Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Okay- well, yesterday went by in a flash. I spent the morning practicing and then I got my hair cut. By the time that was done I ate lunch, worked on some future projects and plans and then lo and behold it was time to teach yoga. My friend Darren send me this passage in an email yesterday. It is from a book about an Indian Saint name Yogi Ramsuratkumar and is from a story about him meeting with a devotee who was very attached to his personal problems.

"Can you put aside all your problems in a corner, and remember my Father on this finest day? Then alone can this beggar do something for you." Yogi Ramsuratkumar was speaking to an old devotee, a man who had visited him regularly for nearly ten years. The man's problematic orientation to life was so deeply ingrained that even as he sat in the beggar's radiant presence he held tightly to his own misfortunes. As soon as Yogi Ramsuratkumar would offer the man an invitation to speak, he would predictably, consistently, respond, 'Some small problems, Swami....' and proceed to enumerate his ills."
Regina Sara Ryan - Only God

This got me thinking about how yoga practice is really an opportunity to put aside our small concerns and seek the radiant presence within ourselves and that exist in the company of those people who are in class with us. So I worked with this as my theme in both classes. The 4:30 class worked on a variety of poses leading to urdhva danurasana and we worked with hip openers into kurmasana at 6:00. Lots of the regular attendees were MIA but Brigitte, Kelly, and Catherine all double-dipped, Terry clasped in kurmasana for the first time and many people did handstand for the first time at 4:30. What fun!

Here are the sequences:

4:30 All Levels
AMV
AMS
uttasana
simple surya namaskar variations with lunges
Urdhva hastasana
utkatasana 2x
anjaneyasana 2x
Vira One 2x
handstand
ardha bhekasana 2x
eka pada rajakapotasana prep
setu bandasana
urdhva danurasana
AMS
uttanasana
parsva uttanasana
AMS
AMV
savasana

6:00 Advanced Class
Surya Namaskar A
Surya Namaskar B
crescent
malasana-uttanasana
crescent
malasana-uttanasana
pasrvakonasana
clasped parsvakonasana
maricyasana A
lunge with back knee down
shoulder under leg in lunge
surya yantrasana
malasana-uttanasana
dwi hasta prep
clasped uttanasana
kurmasana
lunge with quad stretch and a twist
maricyasana C
pascimottanasana
setu bandha
knees to chest
Savasasana

Have fun.

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