A refreshing coconut after class
We headed across the park for Women’s class starting at 9.30am quite early, as previous years have taught us you need to get there in good time if you don’t want to be squashed up at the back on a threadbare mat, struggling to hear over the sound of the traffic. I had a panic as I walked up the stairs as I could hear Abhijata already in full flow shouting instructions and was relieved to discover she was in the second studio teaching a local class.The hall didn’t really start to fill up until 10 minutes before class and it was all quite civilized compared to my last two visits. Every space taken mat to mat, but not overlapping or any real problem. Rajalaxmi took the invocation and I expected Geetaji would come and take her place once the class proper started, but in fact it was Abi there when we opened our eyes. The men are now allowed in the women’s class and they have to group together in a little enclave where she can observe them all together. I have to confess to the odd private smirk as she occasionally brought them into line “Do not go up yet, MEN come DOWN!!”
Her teaching was excellent – she gave no sign that she was fatigued from teaching two classes back to back and plenty of energy and humour. At one point when everyone was pushing their limits, groaning and snorting and generally making noises that I have only ever heard in two circumstances – women giving birth and the women’s class at RIMYI – she said gleefully “Welcome to Pune!”
It was a standing poses class and we worked on creating conscious movement – the consciousness had to spread to the skin so that the touch of the body had to be felt from the inside, the contents of the body to touch the skin (as opposed to when something touches your skin from the outside). Her demonstrations of this apparently hard to grasp idea, were explicit and obvious to the eye – you really could see very clearly how she transformed the pose. She taught us that, even when we know an action intellectually, we were not applying it consciously and the mind just goes to the obvious physical movement required to make the basic shape of the pose.
Each time I visit Pune I realise that the brilliance of the teaching here is less about teaching something new that you didn’t already know and more about getting you to actually do what you already know and think you are doing, but really at best you are making a half hearted stab at. This means that the yoga takes its full intended effect – you work much harder and the effects are much greater. We all know that we get out what we put in, but somehow a few months down the line we forget just how diligently we have to work (and teach) to reach this potential. “That’ll do” yoga produces “That’ll do” results. This effective instruction combined with excellent sequencing is a powerful combination. Complete sequence attached below.
After class we finally managed to complete our registration process which was a huge weight off my mind. We decided to skip practice session and go for a long meander around Pune in the general direction of the park and river. We waited for the heat of the day to subside a little and headed off around 5pm. Not exactly the peaceful stroll I had in mind – one of the most challenging aspects of being in Pune for me is crossing the roads when they are busy. There are no crossings – you have to hope to find a momentary lull and then just step out and walk confidently across maybe 10 lanes of weaving, beeping traffic. Attempting to get over the FC Road this evening we got across one carriageway and there we were in the centre (no central reservation or island) with just a huge swarm of beeping scooters, rickshaws and cars rushing towards us. I completely lost my nerve and was ready to have an absolute wobble, Jenny took my arm and said confidently (probably more confidently than she felt) “Just go they will stop” and somehow we made it across. I am definitely not doing that again! If it’s that busy I’ll get a rickshaw home …
Once in the park there was a large circle of women in saris (see pic above) one of whom came over to greet us and offer us a sweetmeat to eat. We made our way to the riverside, predictably rubbish strewn and grimy looking and there were water buffalo, flocks of what we think were egrets and four very large, long legged white horses lined up against the far wall – I actually thought they were a mural first of all, they seemed so incongruous in their surroundings.
We got fleeced by two snot nosed little boys begging for money holding their school books up and thought we’d better make a swift exit before we got mobbed. We made our way back through the university grounds and the outer edges of the slums, dusty and weary and ready for our dinner.
Kids eating dinner on the pavement.
3rd February – Women’s Class Sequence – Abijhata
Urdhva Hastasana to Uttanasana – what is the natural movement of the thighs? When you go down to utt they roll out (desired action) when you stand up and raise the arms they roll in (undesired action). So can you go down (even half way only) to utt and when you stand CONSCIOUSLY maintain the rolling of the inner thigh out. That is conscious action. Pelvic girdle lifted.
UH padasana – cut the outer edges of the feet down
Trikonasana – unconscious.
Trikonasana – Roll the top thigh so much back toward the back leg and lengthen the inner foot down. Maintain this consciously as you go down. Once down hit the inner knee of back leg OUT. Now was it different second time?
Adho Mukha Svanasana – several times – unconscious action first time
2nd time lift the heels to draw up front thighs and lengthen from arch to heel down
3rd time lift the heels to draw thighs upward and lengthen from arch to heel AND take front ankle backward
4th time lift the fingers and PUSH the heels of the hands AND draw up top thigh AND lengthen from the arch to heel backward AND push the front ankle back.
What is the result? whole leg is conscious; the contents of the leg fill up the back thigh. This is conscious action and we have to learn to be conscious in every part of the body simultaneously.
Parsvakonasana – 1st time unconscious 2nd time rolling inner knee to outer knee – even though we know this we tend to do mechanically and mind goes to the obvious action – taking hand down, lifting leg up etc. Parsvakonasana 3rd time roll inner knee to outer knee AND take hinge (achilles area) forward and shin backward. Transformed the front leg from lifeless to fully conscious and back leg like the dog pose leg still.
Ardha Chandrasana – unconscious – where does the mind go? to lifting the leg – why? lifting the leg will happen anyway! 2nd time hit the top shin, the top thigh, the top hip down and lifting the bottom shin up extend from the inner groin the inner heel away. Is this the same leg? 3rd time one final action to add to the others, extend from the top foot to the outer hip and complete that circular action – inner groin to inner heel extend away, top foot to outer hip extend inward. maintain the rotation at top of standing leg thigh, never mind if you fall over.
AMVrksasana 3 groups – waiting group did parsvottanasana
Vira 1 – first she got us to repeat the bent leg action from parsvak creating resistance by moving hinge of heel forward and hitting frontal shin backward, but found that we were not bending the knee so she changed tack. Arms extending downward palms closed one, two, three, four, five times down and final time taking buttock bone to the back thigh.
AMVirasana
AMVrksasana – First she got Raya to demonstrate. Your ribs are joints, so every separate rib you have to climb upward. Wrist joint down, every single other joint of the body upward. 3 times relaxing in the pose then recharging. In our 3 groups we watched each other for the transformation.
Sirsasana – Tadasana thighs – bringing the legs slightly forward and feet hip distance apart to get the spreading of the back thigh just like you had to bend slightly forward in the uttanasana to get the rolling of the thighs. Then inner ankle upward outer foot downward. Then entire inner leg from the groin to the inner heel upward. The legs were completely sealed together and shooting up to the ceiling. 8 minutes.
Chatushpadasana into bent leg setu bandha sarvangasana – pump 3 times the middle buttock up and the frontal shin back. When you are tiring and you need to come down give those last three pumps more BEFORE you come down. Repeated 2 or 3 times more and put hands into setu bandha on back chest.
No room to extend the legs so bent leg savasana
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