No Effort is Ever Wasted

Theme: no effort is ever wasted 

Antidote: a quote from Theodore Roosevelt and the Bhagavad Gita

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. 

Theodore Roosevelt

^^This is my theme inspiration for my Anusara yoga class tomorrow at Metric Yoga. 

Throw yourself into the arena of transformation and give yourself to it fully. Assume you are going to make mistakes, assume you are ging to get "off track", assume that it is going to be hard, challenging and difficult. And  assume it will be worthwhile! Assume you will be supported by Grace, assume that you will be in good company and assume that no effort is ever wasted and no gain is ever lost.

As Krishna tells Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita (2.40) “On this path effort never goes to waste. And there is no failure. Even a little effort toward spiritual awareness will protect you from the greatest fear.”

Heart Quality: perseverance (and forgiveness for ourself when we do stumble on our path)

Universal Principle of alignment: shoulder loop (side bodies long, inner body bright, arm bones back, bottom tips of heart press heart forward) 

Sequence: 

Warm up 

Cat/cow 

Sun A 3x

High runners lunge twist 

Basic

Mod. Parsvak

Warrior 2- reverse warrior- 1/2 moon 

Partner Tadasana shoulder loop exercise 

Parsvakonasana hand inside of foot 

Prasarita padottanasana clasp behind back with strap - trikonasana 

Partner trikonasana shoulder loop on bottom then top shoulder 

High runners lunge twist- anjaneyasana quad stretch twist- scandasana upper body like janusirsasana

Harder

Cobra on finger tips one side at a time shoulder work then both 

Pigeon thread needle twist

Pigeon quad stretch 

Janusirsasana 

Upavista konasana  (long sides soft hearts)

Matsyendrasana fish twist

At wall pec stretch set up like chataranga arms at wall apply shoulder alignment to the shoulder you will be twisting away from then turn hips chest and feet in opposite direction while keeping shoulder anchored. 

"" while sitting on block prep for 

Apex

Parsva bakasana- dvi pada koundinyasana 

Sucasana hands on floor behind back. To lift heart 

Bridge 

Urdhva danurasana 

Cool down 

Twisting core 

Both legs straight root femurs 

Shavasana