Happy 90th birthday Jack!

We celebrated Jacks birthday yesterday. Let this event remind us all to live life to the fullest! So many people I know think its too late after 30, 40, and even 60 to have fun and accomplish new goals. (You probably know who you are!). It is never to late for anything you are willing to work for.

Do one thing today where you are more childlike. Be fearless, be honest, and laugh!

3 years of Abyasa and Vairagya

3 years ago today I was in a car accident.  Which was the 4th of a series in 10 years.  No wonder my chest has felt as though it was caving in the last 2 weeks.  It seems as though we hold onto emotion more than we may think.  Especially when the emotion is tied to a stressful event like assessment.  It is so crazy to think that it took me 2 weeks to figure out why my neck was tight,  why I could not breath,  why I had no patience with those whom I typically has limitless patience.  As I type this now,  I am not really sad or emotional.  I actually feel a sort of release,  a balance of emotions from the inside out. 

In the last 3 years,  I have gotten married,  passed my first assessment,  changed jobs,  gotten a puppy and am now getting ready to take my 2nd assessment in 5 weeks.   If someone would have told me all this would happen in 3 years I would never have believed them.  This assessment process is pretty amazing.  At first when you start it you think to yourself, "Really?!  You want me to do what?  You think I did that wrong?  I need to improve my observation skills? Who the heck to you think you are telling me how to fix myself, my practice, my teaching?"  So many emotions are brought up by this process.  As it goes on,  you begin to take the critics in such a way that it no longer feels like a war against you and the critics.  It actually does make you a better teacher.  At some point you get to the breaking point,  which is where i was 2 days ago,  and you are so bewildered.  You are not even sure if you can do anything right,  then......the light comes in the form of someone called Manouso?  Huh?  Really.  Manouso.  For years I have been frightened of this man.  Not just the man himself,  but the other people that go along with it all.  One more time,  if you would have told me 3 years ago I would enjoy an entire weekend taught by Manouso I would have begged to differ.  But listen people,  it was incredible.  Not just the teaching itself,  but the effect that it had on the mind, the body, the community.  Maybe it is not just him that has softened, but me who has changed.

This light we can call Sattva,  Illuminosity.  Bright white light that makes you feel as thought you could sit and just be,  or you could run a marathon (or clean your house for 5 hours.  That is the path I chose.... cause' you know I like a clean floor:-))  Back to the assessment stuff now.  

At first glance in the IYNAUS Assessment Manuel,  you might think that it is by chance someone came up with all this required knowledge,  required reading, and the list of poses.  But take a closer look,  go through the process and be prepared to be dazzled.  Well,  maybe not dazzled, but you get my drift.  It is as though they really thought this through as to what the sadhadka (student) was going to be going through each and every step of the way.  Even up to the terms. Abyasa and Vairagya.  Abyasa is the dedicated study of a subject no matter what, even after repeated failure for long indefinite periods of time.  Vairagya is the cultivation of freedom from passion and worldly desires.  Listen,  I know what you are thinking.  What else do I have to give up?  I already gave up most things I love.......drinking,  eating fried food,  most sugar,  even meat, dairy,  gluten.  (I have not given up any,  just a very moderate amount folks, just proving a point).  No, it is not about that stuff.  It is about your mind and how you move around this earth with other people on it.  It is about having compassion and patience for those who need it and creating boundaries with those who have none. It is about doing the yoga,  then practicing the yoga, then living the yoga.  I am still in between the first two.  

So all in all,  I am saying that after 4 years of this assessment preparation I have truly learned to that I have a long way to go,  but if I keep at this Abyasa and Vairagya,  maybe I will be even closer to what we all long for.  To be close to knowing who we are as a human,  a friend, a lover, a daughter,  a teacher.

Thats all for now!



 

News from senior yoga class

So, this is a picture of Ardyce. She is on a senior Colorado softball team ages 65 plus. This past weekend she pitched 8 games and they came in second at the western nationals. This event is for teams all across the USA. We are so proud of her! I can only hope I'm still rockin' it like that in a few decades!

Parsvottanasana

As I begin to practice Parsvottanasana more, I am coming to realize that this pose is definitely a gateway pose.  Gateway to Virabhadrasana I,  Parivrtta Trikonasana, Parivrtta Parsvakonasana, Parivrtta Ardha Chandrasana,  Virabhadrasana III.  It teaches us to balance with our feet awkwardly placed.  While our hips are tight and not wanting to turn,  the buttocks really,  really want to hold our low backs hostage,  and then back to the feet thing!  So,  next time you practice,  remember this pose can be as much as a warm up as Dog or even the infamous Utthita Trikonasana,  you know the one us Iyengar yoga teachers always want to teach, teach, and teach more:) 

Watch this video carefully.  Listen to Geeta and her description of why the back leg is so important.  It really is true, being all in the front causes our ego to not be in check.  Bringing attention to the back of the body makes us more humble.  Think about it after your practice.  Leave a comment and let me know what your experience is!!


Geeta teaching Parsvottanasana

Senior Sequence

This is the sequence from yesterdays class at Northglenn:

-Cat/Cow use breath and articulate the movement from the tailbone and the sternum.  
-Vajrasana-sit on heels with blankets or bolster, toes pointed back.  After 2 minutes,  lean forward, tuck toes under.  Repeat this 3 times.
-Tadasana with Urdvha Hastasana,  use belt around wrists to help keep the arms straight.  Only take the arms up  as much as you can,  remember, do not overdo! 
-Put belt around wrists again,  but this time back behind you.  Loosen the loop as needed for your shoulders.  Then,  bend forward into Uttanasana lifting the shoulders up away from the neck.  If you have a shoulder injury,  please stay upright and work on the shoulder blades deep into the back.
-Quad opener at the wall,  place your left fingertips at the wall.  Grab your right ankle with your right hand,  bring the knees close together,  draw the tailbone forward,  abdomen lifted.  If you have a knee injury,  place a rolled sticky mat behind your knee and use a belt to lift the leg.  Repeat this 2 xs
-Lie down on the floor on your belly.  Be sure to roll the thighs in and extend the buttocks to the heels for a long low back before beginning these!!
-Urdvha Mukha Svanasana,  upward facing dog.  Turn hands out to roll the shoulders back.  Come up on the knees and lift chest.  Maintaining a strong core,  lift the knees a few inches off the ground.  If you cannot lift the knees today, do not worry!  Just stay on the knees and work on the arm strength!
-Salabhasana,  Locust.  Lift your chest,  your arms and your legs off the floor.  Keep the legs straight,  abdomen lifted,  and please breath!
-Bujangasana, Cobra.  Place hands right beside the floating ribs.  Keep the legs straight and hip width apart.  Once again,  focus your attention on the buttocks,  move it towards the heels and then slowly coil your spine up off the floor.  Maintain even steady breath and smile a little.......Backbends make you happy!!
- Dhanurasana,  Bow pose.  Bow,  like a bow and arrow.  Bend the knees and grab both feet with your hands and inhale lift your chest off the floor by pressing your feet into your hands. Breath!!  If you have an injury and cannot grab your feet,  just repeat the last pose and know you are taking care of your body.  That is the hardest thing to learn in yoga,  to listen to your body,  take cues of when to back off, when to modify, when to push.  So listen and let your body be your teacher.
-Adho Mukha Virasana,  Pose of the child.  Time to neutralize!
-Lie down on the back,  place a belt around your heels and straighten out your legs to the ceiling to release the back some more.
-VIparita Karani,  Legs up the wall.


** I have run out of recent photos seniors.  Anyone up for being photographed again??
 

Sequence for ALL of us!

I am back on the blog wagon.  I have no excuse people.  I have been working a lot and not wanting to be on the computer when I get home.  I am the one who preaches balance to my husband. I sit here now watching Roxy and Wilson (Wilson is the new 10 week old puppy) they are sleeping now.  Sleeping because they know when to say stop.  The beasts know when to say when.  Maybe I should take a lesson from them.  It is not about work work work,  then crash crash crash.  Life it too short people.  Get outside,  even though its hot and enjoy what nature has to offer.  Remove yourself from the dredges of your couches and play in the grass and plant something that makes you happy.  Know that each time you choose to sit in stillness,  breath and take a few moments to sit in the grass and look at what is growing,  you have chosen wisely.

This sequence is for us all.  Do it mindfully in a quiet place,  unless you have a new puppy.....get over it and do it anyways.
(if you cannot remember the sanskrit,  remember the pose index over on the side of the blog)
Adho Mukha Virasana
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Uttanasana
Tadasana 
Utthita Trikonasana
Vira I
Vira II
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Dandasana
Baradvajasana I & II
Triang Muka Eka PadaPaschimottanasana
Chatush Padasana
Salamba Sarvangasana or Vipariti Karani
Supta Baddhakonasana
Savasana



 

Sequence from IYCD Level 1

Sequence from Level One:  Moral of the story,  breath,  take your time,  and keep you face, neck, and shoulders passive.
Jathara Parivartanasana (twist on the back legs outstretched, Legs bent) x 3
Adho Mukha Virasana to the side x 2
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Uttanasana x 2 one minute each
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Tadansana with brick in between upper thighs, close eyes,  observe the weight and space evenly over the 4 corners of the feet,  observe the breath,   allow the back of the body to descend while the front of the body ascends.
Urdvha Hastasana x 3 use breath inhale arms up up  up and lift from the ribs not the shoulders
Paschima Namaskarasana in Tadasana (do this and the above with the brick still in between the thighs)
Uttanasana with bricks for hands, concave and convex spine
Padangusthasana x 2
Paschima Namaskarasana in Tadasana
Padahastasana 
Urdvha Prasarita Padasana x 3 only to 90 degrees
Upavistha Konasana
Baddhakonasana x 2 (2nd time lean to one side and place your elbow on the thigh to descend the thigh,  then when coming back up keep that thight down. As Lisa said last Friday................the thigh that is descending is your dream and the other side is your reality,  so make them both your reality!)
Dandasana
Janusisasana with head to bolster
Viparita Karani

*I loved teaching this sequence today.  Everyone seemed to not only look as though their bodies felt better,  but everyones faces were so relaxed......what else can we ask for?  Integrated Mind, Body, Soul?  This is the yoga,  not just your body moving around in poses.  To integrate the breath into the poses so they feel effortless.  Maybe not at the beginning,  but as you keep practicing the poses will come,  the brain will be focused, and the face will be passive.