Svatantra
Svatantra was the theme of class tonight. Svatantra means: freedom, independence, self reliance. It was inspired in part by the Fourth of July holiday. And also, one of my students, Gayle, asked if I could be her mentor for the year as she is doing Black Dog Yoga's Level 2 Teacher Training. Part of that training is that you choose a teacher and have them mentor you for the year. You get to assist them and meet with them. So I'm completely immersing myself in this role and asked Gayle to choose a book and suggested that we go through the book together and dive in deep. She chose Pratyabhijna-hrdayam/The Splendor of Recognition (thank God, I love that book!!!). AND the first sutra of that text deals with svatantra.
I am also intrigued by the concept of svatantra because often in my life I feel stuck and confined by my choices. If left to my own devices I would stay home all day, read voraciously one of the hundreds of books that I own (I'm serious) and watch replays of True Blood and 30 Rock. And yet when I go out, when I go to concerts, or get together parties, I end up having such a great time! But there is always that resistance, that pull to stay comfortable, to stay stuck...
Anusara yoga reminds us that our essence is free, that we are indeed part of a bigger consciousness that is at its core utterly and completely free. In fact, the aforementioned text suggests that the entire Universe happened because of Consciousness' inherent freedom. So out true nature is not sad, is not anxious, is not angry or tired or depressed; our true nature is free.
Free to choose how we will align today, what kinds of choices we will make today.
Free to see ourselves as something much bigger than we could ever imagine...
Theme: Svatantra
Focus: Inner Spiral; the expanding spiral
Reminded the students that in yoga we open up the legs and the pelvis after establishing a clear and strong boundary in the shins and ankles.
Sequence:
Balasana
Warm ups
Suryas
Crescent
Parsva, Warrior 2, Trikonasana
Vasisthasana
Handstand
Bakasana
Eka Pada Rajakapotasana 1 (add thigh stretch)
Pigeon 2 (with thigh stretch)
Downward Facing Dog
Sirsasana 1
Ustrasana
(with variations, including one armed ustrasana...)
Bridge
Urdhva
Supta Padangusthasana variations
Savasana
Anusara Poster Project Pose: Forgot to do it...
Fun facts that I'm learning about India (as my preparation for my upcoming trip): Kerala (in the South, where I'm going) has the highest literacy rates of any Indian region and the highest life expectancy. It is also the home of Ayurveda, one of the world's most elaborate system of holistic healing and the sister science of yoga.
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