbati Kriya Pranayama - shining skull pranayama - lots of skulls around in cematary.
Savasana - corpse pose
Closing: We practice yoga to courageously enter the cremation ground. The gunas cannot hurt us. The fire cannot burn us. As our fear falls away our true nature is revealed.

Concerns/Success!: Some injuries and conditions in class today, but I felt prepared to help each student with them. They were within the range of my present therapeutics knowledge. I'm looking forward to learning more about therapeutics next year so I can help out more people that come to class with specific issues.

I should have reviewed kicking up for more students. We covered it when I saw some of them were having trouble with it. Looks like everyone got it.

Next week talk about masks, and how divinity wears many masks like a masquerade ball. The notion that masquerade balls are places where people do things they normally wouldn't, so it is true with divinity in the context of how people treat one another. Shiva-Shakti energy enjoys the concealing and revelation of it's own divinity. It revels in chasing itself around in circles. The trick is the concealment, the separration of being. The treat is the revelation of divinity when the self finds the Self.

Courage and the three A's: Attitude, Alignment, Action

Theme: Courage is the emotion we feel when we confront the terrifying face of Shiva, the unknown, or the risky. When we skillfully engage at the edge of our ability and have courage, transformation occurs, but we have to take that action.

October is a good time to talk about the three A's because it's a time when we playfully think of scary things leading up to Halloween. For the next three weeks we're going to get out the ghosts and goblins in our bodies with hip openers and confront some fears with inversions like headstand, handstand and others.

Talk about the three A's, Attitude, Alignment, Action. We're going to talk about this more as we skillfully engage and play at our edge, doing some tricky poses.

Utkatasana Surya Namaskar - High Lunge
Utkatasana Surya Namaskar - Parsvakonasana, reach hand to floor
Utkatasana Surya Namaskar - Stack hips leg up, then Iguana
Utkatasana Surya Namaskar - Trikonasana
Utkatasana Surya Namaskar - Trikonasana, Ardha Chandrasana Think What might be possible today. Attitude is surrender sometimes.

Forearm plank, hold core
Downdog with head resting on blocks - test pressure
Partner Headstand with two partners for support, play at your edge.
demo tripod headstand for level II, headstand at wall for level I
Headstand at wall or middle of room any variation, yogi's choice

Setubanda Sarvangasana - Bridge, lift leg on each side
Salamba Sirsasana - shoulder stand, self observe neck space with fingers under neck
Halasana - plow toward wall, monitor neck space
Viparita Karani - legs up the wall with low back supported by bolster - action, revitalize, now that you've opened your heart and lined yourself up for transformation, let the action happen naturally even in a reclined pose. Viparita Karani isn't a passive pose, the three A's are still there living in it.

We cultivate courage when we play at our boundry, our attitude is open and soft, our alignment is rooted and stable, our action is graceful.

Closing: The next time you need to cultivate courage to face the terrifying visage of Shiva, remember...Attitude, Alignment, Action. Namaste.

Success!: Students requested hip openers and inversions so we're working on their requests. I felt comfortable with everyone's alignment. I gave lots of specific instruction to protect the necka and head in shoulderstand and headstand. I have personally had some pains in this pose so I was able to give a few hopefully helpful tips on these matters.

Concerns: Had a few students with some back pain after headstand and shoulderstand. Did spadog to relieve and both students said they felt fine afterwards.

Swatantrya, Stretching Your Self on the Loom of Creation

Theme: we're going to talk today about Swatantrya, or Freedom. The Sankrit word has two parts swa and tan. Swa means self.

Sanskrit word Tan, which means to stretch, like fabric on a loom

So by stretching or expanding your heart over the loom of our practice we can achieve a greater awareness of our true self, the divinity that exists in all things

So this concept of Swa or Self and Tantrya or stretching, means self stretching - creating a sense of freedom and expansion in the heart. When you stretch fabric or threads over a loom you create space for a pattern to be embroidered or woven and you create space for the divine energy of the universe to flow into you.

So why weaving. Well the idea is that when your free, then you can do anything. The loom metaphor is about creating something stable out of that freedom, because we're always seeking balanced action between freedom and stability, to create the future we want.

When you're at the edge in a pose, that's the place where transformation occurs and it's the best moment to reflect on your highest and best intentions.

Seated meditation...hands anjali mudra
1. soften the heart and the outer body. Let the skin drape onto the skeleton
2. draw shoulders up towards ears and lengthen side body
3. draw the shoulderblades onto the back and bring the heads of the shoulders back
-think about something you'd like to do if you were free to do it, something in alignment with your highest and best intentions, something socially responsible.

Tadasana - shoulder loop
Uttanasana - Downdog
SN - Parsvakonasana
SN - Trikonasana
SN - High Lunge - practice stepping stance wide, then bring it back in Stability vs. freedom. Beach ball, plug arms in on second side.

Garudasana - Eagle pose - eagle is the animal that represents freedom in our country
Vasisthasana/Wild Thing - demo
Dolphin - partner at wall, dolphin free swimming through the ocean diving through the waves
Dolphin plank - hold 1 minute
Pincha Mayurasana - hold 1 minute, hold your highest intention in your heart. what would you do if you could do anything, if no one and no thing was holding you back. Whatever limitations you perceive melt away and you found the flexibility to weave your desires into your current being and existence. Maybe the limitations aren't really there. Maybe they're just in your mind and the way you are viewing your circumstances.

Gomukhasana - arms behind back
Ardha Matsyendrasana - half lord of fishes
Purvottanasana - tabletop, hold 1 minute
Spine supported on bolster or block/Savasana

Closing: We practice yoga to stretch our consciousness and being over the loom of our practice, so we can weave the destiny we choose.

Concerns: Student at beginning of class asked about Sciatica and said had some hamstring pain. I explained that I wasn't an expert on the condition of sciatica, but told her that it was caused by compression of a nerve by tight muscles. Since the specific pain and tingling she was presently experiencing was in her hamstring, I showed her some hamsting stretches to do at home that should be able to help her relieve tight muscles (sciatica or otherwise). I'm going to do more research on sciatica and if I see that student again, I'll be sure to see if that helped and offer more help if possible.

Success!: Students engaged and interactive during class. Requested hip openers, headstands, and more inversions for future classes so I will integrate these things into the class over the next month.