Shiva-Shakti
Shiva is the ocean of consciousness, pure potential, stillness, and bliss Shakti is the waves of the ocean, the vibrational pattern and motion of all being, and the energizing force.
Utkat SN - Pvakon - cobra: Ha-tha (Sun-Moon)
Utkat SN - Iguana - bow: Rajas-Tamas (hold to center, your Satvic true intention)
Utkat SN - HL to Warrior III - arms clasped locust: Liberating Current upward - Manifesting Current downward. When we liberate energy, upward we then broadcast it out (like seeds) out into the world, so our intentions can take root and manifest.
Utkat SN - Warrior Seal - lift one leg each side in chaturanga: Light-Dark
Utkat Mal Crow (ardha bakasana): concealing-revealing
Bend back - come to tiptoes
Shiva Twists
Vrksasana
Utthita Hasta Padangustasana
Natarajasana - demo, partner, self (with partner press front arm into partners palm for stability)
Pigeon
Ardha Hanumanasana
WLFB
Navasana
Savasana
Monday, January 31, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Lesson Plan for 2011
January – Intentions
2nd – sub (Family Celebration)
9th – Foundation & Intentions
16th – MLK Tribute
23rd – sub (Family Celebration)
30th – Shiva/Shakti: Finding Balanced Action
February – Balance
6th – The 5 Yamas/Square Breath Pranayama
13th – sub (Family Celebration)
20th – sub (John Friend in SF)
27th – TBD
March – Goddesses
6th – Lakshmi
13th – Parvati
20th – Durga
27th – Shiva Ardhanarishvara
April – Shiva
3rd – Shiva, Brahma, and Vishnu
10th – Shiva Nataraja
17th – Hanuman
24th – Easter Celebration Class
May – Tantra
1st – Matsyendra
8th – Uma the All Mother (Mothers Day Class)
15th – Tantic Philosophy
22nd – History of Tantric Shaivism
29th – JFK/Memorial Day Class
June – Divine Consciousness
5th – The Big “S” Self
12th – Shri (Beauty/Diversity)
19th – Satya (Truth/Fathers Day Class)
26th – Swatantrya (Freedom)
July – Shakti
3rd – Moksha (Liberation/Independence Day)
10th – Kali, Shiva, and Raktabija
17th – Spanda (Dynamic Pulsation)
24th – Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutations)
31st – Invocation/Chanting
August – Grace
7th – sub (Family Celebration)
14th – Opening to Grace
21st – Flowing with Grace
28th – Mudras
September – Attitude, Alignment, Action
4th – The Three A’s
11th – Seva (Service)
18th – TBD
25th – Acknowledging Goddesses
October – Halloween Stories
2nd – Ganesh
9th – Yama
16th – Shiva
23rd – Kali
30th – Halloween Class
November – Bhagavad Gita
6th – Samskaras
13th – Krishna
20th – Arjuna
27th – The Gita
December – TBD
2nd – sub (Family Celebration)
9th – Foundation & Intentions
16th – MLK Tribute
23rd – sub (Family Celebration)
30th – Shiva/Shakti: Finding Balanced Action
February – Balance
6th – The 5 Yamas/Square Breath Pranayama
13th – sub (Family Celebration)
20th – sub (John Friend in SF)
27th – TBD
March – Goddesses
6th – Lakshmi
13th – Parvati
20th – Durga
27th – Shiva Ardhanarishvara
April – Shiva
3rd – Shiva, Brahma, and Vishnu
10th – Shiva Nataraja
17th – Hanuman
24th – Easter Celebration Class
May – Tantra
1st – Matsyendra
8th – Uma the All Mother (Mothers Day Class)
15th – Tantic Philosophy
22nd – History of Tantric Shaivism
29th – JFK/Memorial Day Class
June – Divine Consciousness
5th – The Big “S” Self
12th – Shri (Beauty/Diversity)
19th – Satya (Truth/Fathers Day Class)
26th – Swatantrya (Freedom)
July – Shakti
3rd – Moksha (Liberation/Independence Day)
10th – Kali, Shiva, and Raktabija
17th – Spanda (Dynamic Pulsation)
24th – Surya Namaskar (Sun Salutations)
31st – Invocation/Chanting
August – Grace
7th – sub (Family Celebration)
14th – Opening to Grace
21st – Flowing with Grace
28th – Mudras
September – Attitude, Alignment, Action
4th – The Three A’s
11th – Seva (Service)
18th – TBD
25th – Acknowledging Goddesses
October – Halloween Stories
2nd – Ganesh
9th – Yama
16th – Shiva
23rd – Kali
30th – Halloween Class
November – Bhagavad Gita
6th – Samskaras
13th – Krishna
20th – Arjuna
27th – The Gita
December – TBD
Monday, January 17, 2011
Honoring Dr. King, a Being of Great Intention
Introduction: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a great and influential figure. To speak to how profound an influence he was on the world. I’m reminded of the time I asked my Grandmother Thelma Peterson what the greatest thing she’d seen in her lifetime. My grandmother was born in the early 1900s and say the first cars, the airplane, and all kinds of other great technological achievements. She was a Rosie the Riveter, working on bomber planes during WWII, and she saw women gain the right to vote.
But of all the things in my grandmother’s lifetime, when I asked her what the greatest thing she’s seen was she said this, “The other day I was looking out the window of my apartment and I saw a little black boy playing with a little white boy down the street. And you know when I was a child and for most of my life you would
never see that. I think that’s just the greatest thing.”
You think of what you can do in a lifetime and Dr. King is a modern American hero. Someone who moved mountains and touched the hearts of everyone who lived in his time. This is important to our yoga practice because ultimately the goal of yoga is our own union with the highest and best potential. Seeing people like Dr. King who really connect with that potential inspires and enlightens us.
In today's class we’re working with the seven energetic loops in the body. These are all subtle refinements on the poses, but these little things all add up to create big consequences. We engage this with strong intentions to fully
align with our highest and best in each pose.
Centering: We're working with the energetic loops by engaging them sequentially in our practice from the foundation to the extremities of the body. Each loop is part
of the unique beautiful woven tapestry that forms our body. Let your body mirror the community of the heart and the Kula. When all beingslive in their own truth in their fullest, brightest light, we can realize our own truth.
The way the loops are integrated in the body is similar to the way MLK says all beings are interrelated in finding their truth –
“All I'm saying is simply this, that all life is interrelated, that somehow we're caught in an inescapable network of
mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. For some strange reason, I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. You can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.”
“faith is taking the first step even who don’t see the whole staircase”
1. SN/LL hands on floor with back leg straight/chatturanga – press
through the heels
2. SN/LL twist – shin loop, shins in thighs out, bend knees slightly
“freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor. It must be demanded by the oppressed”
3. SN/LL back knee down to hanumanasana – thigh loop,
4. SN/Pvakon/dhanurasana – pelvic loop, when in doubt stick it out, scoop tailbone in bow
“Everthing we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see”
5. SN/HL/dhanurasana – kidney loop, inflate the lower back, beach ball grab in HL, then puff up kidneys in bow
6. SN/HL twist/shalambhasana – engage shoulder loop – side body long, shoulders to ears, shoulderblades onto the back. Widen tops of shoulder blades and bring bottoms together. Engage from the back body. In high lunge plug arms in then rise up.
“Darkness cannot drive out darknesss. Hate cannot drive out hate.
Only love can do that.”
7. SN/Warrior I to II/hands on back of head lift skull up – focus on skull loop, pull ears back past shoulders and draw head back. Lift the chin and press head back into cosmic headrest.
8. Demo then as a group - Engage all Seven Loops sequentially in Side Plank and open to Wild Thing
“A man can’t ride your back unless its bent”
9. Rest in child’s pose, roll over onto back and come to bridge, engage the seven loops in each.
10. Urdhva Dhanurasana x3
”We might have arrived in different ships, but we’re all in the same boat now.”
11. Uttanasana/Malasana engage the seven loops
12. Savasana
Closing: We honor Dr. King and the others in the civil rights movement who taught us that we can only realize our highest and best intentions by reaching out to others to help them reach their highest and best.
But of all the things in my grandmother’s lifetime, when I asked her what the greatest thing she’s seen was she said this, “The other day I was looking out the window of my apartment and I saw a little black boy playing with a little white boy down the street. And you know when I was a child and for most of my life you would
never see that. I think that’s just the greatest thing.”
You think of what you can do in a lifetime and Dr. King is a modern American hero. Someone who moved mountains and touched the hearts of everyone who lived in his time. This is important to our yoga practice because ultimately the goal of yoga is our own union with the highest and best potential. Seeing people like Dr. King who really connect with that potential inspires and enlightens us.
In today's class we’re working with the seven energetic loops in the body. These are all subtle refinements on the poses, but these little things all add up to create big consequences. We engage this with strong intentions to fully
align with our highest and best in each pose.
Centering: We're working with the energetic loops by engaging them sequentially in our practice from the foundation to the extremities of the body. Each loop is part
of the unique beautiful woven tapestry that forms our body. Let your body mirror the community of the heart and the Kula. When all beingslive in their own truth in their fullest, brightest light, we can realize our own truth.
The way the loops are integrated in the body is similar to the way MLK says all beings are interrelated in finding their truth –
“All I'm saying is simply this, that all life is interrelated, that somehow we're caught in an inescapable network of
mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. For some strange reason, I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. You can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.”
“faith is taking the first step even who don’t see the whole staircase”
1. SN/LL hands on floor with back leg straight/chatturanga – press
through the heels
2. SN/LL twist – shin loop, shins in thighs out, bend knees slightly
“freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor. It must be demanded by the oppressed”
3. SN/LL back knee down to hanumanasana – thigh loop,
4. SN/Pvakon/dhanurasana – pelvic loop, when in doubt stick it out, scoop tailbone in bow
“Everthing we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see”
5. SN/HL/dhanurasana – kidney loop, inflate the lower back, beach ball grab in HL, then puff up kidneys in bow
6. SN/HL twist/shalambhasana – engage shoulder loop – side body long, shoulders to ears, shoulderblades onto the back. Widen tops of shoulder blades and bring bottoms together. Engage from the back body. In high lunge plug arms in then rise up.
“Darkness cannot drive out darknesss. Hate cannot drive out hate.
Only love can do that.”
7. SN/Warrior I to II/hands on back of head lift skull up – focus on skull loop, pull ears back past shoulders and draw head back. Lift the chin and press head back into cosmic headrest.
8. Demo then as a group - Engage all Seven Loops sequentially in Side Plank and open to Wild Thing
“A man can’t ride your back unless its bent”
9. Rest in child’s pose, roll over onto back and come to bridge, engage the seven loops in each.
10. Urdhva Dhanurasana x3
”We might have arrived in different ships, but we’re all in the same boat now.”
11. Uttanasana/Malasana engage the seven loops
12. Savasana
Closing: We honor Dr. King and the others in the civil rights movement who taught us that we can only realize our highest and best intentions by reaching out to others to help them reach their highest and best.
Monday, January 10, 2011
2011 Mastering our Intentions with a Strong Foundation
Introduction: My teachers have been talking about how 11 is a number of mastery. 1 represents initiation and 10 represents completion...11 is attainment or mastery and renewal of the cycle.
During the fall we worked on mastering softening and opening our hearts and building our foundation in pincha mayurasana working towards handstand. Today we're going to review some of those ideas and work together as a community, assisting each other to attain a greater awakening and alignment in those poses.
Centering - How you set your foundation, reflects your intentions. On New Years Day Darcy said: Think about your resolutions. What is the root of your intention? Condense it down to simple statement or one or two words that you can focus on throughout the year.
Ask yourself who am I, how can I align with my highest and best intentions this year in a way that will not diminish anyone elses light. Open to grace-soften your heart and let the radiant light of your highest and best intentions pour out from your heart center into your folded hands.
Chaturanga Vinyasa x3
SN - HL turn open both sides - foundation hug legs towards the midline and toward each other front to back
SN - HL root to rise
SN - HL twist, reach arms down and up - reach up and grab onto intention like BART strap, let your intention carry you forward
Pvakon - Pvottan - Pavakon - Pvottan with heart opening heart clasp - leading from the heart more effective than the head on and off the mat.
Demo/Partner - Cobra heart opener (working with partners helps us learn, the mastery of one cycle means initiation of a new one, the strong fabric of our community supports us)
Demo/Partner - Downdog lifting leg with partner clasping ankle
Demo/Partner - handstand at wall with partner supporting heart, lift leg on each side
Demo/Partner - handstand in middle of room in groups of three
Baddha Konasana - forward bend - yoke yourself to your intention and let it lead you from the heart through the new year
Pigeon (student request at beginning of class)
Supta Padangusthasana - use strap, twist to both sides
Bridge Pose - lift leg both sides (backbend option for level II, getting ready for next week)
Savasana
Closing - We practice yoga to create a firm foundation to stand steadfast in who we are, so we can rise up and shine our light out into the world. We yoke ourselves to our strong intentions, so they can lead us from our hearts into the new year.
This Month - All month we will be talking about Intentions. Next week talking about MLK, honoring his strong vision and intention-filled life. Had requests from students to focus on inversions, heart opening, and shoulder loop, so we'll focus on those this month.
During the fall we worked on mastering softening and opening our hearts and building our foundation in pincha mayurasana working towards handstand. Today we're going to review some of those ideas and work together as a community, assisting each other to attain a greater awakening and alignment in those poses.
Centering - How you set your foundation, reflects your intentions. On New Years Day Darcy said: Think about your resolutions. What is the root of your intention? Condense it down to simple statement or one or two words that you can focus on throughout the year.
Ask yourself who am I, how can I align with my highest and best intentions this year in a way that will not diminish anyone elses light. Open to grace-soften your heart and let the radiant light of your highest and best intentions pour out from your heart center into your folded hands.
Chaturanga Vinyasa x3
SN - HL turn open both sides - foundation hug legs towards the midline and toward each other front to back
SN - HL root to rise
SN - HL twist, reach arms down and up - reach up and grab onto intention like BART strap, let your intention carry you forward
Pvakon - Pvottan - Pavakon - Pvottan with heart opening heart clasp - leading from the heart more effective than the head on and off the mat.
Demo/Partner - Cobra heart opener (working with partners helps us learn, the mastery of one cycle means initiation of a new one, the strong fabric of our community supports us)
Demo/Partner - Downdog lifting leg with partner clasping ankle
Demo/Partner - handstand at wall with partner supporting heart, lift leg on each side
Demo/Partner - handstand in middle of room in groups of three
Baddha Konasana - forward bend - yoke yourself to your intention and let it lead you from the heart through the new year
Pigeon (student request at beginning of class)
Supta Padangusthasana - use strap, twist to both sides
Bridge Pose - lift leg both sides (backbend option for level II, getting ready for next week)
Savasana
Closing - We practice yoga to create a firm foundation to stand steadfast in who we are, so we can rise up and shine our light out into the world. We yoke ourselves to our strong intentions, so they can lead us from our hearts into the new year.
This Month - All month we will be talking about Intentions. Next week talking about MLK, honoring his strong vision and intention-filled life. Had requests from students to focus on inversions, heart opening, and shoulder loop, so we'll focus on those this month.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Happy Holidays: Celebrating a Light Shining in the Darkness
Everyone needs a blanket, two blocks, and a strap
Centering - Christmas is a time of celebrating light shining in the darkness, so in our practice we want to turn inward and see the light in ourselves and nourish and sustain that light through the darkest days of the year.
With the lunar eclipse on the solstice we are reminded of the yoga philosophers who said that our divinity is like a light that is always shining and perfect, but sometimes the barriers of our mind and body block that light from shining as brightly. So we can skillfully engage to remove the heavenly bodies that block the light from shining or sometimes is what's blocking us is really intense we just continue to breath with the knowledge that, like the eclipse, the barriers will eventually subside and we will shine brightly again. We just have to remain patient and devoted to that light.
Tadasana - snow angel arms moving with the breath
CV - flow with the breath at own speed through several gentle vinyasas - curl your heart open like a candy cane
Surya Namaskar - Low Lunge with a twist like the stripes on a canday cane on each side, padding the knees for support. Place hands for sphinx pose and settle in for a minute. Remember Egypt came up with idea of father time, as Osirus was reborn every year as baby and then entombed on Dec 21st.
Utkatasana - Ardha Uttanasana - skiing/santa driving his sleigh looking down at houses
Vrksasana - hold hands like a string of christmas lights on your tree and then smile to light your tree up!
Star/Padottanasana - like a star in the sky or a gingerbread man right out of the oven...hold for a minute then bow forward, let your doughy heart melt onto the mat
Downdog/Nutcracker lion - hold leg back and up behind you on each side, turn hips open to tap neighbor, giving them a little christmas cheer...come back to downdog and let out any sounds.
Standing Splits - bring leg back and up behind you on each side, like the flag on the mailbox full of christmas cards, send card to someone you're thankful to, then send one to yourself. Thank yourself for shining through the darkest longest nights of the year. Know now that the days will get longer and your life will be filled with more light.
Agnistambhasana - Yule log post
Padottanasana - wide legged forward bend - I just slipped on the ice pose
Janu Sirsasana - tying the laces on your ice skates
Padangusthasana with strap - hang the strap over your foot like a christmas stocking handing from the mantle. make the bottom of your foot a flat shelf, pressed up towards ceiling. What gift are you going to give yourself and others this year.
Jathara Parivartanasana - Jelly Belly Twist - get it touch with your bowl full of jelly
Happy Baby Jesus pose
Savasana
Closing: We practice yoga to celebrate the light that shines in the darkness. Even when our divine light is obscured, we're reminded that it's still always there, good and perfect as it is, and it will eventually be revealed. Peace on earth, goodwill towards all beings everywhere.
Centering - Christmas is a time of celebrating light shining in the darkness, so in our practice we want to turn inward and see the light in ourselves and nourish and sustain that light through the darkest days of the year.
With the lunar eclipse on the solstice we are reminded of the yoga philosophers who said that our divinity is like a light that is always shining and perfect, but sometimes the barriers of our mind and body block that light from shining as brightly. So we can skillfully engage to remove the heavenly bodies that block the light from shining or sometimes is what's blocking us is really intense we just continue to breath with the knowledge that, like the eclipse, the barriers will eventually subside and we will shine brightly again. We just have to remain patient and devoted to that light.
Tadasana - snow angel arms moving with the breath
CV - flow with the breath at own speed through several gentle vinyasas - curl your heart open like a candy cane
Surya Namaskar - Low Lunge with a twist like the stripes on a canday cane on each side, padding the knees for support. Place hands for sphinx pose and settle in for a minute. Remember Egypt came up with idea of father time, as Osirus was reborn every year as baby and then entombed on Dec 21st.
Utkatasana - Ardha Uttanasana - skiing/santa driving his sleigh looking down at houses
Vrksasana - hold hands like a string of christmas lights on your tree and then smile to light your tree up!
Star/Padottanasana - like a star in the sky or a gingerbread man right out of the oven...hold for a minute then bow forward, let your doughy heart melt onto the mat
Downdog/Nutcracker lion - hold leg back and up behind you on each side, turn hips open to tap neighbor, giving them a little christmas cheer...come back to downdog and let out any sounds.
Standing Splits - bring leg back and up behind you on each side, like the flag on the mailbox full of christmas cards, send card to someone you're thankful to, then send one to yourself. Thank yourself for shining through the darkest longest nights of the year. Know now that the days will get longer and your life will be filled with more light.
Agnistambhasana - Yule log post
Padottanasana - wide legged forward bend - I just slipped on the ice pose
Janu Sirsasana - tying the laces on your ice skates
Padangusthasana with strap - hang the strap over your foot like a christmas stocking handing from the mantle. make the bottom of your foot a flat shelf, pressed up towards ceiling. What gift are you going to give yourself and others this year.
Jathara Parivartanasana - Jelly Belly Twist - get it touch with your bowl full of jelly
Happy Baby Jesus pose
Savasana
Closing: We practice yoga to celebrate the light that shines in the darkness. Even when our divine light is obscured, we're reminded that it's still always there, good and perfect as it is, and it will eventually be revealed. Peace on earth, goodwill towards all beings everywhere.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Adhikara: Studentship and Shining Brightly
Adhikara is studentship. My teachers like to say that students are like hot sauces and Adhikara is expressed as Tapas, the heat or enthusiasm that you bring to your practice. A teacher is just a really spicy student with a lot of kick.
So today we're going to cultivate our studentship by kicking it up a notch and bringing more engagement and enthusiasm to our practice. Also, we can learn a lot as students by assisting others and seeing their alignment, so we'll work with partners to support and spot their alignment. Helping others can create a powerful shift in our own practice as students.
So Adhikara is expressed in the practice by spreading the fingers wide, shining brightly, rooting your foundation, and clawing with the fingers...revisit during warm-up practice.
Centering – seated position, focus on the perfect light of your inner being in your heartspace. Sometimes that light is obscured by clouds and we can examine our clouds and see if maybe they are labeled: stress, anxiety, work, sadness, illness. Whatever those clouds are, our practice helps us break those clouds open and let the sun shine through. And even if we can't get the clouds to break, our practice helps us to remember that if we don't like the weather all we have to do is wait sometimes and it will eventually change.
Seated Shoulder opening/arm toning exercises
Chaturanga Vinyasa – drunken cobra
Chaturanga Vinyasa – cobra/uttanasana with arms clasped
Chaturanga Vinyasa – cobra with arms clasped
Surya Namaskar – Warrior I, Rev Warrior, Warrior Seal – shalambhasana arms clasped and legs raised
Demo/Assist - told everyone not to light/creepy touch and reminded them to always look for 1. Sri - beauty first, then 2. Foundation of hands/pose and finally 3. alignment, shoulders over wrists, etc...
Handstand at the wall, demo practice kicking up with partner spotting you, keeping raised leg straight
Dolphin with Partner at wall, holding block with partner pressing knees into your heart
Pincha Mayurasana with block and partner at the wall
Pincha Mayurasana with block at wall by yourself for a minute
Firelog - eagle arms then clasp hands behind back (some used strap...demo'd this
Ardha Matsyendrasana - twist both sides
Paschimottanasana
Bridge – arms clasped under back (backbend optional)
long Savasana
Closing: We practice yoga to clear the clouds in our minds and body, to let the sun of our inner being shine through. Blessings to all beings everywhere.
Mentioned some schedule changes for upcoming weeks, handed out Stress/Anxiety workshop handouts for students that couldn't attend the session a few weeks earlier. Also invited students to check out the Anusara website if they were interested in attending John's workshop in February at the JCC.
So today we're going to cultivate our studentship by kicking it up a notch and bringing more engagement and enthusiasm to our practice. Also, we can learn a lot as students by assisting others and seeing their alignment, so we'll work with partners to support and spot their alignment. Helping others can create a powerful shift in our own practice as students.
So Adhikara is expressed in the practice by spreading the fingers wide, shining brightly, rooting your foundation, and clawing with the fingers...revisit during warm-up practice.
Centering – seated position, focus on the perfect light of your inner being in your heartspace. Sometimes that light is obscured by clouds and we can examine our clouds and see if maybe they are labeled: stress, anxiety, work, sadness, illness. Whatever those clouds are, our practice helps us break those clouds open and let the sun shine through. And even if we can't get the clouds to break, our practice helps us to remember that if we don't like the weather all we have to do is wait sometimes and it will eventually change.
Seated Shoulder opening/arm toning exercises
Chaturanga Vinyasa – drunken cobra
Chaturanga Vinyasa – cobra/uttanasana with arms clasped
Chaturanga Vinyasa – cobra with arms clasped
Surya Namaskar – Warrior I, Rev Warrior, Warrior Seal – shalambhasana arms clasped and legs raised
Demo/Assist - told everyone not to light/creepy touch and reminded them to always look for 1. Sri - beauty first, then 2. Foundation of hands/pose and finally 3. alignment, shoulders over wrists, etc...
Handstand at the wall, demo practice kicking up with partner spotting you, keeping raised leg straight
Dolphin with Partner at wall, holding block with partner pressing knees into your heart
Pincha Mayurasana with block and partner at the wall
Pincha Mayurasana with block at wall by yourself for a minute
Firelog - eagle arms then clasp hands behind back (some used strap...demo'd this
Ardha Matsyendrasana - twist both sides
Paschimottanasana
Bridge – arms clasped under back (backbend optional)
long Savasana
Closing: We practice yoga to clear the clouds in our minds and body, to let the sun of our inner being shine through. Blessings to all beings everywhere.
Mentioned some schedule changes for upcoming weeks, handed out Stress/Anxiety workshop handouts for students that couldn't attend the session a few weeks earlier. Also invited students to check out the Anusara website if they were interested in attending John's workshop in February at the JCC.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Ahimsa: Non-Harming and Compassion for Self and Others
Ahimsa is the first yama or ethical precept and means non-harming. Means not harming yourself and others
Goes hand in hand with compassion
Talk about Ahimsa and diet, eating compassionately for your self and for other beings
Centering turn inward and connect to your breath. Look at yourself as perfect as you are, a creation of the divine. Have compassion for yourself and your perceived faults or imperfections. From that place of self-compassion turn outward and shine and radiate your compassion out into the world.
Open to Grace - Surrender (contrasting with battle theme from Bhagavad Git...remember bowing to goddesses from previous weeks)
1. Sun Salutation - High Lunge
2. Sun Salutation - Low Lunge, Twist, lift back leg up
3. Sun Salutation - Low Lunge, Thigh Stretch
Muscle Energy - Give yourself a hug, muscle to bone action is protective and safe for your body
1. Handstand Demo - legs in L at the wall, work with partner to spot alignment
2. Pincha Mayurasana - work with partner at to spot your shoulder/elbow alignment at the wall
3. Shoulder opener, Vasisthasana, Wild Thing
Inner Spiral - bow inward, have compassion for yourself. What can you do to serve yourself better?
1. DD - turn pelvis open - Iguana
Outer Spiral - look at the world around you. How can you serve others?
2. DD - turn pelvis open - Pigeon, rise up, bow forward, thigh stretch
Organic Extension - reach out to the world around you. How can you help?
3. DD - turn pelvis open - Hanumanasana (ultimate compassion pose - hanuman represents service or seva)
Supta Padangusthasana
Savasana
Closing: We practice yoga to cultivate Ahimsa and Compassion for ourselves and others, so we can recognize the divine in the world around us and in our own hearts.
Success!/Concerns: Had some students return after last weeks class and they said the techniques last week for stress and anxiety helped them. Didn't get through my whole class sequence because we spent more time focusing on the inversions and instructing proper alignment. I gave the students more to interact and help spot each others alignment in the poses after showing them what to look for.
Had another class coming in that wasn't scheduled so not a lot of time for Savasana. Promised them a longer Savasana next week.
Goes hand in hand with compassion
Talk about Ahimsa and diet, eating compassionately for your self and for other beings
Centering turn inward and connect to your breath. Look at yourself as perfect as you are, a creation of the divine. Have compassion for yourself and your perceived faults or imperfections. From that place of self-compassion turn outward and shine and radiate your compassion out into the world.
Open to Grace - Surrender (contrasting with battle theme from Bhagavad Git...remember bowing to goddesses from previous weeks)
1. Sun Salutation - High Lunge
2. Sun Salutation - Low Lunge, Twist, lift back leg up
3. Sun Salutation - Low Lunge, Thigh Stretch
Muscle Energy - Give yourself a hug, muscle to bone action is protective and safe for your body
1. Handstand Demo - legs in L at the wall, work with partner to spot alignment
2. Pincha Mayurasana - work with partner at to spot your shoulder/elbow alignment at the wall
3. Shoulder opener, Vasisthasana, Wild Thing
Inner Spiral - bow inward, have compassion for yourself. What can you do to serve yourself better?
1. DD - turn pelvis open - Iguana
Outer Spiral - look at the world around you. How can you serve others?
2. DD - turn pelvis open - Pigeon, rise up, bow forward, thigh stretch
Organic Extension - reach out to the world around you. How can you help?
3. DD - turn pelvis open - Hanumanasana (ultimate compassion pose - hanuman represents service or seva)
Supta Padangusthasana
Savasana
Closing: We practice yoga to cultivate Ahimsa and Compassion for ourselves and others, so we can recognize the divine in the world around us and in our own hearts.
Success!/Concerns: Had some students return after last weeks class and they said the techniques last week for stress and anxiety helped them. Didn't get through my whole class sequence because we spent more time focusing on the inversions and instructing proper alignment. I gave the students more to interact and help spot each others alignment in the poses after showing them what to look for.
Had another class coming in that wasn't scheduled so not a lot of time for Savasana. Promised them a longer Savasana next week.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)