Christina Sell on "Being the Change"

This is an amazing teaching Christina shares on her blog today. In fact, in the last week her blog has been chock full of profound insights on the yogic path. Click on the post title above to check it out... enjoy!

Tamara

Living Tantra | (Part 1)

Living Tantra | (Part 1)

I found this article very interesting.


Check it out if you have the inclination.
(click on name of article above)

Onward and Upward!

Brittany

11/15 Sunday Practice Sequence

Thanks Tamara for getting those notes up so quickly!

Here is the sequence of poses we did as best I remember:

Free-form Warm-up (Surya Namaskar)

Parsvakonasana

Virabhadrasana I w/ arms in cactus

Trikonasana - into slight backbend if wanted

Virabhadrasana II

Utkatasana

Dolphin

Anjanyasana w/ backleg bent toward buttocks, opposite hand reaches behind to hold foot. Then add twist toward front knee.

Lunge w/ torso extended low between legs (or, beside front leg)

Eka Pada Rajakapotasana I Prep

Fire Log

Standing Baby-Cradle+ Eka Pada Utkatasana - (lifted leg over standing leg thigh)

Bhujangasana

Salabhasana (your choice of legs elevated or torso elevated)

Dhanurasana

Setu Bhanda Sarvangasana

Urdhva Dhanurasana

Eka Pada Dhanurasana - opposite arm and leg

Pincha Mayurasana -- single and with Partners

Upavistha Konasana

Parsva Upavistha Konasana

Paschimottanasana

Supta Padangusthasana - leg vertical / out to side / and leg across body

Windshield Wipers

Baddha Konasana

Savasana

*** Tim, if you feel the urge to post it would be great to hear more from you about the muscle engagement we were working with in Pincha Mayurasana. Annie had some great diagrams of the muscle groups at work when fully engaged.

11/15 Sunday Practice

Shyla wisely requested a summary of our Sunday group practice for the benefit of those who could not make it, so here is a brief overview. Our practice was amazing, as usual! We worked mindfully toward Pincha Mayurasana. Our sequence flowed really well I thought... probably because we were all pondering the apex pose over the course of the last couple of weeks and coming up with preparatory poses in advance. I really think that we are getting very skilled in the round robin format! I believe that Brittany wrote down our sequence as we went along, so maybe she could put that up on the blog? Our UPA of focus was Muscular Energy with attention paid to Shoulder Loop. We did some great standing poses, hip openers and backbends. When it was time to work on Pincha Mayurasana, Annie shared with us a GREAT assist for 2-3 partners working on the pose together.... once the person going into the pose has set their foundation, one or two partners place a foot on each of their wrists, putting more pressure on the inside of the wrist. I found this assist to be incredibly supportive and I can't wait to have the opportunity to work with it again... thank you Annie! Later on, Tim shared some wonderful tips he learned from Karen on Shoulder Loop and the engagement of all the muscles around the shoulder blades... which brought up some great conversation and peaked everyone's interest in learning more about the anatomy of the shoulders and how we can better engage that part of the body in poses that require an integrated melting of the heart (every pose?). There is such incredible value in our meetings and once again, I am reminded of how very fortunate we are to have this kula. Many thanks to you all for your commitment and studentship... it is endlessly inspiring!

Shanti,

Tamara
ॐ

Muscular Energy- One Another as the Banks of this River called Kula

Greetings All,

Things have been a-brewing since our discussion Monday night. It was quite vibrant and I am so thankful for the offerings of revelation that Amy and Shyla brought to share with the kula. It reminded me of Prasad (sweet offering), and how we are turning ourselves into this sweet offering to the divine through the transformational power of Yoga.

I wanted to share with you all some things that have come out of that discussion and my work in practice since. I was a little awash in all the multitude of gems that came from the discussion Monday night. Then I realized that our striving for structure was like Muscular Energy trying to manifest within the group. Deciding upon our course of study is like setting the container in which the expansion may occur-- just like Asana: First we Opened to Grace / Set a Strong Foundation. Then we are feeling this pull to put some parameters, hug into this expansion, maintain the riverbanks.

So, I would like to propose Muscular Energy as a theme for our practice on the upcoming asana study. Of course this will go along with Organic Energy for balance and the other three UPA's. I have noticed some things in my practice, though. Working with Pincha Mayurasana, I have been feeling this great coming-together of all the Principles in sequence. Taking the time to open first has been a great catalyst for each of the Principles of Alignment to initiate into the next. It's like the River knows where it wants to go, I just have to find the headwaters. I have also noticed that, after this opening and then anchoring the foundation, the themes from the workshop with John Friend are welling up to the surface. Specifically, Melting the Heart is really at the forefront when working with going up into Pincha Mayurasana. This Melting the Heart, in conjunction with the established openness, has allowed me to gather my shoulder blades in to support my core much more than ever before (I deal with a flat thoracic vertebrae - so this is BIG). So, I went back to study the Immersion Manual a bit. Guess What! Page 37, under "General Principles for Classes of Poses" I found Inversions and Hand-Balances. They list, *Establish Good Foundation, Melt the Heart, Muscular Energy, Shoulder Loop, and Hugging the Midline to be among the key alignment focuses! So, I am suggesting that Muscular Energy, and specifically Melting the Heart (a form of passive muscular energy), be a major focus of our work next week. Input please! Yes? No?

If this does sound like a good plan, I would suggest that we all look over page 37 and then page 28 (re: muscular energy) of the Immersion Manual. This way, we can all feel a little more "accountable" for our work we are doing together. I know some of us expressed confusion about what we should do in the time between meeting. This way, we can have a jumping off point.

I will email this post out to everyone for some input. Please be open and generative with your responses. I truly want to know what you think. Have you been working along the same lines? Is this stirring up juicy tidbits of insight for you? Are you onto some completely different "scent" of this slippery trail of Yoga?



-Brittany

Darren Rhodes on Concealment and Revelation

A few disconnected thoughts...

Thank you, Amy, for the ideas and for offering to share Douglas' lecture with us. I am very interested in listening to it. I was able to download part of one of his lectures from YogaGlo.com and it was amazing! One of those inspiring, entertaining AND educational teachings that I could listen to again and again and get more out of it every time.

I would love to get together with anyone who is interested at or after the Saturday morning West-Y class. Jenny Lewis teaches a fast-paced vinyasa-style class with some Anusara undertones. She is a big fan of Anusara and has many years of workshop study with John Friend, Amy Ippoliti and Sianna Sherman. If we wanted to meet afterwards, there are a couple of Starbucks nearby, or there is Rembrandt's in Eagle.

I wanted to mention a couple of upcoming events... I am so excited to attend Kendra's class at Muse this coming Tuesday. Leraine, the musician who will be performing during the class is absolutely inspired and I will never forget my experience in Savasana while she played the didgeridoo in Park City. On another note, I am committed to attending Christina Sell's workshop in Driggs on February 26-28, in case anyone is interested in making a trip of it. Also, I have already applied for John's workshop in Park City on August 28-29 (I just couldn't help myself!) and I know that Crystal at the West-Y is already working to get a BIG group together to go. Interestingly, John is teaching a Level III Immersion in Park City the week before the workshop. I doubt that I will be able to swing that, but maybe some of you would be able to... it would be amazing for sure!!

I was thinking about our next group practice coming up on November 15 (which reminds me, this is the same weekend as Amy Ippoliti's workshop). Anyway, should we post which poses we each have in mind in preparation for our foray into Pincha Mayurasana/Scorpion? Or should we just arrive to the practice and see what ensues?

My apologies for the rambling nature of this post... so many things on my mind!!

Namaste,

Tamara
ॐ

more More MORE!

Dear Kula!
I'm still feeling the shakti resonating from our last meeting and the excitment of the last weekends adventure is still bubbling up with new discoveries and a deeper respect for our study and our practice! A few of us had talked about meeting more. I though I would throw out an idea and see what you all think. Tamara attends the Saturday morning class at the west YMCA at 8:30 I believe. Maybe an idea would be to meet for class (I have plenty of guest passes if you don't have a membership) and or after class. The last few days I've been really focusing energy on the seeds of practice, studentship, and growth. Like Annie so poetically said after our last immersion, a single seed can still grow up from a rock. Well my lovely Kula, we are the rock! Next gathering I will also come bearing a gift that I thought might help inspire more tantra based conversation. Douglas Brooks Clothed in Consciousness lecture. it's 4 discs of about an hour each. They are thick with philosophy and may be a great spring board for discussion. *this may also help in pulling together more structure. Let me know thoughts on this as well, even if we don't necessarily want to incorporate this into our study the lecture is absolutely fantastic.
LOVE LIGHT LOVE! Shanti Shanti Shanti!
Amy