Karl Lagerfeld designed an exclusive, feathery costume for The Dying Swan and filmed the ballet solo in Chanel’s Haute Couture Salon in Paris. The Dying Swan is a gorgeous black and white video that will inspire your inner swan to emerge in your asana practice. I have returned to this video a number of times for re-inspiration. Feel free to improvise in your own practice to feel more swan like!
Kripalu yoga emphasizes warm-up flows as gentle warm-ups to bring our attention to both our bodies and our breath. As we breathe and stretch in these movement explorations we check in with how we feel right now. These warm-ups are a quick way to take an inventory of where our bodies feel strong and where they need more loving support. My friend, Mark Shepard, helped me film this initial flow in a traditional Kripalu teaching manner. After introducing the flow I silently demonstrate the flow from Cat & Dog > Abdominal Lifts > Open Gate & See Saw > Cat & Dog w/ abdominal lifts > Open Gate & See Saw on the opposite side > Cat & Dog w/ abdominal lifts > Camel > Extended Child. This flow will also appear in my Easter Lesson Plan PDF.
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Notice that I take my time setting myself up in table. Rocking back and forth I find the place where my weight is comfortably balanced between my fingers, hands, knees, shins, and feet. Each time I return to Table is like coming home and I take a moment to resettle myself. Repetition allows me to notice the subtle changes in my energy, flexibility, and breath. Notice that I add little foot circles to See-Saw and use the support of my hands on my hips to lift myself out of camel. Re-read the flow of postures. Do you need to watch parts of the video again? Skip through it to the parts that are less familiar to you.
If you want to try this sequence as a daily practice, I would encourage you to center first by listening to the back yard peepers in my Spring Peepers post. Follow your breath in and out to the mantra So hum (I am That) or Ham sa (Brahma’s Wild Goose or Swan Vehicle). If you need a review, I introduced this meditation in Garuda & Hamsa, two posts ago. The sibilant “s” sound may feel natural on the inhalation and the aspirant “ha” sound feel natural on the exhalation. See if you can keep mental track of So or sa on your in breaths and hum or Ham on your out breaths through out your practice. When other thoughts crowd out the mantra in your head, deepen your breath for a few rounds to refocus, without judgment. Needless to say, you will be holding your breath out during each of the rounds of abdominal pumping. My husband always says I have hair balls when I practice abdominal lifts, but they are terrific for the digestive tract and bring lots of heat to the body! Notice how delicious the So breath feels when you raise your wings up overhead to inhale again! When I hold the image of a large, soft, downy bird in my imagination along with the mantra, I move my arms as though flapping gentle wings and breath as though ruffling and smoothing the feathers on my chest. Feel free to hold or repeat whatever portions of the flow seem to ask for more challenge or attention. To finish, lie down and rock your knees side to side in a gentle twist before relaxing in Sivasana to the musical strains of more frogs peeping. This whole practice should take no more than 10 minutes. Remember that any variation that feels better in your body is better. Any practice that you plan to repeat regularly must feel good!
Please comment by clicking on the header of this post with any questions and I will be delighted to give more detailed, personalized instructions in a return e-mail!
One of the reasons I am drawn to the R.C. Gorman sculpure I feature throughout this blog is her apparent balance between effort, focus, and relaxation. Notice the upward lift of her torso in the “About me” photo in contrast to her limp foot in the featured photo above.
Science continues to reaffirm what the yogis have said for centuries. Mental stress and physical tension make us ill. Neuroscience is only beginning to teach us about the relationships between our brains and our bodies, but all the research points to the need to practice relaxation for our physical, mental, and spiritual health. I read Brain Rules, by Dr. John J. Medina on the plane on my way back across the continent last week. Dr. Medina’s research focuses on the genes involved in human brain development and the genetics of psychiatric disorders. He inquires into how the mind reacts to and organizes information and has a particular interest in the ways brain sciences may improve the process of teaching our children and the organization of our work places. His chapters on the need for exercise and sleep to combat the debilitating effects of stress reinforce ancient yoga prescriptions.
How do we achieve relaxation? Physical relaxation is a learned response that must be practiced. Initially we learn to distinguish tense and relaxed muscles by purposely tensing and releasing our bodies. In yoga we rotate our joints to increase the flow of synovial fluid, a transparent, viscid lubricant secreted by the membrane of an articulation, bursa, or tendon sheath. We stretch forward, back, and side to side to elongate and contract opposing muscles as well as to feel the sensations of tension and release. We twist both to stretch and to “squeeze and soak” our internal organs, compressing and releasing them to force an exchange of stagnant blood with a fresh supply. Meditation is a tool for becoming familiar with our mental states. Once we become aware of the background noise of our habitual anxieties, anger, fear, and desire we can loosen their grip on our minds and focus instead on the realities of our relationships and situations in the present moment. As we become more familiar with the felt sense of relaxation or release we can be more aware of tension creeping into our bodies and minds throughout our day and consciously let go more easily. While more aware of my stresses, I’m still working on letting go on a daily or even hourly basis.
I begin this week’s class with a brief meditation on the sound of a rain stick followed by Jean M. Watts quieting poem from Women Pray, edited by Monica Furlong. She begins with the words, Join your hands gently. I have memorized her poem and find it helpful to literally place my hands together at intervals during the day to remind myself to let go. When my hands are joined I can’t type, feed myself, play with my iphone, or otherwise distract myself. In the time it takes to recite her words, I feel a shift in my energy. To physically warm up in this class I use my own version of Ken Cohen’s Qigong series, 8 Brocades (a video), but I recommend following along with his video. His book, The Way of Qigong, is a classic introduction to the Chinese energy healing technique. Yesterday the monthly Kirtan at Watering Pond was led by Eddy Nataraj and I found his style so gentle and relaxing that I chose his CD to accompany the class. His MySpace site is full of videos and music.
Listen to Angus direct me in Breath of Joy!
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I was cross-country skiing this morning and decided the bliss comes in the space between the steps, in the glide. The glide is the moment of relaxation, the still point, the dot! What do you love to do? Is there a still point?
Do you ever get cold hands when you are skiing? Do you want to embarrass your kids? Try Breath of Joy on the ski slopes as an effective warm-up. Keep your knees soft and bounce gently as you raise your arms to the front, to the sides, over your head and then down towards your toes. Sniff in through your nose as you conduct with your arms (forward, out, and up) and then “HA!” out through your mouth as you bow forward. Notice how your back, the sides of your ribs, and your belly and chest expand as you wave your arms and sniff. Release with the resounding “HA!”. Start slowly and speed up after a couple of repetitions. Slow down again and just hang in stillness. Use your hands to lift your torso back up and you’ll have a smile on your face and be ready to ski some more!
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❖ All grapes long to become wine.
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