Kali, Shiva, and Raktabija

Used John's template from the TT manual for inversions to construct this sequence.

Told the myth of Raktabija the asura coming to conquer the city of the gods. Indra called on Shiva and Uma. He asked to awaken Kali so she could defend the city from the blood demon, who every time he was cut each drop of blood would grown into another demon, making him more powerful.

Shive released the power of Kali from Uma and she destroyed Raktabija and his demon army. She drank up the blood before it could become more demons. Once she destroyed the army she was continuing to destroy things and out of control. Shiva lay on the battlefield among the corpses in repose and when Kali stepped on him he drew her wild ecstatic destructive power out of her so she could return to her more auspicious, nurturing form.

So to in our practice we want to fiercely defend our highest and best intentions, but still ground the wild energy down when it no longer serves us so we can be at peace.

Invited student to contemplate what their city of the gods is, what that highest intention in their heart is that they would want to defend fiercely.

Everyone needs a block, a strap, a bolster, and two blankets. Starting out at the wall.

Surya Namaskar x4
-Tadasana - Volcano
-Uttanasana
-High Lunge
-Downdog - Plank
-8-point
-Cobra
-Plank - Downdog
-High Lunge
-Uttansana
-Volcano - Tadasna

Handstand - Ahdo Mukha Vrksasana
Pincha Mayurasana (hands clasped, level 1, palms pressed together, level 2)
Vrksasana - arms in Anjali Mudra and Stretchout out overhead
Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana - Leg forward and out to side
Shoulder Opener @ Wall
Vasisthasana - Leg in kickstand/together
Wild Thing

child's pose - lift belly and fingertips to fully engage in repose
Low plank engaging core, then lower down to Belly and lay on a Blanket Roll - Abdominal restorative, talked about stuck energy in the body, anxiety and emotions and how they are natural and good instincts that can protect us, but we have to be able to discern when they don't serve us so we can release and transform it through our yoga practice.
Supta Virasana Supported on Bolster to open the knees for pigeon.
Pigeon - pressing back heel into the wall
Iguana - to open the hips for hanumanasana
Hanumanasana - use two blocks to come more upright, once settled, optional forward bend
Nadi Shodana Iin Ardha Padmasana (half lotus) careful not to retain the breath as that can kick up anxiety...let breath flow naturally. For inauspicious emotional releases remember that you are divine, you are worthy of love and you are Sri (you are beautiful).

Ardha Matsyundrasana
Setubanda Sarvangasana - lift the leg
Shoulder Stand - use two blankets
Uttansana - Shoulder stretch, hands clasped behind the back
Savasana - ground down any wild energy that isn't serving us that we've dredged up in our practice. Draw it down into the earth so the fire at the core can purify it and it can take on a more auspicious form.

Closing: A myth is an outright lie told in the service of a greater truth, and you are all of the characters.

We practice Yoga to be like Kali, fiercely defending our highest and best intentions, and to be like Shiva calmly grounding any energy that doesn't serve us so we can be at ease.

Notes: No concerns with injuries or other issues this class.

I had been helping my wife who had chicken pox this weekend, so I made sure to clean myself thoroughly before class and did not manually adjust or shake hands with anyone. I inquired and learned that there were only two people in the class who had not had it yet, so I was very careful not to make contact with them and to let them know that I had been in contact with chicken pox and had taken every possible step to prevent them from getting it. Since I do not have chicken pox the risk was supposed to be very low that I could transmit it.

After class I asked for future class suggestions. Told them I was planning to revisit their requests from last week. This class we did flow, inversions/hand balances, and pranayama. Next three classes I plan to focus a little more on each one. One student requested a longer flow sequence (moving with the breath) but with a little more technical instruction in the warmup and also more hip openers, so I'm going to incorporate those elements into the next class.

Spanda, the Dynamic Pulsation of the Universe.

Everyone needs two blocks and a bolster.

Theme: Spanda, the dynamic pulsation of the universe. Turn inwards to reflect on your highest intention and see where you are presently in the pulsation energetically, physically, and emotionally in your life. Look to see that the low points in life were doorways to new expansion and appreciate when you are at the top of a great auspicious wave or cycle in your life.

In yoga poses we don't want to just hang out when we get to the form of the pose or become a rigid statue, we want to pulsate with life and look at each moment and every breath as an opportunity to re-engage the body and new opening and place in the pose.

Talked about visiting my family last week now that they've retired. Also talked about how my parents have chosen to more deeply engage themselves in life by adopting more children to help them. Asked students to turn inward and find a compassionate place to thing about how they can better serve themselves or another (compassion is for the self as well as altruistic).

Cat/Cow - Alt Hands
DD-Cobra-Sphinx w/Thigh
Dolphin - Uttanasana
DD-Cobra-Locust
Uttanasana - use blocks to root to rise, everyone using blocks to engage more
Utkatasana - twist both sides
Padottanasana - use blocks to engage deeper and connect to warriors breath.. My dad has a sleep apnea machine that helps him breath while he sleeps. My mom jokes it makes him sound like darth vader, but it actually a similar sound to warriors breath. Connecting to the breath is one way we engage in intense poses so we can feel the dramatic pulsation in the body and the breath and be more fully embodied.
Warrior I - remember your highest and best intention for yourself.
Parsvakonasana - hand to floor
Parivrtta Parsvakonasana
Virabhadrasana II
Triangle
Parivrtta Trikonasana
Warrior III - lenthening the side body and softening the heart. My dad had his knee replaced and he goes for a two hour walk every morning to keep himself mobile and healthy, which is great, but I woke up one morning and my dad just got back from his walk and he was eating chocolate chip cookies for breakfast as his reward. So had them engage fully in warrior III knowing that they will get a reward at the end, told them we're going to child's pose right after.
Child's pose
Demo - dolphin w/ block at the wall - connect your highest and best effort to your hearts desire, open the heart to make it a container to hold your offering
Partner - knees to open heart at the wall
Self at wall - pincha mayurasana - asked student to hold highest intention in their heart during this pose, to reconnect to their highest intention. Mentioned that the peacock embodies opposites in that it has beautiful colors, but not the most musical voice.
Child's pose
WLFB
Uttansana with hands clasped behind back
Sivasana - with spine supported on a bolster - to keep the mind more aware so they can open the heart, connect to the breath, hold their highest intention and then release everything down into the earth.

Everything in the universe moves. pulsation is life. If there's no movement then there's no life. Spanda is the dynamic pulsation of the breathing living supreme consciousness that surrounds us and creates us in every moment. In every moment we can tune into our bodies and our breath and realize the greater truth, that we and all things are connected and composed of the same divinity.

Closing: We practice yoga to connect to our breath and bodies so we can feel the spandic rhythm of the universe, and to make us more aware of the divinity in ourselves and others.

Concerns:

I had more twists and hip openers planned for this sequence, but working with the students on aligning and engaging the standing poses we didn't get to them. I felt good about the energy level, attitude, and pace of the class. People said they enjoyed it. I think I want to talk more about balanced action though. It seems like Spanda is a great way to talk about balanced action. We touched on recognizing pulsation and life, but I didn't mention balance at all. Will have to integrate that into future classes.

I asked the students what they wanted to see in the future and I had several suggestions to incorporate Pranayama, which I intend to do in moderation towards the end of the next few classes. Also we had a request for more inversion and balancing poses and another for more yoga flow. We did Surya Namaskar in the last class which is good for a warmup at a faster pace, flowing with less alignment instruction.

I'm going to speed up the warmup sun salutations to make it more dynamic and then slow it down to work on balances and close with pranayama.

Surya Namaskar, Sunday June 27th, 2010

Theme: Working in Sun Salutations. Talked about healthful effects of the sun. Also talked about how the sun gives its energy freely to the world without asking for anything in return, so through our practice of Surya namaskar we want to learn to more fully embody that quality so we can cultivate power that we can give back out to the world.

Breathing exercise...breathing in through the back body from spine to crown and exhaling, shining out through the heart/softening the heart.

Surya Namaskar x2 (once on each side...first time faster, second time slower - observing changes in the quality of body, breath, and consciousness). Flowing with the breath and using inhalation/exhalation. In between the two sun saluations, had the students observe how the physical and energetic body may have shifted and see if there's any dust kicked up in the process mentally or emotionally. We're going to work on our spring cleaning to make way for summer and let go of anything that's not serving our highest and best intentions moving forward.

Surya Namaskar
-Anjali Mudra
-Tadasana
-Uttanasana
-Llunge
-Plank
-8-point
-Cobra
-Downdog
-Llunge
-Uttanasana
-Tadasana
-Anjali Mudra

Shiva Twists
Natarajasana
Utkatasana w/ Twist
Malasana ...do squat pushups
Bakasana
Shoot back to Plank
Do a cobra

Cobra demo
Cobra with partner, lifting with hands above the chest/below clavicle to open heart
Cobra by self as part of Suya Namaskar...with emphasis on Bujanghasana at the heart of the sequence.

Requests? Students wanted to do another vigorous Surya Namaskar, flowing with the breath.
Google Hips...observe is any baggage or dust needs to be cleaned off the mirror because the thighs and hips are where we sometimes store mental and physical baggage that can be released.
Ardha Mandalasana (half wheel)...mind they are placing the hand on the calf or floor not the knee.
Parighasana (gate)
Ardha Matsyendrasana (half lord of the fishes)

Slow Surya Namaskar flowing with the breath gently, as you would do at the end of the day to prepare for bed and to calm the nervous system. Ancient practice was to do up to 108 sun salutations a day. Gave the students handouts so they could do the remaining 103 sun salutations at home on their own on their own time :) The image is attached. I found it on a google search (url: http://gabbyinbrownstudy.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/surya-namaskar.jpg)

Janu Sirsasna turning heart open toward the sun
Windshield Wipers
Eye of the Needle
Sivasana

Closing: We practice yoga to be more like the Sun. We cultivate greater power through our practice so we can take the extra energy that we don't need to live and shine it back out into the world, without expectation of anything in return.

Concerns: I had a student in uttanasa who was not touching the earth with his fingertips. I offered him blocks and he refused them saying that he had heard that "flexion" or bending forward in uttanasana was not good for the body. I told him to listen to the teacher in his body and honor any boundries he felt. He left the class. I would like to have offered him more. In retrospect, I would have liked to have inquired more about where he was specifically feeling discomfort and see if there was an alternate pose or perhaps have him try bending his knees to get the hands on the floor to make him still get some benefit from uttanasana without discomfort.

Progress: I had a student from last weeks class return that had knee issues. She asked about taking an alternate pose to Utkatasana and others with deep knee bends and I told her she could work in Uttanasana with the hands on the floor, just slightly bending the knees to a comfortable limit. In that pose, I told her it may be easier to bring more weight onto her hands and protect the knees if she feels they are bending too deeply or is uncomfortable.

Much more community involvement socializing and interaction on the partner pose this time. The cobra was much more accessible than the handstand.

Painting wth the Brush of Self Awareness, Sunday June 13th, 2010

Theme: Continuing handstands from previous week since we didn't have as much time to look at everything we wanted. Setting a firm foundation. How we set our foundation reflects our intentions. Work with opening the heart then engaging Muscular Energy. Shared some themes from yesterday's class about setting intentions with the New Moon for Summer.

Christopher Tompkins told the story about the Rabbi who had a student who wanted to know what his future would be and the Rabbi said write down your thoughts for 30 minutes and that is your future. Invite the students to observe their thoughts over the course of the practice and see if they are in line with their highest and best intentions, because their thoughts are the foundation upon which their future is built.

Empasize: Muscle Energy. We will hug into ourselves and build our foundation from the strength we already have. That means thinking about 1 or more things about ourselves, our gifts and talents in this embodiment that we can be thankful for. These things could be great people, careers, physical power, or academic knowledge. Whatever it is we have in abundance is the strength we use to build our strong foundation in our practice. The knowledge of that strength and holding those qualities in our hearts helps us more fully express ourselves in our poses and in life.

Class Sequence:
1. Adho Mukha Svanasana
2. Uttanasana - Downdog - High Lunge
3. Uttanasna-Downdog - Standing Splits
4. Uttanasana-Downdog- Warrior III
5. Iguana
6. Dandasana Tricep Dips
7. Vrksasana
8. Utkatasana w/ Twist on both sides
9. Malasana
10. Parsva Bakasana
11. Handstand demo
12. Handstand with a partner
13. Handstand alone at the wall
14. Parsvakonasana
15. Virabhadrasana II
16. Ecstatic Warrior
17. Padottansana with Shoulder Stretch
18. Agnistambhasana with twist
19. Wide legged FB
20. Windshield Wipers
21. Happy Baby
22. Sivasana

Quotes about setting intentions (from Douglas and Mark’s Sivasutra workshop last week): “Siva paints with the brush of self awareness on the canvas of his own consciousness, and is delighted at his creation.” Asked students to imagine if they were going to paint a picture of their upcoming summer what it would look like.

Closed practice with a long AUM to celebrate the upcoming Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year.

Closing: We practice yoga to paint with the brush of self awareness on the canvas of our consciousness and to delight in our creations.

Concerns: Didn't have too many takers for the handstand partner pose. Feel that perhaps the class needed a little more community building and encouragement. Decided to go with a little friendlier heart opening partner assist with cobra next week that would feel more accessible to all people in the class. Also, I worked with a student that was having trouble with handstand because of knee trouble and didn't feel comfortable kicking up, but I felt like I may have been neglecting the rest of the class a little. I was left feeling that perhaps there was a principle I should have taught more for the people who were uneasy about handstand, say maybe having them just practice kicking up on their own, so they would have something more to build with. Instead I told those who didn't want to do handstand or invert to continue working on Bakasana.

How We Set Our Foundation Reflects Our Intentions

Taught class with Holly Strother who composed the theme, gathered quotes, and taught the first half of the class.

Theme: setting foundation on the new moon for summer. How we set our foundation reflects our intentions. Focus on OTG, ME, and OEEncourage people to dig a little deeper when setting their intentions. To listen to their hearts desire.

Class Sequence:

1.Warmup with the breath
2. Iguana w/ Thigh Stretch
3. Cobra with arms clasped on the small of the back
4. Utkatasana w/ Twist
5. Plank/Pushups
6. Sphinx w/ thigh stretch
7. Parvakonasana
8. Trikonasana
9. Ardha Chandrasana
10. Parsvottanasana
11. Pado9ttanasana w/ hands clasped behind back for shoulder stretch
12. Dolpin
13. Vasithasana
14. Wild Thing
15. Dhanurasana - Bow Pose - with a partner

16. Standing Splits - Urdhva Prasarita Eka Padasana
17. Parsvakonasna with shoulder stretch (arms clasped behind the back)

18. Hanumansana
19. 3xCobras (arms wide, hands clasped, and locust)
20. Eka Pada Rajakapotasana (thigh stretch and forward bend)
21. Setubanda Sarvangasana + 3x Urdhva Dhanurasana
22. Ustrasana

23. Wide Leg FB

24. Supta Virasana laying back on a bolster

25. Windshield Wipers
26. Supta Padangusthasana

27. Happy Baby

28. Sivasana

Inspirational Quotes from Mary Anne Radmacher:

"Remember and know...What is my vision? I remember. I will paint it. What are my goals? I remember. I will dance them. Where is my integrity? I know. I will build upon it. Where is my personal responsibility? I know. I will appropriately extend it. At every turn, in each opportunity I will stand tall and fully in myself."

"It is not the easy or convenient life for which I search, but a life lived to the edge of all that I may be."

"Often one meets their destiny on the way to somewhere else. At first glance it may appear to hard. Look again. Always look again."

"We are remembered from the ways we have walked our ideals. At the heart of history is this reminder- You paint the colors of your days."

"Do what you love. Walk through walls. Allow no limitations to be defined on your behalf:
choose your own borders(if you choose borders) walk through walls(if you choose walls) sing with resonance: we change, we move on. Live with Intention."

"Live with Intention.
Walk to the edge
listen hard. play with abandon.
practice wellness. laugh. risk love.
continue to learn. appreciate your friends.
choose with no regret.
fail with enthusiasm.
stand by your family.
celebrate the holidays that make sense.
lead or follow a leader. do what you love.
live as if this is all there is."

Madya Vikasa Chidananda-Labha, Sunday June 6th, 2010

Theme: Madhya-vikasac chidananda-labhah

"The bliss of consciousness is found in the expansion of the center"

What you hold at your center as the object of consciousness is what you illuminate in the world around you.

I used several examples that I thought of during a sequence I taught during teacher training on this same sutra. They came to me during prayer while I was on the mat:
...You are reading a book and notice other people carrying that book or reading it in a cafe.
...You are driving a car and see that same model of car on the freeway or parked along the side of the street.
...You wear a certain style of clothing and notice someone else with the same style as you as you pass by.

How this applies to yoga: We cultivate recognition of our own divinity and our highest and best intentions so we can illuminate the best qualities in the world around us and notice them.

Quote from President Barak Obama at 2009 Nobel Lecture: "So let us reach for the world that ought to be - that spark of the divine that still stirss within each of our souls."

Class Sequence:
1. Cat/Cow with alternating arm/leg balances
2. Uttanasana - Cobra - High Lunge
3. Uttanasana - Cobra - Low Lunge with a twist
4. Uttanasana - Cobra - Iguana
5. Dhanurasana
6. Sphnix with thigh stretch
7. Padottanasana with shoulder stretch
8. Parsvakonasana
9. Parsvottanasana
10. Virabhadrasana II
11. Trikonasana
12. Ardha Chandrasana
13. Vrksasana
14. Padangusthasana
15. Utkatasana w/ Twist
16. Malasana
17. Bakasana
18. Demo - Handstand at the wall with legs in L
19. Maha - Ahdo Mukha Vrksasana at wall
20. Tricep Dips
21. Request - Ustrasana (focusing on opening the heart)
22. Jathara Parivartanasana belly twists
23. Eye of the Needle
24. Happy Baby
25. Sivasana

Speaking from the Heart, June 2nd, 2010

Theme: Speaking from the heart in our poses and in our lives. I related the story of a wedding I attended over the long Memorial Day weekend and asked the students to connect to the heartfelt authenticity seen during weddings when people make vows, toasts, and speak from the heart telling their family and others how important they are and celebrating their good fortune. The challenge is to find that same feeling on the mat and then take it back out into the world to express themselves more fully in everyday life (when they are not necessarily experiencing something as apparently auspicious as a wedding).

1. Tadasana
2. Uttanasana - Low Lunge
3. Uttanasana - High Lunge
4. Uttanasana - High Lunge + Twist
5. Standing Splits
6. Cobra
7. 8 point
8. Dhanurasana
9. Padottanasana
10. w/Shoulder Stretch
11. Parsvakonasana
12. Parsvottanasana
13. Virabhadrasana Dvi
14. Trikonasana
15. Ardha Chandrasana
16. Adho Mukha Svanasana
17. High Lunge
18. Prayer Twist Lunge
19. Revolved Triangle Lunge
20. Iguana
21. Eka Pada Rajakapotasana prep.
22. w/Forward Bend
23. Navasana
24. Setubandha Sarvangasana
25. Supta Padangusthasana
26. Happy Baby
27. Sivasana

Closing: We practice yoga to clear the fog of the mind and body, so can see what is written on our heart.