Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Self Trust

Class plan + sequence + theme notes

Heart quality: Trust, self trust
Principle of emphasis: open to grace (foundation) and muscle energy.

When we use the muscles to hold optimal alignment not only are we preventing future injuries and healing old injuries, we are also taking care if ourself in a way that develops self trust. In today's world it is hard to trust others. I lock my doors, i build walls around my heart and when I get hurt physically, mentally or emotionally I even loss trust in myself. By takin time on the mat to really take care of myself by integrating my body I start to foster self-trust. I start to feel and believe that I am not going to hurt myself and I make self care my first priority over how deep I can go in the pose.

In this class we will use our muscles to hold good alignment. I am going to really emphasis the feet engagement. So often the feet barely get used and lack of integration in the feet can lead to bunions, flat arches and can be a contributing factor to ankle, knee, hip, spine, and shoulder injuries since the feet are the foundation of the rest of the body. The way we are going to work the feet will be pressing the toe pads down so fiercely the knuckles of the feet lift up  we will do that a few times, I call this toe pad presses. Once that is developed then keeping the toe pads pressing then press the knuckles and ball of the foot down as well. When we do this in lung it is important that the heal is behind the knuckles of the foot instead of stacked right above the toes. That stacked alignment doesn't give you the ability to press the toes and turn on the muscles and lift the arch as much as when the heel is behind the knuckles but still off the floor. When the knee is on the ground in low lunge or kneeling chataranga the heels will stack right over the toes  that's ok. When the foot is active and presses the hip should lift up and drag back from that chain of muscular integration.

We will also work the muscles of the arms in pincha work. In this inversion the forearms are the foundation just like the feet are in standing poses so we will work them similarly. And we will trust that when we are strong enough that we can do some version of this pose without face planting.

1/2 sun 3x
Lunge
Lunge awareness in feet root to rise
Low lunge back foot toe pad presses , then ball and toe pads
Lunge back foot toe pad presses then ball and toe pads- tree
AMS toe presses
Lunge- tree
Pigeon back foot work with knee down an lifted
Plank - chat- cobra toe work

Wall pec shoulder stretch T arms
Forearm prep work
Dolphin don't face plant trust the strength of your arms
Dolphin leg lift
Pincha manurasana at wall

Tadasana block AL
Virasana blanket roll
Ardha hanumanasana 2 blocks

Seated pranayama centering with vajrapradama mudra (look below to learn more about this awesome mudra)
Shavasana


Vajrapradama Mudra: interlock your fingers and place your hands over your chest. It is the symbol of trust. Vajra means thunderbolt and in Buddhism the thunderbolt is a weapon against doubt, one that chases away mistrust. Pradama means confidence or trust. The symbolism of the interlaced fingers is a web. The web signifies our connection to everything around us. This helps us remember our connection to the universe and its grand plan for us. When we look at life as being part of a greater whole then we can start to see that everything that happens for us has a reason that we may not be able to see right now. This mudra is a symbol of unshakable trust and confidence, in yourself and in your faith. Use this mudra to restore confidence in yourself, to let go of mistrust of others, to gain faith in your intuition, and to restore hope and peace in the face of obstacles.

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