Class Seventeen
As we entered class we were advised by one of the other students to get the cushy mats because we were doing pranayama today.
Rajlaxmi started the class with the invocation, Adho Mukha Virasana and Adho Mukha Svanasana and while in theses first two poses, there was some fussing going on in the front of the room. When we came up, Geeta was seated in the front of the room and Abijata was also there and took over the mic from Rajlaxmi.
For most of the class Geeta was teaching, much of the instruction coming from her to Abi, who would deliver the instructions to us. And sometimes Abi would hold the mic in front of Geeta for her to instruct (and chastise us). It wasn’t exactly smooth or soothing. At one point I thought to myself “Does anyone know what is going on? Who is controlling the class?” It was sort of organized chaos, at some points Geeta teaching, Abi teaching, and Rajlaxmi and other teachers going around the room making adjustments.
The emphasis was opening the groin area, since, upon her observation of us in Adho Mukha Virasana, Geeta said our chests were open enough. So the action in most of the asana work was to take the legs apart (uttanasana, Sirsasana, Sarvangasana) and turn the thighs in and take the tailbone in so the lower abdominal could recede.
Here’s the sequence as I remember it:
Adho Mukha Virasana
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Uttanasana
Sirsasana (for what seemed like 15 minutes!)
Supta baddhakonasana flat on the floor, using two belts, one on each leg and a rolled up blanket to elevate the sacrum a bit
Salamba Sarvangasana
Halasana
Sit on the end of a bolster for pranayama
Savasana
Prone savasana
