YOGA
“If you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into you.”
Enjoy These Musings and Insights on Yoga and Life
Supta Virasana - Sleeping Hero's Pose
This is an excellent restorative yoga posture that can be of great benefit to your back-bends and can also help heal minor aches and pains in the knees. With time and practice, this restorative posture can very easily become a resting pose that can deeply renew and rejuvenate the entire body.
Ways To Make An Easy Exit
Last week I gave some tips and exercises to help you find stability in the Second Series posture, pinchamayurasana. This week I have some tips for getting out of it!
The “peacock feather pose” can be a challenging forearm stand all on its own, without having to exit it by jumping and landing in chaturanga dandasana also known as the "four limb staff pose." In Mysore, India, this posture is taught with a very specific exit that must also be mastered before the student will be able to move on to the next pose, karandavasana, which shares this same exit!
How To Make A "Peacock Feather"
Pinchamayurasana translates as the “Peacock Feather Pose.” This is a challenging Intermediate Series asana that many students struggle with, especially the naturally flexible ones, as it requires a degree of stiffness and strength in the arms, shoulders, and deep in the core muscles…
One identifying feature of Lord Krishna is the peacock feather in his crown. In India the feather of a peacock is a symbol of good luck, prosperity, beauty, and wisdom. It is a protection against evil and is thought to destroy all poisonous emotions like anger, greed, and jealousy…
Why Would You Want Two Legs Behind Your Head?
To begin… there really isn’t a good “reason” to ever put both legs behind your head! However, if you practice Ashtanga yoga following the sequencing of Sri K Pattabhi Jois, then you will inevitibly reach this tricky posture about a third of the way through the Intermediate Series.
To begin with, I would recommend spending a significant amount time in the posture that comes right before this one: Eka-Pada-Sirsasana…
What's stopping your Bakasana B?
Bakasana B can be an intimidating prospect when working through the Second Series of the Ashtanga yoga sequence. Many times students say, “but I can’t jump and land!” So, what exactly is stopping you from successfully landing on the backs of your arms in this position?
Tips for Working on Kapotasana
Kapotasana is another one of those very difficult postures in the Second Series of the Ashtanga yoga sequence. Here you will find some tips for working on this asana using the assistance of a wall to gradually open and strengthen the muscles supporting the spine so that you can practice this posture without pain.
Tips To Work Your "Drop-Backs"
Many yoga students are very excited to start learning how to drop-back from a standing position into a back-bend. However, when they come to start trying they discover that it is a lot more challenging that it first appears. Here, in this video and post, Harmony gives some helpful tips to get you started on this journey.
The Upward Facing Dharma Dog
In the great Indian epic the Mahabharata, the Indian Pariah Dog features prominently, as possibly one of the first domesticated dogs in history…
he Pandava brothers decide it is also time for them to renounce their kingdom, and set out on their final journey to the top of Mount Kailash - the gateway for their ascension into heaven. Their shared wife, Draupadi, decides to go with them, along with Yudhisthira’s faithful dog…
Matsya - A Fish Will Guide Us
The “Fish” in all three of these postures is referring to the first avatar of Lord Vishnu. This myth first appears in the Shatapatha Brahmana (700-300 BCE). This story is one that we might be more familiar with than we realize…
Matsya keeps growing and growing, and Satyavrata continues moving him from one jar into another, always needing larger and larger containers, until he has no choice but to move him into the ocean…
This is possibly where we get the progressions of these postures. Each referring to a different period of Vishnu's transformation from a simple little fish, to the size of a 'half-king-fish' and finally into the form of a 'full-King' fish!
Matsyendra warns Satyavrata about the coming dissolution of the world…
Kapilasana - Mind Your Manners!
The name Kapila appears in many texts prior to the conception of Samkhya. In fact, Kapila is mentioned as one Vishnu’s names.
There is a story in the Brahma Purana where King Sagara commands his 60,000 sons to go searching for his sacrificial horse that he believes was stolen, as he can not complete the vedic ritual without it…
Shayanasana - Taking a more "relaxed stance"
This posture is called Śhayanāsana. Shayana means "resting" “reclined” or “lying down” and when combined with asana it translates as something like a "relaxed stance."
Now, if you have ever tried this posture, you will know it is anything but relaxing! ...