A kind look
A kind look , originally uploaded by yogajournalca . Mr. Iyengar at the Yoga Journal Conference in Colorado.
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At class on Monday, Ruth talked again about the Yoga Journal Conference that she attended a couple weeks ago. It must have been pretty darn powerful. What made it so was the appearance by BKS Iyengar . He's 86 years old and this will almost certainly be his last trip to the US . His tour coincides with the publication of his latest book, Light on Life . He taught at the YJ conference, then made appearances in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Boston. He'll wrap up with appearances in Washington DC and New York. Both of them are sold out. I'm a bit disappointed that he didn't have a midwest stop, say Chicago or St. Louis. It would have been hard to resist the opportunity to see him live. At the conference in Colorado, Mr. Iyengar taught for 3 days. Ruth describes it as a life changing event. I don't doubt it. To work with the man who many credit with popularizing yoga in the west would be a tremendous opportunity. This is not the first time that Ruth has worked with...
Tonight Ruth had us do more twists. These were all open twists, which lead to an open and expansive chest. She emphasized again that we're not twisting our spines. Rather we're using our stomach muscles to pull ourselves around the spine. The great thing about twists is that I leave feeling refreshed, energized, yet relaxed. I always enjoy these postures. Here are the asanas we did tonight: Upavistha Konasa Parsva Upavistha Konasa Parsva Mukhottanasana - This is what Ruth called the pose but it's not in Light on Yoga and I couldn't find it on the web. The pose is done lying flat, with knees bent, rolling from side to side Jathara Parivartanasana - We did first on mats in the center of the room. The we went to the wall and rolled our feet to the wall, keeping hips on the floor. Then we did it at the wall with a partner who was there to make sure our hips were working. Rope work - We did some work on ropes to twist while hanging. Pasasana - The work was to keep our spin...
In yoga class tonight, Ruth started a series of classes focusing on twists. We haven't done any in-depth study of twists yet. This year we've studied back bends, inversions, forward bends, and standing poses. In addition, we've looked at mudras and vayus. Ruth said the important thing to remember about twists is that it is not the spine that twists. Rather we are looking for the the movement of muscles, ribs, and organs around the spine. That is what produces the action we seek and gives us the benefit. Tonight's poses included: Baddha Konasana Upavistha Konasa Marichyasana I Jathara Parivartanasana (This is a hard pose to do correctly. It is very easy to move the hips off to the side, thereby avoiding the stretch.) Rope work to practice Jathara Parivartanasana Utthita Trikonasana Parsvakonasana (Also at the wall, with the overhead hand pressing into the wall to help get more of a torso twist. Very challenging.) Ardha Chandrasana Parivrtta Trikonasana Rope work to work ...