Congratulations and thanks for my friends and fellow Anusara yoga instructors, Kathy Carroll and Ellen Saltonstall for publishing, Effects of Anusara Yoga on Older Students From Their Perspective (Topics in Geriatric Rehabilitation • Volume 27, Number 2, 94–103 • Copyright © 2011 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins). They are both great teachers and warm spirits. Check out one of their classes when you have a chance.
A big thanks, too, for the regulars at the William Penn House class who graciously allowed themselves to be photographed.
Grapes, kale, thai basil, and, hidden under the grapes, a few grape tomatoes.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Vinyasa krama — the art or essence of sequencing is meant to help us align in space and time, so that we experience being and practice in the most optimal way. Last time I was with John Friend, he gave as a homework assignment, writing down Anusara sequencing principles. What I found wonderful about thinking this through, was it was not just about how to sequence a practice to reach a particular apex pose (though that is an important aspect of designing a class or practice). Here’s the list I came up with (not in any particular order and I am sure I’ve left some out):
First principle (open to grace always comes first)
Attitude, alignment, action
Open to grace, muscular energy, inner spiral, outer spiral, organic energy
Set the foundation of the pose first (for teaching and observing this also applies to looking to the foundation first)
Breath leads the way
Stabilize the periphery, move from the core
Root to rise
Major principles before applying refinements (i.e., open to grace, ME, IS, OS, OE before loops)
Sensitivity, stability, adjustment (for hands on/therapeutic adjustments)
Curvature before length (spinal alignment)
Shins in, thighs out
Initiate actions from the back body
I could blog about these for weeks and how, although they are simply articulated physical alignment principles, they would apply to actions off of the mat.
Lucretia Mott (at Manhassett Friends Meeting)
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
I wish you all a day in which you recognize and celebrate inner and outer abundance. Show your body how grateful you are for taking you around in this life-time with a few minutes of self massage (and share with your friends and family).
First, take care of your feet–those of you who are regulars know the routine (sorry no pictures). Then, with reverence and gratitude for the practices, the earth for supporting you, and what and who brought you to the mat, come into balasana (child’s pose).
In balasana — you can also do this sitting in a chair at a desk or table; just put your head down the way you did in elementary school — leaving your elbows and forehead resting on the floor or table, bend your elbows so that you can massage your upper back, neck, and head without having to use the muscles you are massaging to massage them.
Try squeezing the back of your neck.
Or finding some spots that would benefit from giving gentle pressure and motion.
Massaging the scalp usually feels good.
When you are done with the self-massage in child’s pose, come up to vertical to sit on your heels. Then dig your fingers into your hair or the scalp and squeeze. This will help get energy flowing and brighten your day. (Be careful: doing this too frequently might give you big hair.)
