Class Thirteen

Prashant continued his “exhale further and further” rap again today along with teaching from the back body. He encouraged us to bring awareness to the back and spine and specifically become aware of how the poses change when changing position or awareness. For example, sitting in swastikasana on the floor, how does the back feel? Sitting in swastikasana on a block, how does the back feel and what was the change? Same thing for doing the pose in the same way but changing the awareness from one spot of the body to another.

It was hard for me to focus on the words today. I woke groggy even though I slept well. During the backbends people were breathing heavily, grunting and groaning and Prashant made a joke…something like “There sounds like there is a lot of labor but no delivery” in the room. It was taxing for me today with sweat rolling from my neck down my cheeks in headstand. Although the temperature feels somewhat cooler I think it is more humid.

He was sharp again in getting us to move to different spots in the room. “Go quickly!!!” He lectured again on the components of electronic items which somehow related to yoga, he talked more about ones sense of “I” and how it may be different in the presence of a friend or in the presence of someone cunning. There was also something about teeth, wisdom teeth and wisdom that I didn’t catch. Still struggling with the speed in which he speaks and the accent. Where are the transcripts?! Maybe reading would be better!

Here’s what I remember of the sequence:

Three groups:

Rope wall doing rope bhujangasana

Window wall doing downward facing dog

Men on the mat sitting in swastikasana, first on the floor, then on a block, twisting

Utthita parsva padangustasana

Sirsasana or Dwi pada vipariti dandasana on a chair

Then, lots of choices from the list below (including Sirsasana and Dwi pada)

Rope wall, facing wall with low rope around waist, arching back while holding top ropes. Then rope purvottasana

Standing back arch

Ustrasana

Urdhva danurasana

Parsva danurasana

Purvottasana

Dwi pada on the floor

We cycled through these, making choices for ourselves, getting a chance to be on the rope wall in batches until everyone cycled through.

Bharadvajasana – floor or chair

Sarvangasana- floor or chair

Janusirsasana

Savasana

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