Thoughts Provoked On Breathing
Kneel, stretching R leg out to side, place R foot in line with L knee, turn the R foot sideways, leg straight. Inhale, opening arms out to the side, exhale as you move R arm down toward R leg. You can rest the hand on the shin, R ear rests on R shoulder, and L [...]
Read more Parighasana-Gate Pose
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Asana: Connect the dots through three well known poses and see if you can’t bring a new point of view to not only the same old structure, but the connections themselves. Try Child’s Pose, to Down Dog, to reverse Vira II. How did you use breath? Feet? Back? Belly? Attitude? Drishti/focus? Was there anything new [...]
Read more Linking Asanas
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From Down Dog, bend the elbows, pressing them inward until they line up under the shoulders, spread fingers wide, releasing energy. Keep back long, lifting tail bone, pressing heels down, breathe into the back, shoulder blades lengthen toward tail bone, head is between upper arms, not touching floor. Feel the joy of diving into secret [...]
Read more Dolphin & Dolphin Kick up to Pincha Mayurasana
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Asana: Goddess Pose. Standing with legs wide, feet open out, take a breath and as you exhale, descend, bending knees, open thighs back, keeping knees over feet. Drop tailbone down, lift belly up and stay in pose for 10 breaths. You can do Pranayama/breath work here, and form beautiful mudras within which to contemplate life. [...]
Read more Goddess Pose
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This is a pose easy for those with open hips. It’s a killer accomplishment for those without. It’s a simple pose of sitting and breathing your desire to become more hip-open, and it’s helpful if you can sit on padding. Sit tall, bringing L foot under R thigh, outside hip line. Stack R leg on [...]
Read more Agnistambhasana-Fire Log Pose
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Asana: Astavakrasana- Eight Crooks Pose, dedicated to the sage Astavakra. Begin with feet about 20 inches apart, knees bent, R hand on floor between feet and L hand on outside of L foot. Lift belly and bandhas to bring R leg over R arm, resting thigh on back of bicep, above elbow. Extend L leg [...]
Read more Astavakrasana-Eight Crooks Pose
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Kapinjalasana/Bird Drinking Raindrops Pose, or a mundane Partridge, one that lives on raindrops and dew. Nice. Iyengar writes that it is a cross between Vasisthanasana and Padangustha Dhanurasana, an extreme Bow Pose. Enter it from Vasisthanasana, with body turned sideways to R, balancing on outer edge of R foot and R hand. On exhale, bend [...]
Read more Kapinjalasana-Bird Drinking Raindrops Pose
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Asana Supta Virasana-Reclining Hero Pose. This is not a pose for the stiff kneed, bad back, or faint of heart. There’s a reason it’s named a hero. Begin on your knees, allowing hips to settle down between the feet. This is Virasana Pose. Keep knees as parallel and close to each other as you can, [...]
Read more Supta Virasana-Reclining Hero Pose
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Asana: Hamsasana/Swan-Another beautiful, impossibly difficult bird pose. The difference between last week’s Mayurasana/Peacock Pose, and this week’s Hamsasana lies only in the position of the hands. In the Swan, fingers face forward, toward the head, making this more difficult than the Peacock. begin on all fours, Bend elbows, with forearms as close together as possible, [...]
Read more Hamsasana-Swan Pose
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The third of the Vira’s, or Power Poses, steps out on the R foot, lifts L leg, arms and torso up and over until the entire line of the body is a flat table top, hips even, L leg rotated inward, foot flexed, and standing leg strong. Keep neck part of back and do not lift [...]
Read more Virabadhrasana III-Strong Warrior Pose
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From Tadasana-Step R leg bag as far as possible, turning R foot 45 degrees in, or tward L heel. Keep L foot facing directly front as you bend L knee, Open arms to sides, and direct gaze/Drishti toward L finger tips. Maintain L knee directlly over L ankle, and lift inner R thigh up as [...]
Read more Virabhadrasana II-Proud Warrior Pose
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Like all inversions, handstands are wonderful for happiness and confidence. Make sure arms and shoulders are strong enough to support you before attempting the pose. Move from Down Dog, placing fingertips 1-2 inches from the wall, and spread wide. Without moving hands, rotate upper arms out and up. Step into it on R, kick up with L leg, [...]
Read more Adho Mukha Vrksasana-Handstand Pose
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Lie on your stomach, if hip bones protrude, on a folded blanket, bend knees, bringing feet as close you can, reach back and grab the ankles. (If this is hard on your lower back, do one armed Bow, and support yourself by pressing down with other hand in front of chest.) Keep knees width of [...]
Read more Dhanurasana-Bow Pose
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There are many variations to the basic pose. The simplest version is to come onto all fours, hips over knees, shoulders over wrist. Lift L leg up and contracting the abs, bringing head down, pull L knee toward head. Another, more well known version is to extend L leg up and back behind, lifting chest [...]
Read more Vyaghrasana-Tiger Pose
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Come onto all fours, shoulders over wrists, hips over knees, and contract the belly, dropping the head and sacrum. You now look and feel like a stretching cat, hence the name. This pose is almost always done in conjunction with Bitilasana-Cow Pose. The Cat portion sucking belly in and up, the Cow portion dropping belly [...]
Read more Marjarasana-Cat Pose
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Asana: Mayurasana/Peacock. Not to be confused with Pincha Mayurasana/Tail feathers of the Peacock. This is a down and dirty pose, requiring as much trial, error and re-do as the Pincha Version. What is it about these graceful Birds that demand we grow tough and resilient through arms, legs and back? This Mayurasana begins on all [...]
Read more Mayurasana-Peacock Pose
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Begin seated and draw the R foot in as high on inner L thigh as possible. If R hip is unhappy with this, place a pillow or block under R knee. You can also sit on a blanket or pillow to lift sitts bones, offering more mobility. Inhale, extending spine up, exhale release forward from [...]
Read more Janu Sirsasana-Head to Knee Pose
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Like Cat-Cow on all fours, check that shoulders are over wrists, hips over knees, then walk hands out. Take a breath and on exhale, pull hips back toward the heels, toes turned under. Keep arms straight, extending fingers wide. Forehead to floor, neck long and relaxed, enjoy. Make puppy noises if you feel like laughing. [...]
Read more Uttana Shishosana-Extended Puppy Pose
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You can learn this pose in three stages, the last one looking like a tortoise with its limbs pulled in under its shell. It’s called Supta Kurmasana. Sit with legs extended, move them out beyond hip width, but not extended to sides. Bend knees, lifting them up, inhale, and on exhale extend torso forward, reaching [...]
Read more Kurmasana-Tortoise Pose
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The Sanskrit of this pose is easy to interpret. Pada is foot, hasta means hand. Ergo, this pose is accomplished by bending forward and standing on the hands. If your hamstrings don’t allow this kind of stretch, bend the knees, but do get entire hand, not just the fingers, underneath each foot. Toes tickle the [...]
Read more Padahastasana-Feet on Hands Pose
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