Blog
Weekly Sadana
Week of August 12, 2009
Asanas, particularly those that steal your peace, are great opportunities for practicing meditation. Notice if your breathing stops in an asana, and find a way to breathe in the pose – especially if it feels like a labyrinth with no windows or doors. By cultivating the capability to simultaneously breathe and concentrate in a challenging pose on the mat, we enable ourselves to maintain internal calm when facing the stressors of the of daily life. With breath there is greater vantage, so never compromise your breathing when under duress of any sort…in fact, breathe more deeply!
Dirga breathwork
Neck stretches
Leg stretch with strap
Supine spinal twist
Wind removing
Swift ½ moon flow with variations (8-10 minutes)
Downward dog
Lunge
Warrior 2
Side angle
Standing separate leg head to knee
Tripod
Tree
Cobra
Boat
Bow
Separate leg stretching
Bound angle pose
Extended Savasana
Week of August 19, 2009
Bikram talks about “killing yourself” often in his teaching and in the final seconds of asana this is the place to go. Kill the part of yourself that can’t stay in the posture, furrows the brow, clenches the jaw and holds the breath. Get rid of everything you know in the last seconds of a pose and let things you don’t expect start to happen. Unload your assumptions and allow more room for changes.
Nadi Shodhana
Child’s Pose
Cat and Cow
Thread the Needle
Pointer
Hip Circles
Down Dog
Child’s Pose
One Legged Dog
Uttanasana – Intense Stretch
Mountain
½ Moon Flow
Eagle Arms
Warrior 2
Side Angle with Bind
Tripod
Standing Forehead to Knee with Stretching
Savasana
Wind Removing
Spinal Twist
Leg Stretches with Strap
Bound Angle Pose
Final Savasana with Gayatri Mantra
Week of August 28, 2009
Apart from the pulling and hauling stands what I am,
Stands amused, complacent, compassionating, idle, unitary,
Looks down, is erect, bends an arm on an impalpable certain rest,
Looks at me with its sidecurved head, curious what will come next,
Both in and out of the game, watching and wondering at it.
-Walt Whitman, excerpt from “Song of Myself”
Supine dirga breath work and centering
Neck stretches
Leg stretches with strap
Cat and cow
Thread the needle, shoulder opening
Downward Dog
Intense stretch, holding elbows
Moon and sun salutations
Standing bow
Warrior 2
Hip circles
Goddess
Tripod
Standing forehead to knee with stretching
Tree
Savasana
Wind removing
Bridge
Supine spinal twist
Final savasana with visualization
Week of September 2, 2009
“Ambiguity has a destabilizing effect…very few have the courage or the strength to hold the tension between opposites until a completely new standpoint emerges. This is because in acknowledging contradictory truths, one has to create an inner equilibrium to keep from being torn in two”
Aldo Carotenuto
Supine centering
Tension and relaxation isometrics
Dirga breathwork
Hara stretches – diagonal
Neck stretches
Rock to sitting
Staff pose
Mountain pose
Down Dog
Child
One legged dog with hip opener
Warrior 2
Triangle
Side Angle
Tree
Reclined leg stretch with strap
Pigeon
Bound angle pose
Savasana
Week of Wednesday September 30th, 2009
Each yoga postures acts like a windshield wiper for the brain, taking off the debris of life that can accumulate and cloud the vision of our path. Sometimes, clarity is obtained with ease and welcomed; often it gets messy before it gets better.
3 part breathing on back
Supine spinal twist
Wind removing with leg lift
Rock to sitting
Kapalabhati breathwork
Hip walk
Butterfly
Crab lift
Hara punch
Tin soldier
Hip openers – side to side hips, hip press, rocket launcher.
Leg swings
Rock the baby
Squat
Leg extensions
½ Moon
Awkward 3 ways
Warrior 2
Separate leg stretching
Triangle
Standing head to knee
Tree
Savasana
Sacral massage
Leg stretching with strap
Final savasana