Connection to Source

Setting the tone: Yoga is about raising your vibration in tune with the whole world.  At the root of every asana is a calm & steady connection to the earth.  When your connection is calm & steady, you feel ease in the mind, body & spirit.  

Mantra: Mother Earth Goddess prayer

Sarva Mangala Mangalye

Sive Sarvatha Sadhike

Sharanye Trambake Gauri

Narayani Namosthute, Narayani Namosthute

I salute the 3-eyed Divine Mother, Narayani, who brings total auspiciousness & wh fulfills the desire for liberation.  Realization arises with her blessing.  She is the world itself.  Only through the experiences of life can the world itself.  Only through the experiences of life can the soul be perfected.  Honor this gift, your life.

Asana:

Leg Stretches: hamstrings, quads & psoas (hip flexors), inner thighs & hips.

Sun A with Vrikshasana & with tree leg in Vashistasana, chatarunga with tree leg.

Sun B #1:  Panther-style Kung Fu.  Build a relationship with the ground by falling in & out of Utkatasana (Chair), Virasana (Hero), Extended Scorpion & Triangle(Trikonasana).  

Sun B #2:  Balancing Compass: The direction of our attention is always toward the divine.  Drishti at Divine.  Cobbler’s pose -2- (Baddha Konasana) -> Leg Lift -> Compass Pose - 5- (Konasana) -> Compass Pose -5- (Konasana wrist grab) -> Compass Pose -3- (Konasana Balance) -> Extended Compass -5- (Visvamitrasana) 

5 Backbends

Playtime

Warm-down

Kriya: Nauli

Quotes/Readings:

“Don’t try to get out of the World, get into it.” - Bhagavan Das, What Is Yoga?

“To find out what is truth there must be great love and a deep awareness of  man’s relationship to all things - which means that one is not concerned with one’s own progress and achievements.” - J. Krishnamurti

“What if our religion was each other.  If our practice was our life.  If prayer, our words.  What if the temple was the earth.  If forests were our church.  If holy water-the rivers, lakes, and oceans.

What if meditation was our relationships.  If the Teacher was self-knowledge.  If love was the center of our being.” - Ganga White

“Peace is every step.  The shining red sun is my heart.  Each flower smiles with me.  How green, how fresh all that grows.  How cool the wind blows.  Peace is every step.  It turns the endless path to joy.” - Thich Nhat Hanh

“I am water. I am the thorn that catches someone’s clothing...  There’s nothing to believe.  Only when I quit believing in myself did I come into this beauty...  Day & night I guarded the pearl of my soul.  Now in this ocean of pearling currents, I’ve lost which was mine.” -Rumi

Meditation:

Reading: Agganna-Suttana of the Digha-Nikaya (ancient Buddhist text on the descent into darkness & fear)

In the past we created spiritual beings nourished by joy.  We soared through space, self-luminous & in imperishable beauty.  We thus remained for long periods of time.

After the passage of infinite times, the sweet-tasting earth rose from the waters.  It had color, scent, and taste.  We began to form it into lumps and to eat it.  But while we ate it our luminosity disappeared.  And when it had disappeared, sun, moon, stars & constellations, day & night, weeks & months, seasons & years made their appearance.

We enjoyed the sweet-tasting earth, relished it & were nourished by it, & thus we lived for a long time.  But with the coarsening of the food the bodies of beings became more & more material & differentiated, & hereupon the division of sexes came into existence, together with sensuality & attachment,  But when evil, immoral customs arose among us, the sweet-tasting earth disappeared, & when it had lost its pleasant taste, outcroppings appeared on the ground, endowed with scent, color, and taste.

Due to evil practices & further coarsening of the nature of living beings, even those outcroppings disappeared, & other self-originated plants deteriorated to such an extent that finally nothing eatable grew by itself & food had to be produced by strenuous work.  Thus the earth was divided into fields, and boundaries were made whereby the idea of “I” & “mine,” “own” & “other” was created & with it possessions, envy, greed, & enslavement to material things.

Class dedicated to Mother Earth (Gaia)

Harmonium & Chanting: Aum Hraum Mitraya Mantra - Aum Hraum Mitraya Namaha.  Aum Eim Saraswatiyei Namaha.

Purpose/Meaning: “May the light of friendship shine through me, drawing noble companionship.  Om and Salutations to the feminine Saraswati principle.”  Saraswati is the Hindu Goddess who represents the feminine principle in each & every one of us of knowledge, music, arts, flow & growth.

Reading:  “What if our religion was each other, if our practice was our life, if prayer, our words. What if the temple was the earth, if forests were our church, if holy water-the rivers, lakes & oceans. What if meditation was our relationships, if the Teacher was life, if wisdom was self-knowledge, if love was the center of our being." - Ganga White

Pranayama: Circular breathing.  Soften front body & drag the breath down the front & up the back.  “From prana indeed all living forms are born and, having been born, they remain alive by prana.  At the end they merge into prana once more. “ - Kaushitaki Upanishad 3:2

Asana: Stretching, Core, Sun A’s, Sun B’s, Backbends, Playtime, Warm-down & Savasana.  Hold heart in poses.  Chant Jay Ma!

Meditation: Adjust them & balance third eye.  Breath as a wave meditation.  Starting with 4-part breath.  Puraka (Inhale).  Antar-Kumbhaka (Hold it full at the top).  Rechaka (Exhale).  Bahya-Kumbhaka (Hold it empty at the bottom).  Puraka...  Antar-Kumbhaka...  Rechaka...  Bahya-Kumbhaka.  

“Conscious control of the breath moves brain function from the primitive medula oblongata to the frontal lobe.  From unconscious to conscious breath.  Pranayama can be used as a tool to take the yogi to Samadhi (ultimate pure consciousness) where Kevala Kumbhaka, spontaneous, effortless suspension of the breath.”

Begin to think of the breath as a wave-like pattern.  Inhaling up, peaking and pausing at the crest, and exhaling back down, pausing at the trough.  Up & down.  After awhile, when you think you’ve got the hang of it, you can let go of the pause & just notice the brief cessation of breath at the top & bottom of the breath.

“Energy moves in waves, waves move in patterns, Patterns move in rhythms, the rhythms lend a map for the movements of our psyche as well as the ever-changing state of the universe.” - Gabrielle Roth, Sweat Your Prayers: movement as a spiritual practice.

“Peace is every step.  The shining red sun is in my heart.  Each flower smiles with me.  How green, how fresh all that grows.  How cool the wind blows.  Peace is every step.  It turn the endless path to joy.” - Thich Nhat Hanh

“Self is everywhere, shining forth from all beings, vaster than the vast, sublter than the most subtle, unreachable, yet nearer than breath, than heartbeat.  Eye cannot see it, ear cannot hear it nor tongue utter it; only in deep absorption can the mind, grown pure & silent, merge with the formless truth.  As soon as you fins it, you are free; you have found yourself; you have solved the great riddle; your heart forever is at peace.  Whole, you enter the Whole.  Your personal self returns to its radiant intimate, deathless source.” - Mundaka Upanishad

Sing: “Imagine” by Beatles (Eva Cassidy version)

Class on Balancing the Third Eye Chakra

Setting the theme/tone:  “Tonight’s class will be focused on opening the third eye chakra, also called the Anja chakra or the sixth chakra, the home of intuition.  When this chakra is out of balance it can affect the eyes, ears, pituitary gland & hypothalamus as well as most of the brain with the exception of the very top (as that is governed by the crown chakra).  And so the third eye chakra is the primary chakra of sensory perception & it is also the center of thought & abstraction.  It is from this chakra that we begin to transcend our sense of self identity, separateness, differences & otherness from us with respect to the rest of the Universe.  Our sixth chakra also known as our “sixth” sense, going beyond the sensory perceptions & into our psychic perceptions .  When this chakra is out of balance our jealousies, fears, greed, or power plays can get the better of us.”  - Donna Eden in Energy Medicine  

Chakracise: Sitting in a comfortable seated position, breath calm & deep while using your index finger to push open your third eye.

Reading: The element associated with the sixth chakra is space.  A reading from Jivamukti Yoga by Sharon Gannon & David Life by Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati in Terrestrial & Celestial Magnetism.  “Without space, creation cannot take place.  When you purchase a house, you purchase the space, which is surrounded by the walls.  The more space, the more valuable the house.  You cannot think anything if you have no space within your mind.  You cannot welcome any guest in your house if you have no space within your house.  You cannot recieve any thought from outside if you have no space within your mind.  The outer space is the first & eldest of all the elements, without which creation cannot take place.  In the same way, inner space is the first & eldest of the inner elements, without which no thinking can take place in your mind.  What is the resaon that many people are creative?  They have space in their minds.  What is the reason that many people are fools?  They have no space in their minds.  Their minds are always congested with all sorts of thoughts, like a warehouse with furniture.  Nobody is a fool and nobody is wise.  It is the space that makes you foolish or wise.  If you have space within your mind, then you become wise, and if you have no space in your mind, then you become “other-wise.”  If you have no space in your mind, then you cannot understand God or “I-Am,” & visa versa, of you have space withing your mind, then you can grasp the operation of “I-Am” or God in you, according to space, qualitatively and quantitatively.” 

Prayer/Mantra:  “Sarva Mangala Mangalye, Sive Sarvatha Sadhike, Sharanye Tryambake Gauri, Narayani Namosthute, Narayani Namosthute.” 

Translation: I salute the three-eyed Divine Mother, Narayani, who brings total auspiciousness & who fulfills the desire for liberation.  Realization arises with her blessing.  She is the world itself.  Only through the experiences of life can the soul be perfected.  Honor this gift, your life. - Jivamukti Yoga by Sharon Gannon & David Life.

Have them chant the sound of the sixth Chakra (Om) - Aaaah (feel vibration in belly),  Oooh (feel vibration in the chest & throat), Mmmm (feel vibration in the skull), AUM (feel vibration traveling up through the chakras), AUM, AUM (voiced)

Asana:  Sun A’s, Sun B’s, balancing, backbends, & warm-down.  Have them periodically sense, through their third eye, the presence of others in the room.  Have them close their eyes to do this.  Have them feel into their bodies in deep, long stretches.

Meditation: Start them out in Savasana & use the pendulum & Lapis Lazul crystal to balance & open third eye chakra for each student.  Have them ask a question from their third eye & visually breath it down to their root chakra to settle.  After a few breaths, have them breath light up their spine, floating the question up to their third eye & be open for the answer to reveal itself as they pull open their third eye.  

Poem: “Many times, i’ve wondered if my heart will harden shadowed by the clouds that hide the sun.  A moment or a lifetime waiting in your garden.  I see you in the distance & I feel like crying out.” - Jai Uttal, Krishna Das & Linde “I won’t ask for more.”

Class on Willfully Surrendering

Setting the theme/tone:  Last night was a full moon & when the moon swung close to the earth it was the closest it has come since 1993.  When the moon comes its closest to earth it is said to be in its perigee, at its furthest, its apogee.  The moon appears 14% larger & 30% brighter when it swings this close.  In any given full moon there lies an opportunity to release.  The moon has a very strong gravitational pull on the earth & when it is full it has the most power.  Releasing what no longer serves you on a full moon is a very powerful way to align your intentions with the natural cycles of the universe, in this case, the moon.  And since we are a part of the whole, this release is a microcosm of the macrocosm for what release is going on in the universe as all living things are naturally called to release on a full moon.  You might not even realize it, but you are innately aware of these natural cycles.  So spend the next 10 breaths connecting with what it is that you would like to release this evening during your moving & then still meditation.  Spend the next 10 breaths letting the intention of using your breath, your movement & your mindfulness as a form of prayer, devotion or love as an offering to a higher power, in which you are a part of.  Your conscious participation in this release sets you up for the universe to illicit a shift in your consciousness to create more space from which you can create what you really want, which you would do on a new moon.  Tell the story of Kurukshetra.

Reading/Poem: “Acceptance says, True, this is my situation at the moment. I’ll look unblinkingly at the reality of it.  But, I’ll also open my hands to accept willingly whatever a loving Father sends me.”  (Catherine Marshall)

Chant: “Ganesha Sharanam, Jay Ganesha, Om Gum Ganapataye Namaha”

Pranayama:  Kapalabhati breathing/Radiant Skull while holding Lola Mudra (elbows bent out to the sides & fingers pointing toward the hips).  Explain that Lola mudra gesture signifies going freely.

Mantra:  “Only I hold the power to destroy my illusions.”

Asana:  Explain to them that their mats are the battleground.  Make class seem like we are preparing for battle.  Core for confidence, make them sweat & do lots of twists to ring out toxins.

Meditation:  Meditation is when the battle takes place.  “Surrendering all unto the Supreme Lord is a difficult if not impossible task for must people. This is because they are not aware of the peace such surrender brings. There are many kinds of surrender: there is surrender in war, when the defeated side surrenders in order to preserve whatever life and property remain. This is a willful surrender to a superior force -- some thing like a plea for mercy in the hope of avoiding death and total devastation. Then there is surrender in a totally hopeless situation, the surrender of a man, for instance, facing an unavoidable death. And there is also willful surrender to some thing overwhelmingly pleasant -- like the surrender to a lover, or surrender to some desire or to the senses. Such surrenders are qualified by extraneous desires and circumstances, but there is a total and perfect surrender -- the surrender unto the Will of the Supreme Lord. In the West, Christ is an example of complete surrender unto the Father -- He was aware of His impending crucifixion long before it took place, but He surrendered totally and willfully. On the cross His last words were, "Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit." (Luke, 23/46) In the Bhagavad-Gita, Arjuna also surrendered unto the Supreme Lord by engaging himself in the battle of Kurukshetra and killing those he did not want to kill, only because Lord Krishna commanded him to do so.” -Unknown Author

Liberation

Setting the theme/tone: Liberation.  Yoga chitta vritta nirodaha “Yoga is for the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind.”  Tonight’s class is about clearing away the illusions imprinted in us by the ego so we may come in close contact with our true Self, our highest potential that is, at all times completely in union with the universal One spirit.  We will be using mudras, chanting, kriyas, asanas & pranayama

to sweat our prayers for the liberation of our truest Self.

Pranayama: Starting in Original Asana (seated in a comfortable position) make a thumbs up sign & take Kapalabhati breath to bring thumbs to connect.  Press thumbs into one another for 5 breaths & then lower arms down halfway, make infinity signs with your thumbs for flow & connection to your highest potential.

Mudra: pop fingers out & take the Maha Mudra (index & thumb connect for openness/receptivity) & chant Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya (Liberation)

Asana: Child’s Pose

Sun A x 3

1. For flow: Beginning in Adho Mukha Svanasana (Down dog), drop knees to Table Top and inhale drop belly to Cow Pose, exhale drop chest & chin to Ashtanga Pranam (8-limbed pose), inhale slithering through to Cobra, exhale rolling up & back to  Balasana (Child’s Pose), inhale roll forward like a wave & splash into Urdva Mukha Svanasana (Upward Dog), exhale rolling over toes and dip low for Chatarunga Dandasana (4-limbed Stick Pose), inhale High Plank & finishing exhale back to Adho Mukha.  Do flow x3.
2. For Upper-body strength: Build up to a Double-Dip Chatarunga: Inhale High Plank & exhale Adho Mukha, inhale High Plank.  Inhale High Plank, exhale Chatarunga, inhale High Plank & exhale Adho Mukha.  Inhale High Plank, exhale Chatarunga, inhale Urdva Mukha & exhale Adho Mukha.  Inhale High Plank, exhale Chatarunga, inhale Urdva Mukha, exhale Chatarunga, inhale High Plank & exhale Adho Mukha.
3. For Balancing yin/yang: From Down dog take legs wide, reach R-hand to L-ankle & twist, reach L-hand to R-ankle & twist.  Come down onto forearms for Dolphin pose & grab R-ankle with R-hand & lift L-leg then grab L-ankle with R-hand & lift R-leg.  Then lift Right leg high & slide through to Chatarunga, drop chin down & attempt full Grasshopper by lifting both legs & balancing on hands & chin.  Press back to dolphin & try the other side.

Balancing:  From Utthanasana (Forward Fold) grab Right-big toe with R-hand, keep L-hand on L-hip & keep both legs straight, come up for big toe hold.  Bring R-leg out to R-side, release L-hand from hip & extend the arm out to the left.  Try to look over left thumb.  Bring it all back to the center & grab the outside of R-foot with the L-hand, extend R-arm behind you & look back.  Bring it all back to the center & come into Vriksasana (Tree Pose) on R-side & fold down into toe stand.  Release into Standing Splits & end in forward fold.  Do it all on the L-side.  Do Nauli Kriya (Belly Churning)

Sun B x 4: for lower-body strength & hip-opening

1. Build up a Sun B with 8 poses: From Utkatasana (Chair Pose) fold into Uttanasana & attempt Bakasana (Crow) with option for Headstand & back to Bakasana, shooting back to Chatarunga, Urdva Mukha & Adho Muhka.  Hold Anjali Asana (Cresent Lunge) for 5 breaths & move into Garudasana (Eagle) for 5 breaths & finish with Utkatasana.  Do both sides
2. Same as above but only hold Anjali Asana & Garudasana for 1 breath & then, inhaling, fling the R-side of the body open into Arda Chandrasana (Half Moon Pose) with an option for Chaprasana, holding 5 breaths.  Inhale back to Reverse Warrior & hold for 5 breaths.  Take your vinyasa back to Utkatasana & complete the L-side.
3. Same as above only hold the previous 4 poses (Anjali Asana, Garudasana, Arda Chandrasana & Reverse Warrior) for 1 breath & from Reverse Warrior add Runner’s Lunge & Malasana (Garland Pose) for 5 breaths.  Then come into a forward fold & come back through vinyasa up to Utkatasana & complete L-side.
4. Same as above only hold the previous 4 poses (Anjali Asana, Garudasana, Arda Chandrasana, Reverse Warrior, Runner’s Lunge & Malasana) for 1 breath & then add Baddha Konasana (Bound Angle Pose) & Kurmasana (Turtle Pose).  Do both sides.

Play time:  Mahamudra (The Great Seal) with option for half lotus legs, Full Lotus “pick-it-up” for 3 round of 10 breaths & then Simasana (Lion Pose, they can attempt the arm balance but they can also just sit in half/full lotus with their hands in Maha Mudra) with Lion’s breath (cross eyes & gaze through 3rd eye, stick tongue all the way out & take 10 forceful exhales).  Take legs wide & do Parvritta Janu Sirsasana (Revolved Head to Knee Pose).

Backbends:  Against the wall.  Bridge up the wall, Wheel up the Wall, Pop-ups up & down the wall & Pincha Mayurasana (Scorpion) up the wall.  From belly take Danurasana (Floor Bow) then back to Balasana & finish up with Supine Spinal Twist.

Chant Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya (Liberation) in original Asana

Meditation: Poem by Sri Aurobindo

I have thrown from me the whirling dance of mind

And stand now in the spirit's silence free,

Timeless and deathless beyond creature-kind,

The centre of my own eternity.

I have escaped and the small self is dead;

I am immortal, alone, ineffable;

I have gone out from the universe I made,

And have grown nameless and immeasurable.

My mind is hushed in a wide and endless light,

My heart a solitude of delight and peace,

My sense un snared by touch and sound and sight,

My body a point in white infinities.

I am the one Being's sole immobile Bliss:

No one I am, I who am all that is.

Light

Asana:

“Starting in Virasana (Hero’s Pose).  Rub hands together, rub the back of the hands, rub the wrists out, feel the energy in your own hands, Close your eyes, invite universal healing energy to come down in through the crown of the head and drop down into your heart center and rush down your arms and into your hands, feel your hends pulsing with this powerful healing energy, you can even call it intention.  Bend yours elbows & extend your fingers to the sky.  Bless the atmosphere around you with your presence, your intention, your light & bring your fingers together & place your hands over your heart center, begin to charge up your heart center with this pulsating warmth emanating from your hands.  Take in nice deep inhales & exhales, starting to slow the breath down filling your lungs with the intention of healing or nourishment or intention, whatever you want to call it.  You take in vital gases you need from the surrounding environment.  The lungs take in these vital gases and dissolve them into our bloodstream which the heart pumps them throughout the whole body.  Remember that we blessed the atmosphere around us so know that you are not only getting the gases you need, such as oxygen from the environment but you are also breathing in the intention of you and everyone sharing this space.  We are all one.  One breath, one movement, one intention, one light, one truth, one heart beating together in perfect rhythmic fashion.  This is hand position 1 in Reiki healing energy which you have essentially invited into your soul and into your hands.  On the physical level (our earth nature) this hand position affects the heart, lungs, immune system and general circulation.  On the emotional level (our water nature) it affects our self-confidence, ability to love and gets rid of anger.  On the mental level (our air nature) it affects relaxation, concentration & harmony.    On a spiritual level it affects our compassion, bliss, unconditional love, and our abilities to receive higher energies and communicate our truth.  Place your hands on the tops of your thighs.  At this point you can choose to stop allowing universal healing energy to flow through you OR you can invite to make itself comfortable in your body.  I think I choose the latter.  Why not heal your self while you do yoga, right??  Pick a spot to place your light, breath and intention into & if you want to you can let it stay here throughout your whole practice.  I also want you to visualize this light as being whatever color you think of first.  Even though certain colors have different applications, usually what you intuitively are drawn to is most right for you.  I want you to visualize breathing this light open & closed with each inhale & exhale.” Say this to them while they are in a comfortable seated position."  By Serra

Core x 4 with no breaks, a lot of heart openers

Shiatsu: In foreword fold massage Spleen & Stomach, Bladder & Kidneys, and the Liver & Gallbladder meridians.  

Nauli Kriya

Sun A x 3

1. First round flow from Down Dog to Cow to Ashtanga Pranam (8-Limbed Prone Pose) to Cobra to Child’s Pose through Cat Pose to Up Dog down to Chatarunga up to Plank & back to Down Dog....do this 3xs “Breath light into your area”
2. Feet wide from Down Dog....flow through to Plank & back to Down Dog, forward to plank then down to Chatarunga, up to Plank & back to Down Dog, forward to Plank, down to Chatarunga through to Up Dog & back to Down Dog, lastly....Forward to Plank down to Chatarunga through to Up Dog back down to Chatarunga up to Plank & back to Down Dog “Breath light into your area”
3. Right leg high from Down Dog, twist open, option for Wild Thing, back to Downward-facing Scorpion, Forward to high plank with led still in scorpion, leg up & back (3-legged Dog), knee to forehead, back up, knee right elbow (option for Hurdler’s), leg back & up, knee to left elbow, send leg out to side (under the body) open with left arm (or side crow for up-levers), knee to chest, leg up & back, foot down...other side “Breath light into your area”

Sun B x 3

1. Focus on shoulder stability:  Dolphin & Turbo Dog, option for Scorpion with Right leg, shoulder shrugs in Warrior II, Bound Warrior, Birds of Paradise into Tree Pose with option for arm balance in Extended Pigeon, other side Dolphin push-ups option for Scorpion on Left leg, same on left side...

1. Lower body strength: WIII, Crescent, Warrior I, Warrior II, Reverse, Pyramid to Twisted Triangle to Standing Splits option for crow/handstands.
2. Hip Opening: Vashistasana with Tree leg, take a vinyasa with tree leg, Half Pigeon, Twisted Pidgeon.

Up against the wall, legs up the wall to Bridge up the wall  or Wheel

Spinal Twist

Meditation:  Guide them through settling down on their mats & bringing the focus in.  Do a light meditation where they focus on a light pulsing at their heart center.  Remind them of their connectedness.  Talk about light as consciousness & dark as unconsciousness.  Talk about vibrations of light & dark energy.  Dark manifests as blame, guilt, judgement, resentment, jealousy,  fear, anger, etc.  Shine light on the darkness and it cannot survive.  

Class on Presence

Setting the theme/tone:  Have them in Supta Badokonasana

We can talk about presence from the perspective of the individual as the texture or feel of the soul, we can talk about from the perspective of a group of individuals as the subtle group energy or ethos and we can also talk about the presence from the perspective of a place as atmosphere.  

Tonight’s theme is presence and is highly dependent on first being truthful with your Self.  When we are able to rest in our own true nature and not let the noisy, confusing world persuade you otherwise, you stand firmly in your own true power.  You represent an unwavering warrior for truth and peace.  

To find out what you are you begin to chip away at what you are not by asking your Self the tough questions.... what am I not?   who has ultimate power over me?  what is my purpose?  You can watch your mind as you move through tonight’s vinyasa to learn about your Self from an unbiased perspective.  Tonight, lets aim to take get curious, find our true Self, stand firm in that power which we already are and be a warrior for truth.

Class:

First Chakra: Body Bundha flow - Start in Virasana (Hero’s Pose) hold thumb to pinky fingers,  all fingers curled inward (Balancing Mudra). 

Asana:

• Second Chakra: Core from Supta Badokonasana: do at least 3 different core sets, with side waste in at least one.  Also, you can do one whole side then the other or alternate sides.  Finish up with twists and talk about how core & twists balance each other out.
• From Sphinx pose... drishti gaze through third eye, seed of intuition, home of truth and take lion’s breath (pranayama) for 10 rounds.
• 5 Rounds Sun A:  1) lots of detail, stay at least 5 breaths in each pose 2) No details, give English & then Sanskrit names for poses 3) Just breath 4 & 5) On their own
• 5 Rounds Sun B: 

1. ALL RIGHT SIDE.....Work lower body...hold Anjali Asana (Crescent), Viravadrasana I (Warrior I) & Viravadrasana II (Warrior II), Horse Pose splash open to the back into Warrior II facing the back of the room for 5 breaths then Reverse and Utthita Parsvokonasana (Extended Side Angle) for 5 breaths.  Start on right side facing the back of the room with Flow #2...
2.   Work upper body... Double Dip Chatarunga, Viravadrasana III (Warrior III) to Arda Chandrasana (Half Moon) to Chaprasana to Standing Splits, Reverse Warrior to Star Pose to Flow #3... 
3. Stretch upper & lower body...Prasaritta with shoulder openers, then regular Prasaritta with an option for a handstand or headstand or arm balance (play time)...  DO THE WHOLE THING OVER AGAIN ON THE LEFT SIDE
4. Hip openers... Dandasana (High Plank) to (Vasisthasana) Side Plank with Tree leg on right side, Dandasana with tree leg, Chatarunga with Tree leg, Irdva Mukha Svanasana (Upward Facing Dog) with tree leg, let go of the tree leg when they pull back to Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog), right leg high to Crescent swing left leg up and over for Garudasana (Eagle Pose) to Arda Chandrasana again, Giva squats, Rock the baby, Astavakrasana (Eight Angle Pose).  Finish this round in Down Dog and take them down to the belly into Superman’s Pose

• From Superman pose, take Floor bow and roll to left and right then stop in center, come back to Superman and chant Sat Nam “Truth” while rocking forward & backward.

Meditation:  Satya or truth is one part of the 8-limbed yogic path written by Patanjali, the father of Yoga.  The bible also talk about truth New Testament says “Live in truth and the truth shall set you free.”   From all different religious and spiritual paths, truth is said to free you from suffering and fears, while connecting you to your true Self and ultimately God.  Ultimately the mind and its pesky thoughts keep us from seeing our truth.  Yoga is a practice that enables us to rest in our own true nature.  Whether you are aware or not, showing up to your mat is a practice of being who you truly are and what lingers off the mat & into the world is a promise to your Self to do your best to stay there.  Being truth is not always easy, sometimes it means we see people for who they really are and friendships may fall away or evolve.  Sometimes it means we come to know in our hearts that what we do for a living is not right for us.  Its up to you what you do with what you find.  

Poem/Quote:

Blessing of Solitude

May you recognize in your life the presence, power, and light of your soul.

May you realize that you are never alone, that your soul in its brightness and belonging connects you intimately with the rhythm of the universe.

May you have the respect for your own individuality and difference.

May you realize that the shape of your soul is unique, that you have a special destiny here, that behind the facade of your life there is something beautiful, good, and eternal happening.

May you learn to see yourself with the same delight, pride, and expectation with which God sees in you every moment.

 - John O’Donohue in Anam Cara: A book of Celtic Wisdom

Healing for Someone gravely ill

**This class is for someone specific, but can be converted and used for anyone who is in need of healing, even yourself.  Remember that, due to the reflective nature of life, that when you heal others, you heal yourself as well.

1) Start in Supta Badokonasana: Feel the connection between the beat of your heart & the breath.  Feel the connection between you & mother earth.  Feel the connection amongst all living things.  

Pull white, green, pink, and gold light through you in preparation for sending healing vibrations Maggie’s way.

Come to original asana & take 10 rounds of Pranayama for heart opening moving the arms out & in with the breath.

5 Sun Salutation A’s and come back down into Child’s pose.  

1. Extend your awareness to Maggie.  Feel her presence.  Holding her presence within you.  Pray for the removal of Maggie’s pain, and for the cause of the pain.

5 Sun Salutation B’s with lots of heart opening, ending in Half Pigeon pose.  Dedicate the efforts during Sun B’s to the ending of Maggie’s sorrow & pain.

1. From Hero’s pose, place fists into low belly & exhale fold forward.  Do this to take inventory of Maggie’s darkness causing her pain.
2. 5 Backbends to release that darkness within Maggie
3. & 6)  Warm-down. Savasana.  Explain to them that pain only exists if you believe in it & within the body & does not exist within the formless realm.  Do a meditation where they absorb Maggie’s pain & the cause of the pain & her sorrow into their heart center & then om it out through the throat chakra for 10 rounds, then they inhale it in to the heart center and exhale it out through the crown chakra into the formless where it is useless and is transformed into pure energy, holding the possibility to become anything and in the hands of the ultimate creator.
4. Lastly do a meditation with colors again: white, green, pink & gold.  Only this time have them do it for Maggie and into Maggie.

Poem: Towards the Light

By moonlight,
or starlight,
or in the sun's bright rays,
I journey,
guiding my way
by keeping
to the light
as best I can.
Sometimes all seems dark,
then I remember
how the poppy turns its head,
follows the sun's passage across the sky,
then rests in night's cool shadows,
bowing in thanks
to whatever power
makes the stalk
stand straight and strong,
drawing deep from its roots
a wine dark love.
In moonlight,
the garden glows,
silvering the poppies.
And even by starlight
you can tell
shades of darkness
if you try.
So do not lose heart
when vision dims.
Journey forth

as best you can-
bloom when you are able,
rest when you must,
keep faith,
keep always
towards the light

Panther Style Kung Fu/Iron Shirt Chi Gong

Setting the theme/tone:  Moksha- permission to fall & get back up again.  Readiness & WIllingness to stand in your own truth no matter what the outcome.  To be a peaceful spiritual warrior.  

Chant: Hari Om Tatsavitur

Pranayama: Khapalabhati in yogi squat, bastrika, get strong!  Start by sitting on your heels and squeezing your heels together with your sit bones:  “feet to seat” or “root to fruit”  Prana kumbacha - retain breath as you go up into camel pose, Ustrasana, and sick the chest down as you breath lion’s breath.  Sitting in hero’s pose, Virasana, pull elbows back as you move chest forward and then reverse...exhale, start to concave your chest as you shoot your fingers straight forward fingers pressing against one another, engaging Maha bundha/body bundha.  Inhale, pull the elbows back again.  Exhale, Recha Kumkubacha - expell breath.

Asana:

5 x Sun A’s

1. Half Sun A.  Dip your chest low from Arda Uttanasana to forward fold and roll up to standing, undulate back down.

2-5)  Same as in round 1, but this time have them come from forward fold back to down dog instead of taking the vinyasa, then bring the knees down and dip chest, move through Updog without losing the chest opening, dip low for reverse chatarunga and pull back to Adho mukha svanasana, down dog, without losing the heart opening.  Much more heart opening.  Moving not mechanical, but organical. back up to samasdhittihi in reverse.

Core:  Navasana sit-ups x10.  From Ardha Navasana, inhale & open to the right with interlaced fingers behind your head, elbows wide, exhale & bring your left elbow to the right knee, inhale toes forward, exhale bring the knee back to the elbow while holding the twist x10.  Keep the knee in and twist the left elbow to the right knee, left leg is still hovering over the mat x10. Lower and lift the straight leg with arms crossed over in the diagonal, roll adductor muscles in x 10. Keep legs stable, lower and lift torso, reaching forward x 10.  Drop down to Wind-removing pose, right knee in and take a twist left, Supine Spinal twist.  Over again for the left side starting with 10 Navasana sit-ups.

5 x Sun B’s

1. Make sound effects and play with different speeds.  Super hero yoga.  Moving gracefully.  Grace is born from power.  Move from the Hara, belly center.  Bakasana, crow, to Adho Mukha Svanasana, down dog, drop knees, ashtanga pranam, roll up on all fours, roll forward to up dog, double dip chatarunga & drag back to down dog.  Downward Scorpion, Eka Padha Vakadamamukasvanasana.  Step forward into WIII, step back into Crescent lunge, Anjali Asana, kick left leg up and over right into Eagle pose, Garudasana, Flying Eagle.  Fling open into Arda Chandrasana, half moon, option for Chaprasana.  Giva squats to seated spinal twist.  Deep twist!  Seated Spinal Twist to Parsva Bakasana, Side Crow, to Chatarunga, jump into yogi squat and do Jumping Monkey all over your mat.
2. Start in Vrikshasana, Tree Pose, twist open to the opposite side, come back to center, forward fold and open into Ardha Chandrasana with tree leg, Twisted Half Moon with Vrikshasana leg, kick leg back and scoop hands to chest coming into WIII shoot fingers forward.  Stretch in opposite directions, inhale step back into Reverse Warrior, exhale WII, inhale Star, exhale horse, sexy dance, both ways, one way feels like the first time.
3. Ride the surge between levels of your practice.  Build a relationship with the ground, so you are not falling but moving with grace toward the floor.  From Utkatasana, slowly lower onto your sit bones and then back into plow pose, use your core. From Utkatasana take Crow pose, roll back and forth between Crow & Navasana.  Inhale to WI, exhale Triangle, Fallen Triangle.   Moksha- permission to fall & get back up again.  Chatarunga to Bujangasana, Sphinx, “Lion’s Breath.”  Otherside

Handstands & Backbends

Hip Openers

Savasana:

om kriyam namah

om womb, kriya is action, namah- self reflecting upon the self.  

My actions are aligned with the universe.

Quote:

“I will not die an unlived life.  I will not live in fear of falling or catching fire.  i choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open to me, to make me less afraid, more accesible, to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing torch, a promise.  I choose to risk my significance; to live so that which came to me as seed goes to the next as blossom and that which came to me as blossom, goes on to fruit.” - Dawna Markova

Rumi's Whirling Dervishes

Setting the theme/tone:  The most fundamental condition of our existence is to revolve.  Everything in the known universe takes part in a continual play of cycling, recycling and revolving.  When you spin, you take part in a re-enactment of this play.  The Whirling Dervishes are followers of the great Sufi poet Rumi and the tradition is about 7oo years old.  After a 2 year period of not talking following the death of his spiritual master, Rumi began to spin, and as he spun, entered a state of trance.  Born from this trance were all 200,000 of his sacred poems.  The Whirling Dervishes re-enact Rumi’s divine moment of inspiration by spinning to the left.  To the whirling dervishes also believe that spinning is a spiritual journey and when you partake you not only cleanse the bodies energetic system, you also pray.  

Deep Breathing Pranayama: from Supta Badokonasana place hands first onto belly and breath into your hands, then onto ribs and breath into your rib cage, then onto collar bones and breath into them.  Fill lungs to full capacity!!

Asana:

From Supta Badokonasana stretch one leg at a time and then take it into core & a supine spinal twist, then switch sides.

Sun A x 5

Sun B x 4

1-3) From Utkatasana open left & right and then go into airplane, then open right as you step left foot back (so now you are into Crescent lunge with a twist), Take Crescent and then go into Airplane, arms forward and then Warrior 3 with Airplane Arms, then full Warrior 3, Half Moon, Chaprasana, Standing Splits, then Crescent to Warrior II (hold 5 breaths), then Reverse Warrior.  Other Side starting from Utkatasana.

1. Sun B for Hip openers and with seated spinal twist

Sun C for quads, psoas, hamstring & Hanumanasana

Backbends at the wall

Spinning: Start spinning to the left with arms crossed and after a few rounds release the right hand skyward in prayer awaiting God’s beneficence, while the left hand turns down bestowing God’s gift to earth.  The gaze is at the left hand.  

Warm-down

Meditation:

Rumi Poem: This World Which Is Made of Our Love for Emptiness
Praise to the emptiness that blanks out existence. Existence:
This place made from our love for that emptiness!
 Yet somehow comes emptiness,
this existence goes.
 Praise to that happening, over and over!
For years I pulled my own existence out of emptiness.
 Then one swoop, one swing of the arm,
that work is over.
 Free of who I was, free of presence, free of dangerous fear, hope,
free of mountainous wanting.
 The here-and-now mountain is a tiny piece of a piece of straw
blown off into emptiness.
 These words I'm saying so much begin to lose meaning:
Existence, emptiness, mountain, straw:
 Words and what they try to say swept
out the window, down the slant of the roof.

5 Rhythms

Setting the theme/tone: 5 Rythms

Reading: “Energy moves in waves. Waves move in patterns. Patterns move in cycles. A human is just this, energy, waves, patterns, cycles.” -Gabrielle Roth

The 5Rhythms practice is a moving meditation, an improvisational form of dance. It is a map of the energetic wave that we see in the patterns, rhythms, and cycles of life.

In tonights class we will be exploring the 5 rhythms through yoga & we will also have a little improvisational dance where you will have the chance to explore them on your own.

Asana:

Starting in original asana holding Lola Mudra (arms out and bent in like your holding an invisible ball) for going freely.  Pranayama moving arms with the breath; on inhale arms come out to Lola Mudra, on exhale arms come back to Anjali Mudra (hands at heart center).

Core

Sun A’s

Sun B’s focusing on flow: (x2 guided, x2 on their own) Eagle to flying eagle to cresent to WII to Dancing Warrior to Reverse Warrior to Half Moon to Chaprasana to Dancer’s Pose. Other side.  (x1) Half Pidgeon & Runner’s with dancing variations

Sun C to open quads & hamstrings, Hanumanasana

Flowing connects us to the feminine and its movements are fluid & continuous

Staccato connects us to the masculine and its movements are taken on the exhale & they are clear, active & precise, taking angles & straight lines, stopping & starting

Chaos integrates these two energies, is the rhythm of spontaneous eruptions, let an impulse move all the way through you.

Lyrical leads to transformation, is the rhythm of trance, joy, celebration & adventure expressed in repetitive movements. 

"To sweat is to pray, to make an offering of your innermost self.  Sweat is holy water, prayer beads, pearls of liquid that release your past.  Sweat is an ancient and universal form of self-healing, whether done in the gym, the sauna, or the sweat lodge. I do it on the dance floor.

The more you dance, the more you sweat.  The more you sweat, the more you pray.  The more you pray, the closer you come to ecstasy." - Gabrielle Roth

From this transformative space we are connected to Stillness & its movements are gentle

LOST
Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying here
No trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.
-David Wagoner

Meditation:

Start to slowly dissipate into your mat, melting all of you.  Loosen completely and just let yourself unfold.  Body & mind are connected; if the body is still, then so too is the mind & if the mind is so too is the body.  Welcome this image...Imagine you are underwater.  Relaxed & calm, become one with the water.  Let it move you like a dance partner.  Predict its movements knowing that you and it are on in the same.  Co-create a dance with the water while staying totally relaxed in the body & mind.