Winter Solstice, Kali, and Transformation

Theme: fiercely cut away the old leave it in the darkness and move forward free with the light. 

Anecdote: winter solstice and Kali 

Kali the dark mother is portrayed fiercely dripping with blood, tongue out, wearing a garland of skulls, a belt of severed arms, and holds many weapons. She is the destroyer that brings transformation and shows us the importance of cycles that we see everywhere in seasons, relationships, moods.... We are reminded of this with winter solstice. That out of the darkness comes new light. Change can be scary and it is Kali who transforms our fear into freedom as she cuts away negative habitual patterns inside of us. During Yule, ask yourself: what do you want to leave behind in the darkness? What do you want to grow with the light? 

A mantra to honour Kali within you is: Om Sri Kalyai Namaha - Om is the cosmic sound, Sri the divine mother, Kalyai, the remover of obstacles and Namaha is a way of embracing these aspects within us all.

UPA: shins in thighs out (SITO) Her fierceness and intensity is seen and felt with shins in and the freedom and transformation is felt with the thighs out. Thighs out is part of inner spiral, it is the widening aspect. Shins in is from outer spiral and helps keep the knee tracking over the second toe. 

Heart quality: transformation and freedom 

Apex pose: bound Parsvakonasana 

Pranayama: Kali's sword breath Benefits: Revitalizes the spirit, enhances mental clarity, recharges the subtle body, releases stuck energy. 

To begin: take a wide Goddess Pose stance and visualize you have Kali’s swift sword of freedom and detachment. This dynamic pranayama has three strong inhalations followed by a full exhalation through the mouth—Kali-style, tongue out. First inhale: Bring your hands together below your navel, drawing them up the front of the body overhead. Second inhale: from overhead position, expand your arms out wide to the sides and up. Third inhale: Bring your hands back together below your navel, drawing them up the front of the body overhead again. Full exhale: pull your hands fiercely down the front of your body, leaning forward, and exhaling through your mouth with your tongue out. Visualize yourself cutting away negative habitual patterns and freeing yourself from false concepts that imprison you. Surrender into your heart and call forth the essence of Kali within you to transform fear into love. REPEAT Complete 10 rounds of this breath practice to honor the form of Kali with 10 arms. (This breath technique is from the wonderful Sianna Sherman) 

Sequence: 

Warm up

Uttanasana- ardha uttanasana 3x 

Uttanasana manual SITO hands press on outer shins 

High runners lunge manual SITO front leg- high runners lunge twist 

Basic

Warrior 2

Mod. Parsvakonasana - Parsvakonasana 

Warrior 2- reverse warrior - Parsvakonasana - w2 3x 

Scandasana - half moon - standing pigeon 

Goddess pose with Kali Sword Breath- wide leg forward fold- flat back work SITO action in legs - clasp hands behind back

Harder 

Pincha manyurasana 

Anjaneyasana quad - Anjaneyasana twist with quad- half moon - eagle 

Bound Parsvak (apex) 2x

W1 - twist 

Cool down 

Double pigeon 

Compass pose 

Partner Uptivista konasana partner uses their feet to yogis ankles to provide resistance for shins in while yoga then does thighs out 

Ardha matseyendrasana 

Baddha konasana

Shavasana

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Forgiveness = Freedom

Theme: experience the freedom that comes with forgiveness 

Anecdote: the new moon 

As we move into a new pulsation with the new moon, it is important to look ahead instead of looking back. Resentments toward others and ourself can keep us weighted down and stuck in the past. Cultivating forgiveness is freeing! Take a deep breath and allow the goodness and love to expand inside of you and to penetrate into your soul as a result of forgiving and letting go. Honor that today is the first day of the rest of your life. How do you want to live it? Have the strength (Shins in) to let go of the old and to welcome the new (thighs out). 

UPA: shins in thighs out

Heart quality: forgiveness + freedom

Apex: Parsvakonasana 

Quotes: forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. - Mahatma Gandhi

I forgive, heal and release everything that consciously or unconsciously could delay or block the complete evolution of my being. - Mario Liani

Props: block, strap

Warm up 

Table cat/cow

Table shalabasana bum work (extend leg to back of room: flex and extend leg. Move knew toward same side wall keep knee flexed: abduct and adduct thigh. with thigh abducted: flex and extend leg toward side wall) 

AMS - Lunge

Basic 

Tadasana manual SITO with block around shins and strap around thighs - sun 3x 

Uttasasana manual sito with hands

L hand on outer front shin pressing in 

Vinyasa 

Hrl twist - scandasana 

Prasarita padottanasana hands interlaced sito arms 

Harder

Handstand 

Pincha 

Table sito - pigeon very short back knee almost touching front ankle sito- move back knee further back for deeper pigeon 

W2

Parsvak 

Ardha chandrasana- Standing pigeon manual thighs out with hands to inner thighs - Eagle 

Apex 

Parsvak ultimate freedom asist (one person in parsva the partner stabilizes back foot with there foot buts a hand to their outer shin pressing "in" and then their other hand/forearm to the yogis back inner thigh pressing "out" the out is most important because it lets yogi feel stable. An additional assist is to move lower hand off shin and onto hip to root down with organic energy while yogi scopes tail bone and extend out)

Cool down: 

Double pigeon hands press into feet (shins in) to give resistance to broaden thighs out 

Ardha matseyendrasana

Pranayama

 meditation/ shavasana

Counseling for your body parts

In my Tuesday and Thursday classes we talked about healthy relationships. Healthy relationships require attention and effort. Any relationship whether it be your marriage, with your dog, your car or your body. Let's use the example of your car if you just use your attention you will just be aware that there is a problem. Let's say your oil light is on or your car is making a awful noise. This awareness tells you there is a problem but if you just have awareness your just annoyed or frustrated. However if you just put in effort like rotating the tires but it's your oil that needs to be changed, that's not going to make the oil light go off. You need a combination of the two awareness to notice what's working really great and what needs some work and then you need to apply intelligent action to address the problem you found with you awareness.

On Tuesday morning we focused on the lower body alignment especially ankle, shin and thigh loop. This was some serious counseling to help the lower body parts to get along and cooperate better. It's amazing when you get these body parts to flow harmoniously together how damn good it feels.

On Thursday we had a counseling session for our upper body, mainly side bodies long (1st principle) arm bones back (2nd principle) and expanding spiral of arms (3rd principle).

Inner Spiral + Life is GOOD

Here are some notes from the class I taught at Sugar Space on Saturday. (I teach at an Anusara-Inspired yoga class at Sugar Space every Saturday 9-10:30 by donations in SLC, UT). Strong leg alignment refinements leading to an open and a spacious lower back + yummy forward folds.

One thing I love about practicing Anusara Yoga is the intention behind it. In classical yoga one of the main goals is to still the mind. In Anusara Yoga our main intention isn't to still the mind (but that does happen and its a great side effect) our aim is to get moments of recognizing ours elf as part of the Divine. We have a deep desire to know our self more fully (chit) and what we are at our essence is delightful and blissful. True we might not experience bliss all the time but if we look, turn with in, practice yoga asana... we will get glimmers of the light that shine through us.

I know for me I can be having a horrible day totally caught up in little cares and dramas but after I practice on my mat I am reminded LIFE IS GOOD, that I am inherently good even when I make mistakes. I even leave my mat with a deeper appreciation for my sad darker days, because just like with light and dark we cant appreciate the light with out the comparison of it to the dark. I talked about this in class at Sugar Space. I asked the students to reflex on how they are feeling when they showed up to practice and to look for those "ah-ha" moments throughout class when the light shines through the clouds and they feel connected to source. At the end of the class I again asked the students to reflect on how the felt compared to when they came in and all the students felt better, more connected, and more plugged in after the practice.

Principles of emphasis: inner spiral +shins in thighs out[  + outer spiral
 

DD->Uttanasana  me/is/manual shins in thighs out

Tadasana 3 person partner [2straps]

Surya Namaskar A

Handstands

Through uttanasana:

High runners lunge-> Parsvottanasana

Lunge-> Parsvottanasana on pinky toe edge of back foot to exaggerated inner spiral

Parsvakonasana

through AMS: 

Pigeon prep (Sternum over foot) 3 person partner [2 straps]

Active Pigeon prep->quad->deep pigeon

Low lunge with quad stretch

Trikonasana-> scandasana->ardha chandrasana -> urdhva prasarita eka padasana

Anjaneyasana

Warrior 1 2x

5 mins in the next 3 hip openers:

Virasana

Model pose adductor work

Baddha Konasana: against feet together, with block: narrow, medium, wide, then feet together 1min each (push into feet or block, draw adductor muscles up toward hips as you stretch knees away from eachother stretching inner thighs. After the block work when you repeat feet together knees will be noticeably closer to the floor.)

Uptavista konasana

Janusirsasana partner [strap]

Kurmasana (tortoise pose)

Shavasana

Enjoy the strong leg alignmnet work in this sequence and juicy forward folds. This class will cultivate openness in the hips + hamstrings while strengthening the core + legs to hold the new found freedom in the pelvis. 

Low Back Tightness or Sciatic Nerve Pain?

One of the joys of being pregnant is this pesky low back and sciatic nerve pain I have been experiencing when I am not on top of my alignment. This week I am going to be focusing on clearing up low back pain and sciatic pain. What is so cool about an alignment based practice is you can use your alignment on and off the mat to not only stop your low back from hurting but from preventing it in the future. Like I said above with my growing belly pulling my body out of alignment I experience this low back and sciatic nerve pain. It is so clear to me that this happens when I forget about my alignment. Then ill do some yoga poses and practice the alignment when I stand and sit and its gone.

There is a way of standing that I like to call "hurt back pose". This pose looks like feet turned out (think first position in ballet), tailbone way scoped under so the bum is flat, and hips leaning forward. Another version of "hurt back pose" is feet turned out, weight shifted to one leg that is very straight or hyper extended, the other knee bent and one hip sticking out more. This pose has often been established over a long period of time, like years and years. So it might take you more then one class to get this into your body. It helps to identify what version of the "hurt back pose" you do, and then when you find yourself doing it a little alarm should go off in your head and then you can implement your new alignment for a healthy + happy low back.

Tadasana- feet parallel second toe in line with ankles and knees
Tadasana put block between thighs. Squeeze block between thighs, this will establish muscle energy in your legs. Once the legs are engaged roll your inner thighs in back and wide, this should make your block move more toward the back plan of your body and cause your bum to stick out. This should also take the top of the thighs back. There is a little bony protuberance on your lateral upper thigh (the greater trochanter. We want this to be over the ankles and in line with the shoulders and ears. In the"hurt back pose" when the hips are leaning forward the greater trochanters are way forward, you might be surprised how much you have to move your thigh bones back to get this alignment. Practicing by a mirror or with a friend can be very helpful. Once you've got this scope your tail down to create tone in the low belly and stability in the low back. We want the top of the sacrum to move in and up creating a lordosis curve in the low back and the lower part of the sacrum to scope down to create this toning.
Tadasana put block between shins. With the arches lifted squeeze the block and your shins toward the midline to cultivate muscle energy in the legs, just like before move your thighs in back and wide, top of the thighs back so the greater trochanters are over the ankle and then root the tailbone down just enough to tone the low belly and hold that stability in your back you have so gracefully created.
High Runners Lunge hands on the floor draw feet toward each other to tone abductors then move the inner thighs in back and wide, top of the thigh lifts a ton and then little scope of the tailbone to tone low belly. We are all different. I have to scope my tail bone alot in this pose because I am extra flexible and can collapse in my back however some one stronger/stiffer and often male probably just needs to scope a tiny amount. Remember we really want that sacrum going in and up in the low back so if your low back is rounding like a cat don't even worry about scoping your tailbone instead just keep sticking your inner thighs back.
 High Runners Lunge- Lunge
Low Lunge back knee stays on the floor, hands on the floor. Engage muscles of legs, draw inner thighs back, press down on knee and isometrically drag back knee forward. The back knee shouldn't move instead the top of the thigh should move back creating space in the SI joint. Again scope your tailbone the appropriate amount for you.
Low Lunge manual shins in one hand on floor other hand on outer front shin, spread your toes and press shin toward the midline as you widen thighs and rotate them toward the back of the room. Keep the back thigh lifted by doing that isometric work.
Low Lunge hands on floor reaching out toward 11 o'clock shins in, thighs back and wide, appropriate scope of tailbone
Supta/ on your back
Laying on your back extend one leg up use strap and pull whole leg and ground head of femur bone into hip socket. As you pull in also extend your foot back into the strap. For this version don't have your leg perpendicular to the floor instead have it more forward ~ 45 degree angle.
Root femur bone laying on back both feet on floor. Lift one leg up towards the sky perpendicular or forward NOT CLOSER TO YOUR FACE THEN PERPENDICULAR. Interlace hands behind thigh that is lifted and press thigh forward into clasp hands. You can stay here or extend bottom leg out straight engage that leg toes point toward sky inner thigh rolling towards the floor more then the outer hip.
Supta Pigeon- supta matseyndrasana
Supta pada A- B strap
Wall
Parsvotonasana hands on wall
DD hands on wall same alignment in legs we have been working with. Tone legs, draw inner thighs back, move top of thigh back, scope your tail bone under an appropriate amount for you
L handstand at wall
Handstand at wall hands shin distance from wall, kick up bend knees to a 90 degree angle soles of feet on wall. I love this variation because its hard to banana and stick the hips forward. Engage muscles of legs, draw inner thighs toward wall butt stick out towards wall, scope tail bone up toward ceiling and appropriate amount to tone belly. oh and SMILE
Pasarita Padotonasana twist. there are 2 ways to do this pose. One is keeping hips squared and one is letting the hips turn as you twist. In this version let the hips turn as you twist. I don't teach this one very often but keeping the hips squared can aggravate a sensitive sciatic nerve.
Bridge 3x to hip the different muscles we will space feet differently. Make sure your feet are parallel no ballet turned out feet. For all three bridges draw feet isometrically toward each other, mover inner thighs toward floor creating a curve in the low back then scope tail bone extending knees toward front of room and rooting down through feet.

1. Feet touching
2. Feet hip distance apart
3. Feet much wider then hips

Gallapers twist this is supta pada c with the bottom leg in a quad stretch. For this version we will have the top foot with the straight leg on the wall a few inches from the floor back leg bent holding onto the back food for a quad stretch. Press your foot into the wall as you kick your back foot into your hand.
Partner root thigh bone as described a few poses back. Same thing but the partner will manually adjust the bottom leg so the thigh moves in. Then the partner will hold the inner spiral on the bottom leg with one hand and put the other hand on the sole of the lifted leg and have the partner extend the foot into partners hand as the hand pushes down into the foot. Thank you partner.
Shavasana or Supported Baddha Konasana

Alignment of knees = more Harmony

In massage school I learned that the joints of the body represent our flexibility in certain areas of our life:

• Feet: Your ability to move forward in life.
• Knees: Your willpower.
• Hips: Your ability to stand and hold yourself up in life.
• Shoulders: Your ability to handle difficult situations.
• Hands: Your ability to handle the details in life.

I thought this was interesting. Lately a lot of new students have been coming to my classes with knee injuries as a result of lateral movement or hyper extension of the knee. In my Friday 4:15-5:30 class at The Yoga Center I focused on knees this week. When the knees (or any part of our body) are in pain or discomfort it is distracting and makes it much harder to experience harmony. However by using our will power to align our knees (or any part of body) optimally over time we will experience more and more agreement in our body/mind/spirit.

http://www.womentalksports.com/items/read/651/1269909

The knee is a hinge joint and thus only meant for extension (straightening the leg) and flexion (bending the knee). A hinge joint does not assist in lateral moment of the knee. We do not want our inner or outer knees to get flexible, and that is what happens when we move the knee joint medially (to the mid line) and laterally (away from the mid line.)Me and my sister both played a lot of soccer and so many friends have blown out there knees (ACL, MCL..)  In the picture on the left you can see that if the girl in the red kicks or moves the blue players knee to the right that lateral movement will most likely tear her ACL ligament.


One of the many cool things about asana practice is we can use our will power to align our bodies to move in optimal therapeutic ways and practicing these alignment principles over time will retrain the body to function. Harmony is different than instant gratification. Although I often feel a little better and less stressed after a yoga class. I think when we practice steadily over a long period of time with alignment and intention that we expeirence more harmony to our body/mind/heart. For example, taking one yoga class might not make your knees feel instantly better or if it does that feeling wont be permanent, however if you tend to laterally rotate your knees and you work strong Shins In Thighs Out in your practice to stabilize your knees, over time with this your knees will feel better more often and for a longer amount of time. Same goes if you hyper extend your knees letting them bow backwards past optimal extension. If you practice strong Muscular Energy especially in the back of the legs (I like to press into the ball of my foot like I'm pressing on the gas pedal this engages my calf muscles then I isometrically lift and curl my heel up towards my sit bones, the heel doesn't move but the back of my knee and hamstring engage). When the back of the leg is toned you learn to straighten the leg keeping the stability and over time this alignment will probably make your knees feel better more ofter and for longer amounts of time. Since the knees contribute to the positioning of feet, hips, and shoulders all these joints will either find more optimal alignment or less optimal alignment depending on the position of the knees. (this stuff fascinates me) 


Harmony
When tones, thoughts, or feelings, individually different, combine to form a consistent and pleasing whole, there is harmony. Harmony is deeper and more essential than agreement; we may have a
Synonyms: harmony, accord, concurrence, consistency, uniformity, accordance, conformity, consonance, union, agreement, congruity, symmetry, unison, amity, consent, unanimity, unity, concord
Antonyms: antagonism, contest, discord, hostility, schism, battle, controversy, disproportion, incongruity, separation, conflict, difference, dissension, inconsistency, variance, contention, disagreement, disunion, opposition, warfare

Finished Anusara Teacher Training-- My final project-- tears

I just finished Anusara Teacher Training with Adam Ballenger. Wow happy it is done. These past few weeks I felt very stressed and overwhelmed. I talked to a friend about how I put so much pressure on myself, she reminded me that teaching is a refining practice. That no one expects me to teach the perfect Anusara class, so I should give myself a break. Our final project for TT was to plan a 90 minute class, with a apex pose, a principle of emphasis (P.O.E), and a heart quality. It was a different experience for me. Normally I come up with the class planing the day of or day before I teach. Inspired by my own practice, something I have learned, an experience I had.. So it was different to be planning a class for two months.

At the beginning of the teacher training we talked about our strengths as a teacher. Adam encouraged us to teach from our strength another quality. For example some of my strengths are that I am fun, fiery, and playful. It is easier for me to teach these kinds of classes. Adam said it would be really powerful if I can learn to teach a more serious, or grounded kind of class from my strengths. Not that I would let go of my strengths I don't know if I could let go of my playful attitude if I tried. But Adams point was it would make me a more powerful teachers. I thought hard about this as I planned my final project.

I decided on kindness for my heat quality. Working from the personal to the universal, in the beginning of class I said that it takes effort for me to be kind to myself. that it is much easier for me to be self criticizing, judgemental and rude to myself. However in my experience when I put effort into being my friend rather then being my enemy my life feels lie it goes more smoothly, I am a happier person, and I interact with others in a more meaningful way. I game an example of looking in a mirror, saying "do you look at your reflection like an enemy or a best friend. I would never say some of the things I say to myself that I would say to my friend."

My principle of emphasis was shins in thighs out. The effort to be kind to yourself is shins in. The outer shin muscle tends to be a lot weaker then the inner shin muscles so we used our awareness and effort to engage what I was calling "our kindness muscle" which are really the peroneus longus and peroneus brevis muscles. (These muscles pull the foot outward when we spread our fourth and fitht toes.) The first poses I taught was all about getting the students to experience this action, of shins in.  After that was established I started to teach them how with the resistance of shins in they can broaden their thighs out. Just like we only get the expansion and self softening when we put effort in being to being kind to our self. When I am my worst enemy I experience a contraction and a hardening of myself, when I am kind to myself I experience a softening and an expansion.

In one of the many pages of notes I created thinking up this class I had written in big letters. HOME RUN! Where am I going to nail the link of kindness to S.I.T.O? Most of the class my link was emotional but I also wanted to make a literal link of the theme to the heart quality. Adam loves the literal links. My home run was: I pointed out that doing S.I.T.O is a very therapeutic and kind thing you can do for your knees, hips, and low back. (My critique in the end was to link it more, explaining why it is therapeutic. When you draw the shins in and widen the thighs you are aligning the knees in such a great way and you are training your body to be able to hold that alignment. This therapeutic alignment also creates space in the hips and low back that rarely gets the chance to move and often becomes fussed (non movement possible) with age).

The apex pose was parvrita ardha chandrasana chapasana. We moved through some Surya Namaskars while squeezing a block between the shins. Did some lunges. We moved to the wall to get our quads really open, Did splits up the wall and splits on the floor with the foot pushing into the baseboard. We got the hips, legs, shoulders way open.

I had planned planned planned (my main mistake thinking I could be perfect). As the final teacher training approached the more nervous I became. When it was my turn to teach I felt myself freeze up. I have been teaching yoga for five years and have built up some confidence as my role of the yoga teacher. But teaching to a group of teachers and teaching to my main teacher, Adam, was hard for me. As I taught I could feel part of myself go into auto pilot. One of my main auto pilot modes it teaching commentaries instead of actions:

•  arms circle out around and up vs. reach your arms out around and up
• hands frame the foot vs. place your hands so they frame your foot
• feet move back as you lower down chataranga vs. step your feet back, bend your elbows and lower down

After I taught the class and got feedback. I did good at: giving the students ways to measure if they were doing the action, clever sequence, fun attitude... Main things to refine were: linking the theme to the principle of emphasis, giving action commands instead of commentaries... Listening to the feedback was great. I love hearing what I am doing good and what I need to work on. While Adam was talking instead of saying "you talked about how it takes effort for you to be kind to you self" he was saying "you talked about how sometimes you are not kind to yourself". Its the same thing but hearing someone else say it that way was hard. It was a vulnerable topic for me to teach, and although I taught it to myself many times, and practiced with my husband. After I got the reviews I felt this wave of emotion hit me.

After the training I went home and sobbed my eyes out. I think this was a combination of things: how vulnerable my topic was, how much effort I put into it, and how I compare myself to others. After one of the other teacher trainees taught their class Adam got excited saying "wow you are so great. I could easily inspire you, Like inspiring you wouldn't be a problem. That was great" so I got it in my head that I really wanted Adam to say that to me. I also think the tears were just a result of a long journey coming to an end, I started the immersions with Adam 2 years ago and I have grown so much as a result of these training. It was a great experience. Adam is such an outstanding teaching I have learned so much from him and am excited to continue to learn from him.

I have all the requirements now to be inspired I just need a  Certified Teacher to sign off on my class. I was getting my confidence up to ask Adam. Now I think I will wait.