Autumn Lotus Yoga

My friend at Schmetterling Times is looking for yin guidance.  I am quite unqualified to help.  

(EDIT: Specifically, she’s looking for advice on good DVDs.  She can afford one & Amazon has many…  Thank you!!)

Have watched Paul Grilley’s instructional/anatomy DVD & done his Yin practice but unless I’m coming off a long hot session, yin is freaky torture for me.  Literally, physically, pretty agonizing.  And not in a fun, happy Forrest way.    Have started really enjoying the mellower gentle flow classes, & Lynne does some Yin each Saturday morning, but especially with tweaky back, tetchy knees, & improbably difficulties with all Hero-related poses unless well warmed up… okay, I’ll stop beating the horse.  Anyone else able to help out?

http://schmetterlingyoga.blogspot.com/2009/12/yin-yum.html

In practice news, had two LOVELY classes at Back Bay today.  Took Nicoline’s Vinyasa which was a Hanumanasana (splits) class & really set up well to open up hamstrings & hip flexors.  Nicoline has inspired me enough to Netflix another Shiva Rea DVD to take on Christmas break (more on that soon — you’ll never guess where we’re going!!    Then did Kate Greer’s noon class which was a pretty varied flow including headstand, tripod, splits again & even some uddiyana in horse.  Kate also does some chanting — we did a Ganesha round together at the beginning & she closed singing it again alone.  Plus, she wore cute little Princess Leia buns & a headscarf and 4 (count ‘em, FOUR) of BBY’s teachers (including yours truly) were in the class.   Super fun day!

This morning’s class at Back Bay was quite mellow (for me .  I figure during the weeks going into the holidays, people’s lives are rough enough & there’s no need for buttkicking in yoga.    Focused on neck, hips, shoulders — it’s a classic Forrest physical focus, as is picking a specific spot to work on during class. 

The non-Forrestisms include the rolling bridge (Pilates based move there), abs with a block between the feet (that’s also a Pilates  move, specifically a variation on Double Straight Leg), hips circling in cat/cow/Down Dog, stepping back from a twisting chair into a twisting lunge, oh and the externally rotated lounge lunge especially with the back knee coming in.

Folding over a roll in child’s pose & a forward bend, using a block for the elbow to knee variation as well as the use of the strap for birdwing are my own devices, but I think are quite within the Forrest paradigm.   Pigeon with the back knee in while forward folding is quite Forrest & fab, btw.

Theme: Pick an area that is tense or shutdown & needs to release & open

Technique: Relaxed neck, use of roll, uddiyana

Props: Strap, block, roll, blanket

Crosslegged — set theme; Pranayama – Nadhi Shodhana

Kneepile: Shoulder shrugs; birdwing with a strap; side bend with neck release

Abs: Elbow to knee, feet down first then with knees over hips.  For the second variation, hold block with thighs & do Elbow to knee variation with opposite leg straightening to ceiling (in order to start opening hamstring & easier on back)

Rolling bridge

Abs 2: Hold block at ankles, leg straight to ceiling (ish).  Lower legs a few inches (low back presses on mat) then lift SLOWLY to a count of 5 or so

Held bridge, with block support as needed.  Add leg extension each side.

Cat/Cow/ribcage & hip circles

Child’s pose over a roll

Down Dog with leg up: ankle, then hip circles

Rag doll over a roll

Classical Suns — slowly, blanket down to protect knees.  Go from boat, to low cobra, to cobra.  3 together, 2 on own.

Horse stance with uddiyana/Wide leg forward bend, hands clasped/Horse stance with agni sara/Wide leg forward bend with neck traction

Chair to twisting chair to forward bend, each side

Twisting chair; step back to twisting lunge; knee down, low lunge; externally rotate front foot, bend back knee into buttock, slight twist & back bend, each side

Vinyasa into:

- Warrior II; Reverse warrior with neck release; Extended Side Angle

- Warrior I; chest opener; Ostrich; full bind; Easy bird of paradise (or standing pigeon if not binding)

- Pigeon; pigeon with back foot in

Shoulderstand, variations welcome or Viparita karani

Plough (optional)

Karnapidasana (optional)

Support fish using roll at back of shoulderblades & block under head

Savasana

After class, took Peter’s noon hour-long Journey to the Core & just did some light stretching.  Have to say, getting warmed up this morning was tough after a day off!

I’ve decided I’ve internalized too much criticism about being a hyperactive, atomic squirrel.   Like it’s a bad thing.  Love the squirrel!  Embrace the squirrel!  Give it acorns & a nice tree to live in!

K, this is what brought on the current bout of epiphanic crazy.   Beloved Husband connected me with a friend of his who also has uber-bouncy, perky tendencies & we all went out to see the sparkly vampire movie.  Much high pitched squealing, giggling, hugging, mocking, laughing-our-asses-off ensued.  (BH fortified himself with a shot of Jaeger for all this.  It was priceless.  

Then BH pointed something out on the way home, as I raved about how much fun I had.  He observed that I felt so good cuz someone (two someones) had validated the squirrel.  The squirrel got to come out & play & talk too fast & act like a twelve year old & it was FABULOUS.  The squirrel was not told by look or word to settle down, stop metaphorically laughing in church, be quiet, behave, or otherwise rein in. 

It’s been a little like walking on eggshells (or nutshells) recently around myself… yes, I need to breath & speak in pitches & speeds that normal human ears can comprehend.   And to mellow out when I start buzzing around & stressing out.  It’s good to go deep, to work seriously & with commitment on learning the craft of teaching , & to heal issues & pain.  And “relax” is not a four letter word.  (It’s five.  Yes, I can count.

And yes, I do use humor as a defensive reflex.  And to keep my distance from people, emotions, events. 

But not most of the time. 

I also use humor because it’s effing FUNNY!  And it feels good to laugh; it can be as good a stress release as chanting Om for an hour, and, as Lynne pointed out in class today, it is also good for the abs.   And I bounce around because it feels so fantastic to be light.

There was an amazing two hour class at Back Bay this morning — Lynne took us through some cranio-sacral stuff purely through breath, followed by SLOOOOWWWW abs, variations on handstand & forearm balance using a strap, headstands, then an awesome thigh-opening flow — but, bottomline, my yoga today was Laughter.

Long live all that is nutty.

Well, due to a variety of reasons, my turn as an assistant at Back Bay looks to be complete.  I mourned last night and today am focusing on moving on;  resetting my schedule a bit and working on setting up a volunteer gig.  Hopefully there will be more on that soon!

Also taking the time now to give some general guidelines for how a Forrest class gets put together.  These are pretty top-level, basic things & I hope to give a more nuanced discussion later since I get toset the groundwork today.

Generally speaking, a Forrest class runs like this:

1) Centering/theme/intention/grounding

2)  Pranayama

3) Warm up pose or two, like a side bend, gentle twist, neck stretch, hip or shoulder opener

4) More warming/strengthening stuff.  For example,  a Dolphin/Dog variation follwed by Abs, then Bridge.   Or maybe Abs, then Bridge (to stretch abs out & lengthen low back as well as backbend prep) followed by Dolphin/Dogs.

5) Maybe more Ab work in the form of standing Uddiyana/Agni Sara/Nauli.  Maybe it’s wall time.  

6)  Moving into the “Hot Zone.”  Can start with Classical Suns.  Or go into B Series with 2-3 Standing pose variations put in.  Or a Standing Serie (5-15 standing poses done in a row on each side; no vinyasas)

7)  Perhaps wall work if not already done.  Can put wall work in lots of places.  Personally, I love it after the first warm up stuff or after doing Suns, before the meat of the Hot Zone cuz folks aren’t too tired yet.  But if the Apex pose is at the wall, it would go after everyone is nice and hot.

8 ) Apex pose.  The class ideally has been working up to this all along, warming up, getting technique & alignment set.  Depending on the class, this might be something as simple as a pigeon variation or deeper backbend, ranging on up to Scorpion or some other funky arm balance or perhaps a lotus entanglement.

9) Warm down.  Depending on the apex pose, warming down might include more abs (great for warming down!  really!), even standing poses in a simpler series (also great! really!), that wall work, or it could be more “traditional” warm downs like slow hip openers, forward bends, shoulderstand & variations, twists etc.

10) Savasana, then seated closing.  Yummmm.

That’s the jist/outline of a Forrest practice.  It gets more complicated, of course, and has lots of variations but that’s a start! 

Today’s practice has me off to Back Bay for Nicoline’s morning class & hopefully Kate’s nooner as well.   Got a good feeling about it.

Picture above is from the flight simulator.  Still thrilled about the adventure!!  In response to questions about the advice I received going in…  did not in fact eat banana beforehand to help with nausea.  We did get hot stone massages in the morning & were quite relaxed going in!   Snacked on almonds, mostly, then feasted with tapas after.  Yummm, tapas…

Went to Back Bay today & did a Vinyasa class with Nicolline Valkenberg.  She is a lovely lovely person & teacher & I intend to get back to her class Tues/Thurs mornings as often as possible.  Mostly because she is in many ways on the other end of the spectrum from me as a teacher & I have a lot to learn from her.   Calm, slow, laid back, more fluid.   Part of me is mentally doing massive gyrations of frustration while we move gently but most of me knows quite well that her style & approach is a good & necessary experience for me & excellent place to study.

My assisting at BBY is a bit in the air right now; hope to have details tomorrow about the way ahead.  I love assisting but as the schedule & Lynne’s needs shift in the new year… well, dunno.

Warming little yoga room for gentle stretching soon.   Need the extra mat time!

Happily long day.  Started the morning in a bit of a tizzy but all worked out.  Subbed Vanessa’s 10 am Forrest, took Peter’s 1215, teacher’s practice 3-5 & assisted Lynne’s 5:40 Forrest class.

Here’s the lesson plan from today’s am Forrest class.

Theme:  Work with feeling sense, let go of thinking mind
Technique: inner line of leg, active feet, active hands
Props: Blanket, block, roll (strap optional)
 
Cross legged, Sivananda breath
Knee pile: side bend, neck release, 1 set shoulder shrugs
Switch knee pile, repeat all
 
Turbo Dog
 Dolphin, one arm up at a time, then one leg at a time
Twisting abs with a mat, feet down then up
Twisted root abs, both stages

Bridge
 
Classical Suns, 4-6
 
Wall:
Down dog OR Dolphin on wall, leg lifts allowed (depends on wrists)
Chair at wall with block
Handstand OR Forearm balance, Twisted root variation
Shower at wall

Forward bend at wall 
 
B series into:
- WII, Reverse, Extended side angle half bind variation (full bind option)
-  Triangle, Triangle chest opener, Half Moon(block)
- Lunge with chest opener, Pyramid, Standing Splits (balance option)
 
Down dog to seated
- Astavakara or Crow
 
Frog, belly down, over a roll

Supine twisted root

Savasana

Finishing: Take feeling sense off the mat with you.  Come back to it when the mind becomes… tricky.  Go into feeling instead.

There’s a definite order to Forrest sequencing that is probably apparent by now.  Will go into it more next week… Tomorrow, I’m off early am to visit a dear friend in Houston & don’t expect to blog while there.  However, lots of stories expected upon return.  Happy weekend!!

Today went well.  Details perhaps another time.  Tired now!  Beloved Husband & I went to a French Bistro in Back Bay called Bouchee after the excitement of the day & I am SOOOO ready for bed.  Sleepy yogi.

Here’s the tripartite lesson plan from today.  It’s semi-indicative of what went down.  Remember, this was for a Forrest then a Core then a Vinyasa class… there was some improvising especially with injury modifications.