Laurie Blakeney was my teacher for the first asana class. Ironic, since I can take class in Ann Arbor with her any day of the week. Reality is I dont. So, it was good to learn from her again.
The session was standing poses and she started us with downward facing dog learning to roll the abdomen with a ball and socket motion in the hips instead of a hinge. This has been a theme of Lauries for the last couple of years, along with accessing the abdominal strength via the inner thighs.
We worked with the block between our thighs in supta tadasana as well as standing in tadasana to get this awareness and access the thigh muscles.
Her instructions to use the breath to make the shape of the pose INTERNALLY (rather than just the external body, the more physical body) was enlightening.
End of the day conclusion: I need to go back to studying with Laurie. I feel a huge disconnect between my legs and chest and, when the abdomen is accessed, there is a connections/integration that renders the effort effortless.