My ear is tuning in more and more to Prashant’s accent, which fit one of his themes today. He kept asking “how far have you come?” Encouraging us to not focus on the future or how far we have to go but to be here and use our senses and perception like the instrument panel of a car to tell us how far we have come. So, I have come at least far enough to get one of his points.
He talked about the definition of the word settle/settlement/settle in. Rufuges in a settlement have a different sense of how you might feel settled in at you own home. Likewise, feeling settled in a pose is more about total absorption, all the senses and perception, body, mind and especially breath.
He continues on the theme of longer and longer exhalations, “exhale from the back of the head, from the shoulder blades, from the sacrum”. I just try and understand the words as I hold the pose.
He talked about sequencing and the Iyengar yoga rules of sequencing and stressed that the “how” and especially the “why” should be considered when sequencing. Today he was sequencing partly for “a different launching point for Trikonasana.” He has us do trikonasana as one of the very first poses, sense how it felt and then we did a bunch of other poses and repeated trikonasana (and repeated trikonasana).
Again, the sequence is not that important and, as has to be done in a class of 80 people, different groups are doing different poses. It went something like this.
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Trikonasana
Sirsasana (for a long time) then parsva Sirsasana, then eka pada while another group of people did rope Sirsasana.
Rope Sirsasana
Upa vista konasana, twisting
Maybe bharadvajasana-I was hanging and wasn’t paying attention to what the group on the mat was doing.
Trikonasana hanging on to the rope with the top arm or on the mat. Switch groups.
Block setubandha
Bharadvajasana
Supta padangustasana I with the belt.
Both legs up, feet in the belt
Savasana
