There will be a Sutra Discussion Group this Friday, September 2nd, at 7pm at Paul’s house. Please feel free to bring dessert, tea, or just yourself. Paul is at 1376 Snow Street in Mountain View.
The sutras for review, if you want to read up in advance: Books two, sutras 35-36.
Peace,
Anne
On Monday, September 5th, Labor day, there will be class but we will delay the start of class to 7:30 am. Doors will be open for open practice at six. I will start teaching at 7:30 am and finish at 9:30 am.
I am happy to official announce that we will be hosting two guest teachers to teach the morning Mysore classes for September and possibly October, Kirsten Berg and Mitchell Gold. Both are experienced teachers that are authorized to teach by Sri K Pattabhi Jois. They regularly teach in Bali or Thailand.
You can read about them at:
Mitchell is also trained in Structural Integration, and if you have been interested in getting Rolfed, definitely let me or Mitchell know when he gets here. He will be accepting clients during their time here.
Ashtanga is a sometimes very open box. That is to say many teachers teach from widely varying points of view. Different teachers will see different aspects of your practice, and sometimes even ask you to do seemingly conficting things. While it can lead to conflict, most often it doesn’t when we can allow ourselves to consider what we take in in the context of our existing practice, play with it, and apply what works for our own body. Try what they have to offer us on for size, and trust the process to take us where we need to be ultimately. It is a most rewarding process, if we allow it to be.
Their starting and finishing dates are a bit loose at this point, but they should start following Labor Day weekend on Tuesday or Wednesday. Stay tuned for their end teaching date.
We would like to start inviting in senior teachers for 1-2 month visits a few times per year, to vary the program, and indeed give us all the opportunity to practice with different teachers in a setting more lasting that a weekend workshop. However we want to proceed on a case by case basis, and welcome and invite your ongoing feedback. Those teachers that seem to work for the majority of our community here will be invited back with regularity, as their schedules allow.
Cheers,
Anne
If you missed a class this past weekend with Bhavani’s workshop, or just enjoyed it, she’ll be in Half Moon Bay this weekend:
http://www.ensohmb.com/wst_page3.html
Friday, August 26:
Yoga Psychology, 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Saturday, August 27:
Sthiram Sukham Asanam, 8:00am - 11:00am
Bhandas, 1:30pm - 4:30pm
Mike is planning to go both days - let us know if you want to carpool.
Excerpt from Yahoo group posting
[Ashtanga Yoga] Re: standing up from Urdhva Dhanurasana
Hi, to stand up from the floor smoothly (with control of the movement,
and without relying too much on the body swinging momentum - which
might be dangerous to your back, and other practicing in front of
you), you would need the followings:
1./ Good Openings in the front of hips - this will prevent too much
bendings in your lower back, which if you keep on relying on, will give
in to pain and cause long term back issues. Patient and dedication in
standing poses will grandually open the hips, if you practice them with
correct alignment.
2./ Weight distribution on the feet, legs by rooting firmly on the
floor - if your feet is pointing out (if your hip is not open and try
to walk in your feet, this will happen) it is difficult to ground the
bowl of feet, heels firmly enough to push the energy upward into your
legs. This is necessary, because standing up wouldn’t feel balanced or
controled without solid foundation.
3./ Gaze & Fear factor - don’t ever look up when you try to come up.
Keep on looking for the feet, let your hip guide your upper body
forward. Leave the weight on your feet, hips until the last moment -
your legs should be straight when your hand leaves the ground and your
nose still pointing to the ground.
4./ Patience. Patience. Patience. - all is coming. but jumping into
standing up when your body is not ready would mean to slow your
practice down by getting injured. If you get injured once in your back,
your mind will learn something you never had before - fear of trying to
stand up. It’s not worth risking this huge drawbacks. I would like to
recommend you to focus on various Openings in your body, then one day,
you will be so naturally ready to come up with full confidence. I was
pretty flexible in my body, but I have practiced regularly for 3 years
before I can drop back & stand up with full control.
Good Luck!