Fundamental Asanas

Welcome back. I hope you've learned something from the tutorials that I've offered. Now let's practice together. Let's integrate all the details that we've learned by workshopping different postures and vinyasa and approach. And let's just go through a shortened practice through the fundamental asanas and a short backband and finishing sequence. So without further ado, come to the top of your mat. Find samastitihi, feet together, tailbone in a neutral place. With your next exhale, really draw into bandhas. Surinamaskar, eh? Ekam, inhale. Floating the chest upwards, see the hands meet. Dway exhale. Emptying the belly, fold forward, drop the head. Trini, inhale, head up, look forward. And chattwari, exhale. Your way to any chaturanga variation that serves you. Punch, inhale. Upward facing dog, the elbows micro bent, shadha exhale, downward facing dog. Lifting the hips to the back corner of the room. One, letting the head dangle freely. Two, feeling that every breath refines mula nudiyana bandha. Three, keeping the belly drawing in towards the spine. Four, the pelvic floor lightly lifted and engaged, exhaling completely. Five, sapta, inhale, step or jump the feet forward, look forward with the head up. Ashtau, exhale and fold forward, drop the head. Navain, inhale, rising up, see your thumbs meet together, shoulders down. Exhale, samasti to him. Again, ekam, inhale. Drishti, thumbs, dway exhale. Drishti, nose. Trini, inhale, the eyes look forward. Chattwari, exhale. Chin forward, Drishti, nose. Panchen, inhale. Sharak, exhale. One, let your eyes find a still place to rest upon. Two, so you may look on your knees, your navel or your nose. Three, and try to approach that stillness internally, manifesting mula nudiyana bandha. Four, just keeping some awareness through the pelvic floor and lower abdomen. Five, sapta, inhale, step or hop forward, head up. Ashtau, exhale, fold forward, drop the head. Navain, inhale, see your thumbs, exhale, samasti to him. Last one, ekam, inhale, the arms come up, see thumbs, dway exhale, fold forward, trini, inhale. Chattwari, exhale. Panchen, inhale. Sharak, exhale, to downward facing dog. Spreading your fingers, spreading your toes, one. So you feel the thumbs really drawing back so the thumbs may point towards one another. Two, and allowing the shoulders to melt away from the ears by rolling the triceps forward to the face. Three, keeping space between the breaths. Four, lengthening the spine. Five, sapta, inhale, step or hop forward, head up. Ashtau, exhale, and fold, see your nose. Navain, inhale, rise up, see thumbs. Exhale, samasti to him. We'll move on to surinamaskarabhi, ekam, inhale, moving the center of the body down towards the mat, bending the knees, then lifting the arms, see thumbs. Dway exhale, fold forward, see your nose. Trini, inhale, head up. Chattwari, exhale, jump back, chaturanga. Panchen, inhale, upward facing. Sharak, exhale, downward facing dog. Sapta, inhale, the right foot forward, the hands up, shoulders down, see thumbs. Ashtau, exhale, chaturanga, dandasana. Navain, inhale, upward facing. Dasha, exhale, downward facing. Ekadasha, inhale, left foot forward, see your thumbs. Dwarsha, exhale, chaturanga dandasana. Triyugdasa, inhale. Chaturgdasa, exhale. One, two, hearing the sound of your own deep full breath. Three, four, five. Pancharasha, inhale, jump forward, head up. Shodhasha, exhale, and fold deeply. Saptarasha, inhale, bend the knees, knees squeezed together, see hands meet. Exhale, samastitihim. Last one. Ekam, inhale. Dway, exhale. Trini, inhale. Chattwari, exhale. Pancha, inhale. Shar, exhale. Sapta, inhale. Ashtau, exhale. Navain, inhale. Dasha, exhale.

Ekadasha, inhale. Dwarsha, exhale, measuring the breath back of the throat. Triyugdasa, inhale. Chaturgdasa, exhale. Bandhas, one, hearing the sound of breath. Two, the eyes gazing. Three, on a single point. Four, five. Pancharasha, inhale. Shodhasha, exhale. Saptarasha, inhale. Exhale, samastitihim. Into the standing pose as we go. Inhale, jump your feet apart, grab your big toes, head up long spine, look forward. Parangusthasana, Ekam, inhale. And Dway, exhale. Drop the top of the head, let the elbows come back a touch, and find a still spot or look upon the nose. One. If you need to bend the knees, do so. Two, if you're comfortable with straight legs, lean a little weight forward. Three, so your heels only press down lightly on the mat. Four, growling through the root knuckle, the big toe mound. Five, trini, inhale. Straight arms, straight spine, head up. Exhale, put the hands under. Step all the way to the wrists. Parangusthasana, Ekam, inhale. Again, straight arms, straight spine, head up. Dway, exhale. Drop the top of the head, and look towards the nose. One, or down the cheeks. Two, kneecaps lifted so thighs are strong. Three, always free to modify any pose whenever you feel it's right for you. Four, five, panchay, inhale. Trini, inhale, excuse me. Exhale, hands, and come up to samastitihi. Utitatriconasana, Ekam, inhale. Step your right foot back, and then pivot on the right heel, so your toes face towards the back of the room. And Dway, exhale, reaching out over the right thigh. Your hand might dangle, that's fine. Or you might even reach in and take the big toe, looking onto your left thumb. One, still keeping some space between the breaths.

Two, the tongue tucked behind the upper teeth, a little smile. Three, four, kneecap lifted, strong right leg. Five, Trini, inhale, come up, pivot on the heels to keep the distance the same. And Chaturwadi, exhale, reach out over the left side. Hand could hang, or you might take the big toe. One, two, three, not dumping, but staying lifted. Four, so you're transferring no weight from the left hand down. Five, Pancha, inhale, come up, pivot on the feet, change the side, the hips square to the front of the room, or the back of the room. And then parivrttadriconasana, Dway, exhale, keeping the hips squaring, fold forward, drop your left hand down, maybe even outside the right foot, spread the fingers and ground, and draw your right shoulder and then your hand up and gaze towards the lifted right thumb. One, two, three, always keeping the space through the spine. Four, lengthening your spine towards the back of the room. Five, three, inhale, come up, pivot on your heels to change the side, keep the step the same length and same width. And then Chaturwadi, exhale, folding forward, keeping that left hip drawing back, drop the right hand, extend the head towards the front of the room, and then lift your left arm up. One, try to stack the shoulders above one another.

Two, and keeping some integrity in the breath. Three, four, five. Inhale, come up, feet parallel and arms out, and exhale back to samastitihi, top of the mat. Utita parivrttadriconasana, acam inhale, step your right foot really far, a long step, and then pivot upon your right heel, and Dway, exhale, bend your right knee, either the forearm or the hand down. And if you are putting the hand down, feel the right knee move into the right shoulder, one. So that right knee wants to move laterally into the right shoulder, connecting to the right shoulder, two. And that relationship between the knee and shoulder as they touch develops here, three, and it keeps developing through all the series of ashtanga, through each and every practice, and poses, four, five, trainee, inhale, come up, pivot on the feet, and chatwari, exhale, and bend your knee, go down. One, the left knee moving out into the left shoulder, two, so you keep external rotation through the left thigh, three, all the while restraining four, and keeping the breath long and smooth and supple, five, punchy, inhale, come up, pivot on the feet to change the side, parivrttadriconasana, it may be that you take a modification, that's great, gazing upwards as the spine twists one, or maybe your shoulder gets all the way locked over the knee, and the other arm could reach towards the corner of the room, two, three, four, five, trainee, inhale, come up, pivot on the feet to change the side, same width, same length, and chatwari, exhale, bend the knee and twist, one side might be modified, one side might not, honor and respect the differences between the sides, one, if you're deep in the pose, feel the belly drawing away from the thigh, two, so the belly cruises towards the lumbar spine, three, udiyana bandha, all the while, four, five, punchy, inhale, come up, expansive, and exhale, contracting back to samastitihi, step to the right feet, parallel hands on the waist, drei, exhale, fold forward, put the hands in between the feet, again inhale, head up, and trainee, exhale, bend the elbows, keeping the elbows moving in towards one another and drop the head, one, two, still weight can lean forward, off of the heels towards the root knuckles, three, four, five, chatwari, inhale, straight arms, straight spine, head up, exhale here, and punchy, inhale, rise up, and exhale, b, i can inhale, lift the chest, roll the shoulders open, arms out, drei, exhale, take your waist, again inhale, chin down, chest up, and trainee, exhale, fold forward and drop the head, one, two, three, the fingertips spying on the activities, vudyana bandha, four, five, chatwari, inhale, rising all the way up, and exhale here, c, i can inhale, the arms out to the side, drei, exhale, interlace your fingers behind the sacrum, again inhale, lengthen the arms, open the collarbones, tailbone down, and trainee, exhale, fold forward, bringing the hands up, away from the back, and perhaps even down towards the mat, one, if you can bring weight forward to the fronts of the feet, you might find that very helpful, two, two, kneecaps lift, three, still strong legs, four, five, chatwari, inhale, come all the way up, and exhale, hands take the waist, d, i can inhale, holding the waist, chest up, chin down, drei exhale, fold forward, grab your big toes, again inhale, straight arms, straight spine, head up, and trainee exhale, drop the head, keep the elbows moving out to the sides, one, so they don't move forward, they don't move back, just out to the side, two, keeping space between the bones and the shoulders, three, and space between the breaths as well, four, five, chatwari, inhale, head up, exhale here, operating with restraint, not moving, and then pancha, inhale, come up, take the waist, exhale back to samastitihi, top of the mat, parsvottanasana, akkam, inhale, step your right foot just a little bit back, pivot on your heels so your hips face towards the back of the room, and then take your hands into any of the hand positions which are discussed in a previous tutorial, and drei exhale, lengthen the spine out over the right thigh, look down into the big toes, keeping the hips square and spine long, one, two, restraining yourself from having the spine buckle, or sag, three, just try to keep the length through the upper back, four, five, trainee, inhale, come up, pivot to change the side, hips square, chatwari, exhale, and lengthen out over your left thigh, the drishti or gazing point onto left big toe, two, three, four, five, punch, inhale, come up, feet parallel, arms out, and exhale back to samastitihi. Now to bring us to a mini backbend and finishing sequence, we'll do a sun salutation, akkam, inhale, arms up, see thumbs, drei exhale, fold forward, drop the head, trainee, inhale, head up, look forward, waiting for the breath, chatwari, ride the exhale back to chaturanga, not hurrying, punch, inhale, measuring the breath back of the throat, sharp exhale, downward facing dog, finding the complete posture there, and then sapta, inhale, jump through to dandasana. And now keeping legs straight, exhale, and slowly control the descent and lower down on your back. I'll turn around so that you can see me better.

And from that lying down position, the straight legs, we'll do some modified backbends. If you know full Urdhva Dhanurasana, you're welcome to do it here. Ashta, exhale, bend your knees and put your feet flat upon the floor, keeping the feet parallel, at least a hips distance apart. If you want to know more details about backbending, look at the tutorial, inhale up. But for now, we'll do modified backbends together, exhaling completely, grounding the root knuckles, tucking the tailbone under deeply, inhaling, now lift your hips up off the mat and then roll your shoulders under deeply, maybe even interlacing the fingers beneath the pelvis.

One, trying to keep your knees close and feet parallel. Two, still remembering to draw in lower abdomen. Three, certainly not going up any higher than feels comfortable. Four, and hopefully you can feel some spreading in between the shoulder blades. And then five, exhale and come down, take a breath or two here.

And we'll do two more together. Inhale, come up, one, two, three, four, five, exhale, come down, take a breath or two here, making sure the feet stay parallel, the heels are as wide or wider than sitting bones, wider than the hips completely. Exhale completely, tucking under, and now inhale, come up. One, you might roll your shoulders under more deeply to get more lift. Two, three, knees staying close, four, five, and dasha, exhale, come down, lower down.

And for today we'll counter pose your backbends. If you've done full Urdhva Dhanurasana, do a full counter pose. If you have done, just like I have done, the halfway lifting bridge there, then maybe it's enough to roll your knees into your chest, do a little rolling from side to side, forward and back, whatever feels right. Roll up to the front of the mat. And from Dandasana, Ovinyasa, exhale, cross the legs, plant the hands, inhale, lift up off the mat, exhale, step back, Chaturanga, inhale, upward facing, exhale, downward facing dog, inhale, stepper jumps through and find Dandasana.

And we'll do a modified finishing inversion sequence with straight legs, exhale, slowly control the descent as you lower down. You could do Viparita Karani, inhaling to bring straight legs. So the feet are just above the hips, one, bending the knees if you needed to. You may be also, two, going to a wall, and resting your feet up the wall if that's comfortable. Three, or taking on even half shoulder stand, bringing the hips up slightly, walking the hands to hold the sacrum, and lifting the legs up towards the sky. Four, five, six, the drishti may go down the tip of the nose.

Seven, need not watch your toes here. Eight, nine, 10. And for today, slowly exhale, let the spine roll down the mat, and then let the straight legs descend as well. And we'll take a modified Matsyasana fish pose here. Inhale, lifting the chest up off the mat. Keep your hands free just next to the hips and drop the head back.

Look towards the third eye. The head might even rest upon the mat. One, the fingers know, two, that the abdomen is drawing into the spine. Three, four, opening the chest, opening the throat. Eight, five, six, seven, eight. And exhale, slowly lower yourself down upon the mat. You can perform chakrasana here if you like, or simply roll on up, and find yourself taking a seated position at the top of your mat.

We'll do a very short seated finishing. Any comfortable cross-legged position will do. Find that you're able to take the hands back behind you in some way, doing yoga mudra, either taking elbows or taking the tops of the feet if you're in lotus and that's available to you. Inhaling here, you might even lift the drishti, raising the gaze up, keeping the gaze lifted. Exhale and fold forward, trying to keep some rise through the eyes. Long, smooth, full breath. We'll just hold it three breaths here today.

One, let's see if those breaths can be long and slow, full and deep. Two, three. Inhale, rising up. Release the hands. Let the index finger and some lightly touch. Focus on your breath, honoring the spaces that occur in between the breaths. Breathing at your own slow pace, allowing the breath to remind you, drawing awareness, deep, internal.

Planting the hands down by the hips, up, inhale and lift up off the mat. And again, in the shortened finishing practice, we'll just take a few breaths here. One more breath. And exhale, come down. You can take a vinyasa here if you like, or, right from uplutihi, simply unfold the legs and roll down to take rest. Let your palms roll up to the sky. Let your feet roll out to the side.

Let the head roll from side to side until it finds a comfortable resting node and completely let go. Just a few minutes here, it may be the most important practice of your day. Letting go of the bandhas, the eyes are closed, letting go of the drishti. Letting breath come and go however it naturally flows. Still not moving, just draw awareness back to your breath. No need to change or manage the breath.

However you're breathing naturally at this moment is perfect. Simply notice when the body swells up with an inhale, where in the body the breath goes. And when you exhale naturally, which part of the body gets narrower? Feel the expansion and the narrowing, the natural flow of breath through the body, and expand that awareness out through the hips, through the shoulders, to the fingers and toes. And with your next inhale, you might start to move the fingers and toes a little, eventually bringing some movement back through the arms and legs, through the neck and head, through the limbs, however is comfortable, whatever feels right for you.

Eventually bringing the feet together and hands together, inhale and stretch along, and with an exhale roll over into one side or the other. Take a few breaths doing there, you can gently open the eyes. And as you like, at your own pace, bring yourself back up to a seated posture any sitting will do. Hopefully you've been able to integrate all of these little details which we keep working on, and hopefully this practice serves you. It's been really enjoyable for me to practice with you, I hope we get a chance to practice together again.