Awoke feeling fantastic after Raya’s strengthening class last night and thoroughly enjoyed my personal practice. I love the process of investigating the possibilities of a new environment – tomorrow we have ropes being delivered for the grille that surrounds our balcony. Part of my programme for Diabetes is a very straight pinca mayurasana and to do this I need to get hands under something, see pic.
Pinca Mayurasana
In the afternoon we made our way over to Dimpex – a small cottage industry offering all kinds of beautiful batik work – t shirts, pune pants, yoga mat bags etc. We placed our order for bits and pieces (Lynda and Carole I’ve ordered your stuff!) and then went and had a look at the workshop where everything is made.
Sewing yoga belts
Friday evening is Pranayama and of course we were all hoping for Geeta. As it was, we had a nice class with Rajalaxmi. She taught a very simple sequence (see below) – as the busiest class of the week, space is extremely limited and anything ambitious using props is out of the question. We topped and tailed to allow room for our hands in Supta Baddha Konasana, where we lay for 10 minutes releasing the days tensions and preparing mind, body and breath for the pranayama. We followed with seated pranayama with anta kumbhak. She used some lovely imagery, in her words:
“Have you seen just before sunrise how as the sun approaches the horizon there is a spreading of the rays there? This is how you must make the breath as it spreads along the bottom rib area like the rays of the sun spreading and illuminating. And then look inside the chest cavity and find out, are there dark areas where you are not reaching? use the breath to illuminate those areas”.
As we went deeper inside she gave “on the exhalation, just for a moment you have to touch your soul and this way we are rejuvenated. The asana practice alone will make you dry and we need the pranayama to keep us soft. Everything in life pulls us outward with the five senses of perception and pranayama is the only time you go inside and meet you meet you”.
Women’s class in the morning, wonder who we’ll get?
‘fast Food’ outside the modern shopping mall
‘Fast Food’ outside the modern shopping mall
Sequence:
Supta Baddha Konasana – bolster spinewise – normal breathing, releasing the tension from the face, preparing the breath.
Seated swastikasana – keeping the hands cupped on the fingertips behind, fingers pointing backward, thumbs forward. Eyes in eyeline closed and moving inward. Then hands holding the knees. Bottom ribs spreading . Extended inhalation, anta kumbhak, normal exhalation.
Savasana
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