Los Angeles Immersion Day 2

It was another fun day at yogaglo with the Immersion. We started the day with pranayama and then I taught an asana class with parivritta trikonasana as the peak pose. It was a good straight forward Level 1/2 kind of class with strong work in basic postures.

Childs pose
Down dog
Uttanasana
simple lunge surya namaskar variations 2 X

This whole next section was to open the feet, the ankles and the lower leg to get it to release. I saw that lots of people did not have their heels down in down dog which told me that their back heel in revolved triangle pose was going to be tough to keep down also.
blanket roll under feet uttanasana
blanket roll behind knees in vajrasana
blanket roll under feet uttanasana
blanket roll under feet uttanasana
down dog
foot work to open the soles of the feet which is too hard to explain here
sitting on the heels in vajrasana with the toes turned under so the balls of the feet are on the floor
repeat both
down dog
down dog with bent knees and really reaching through the heels to stretch the soleus
AND voila! So many down dogs with heels down. YES!

jathara parivarttonasana with bent legs squeezing a block- 3X each side
with straight legs-  3X each side
succirandrasana
supta padangusthasana
parivritta supta padangusthasana

Vira 1- 2 X
parsvottanasana- 2X
parivrritta trikonasana- 2X

uttanasana
down dog
adho mukha parsva vajrasana
pascimottanasana

ujayi pranayama
savasana

Noah did a little Bhagavad Gita introduction and then we took a break for lunch. I practiced the sequenced with some additions-  sirsasana after the opening 3 poses, after pascimottanasana I did malasana, uttanasana, maricyasana 1, 2, 3, and 4 and then malasana again with much greater success. Then pasasana and then malasana and uttanasana. then chair-supported shoulderstand. Good times

Anyway- it was a great sequence to work with and we had a short afternoon with some more work on the Bhagavad Gita.

Its always interesting to teach the Immersion Curriculum and see what directions we go in as a group and  where it leads. Its never "just" the curriculum and each group has a different flavor and interest and insights they offer. One thing  that is interesting for me is that as time goes by and Anusara's standards and curriculum are more and more clarified and outlined, I actually feel less like an "anusara" teacher. I know that must sound really odd but I always find it jolting when asked, "Well what is Anusara's viewpoint on _______ and how are we supposed to think about _____________."

In terms of asana, I have no real problem with those kinds of questions but I always feel a little weird answering the "Anusara doctrine" kinds of questions. I really do not want the teaching I do to be a conversion experience or a time when people are indoctrinated into something or told a way to think, perceive or relate to these time-honored teachings. I am more interested in what the Gita means to each person personally than teaching what the "Anusara viewpoint is on The Gita."  I just do not relate to Anusara Yoga from that vantage point at all and when we started learning all the philosophy, it was, at least for me, more like The Gita for the sake of The Gita, not the Gita for the sake of Anusara Yoga Philosophy as some separate thing.

I am thinking about this a lot these days. Being around in the beginning when things were evolving naturally and organically was a really different thing than meeting all of this now that it has become something more boundaried and codified. I find I am really having to examine my own way of relating to the system as it is now since I am so involved in the curriculum and teaching people who are encountering it for the first time and meeting a "whole thing" that didn't really exist when I first came around.

Some of the questions that came up today got me on this train of thought and so its on my mind. To me, its more about how the teachings land inside me  and not so much about conforming to an outer way or anything like that.  I suppose, it is, like so many things, a spanda.

More on that later.