Posts Tagged ‘Iyengar’
Saturday, November 6th, 2010
Anantasana (Sleeping Vishnu Pose or Side-Lying Leg Lift) registers as 9* on Iyengar’s 60* scale of difficulty.
Ananta is one of Vishnu’s names and is also the name of the serpent on which he sleeps, Sesa. In Light on Yoga, BKS Iyengar says of Anantasana, “According to Hindu mythology, Vishnu sleeps in the primeval ocean on his couch Sesa, the thousand-headed serpent. in his sleep a lotus grows from his navel. In that lotus is born the Creator Brahma, who fashions the world. After the creation, Vishnu awakens to reign in the highest heaven, Vaikuntha.”
Practicing this yoga pose is like sleeping on a serpent. While the asana appears to be a relaxing, lounging pose, balancing in Anantasana is actually quite difficult. With such a narrow part of your body resting on the floor, you often begin rolling forward or backward, as if riding on the back of a slithering snake. Rooting down firmly through your forearm and your grounded leg proves essential to maintain your balance in this yoga pose.
Think of the effort and attention you bring to this balancing pose as a meditation on calm and stability in the midst of change. How can you be like Vishnu, riding peacefully on the waves of ever-constant change? Perhaps, from the depths of your attentiveness, a sense of serenity will bloom, like a lotus, from within you.
Tags: Anantasana, asana, core yoga poses, Iyengar, Light on Yoga, Vishnu, yoga
Posted in Anantasana | No Comments »
Friday, October 29th, 2010
Supta Padangusthasana (Supine Foot to Head Pose) registers as 13* on Iyengar’s 60* scale of difficulty.
Often, we get so caught up in achieving a perceived “goal” within an asana that we lose sight of the other aspects of the pose. We so desperately want to touch our toes in Paschimottanasana that we’ll round our upper backs to get there. In Urdhva Prasarita Ekapadasana we’re so fixated on reaching our extended leg to the sky that we lose a stable and squared off alignment in our hips.
In Supta Padangusthasana, we often focus so much on grabbing our big toe with our hand or reaching our upward leg as close to our head as possible that we lose sight of the grounded leg’s alignment. As you move your upward leg towards your torso, notice the tendency of your grounded leg to rise away from the earth. The grounded leg lifts to compensate for tightness in the extended leg’s hamstring. So, while you may be congratulating yourself on achieving some perceived goal of reaching your leg closer to your head, you’re reducing the efficacy of the asana.
Iyengar beautifully demonstrates Supta Padangusthasana with his leg touching his head and his grounded leg rooted into the ground. Notice how in my version of this pose, my bottom leg rises away from the earth, especially at the back of my thigh.
For now, I prefer to explore Supta Padangusthasana in it’s more preparatory stage, reaching my hand around my big toe and yearning my shoulder down toward the mat. Even then I must continue to reach my grounded leg back down to the earth. When you reach for your big toe, if your bottom leg lifts off the ground, situate a strap around the ball of your extended leg’s foot and hold onto the strap instead.
Rather than viewing pieces of a pose with a goal-oriented mindset, look at the pose from all angles. Viewing the asanas as the sum of all their parts invites a more holistic approach to the practice.
Tags: alignment, asana, Iyengar, Light on Yoga, Supta Padangusthasana, yoga
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, October 27th, 2010
Iyengar registers Chakrasana (Wheel Pose) as 4* on the 60* scale of difficulty. A 4* asana may seem like one you can jump right into, but handle Chakrasana with great care.
Personally, I can’t or won’t do this pose. I’m not sure which. The pose requires you to begin in a variation of Halasana with your hands planted on the ground, then gently roll your shoulders off the mat and roll onto your head. Yikes! The minute I read these instructions my cervical spine (the area of my spine where my neck is) was on red alert.
I find the risk of injuring or compromising my cervical spine in this pose to be too great to attempt the asana in its entirety. Iyengar, no doubt, performs the asana with ease, but as a far less skilled practitioner, I don’t feel comfortable exploring a pose that puts so much direct pressure on such a delicate part of my spine. For me, the initial preparatory stage of the pose meets my edge.
Moral of the story: Honor your edge and respect your neck. You only get one cervical spine. Make sure you handle it with care.
Which poses do you believe should be approached with the utmost care and caution? How do you honor your edge within your practice?
Tags: alignment, asana, cervical spine, Chakrasana, Iyengar, Light on Yoga, neck, yoga
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Sunday, October 24th, 2010
Jathara Parivartanasana (Revolved Abdomen Pose) registers as 5* on Iyengar’s 60* scale of difficulty.
Iyengar notes, “In the initial stages the right shoulder will be lifted off the floor. To prevent this ask a friend to press it down, or catch hold of a heavy piece of furniture with the right hand.” This is the first time throughout Light on Yoga that Iyengar suggests partner exercises as a useful way of deepening the experience of an asana.
Many people loathe partner work in a yoga class. I used to be one of them. Whenever a teacher would ask us to partner up, a sense of trepidation and irritation would arise in my mind. “Why do I have to have a partner? I came to yoga to be alone and do my own thing. Can I even trust this person?”
With time and with the help of great teachers who offered truly enlightening partner exercises in class, I began to see the benefits of this aspect of practice. Working with a partner enhances our knowledge of body mechanics within an asana, invites us to expand our practice off our solitary mats, and fosters trust and receptivity. When we collaborate with thoughtful partners in yoga class, we tap into a sense of community and shared passion for a practice that too often seems characterized by isolation.
If you’re interested in the more playful side of partner work, check out this fun series of partner exercises on Yoga Journal.
For teachers, read this great article in Yoga Journal about ways in which to safely introduce partner exercises into your classes.
How do you feel about partner work? Love it? Loathe it? Share your thoughts.
Tags: asana, Iyengar, Jathara Parivartanasana, Light on Yoga, partner yoga, yoga
Posted in Asanas, Jathara Parivartanasana | 4 Comments »
Thursday, October 14th, 2010
Parsva Pindasana in Sarvangasana (Side Embryo in Shoulderstand) registers as 8* on Iyengar’s 60* scale of difficulty. The pose bears similarities to Pindasana in Sarvangasana and Parsva Halasana in Sarvangasana.
Iyengar provides no explanation after each Shoulderstand in Light on Yoga about the benefits of each variation. His lack of commentary has puzzled me for weeks. After the final Shoulderstand variation, though, Iyengar provides an explanation of why the practitioner should consider all of the variations previously outlined: ”The spine is given the forward, lateral and backward movements in these variations of Sarvangasana… These movements tone the spine on all sides and keep it healthy.”
To fully illustrate the importance of maintaining a healthy spine, Iyengar relates the following story. In the first age of the universe, the Kriya Age, invincible giants and demons (Danavas)Â roamed the earth under the leadership of Vrtra and drove out the gods (the Devas). The gods knew they must destroy Vrtra in order to regain their power. Vishnu advised them to find the bones of a sage named Dadhicha from which they would fashion a fierce weapon. The gods pleaded with the sage to renounce his body for the benefit of the world and Dadhicha complied. A thunderbolt was created out of his spine. Indra hurled the thunderbolt at Vrtra, killing him and restoring peace to the land.
Iyengar explains the symbolism of the story beautifully. “The Danavas represent the tamasic qualities in men and diseases. The Devas represent health, harmony and peace. To destroy the tamasic qualities and the diseases due to them and to enjoy health and happiness, we have to make our spines strong as a thunderbolt like the spine of Dadhicha. Then we shall enjoy health, harmony and happiness in abundance.”
The next time you approach Shoulderstand with a sense of bored complacency, rekindle the memory of this story. Cultivate the strength of your spine to combat disease and welcome health in.
Tags: asana, Iyengar, Light on Yoga, Parsva Halasana in Sarvangasana, Parsva Pindasana in Sarvangasana, Pindasana in Sarvangasana
Posted in Asanas, Parsva Pindasana in Sarvangasana | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 13th, 2010
Pindasana in Sarvangasana (Embryo in Shoulderstand) registers as 5* on Iyengar’s 60* scale of difficulty.
Pindasana in Sarvangasana shares many similarities to Pindasana in Sirsasana. Pindasana in Sirsasana requires a great deal more balance than Pindasana in Sarvangasana. If you struggle with balancing in Pindasana in Sirsasana, consider trying Pindasana in Sarvangasana first. You’ll still experience the softening in your hip crease and the downward movement of your knees, and the Shoulderstand variation will exercise your spine.
Tags: asana, Iyengar, Light on Yoga, Pindasana in Sarvangasana, Pindasana in Sirsasana
Posted in Pindasana in Sarvangasana | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, October 5th, 2010
Uttana Padma Mayurasana (Intense Stretched Lotus Peacock Pose) registers as 25* on the scale of difficulty. If this is 25*, I tremble to think of what a 40* pose looks like.
Coming into Uttana Padma Mayurasana requires more lower back strength than I possess today. Like Parsva Urdhva Padmasana in Sarvangasana, the asana also places a lot of weight and pressure on your wrists and hands. Furthermore, any backbending pose that includes Padmasana legs provides a very intense stretch in your hips. Iyengar provides no information on the difficulties of the pose or the ways in which to explore the pose with greater ease. But, you don’t need a words from advice from Iyengar to know that you must approach Uttana Padma Mayurasana with tremendous care and respect for the difficulty of the asana.
As I move into the second half of poses in Light on Yoga, I know I will encounter more and more asanas that prove inaccessible to me at this point in my practice. Thankfully, “accomplishing” every pose is not the point of this exercise. My intentions when I began this project were twofold: to enrich and expand my personal practice with new knowledge of familiar and more exotic poses, and to share with others a candid view of my yoga practice. My intentions remain unchanged.
So often yoga practitioners (and yoga teachers, perhaps even more so!) only share their physical triumphs on the mat and shy away from highlighting their psychological, emotional and physical struggles. But, I gain the most inspiration and insight from practitioners and teachers who reveal their practice more completely, candidly discussing not only their joys, but also the points in which they feel frustration, impatience, or defeat. Those practitioners remind me that we are all moving along our paths, one step at a time, and for each of us, unique challenges await. When we share all aspects of our journey with others, we truly evolve as practitioners. We develop greater faith in our sangha (community); we deepen our relationships to others; we live more authentically. The “achievement” of a 25* or 60* pose pales in comparison to the expression of that level of candor.
Tags: asana, candor, Iyengar, Light on Yoga, Uttana Padma Mayurasana, yoga
Posted in Uttana Padma Mayurasana | 2 Comments »
Monday, October 4th, 2010
Parsva Urdhva Padmasana in Sarvangasana (Side Upward Lotus in Shoulderstand) registers as 7* on Iyengar’s 60* scale of difficulty.
Parsva Urdhva Padmasana in Sarvangasana increases the stretch felt in Urdhva Padmasana in Sarvangasana. Iyengar’s version of this pose appears far more dramatic than mine since he is able to draw his hips parallel to the floor and off to the side. When I attempt to draw my legs closer to the floor on my left side, extreme tension develops in my left wrist and I back off. This asana puts a great deal of pressure and weight in the wrist joint.
Many of the asanas – Chaturanga Dandasana, Bakasana (Crow), and Adho Mukha Vrksasana (Handstand) to name a few – tend to put weight and pressure into the wrists. In these poses, you can reduce pressure on your wrists by making your fingers more active, pressing each fingertip into the earth as if it were pressing on a tiny button with all its might. But, in Parsva Urdhva Padmasana in Sarvangasana, your fingers are pressing into your lower back and therefore feel less grounded. Nevertheless, continue to press your fingertips into your lower back as much as you press your wrists into your back. This slight adjustment may relieve a bit of wrist pressure in the pose. And, of course, if it doesn’t, it’s time to back off from the asana. No matter how graceful someone else’s pose looks, listening to and honoring the cues of your body is the most powerful expression of grace on your mat.
Tags: aligment, asana, Iyengar, Light on Yoga, Parsva Urdhva Padmasana in Sarvangasana, yoga
Posted in Parsva Urdhva Padmasana in Sarvangasana | 1 Comment »
Saturday, September 18th, 2010
Urdhva Padmasana in Sarvangasana (Upward Lotus in Shoulderstand) registers as 4* on the scale of difficulty.
I can’t think of a more appropriate pose to mark the halfway point in my project to attempt all poses in BKS Iyengar’s Light on Yoga. Urdhva Padmasana in Sarvangasana not only combines the learnings of a great number of poses covered thus far in the project (Padmasana, Salamba Sarvangasana I, and Urdhva Padmasana in Sirsasana, to name a few); it also carries with it the symbolism of the lotus – so relevant to the midpoint in this journey.
As I mentioned in my post on Urdhva Padmasana in Sirsasana, our greatest experiences on our mats bloom from the mud of the challenges we face in our practice. Like a lotus rising from murky waters, we flourish when fed by experiences that put us to the test – mentally, physically, or emotionally.
The countless challenges of this project have tested and strengthened me as a teacher, a student, and a person. Poses I find difficult or near impossible help me learn to leave my ego off the mat. The daunting task of writing about 200 poses teaches me the value of diligence and patience. Examining asanas I once considered mundane sheds fresh, new light on familiar poses. Each day that I open up Light on Yoga and begin exploring the next pose, I learn something about myself and my practice.
The project is only halfway complete and some of the most physically challenging poses await. No doubt, I will find myself frustrated, unmotivated, irritated, and exhausted at various points along the way. But, the journey thus far has taught me that each of those moments of darkness, doubt and despair will bear fruit in the end. Sometimes, the sweetest moments in life are born from struggle.
Tags: asana, ego, Iyengar, Light on Yoga, Padmasana, patience, Salamba Sarvangasana I, Urdhva Padamasana in Sarvangasana, Urdhva Padmasana in Sirsasana, yoga
Posted in Asanas, Padmasana, Salamba Sarvangasana I, Urdhva Padmasana in Sarvangasana | 3 Comments »
