Durga: Be the Bow

Welcome, namaste. Today's practice today is Durga, become the bow. Durga is the warrior goddess with eight arms, and in one of her hands, she holds a bow and arrow. In this bow and arrow, she uses to pierce through the darkness to reveal a universal truth. This is really great panachad that mentions how the body becomes a bow, and the arrow is the om. The mind is the point at the tip of the arrow, and we use our minds and our bodies to pierce through the darkness to reveal that which is beyond the darkness. So in our practice today, we'll be working with this energy of Durga and this energy of becoming the bow and being that which reveals the truth beyond all the layers of coverings around the heart. So we'll begin today with a mantra, which is the seed mantra for Durga. And it's said to be a really powerful mantra. This mantra is om dum durgaye namaha. We'll chant it a few times together, and as soon as you get the hang of it, you're welcome to join in. So you can find your comfortable seat, and you're welcome to take a moment here and set your intention for your practice today, your Sankalpa. Maybe aligning yourself with this idea of becoming the bow. And so I'll begin, and you're welcome to join in whenever you're ready. We'll do four low and sort of four high. Let's begin with an om together. It's a deep breath inhale. Om dum durgaye namaha.

Om dum durgaye namaha. Om dum durgaye namaha. Keep going. Om dandargayena maha, Om dandargayena maha, Om dandargayena maha, Om dandargayena maha, Om dandargayena maha, Om dandargayena maha, Om dandargayena maha, Om dandargayena maha, Om dandargayena maha, Om dandargayena maha. Four more.

Om dandargayena mahat, om dandargayena mahat. Om dandargayena mahat, om dandargayena mahat. And together we'll take another deep breath in. And when you're ready, releasing your hands and opening your eyes and we'll begin standing. And we'll find our way to standing, feet hip-width distance apart and just taking a moment here to arrive.

You can turn your palms up, shoulder blades down the back. You're welcome to keep your eyes open or close your eyes and just taking a moment to really ground in. So this energy of Durga, she's really plugged into earth and into her Shakti, her power. She's really pulling up from the earth through the legs. And then when you're ready, both feet step together.

Arms release. We'll inhale, bring the arms over her head. We'll take Viramudra. So we'll interlace the hands together and then the point to your finger will point up. So this is a Hiramudra, warrior mudra, Durga being a warrior goddess, right?

And as we inhale, we lift up and we'll lean to the right. As you exhale, you'll take a side stretch leaning towards the right, anchoring in. Inhale come to center, exhale to the left and really keeping both ribs, the right and left ribs pointing forward, hugging in the low belly. Now as you inhale, you'll come up, exhale, you'll fold in, swan dive into a forward fold. Bend your knees if you need to here, we're still sort of warming up here together.

Inhale, halfway lift, fingertips to floor or shins, exhale, plant your hands, step or float back to Chaturanga or head through plank to Chaturanga, inhale, up dog, exhale, downward facing dog. Next inhale, the right leg sweeps to the sky, big breath in, exhale, step through warrior one, foot between your hands, your back foot spins to ground, inhale, arms reach up. So in this warrior one today, Viramudra, you're gonna place your hands together and then reach and the arms become like an arrow, right? So that arrow is the om, right? So finding your inner om, take a deep breath inhale, exhale, hands to the heart and then we'll inhale, we'll open up warrior two.

This next pose here is called archer. So what we'll do is we'll turn the palms up, you'll inhale, as you exhale, you'll reach your left hand forward, hands kind of clap together and as we inhale, we're gonna pull back, you're gonna bring the fingertips in, you'll pull your left elbow back and pause, gaze towards your right thumb, take an inhale, exhale, hands together, let's do two more. Inhale, pull it back, so you're like piercing through with your third eye through the darkness that which is beyond the darkness, exhale, hands together, one more, inhale, pull it back, exhale, release it down, hands to the mat, plank, inhale, we're gonna take both forearms down, so right forearm to the mat, left forearm to the mat, pause here. On your next inhale, use your right hand first, step it up, high plank, inhale, exhale lower to the floor, knees if you like, we're gonna take a cobra vinyasa, so hands stay under the shoulders, tops of the feet are down, inhale, either baby bhujangasana or a little bit bigger, exhale, come on down, downward facing dog, bring it back, take a moment if you need to, walk out your dog, right, use the breath, Durga uses her breath, right, she really rides that Shakti, that power that comes from Prana, next inhale, left leg sweeps to the sky, big breath, exhale, step through warrior one, back foot spins to ground, arms reach up, inhale, so again we're becoming the arrow in the arms, so interlacing, viramudra, and reach it up, if you like, gaze up, take a moment here, inhale, exhale, hands to heart, open, warrior two, palms turn, thumbs up, inhale, exhale, hands come together, so I'm gazing towards my left thumb, getting ready, inhale, pull back, really getting clear, that Dristi, that gaze, exhale, inhale, pull back, archer, exhale, hands together, one more, inhale, pull it back, get really clear, beautiful, exhale, hands release down, plank pose, take it back, inhale, exhale, left forearm down, right forearm down, oh yeah, the core of Durga, inhale, left hand first, we walk up, high plank, exhale, lower to the floor, cobra vinyasa, hands on her shoulders, inhale, lift through the heart, again baby cobra, maybe a little bit bigger expression today, inhale, exhale, downward facing dog, if you like, push your knees first, lift it up, and then really clawing into the mat, so your Durga pause, we're really anchoring in, inner thighs are back, heels are reaching, there's a sense of expansion from the heart and the inner thighs go back, breathe, and then go ahead, land your knees to the floor, widen the knees slightly, we're heading towards puppy dog pose or anahata asana, option is to take it, you know this style with the forearms down like a little dog or big puppy, arms reach out in front of you, you start to melt the heart towards the floor, big breath, try to keep the arms parallel if you can, and breathe, one more breath here, breathing, and then slowly walk up, nice work, so we're on all fours still, you can tuck your toes, three cat cows, inhale, lift through the heart, exhale, halloween cat, two more, inhale, heart lifts, tailbone lifts, exhale, reach it out, one more, inhale, lift through the heart, exhale, hug it in, now on this inhale we come to neutral, we're going to take a couple of hip circles, I'm going to inhale, take my hips towards my right heel around towards the left and then up through the left side, so two on each side, so you'll go around to the right, over to the left, and this is a way to sort of get into all those little, those nooks and crannies that need that extra love today, one more, making your way through, beautiful, and a little pause here at center, left knee steps slightly to the midline, tuck your left toes, inhale, you'll reach your right leg back behind you, now from here you can stay, or I'm going to reach back with my left hand, spin my thumb down, bend my right knee, see if I can catch my right foot, clawing the mat with my right hand, and we'll inhale, kick into a bow, breathing here, now I'm going to keep my foot lifted the best I can, I'll plant my left hand down, left toes tuck, three legged dog, inhale, big reach, if you like, gaze towards your foot, exhale, warrior one, step it through, you got it, back foot spins to ground, warrior one, viramudra hands, inhale, so we become the warrior, take a breath in, sit into your pose, exhale, hands to the heart, open warrior two, archer, thumbs up, inhale, exhale, hands together, inhale, pull it back, pause here, back hand to back leg, reverse your warrior inhale, now as you exhale you'll straighten your front leg, and then you'll inhale, now you're reversing your triangle, take a deep breath, exhale, triangle pose, hand reaches out, low ribs are in, hand can go to the shin or the floor, and then from here opposite hand to sky, now we'll head towards our half moon, artachandra, gazing towards your right big toe, left hand to left hip, step your back foot in, I'm going to pull my right foot in, and then I'm going to inhale, shift my weight forward, hand stays on her shoulder, artachandra, half moon, you can stay here, option is to add the bow variation, so again I spin my thumb back, you can stay here if this is perfectly fine for you, or I'm going to reach back, see if I can clasp the foot, I'm going to start by pulling the foot towards the hip, you can stay there or you can kick into a bow, and breathe, gently releasing on inhale, exhale, land, warrior two, inhale, pause, exhale, hands to the mat, plank pose, inhale together, exhale, right forearm down, left forearm down, side plank with the left forearm down, so from here I'm going to roll back to the outer edge of my left foot, stack my feet, I can kickstand with this right hand or right arm up, big breath in, push your thumb and first finger down in that bottom arm, exhale, hand down, toes down, push up with your right hand, inhale, hover if you like for a moment, exhale, hand to the mat, plank inhale, lower to the mat, exhale, cobra vinyasa, inhale, lift through the heart, exhale, downward facing dog, nice work, next inhale we land the knees, we sit up back on all fours, so for our second side I'll step my right knee in slightly, tuck the right toes for stability, inhale, reach the left leg back, find some space, stay here or bend the knee, reach the foot up, and then the right hand reaches around, thumb spins down from the shoulder, see if you can catch your foot, inhale, kick into your bow, so the body becomes a bow, right, breathe, now keep the foot lifted as much as you can, take your hand down, tuck your right toes, three legged dog, inhale, reach, I like to gaze towards the upper foot if I can, big breath, exhale, step through, warrior one, back foot spins to the ground, arms up on the inhale, you can do it, zero mudra, right, if you like, gaze up, hands to heart, open, warrior two, inhale, exhale, hands together, thumbs up, archer, inhale, pull back, get fierce, use that third eye to see what's behind you, backhand and back leg, reverse your warrior, inhale, exhale straight in the front leg, now we're in reverse triangle, big expansive breath, triangle pose, exhale, reach it out, again hand can find a block or the shin or the floor today and you're dropping your tailbone towards your back heel, then when you're ready on the inhale, the upper arm reaches up, you can stay here or hand to hip, look to your front big toe, bend your front knee, tip your back foot in or again you can pull that front foot in a little bit and then on your inhale we shift it forward, hand on your shoulder, toes towards it, right edge of your mat, arm up, so like Durga, she's in this field of battle right, the Dharma is what she's defending and just like us in our daily lives as we reach back we maybe bend the knee and find the foot, we're always in this dance right, defending our truth, you can stay here if you like, kick back into the bow, find your expression and then slowly release, inhale, bend your knee, reach it back, warrior two, hands to the mat, plank pose, oh yeah, exhale, forearms find their way, now this time we'll be on the right forearm, we'll go to the outer edge of the right foot, stack the feet, you can stay here, kick standing with your left hand or left arm up and breathe, enjoying your breath, exhale, left hand down, toes down, now all the power in that left hand, inhale, push up, hover your right hand, exhale, hand to the mat, look forward, inhale, we'll come onto our belly as we exhale, take your cobra vinyasa, inhale, lift through the heart, exhale, come on down, downward facing dog, and breathe, take another breath here in downward facing dog and then on our inhale we'll take our knees to the mat, follow and we'll come onto all fours, so my right knee stays down, I'm going to tuck the right toes, as I inhale I'm going to reach the left leg back behind me on the floor, and then from here I'm going to kick stand these right toes off to the side a little bit, you see that, you'll tuck your right toes, we'll set up on the right hand in the ground through that left foot, so my right toes are my balancing point, so you can off-road with those toes no problem, as we inhale you'll bring that arm up, so the body becomes a bow, you can stay here, spin your thumb back, bend your back and top knee, you can catch the foot, now I like to either quad stretch here pulling the foot in towards the hip, or if I'm feeling it I can really engage into that bottom arm and kick back into the bow, just really allow it to become the offering of Durga, so we're in this space of align the body to be that which pierces through, it helps us pierce through, beautiful, inhale, release, exhale, hand down, knee down, adjust your bottom knee, take a cat-cow, inhale, exhale, inhale to neutral, left knee down, left hand down, I'm going to kickstand my toes off-road, reach my right leg out, aligning up that right foot the best I can, again these toes you can adjust them but that's your balancing point, inhale, take your right arm up, now when you're ready you can spin the thumb back, reach behind you in space, and then bending that knee catching the foot, so again you can pull the foot in to start, stay here, or start to kick back into the bow, and breathe, Ujjayi, then releasing, inhale, exhale, hand down, cat-cow, inhale, lift through the heart, exhale, beautiful, and on your inhale you'll come to neutral, we'll come all the way down into our belly, so you can step your feet back, and then lower down, make a pillow with your hands, forehead on your pillow, you're welcome to pause here and rock your hips side to side, and then we'll reach the arms straight out for full posturation, so palms can be down, forehead down, you can also turn the palms up if you like and just take this moment of offering, alright so the body is the bow, the arrow is the om, the mind is its point, using that we pierce through darkness so that which is not enveloped by darkness, so that which is beyond, so using the practice to pierce through, now as you next inhale, you're going to lift your chin, you're going to reach your arms out, feet lift, inhale, now this is a pull back, as you exhale you'll pull your elbows back and try to clap your feet like a frog, inhale, reach back, and out, exhale, keep going, inhale, exhale, two more, reach it out, inhale, exhale, offer it up, last one, inhale, exhale, beautiful, inhale, reach it out, exhale, lower it down, forehead on your pillow, rock out your hips, nice work, come into sphinx pose, so come onto your forearms, and again the adjustment of the elbows here is what's important, so if this feels too deep for you to have your elbows underneath your shoulder, walk your hands away from you a little bit, we'll take a quad stretch here, you're welcome to bring your right hand more to the midline, I'm going to reach back with my left hand, bend my knee, simple quad stretch or if you have arta bhikasana you can take that, otherwise just pulling in the foot, everything here, enjoying the opening with the breath, and then gently releasing and switching sides, so again the left hand can turn in slightly for stability and support, and then maybe you bend your knee, reach back, simple quad stretch to begin, or arta bhikasana positioning, fingertips point forward, elbow back, so allowing ourselves to open up into those places of power in the body, these deep quad stretches help us access that power as you release your arm and your foot, and then from here you'll come up onto your knees and go ahead and grab your block, so we're going to set up with a block as a way to support us in a bow or half bow, this might be a little bit different than what you're used to, and you're welcome to also use some blankets instead, but what we'll do is we'll have the block down, and then I'm going to come to lie down on my block, so the block is going to be just around the navel area for me, maybe between the hips and the ribs, if you have that kind of space, and it's going to become like my support, my forearms will be down, tops of feet are going to release, so it's a version of sphinx pose here, and then when you're ready you're actually going to engage into that block and come up into a lifted sphinx pose, it's like seal, now from here you can stay, this is enough, or I'm really going to engage through the right hand, and I'll bend my left knee, I'm going to reach back, catch the foot, we're going to do the inside, and then from there I'll kick into this half bow, so imagine yourself like Durga riding your tiger, this beautiful sense of expression, and then releasing that leg, left hand down, bend your right knee, reach back, if you can't catch inside a foot or ankle, and then find your bow, find your expression, and allow the block to support you, so I'm using the block as a way to create the space, slowly release, nice work, and then staying in a sphinx with the block for a moment, you can rock out your hips, now the option is to use a block and do one side and the other side again, like we just did, or I'm going to come back to my left leg and then add my right leg, so I'm going to do both legs at the same time, so we'll start again, lift it up in our seal position, and then when you're ready, reach back, bend your left knee, catch the foot, and again this could be enough today, or I'm going to actually use my belly into the block, I'm going to resist the block, bend my back knee, catch the inside, and then ah, bow, breathe, so there's a sense of regalness to this pose, this variation, the heart's lifted, we're finding our expression, inhale, and then slowly release, push your hands down, come off your block, nice work, just set your block to the side, we might use that later, and then come down onto your belly without your block, and then you're welcome to windshield wiper your shin, so forehead down, bend your knees, wiper your shin side to side, now we'll release the legs back, and we'll set it for our dhanurasana, our bow, and so you'll go to your degree today, so my forehead's down, and bend my knees, and reach back, grab the tops of the feet or the ankles, so this time we're grabbing on the outside of the feet and ankles, and then on your inhale you'll kick into your bow, and breathe, for one, om, two, the om is the arrow, three, ah, four, and then slowly release, nice work, pillow, forehead down, rock it outside to side, let's take one more of those together, so when you're ready, reaching back, bend your knees, tops of the feet or ankles, engage with the feet, in this round, see if you can really move your pinky toe towards the back of your mat, so instead of having the toes pointing out, we're gonna move the toes back, getting internal rotation of the thighs, inhaling when you're ready, kicking it up, lifting the heart, one, om, two, the body is the bow, three, ah, big breath, inhale, exhale, nice work, make a pillow, this time bend your knees, wiper your shins side to side, nice work, and then releasing your legs down, so from here we're gonna take ourselves into what we call like a half frog on our belly, and so we'll bend our left knee, and you'll bring your left knee out to the side, and then you'll flex your left ankle, and my left ankle is underneath my left knee, and we'll pause here, you can take your chin onto your pillow hands, relieving some of that tension, or make your way onto your forearms for a version of sinks with frog, I love neck circles here, so if that sounds good to you, you can dip the neck low and take it side to side, relieving some of that tension from becoming the bow, Durga is a warrior goddess, so she's in that field of battle, really riding her Shakti, her prana, so allowing the energy to move through us as well as we pause here, and then if you're up here on your sphinx arms, we'll take the right hand behind the left elbow, we'll reach it across, we're gonna roll onto our back, you ready, so you're gonna roll onto your back into a twist, so from here, my left knee is across, and then I'll tee out my left arm and gaze to the left, so we're off-roading just a little bit off your mat, but that's okay, and then on the next inhale, slowly take your time, coming back onto your belly, if you like through sphinx, reach the left leg back, and then come all the way down onto your belly, forehead down, right knee reaches out on your next inhale, flex your ankle, toes point out, again you can stay here, or chin to hand, or it's onto the forearms for our sphinx variation, you can stay here or head side to side, so clearing the path, it's said that Durga has a third eye, just like Shiva, and it's from that third eye that she's able to manifest and unmanifest all three realms, all the universes, and then if that feels good, we'll pause and left palm up, hand behind elbow, and we'll roll onto our backs, taking your time, your unfurl right arm out, right knee to the left, and you can use your left hand if you like on that right knee, you can gaze towards the right, letting go of some of that tension in the waist, and then on our next inhale, coming back through sphinx onto our belly, reaching that leg out, and then from here we're going to grab our block and we're going to come onto your back. So once you lie on your back, you'll locate your block, and you'll choose if you want your block to go low, high, or the lowest setting, so we want to get a little traction with the sacrum with this today, so this might be high enough for you today, seeing if you can get that underneath that bony triangle of the sacrum, and then I'm going to extend my legs out, and after all those bows, getting that traction, seeing if you can bring your awareness towards your third eye, close your eyes, so like Durga, allowing ourselves to turn inward, that inward turning of the dristi, of the gaze, of our awareness, and then from here your feet walk in, and you'll lift your hips off your block, and then go ahead, set your block to the side.

The right knee will draw in towards the chest, the left foot is down, right ankle will find left knee for tailor stretch or pigeon prep, this might be enough for you today, or you'll draw your knee into your chest, you can interlace behind the left thigh, or left shin, and hug in. This is one of my favorite counter poses for backbends, allowing ourselves to breathe into those places that need it the most, right, piercing through with the breath to uncover that which lies beyond the tension, right, using your breath here, a couple of moments, and then as I release, I'm going to keep the ankle to the knee, and I'll tee out my arms, and as I inhale, I'm going to lean the whole unit, and maybe even walk this left foot more towards the right edge of the mat, and then lean the whole thing over towards the left, and this becomes a double pigeon, but really sweet, a sweet activation version of it, so from here, I'm going to lift the right foot quite a bit, and it'll allow the right knee to lean to my degree, keep ankles really engaged, breathe, so it's like a hovering pigeon, it's like Durga in midair, right, this hovering pigeon, and then as I inhale next, the knee lifts, and then the whole thing comes to center. As you exhale, just cross the right knee, and then allow the knees to lean back to the left, gaze to the right, just a little simple, a little sweet opening. One more breath, inhale to center, unravel your legs, shake them out, and then we'll take second side, right knee bends, left ankle, right knee, interlace the hands if you need to, lift your chin to find that interlace, and again, we're really in this dorsiflex position in this left ankle, that's what's going to support the opening in the hip, and a sense of expression in the body too, so everything is nice and active, and we'll hug in and breathe. See if you can create space with your breath, right, and you can even bring that mantra back in here too, Om Dom Durga Ye Namaha.

Dom is the seed mantra, the seed syllable for Durga, it's her seed sound, it's actually said to be Durga herself, right, so we're calling in that archetype, when you're ready, you'll release the foot, and then the whole thing leans over towards the right, I'm going to walk my right foot in, and then allow the whole thing to lean, and then the left foot gently lifts, and then I allow the left knee to open, or hovering pigeon, right, that sense of spaciousness, hopefully opening up for you as we're here, and again, keeping the ankle really engaged. On your next inhale, the knee magically lifts, exhale, bringing it to center, left knee crosses right, half wrap, and again the knees go back to the right, this time I'm going to gaze towards the left, allowing the twists and the ribs to really happen, releasing some of the tension from the bows, right, becoming the bow, breathing here, and as we next inhale, we draw the knees to center, and shake out your legs. On your next inhale, draw your right knee into your chest, give it a nice hug, and as we exhale, we'll extend the right leg, so we're going to create like a 90 degree angle here, and you'll take your hands behind your thigh, you can massage your hamstrings if you like, give it a little love, and then plugging your leg into the earth, like using your hands to plug that femur in, right, because Durga's plugged in, and then you can stay here if this feels like enough, or you'll walk up just a little bit with your hands, it's more available to you to grab the big piece fingers to the big toe, go ahead or grab the outer foot, pause here, left hand to left thigh, again you can hold the outer shin if you like to, on our next inhale we'll take the leg up and over towards the right I'm going to use my elbow on the mat, you don't have to go that far, I'll place my elbow down, and then I'll look towards the left, inhale bring your leg up, I like to call this all hands on deck, so both hands find the leg, inhale, exhale we'll lift up, leg towards you, you towards your leg, inhale head and chest go down, slowly lower your leg to the mat, inhale left knee hugs in, give a nice hug, exhale extend your leg, again give yourself a little massage, stay here plug it in, if it sounds appealing you'll walk up, maybe hold the outer foot, hold the outer shin, right hand to right thigh, inhale exhale, leg maybe goes just a little ways, or you'll go to your degree, maybe you look past your right shoulder, keep breathing, on my exhale I zip it all together, inhale bring the leg up, all hands on deck as I exhale pause, inhale take a deep breath and then exhale I'll lift myself towards my leg, my leg towards my chest, inhale head and chest down, exhale slowly lower your leg to the floor, go ahead shake them out, we're going to set up here for Shavasana, so you're welcome to stay here, and a sweet Shavasana on your back, palms up, legs wide, you're also welcome to join me in a seat as I grab my harmonium and we'll meet in a seat. So if you're in your seat you'll close your eyes, if you're on your back still you can close your eyes and bring your awareness towards your third eye, it's said from Durga's third eye that blazing awareness all things manifest, it's from that awareness that we're able to pierce through and cut through illusion, it's from that awareness that we're able to bring forth what we're called to bring forth into the world, and so as you return to your intention your Sankopa, take a moment to allow your energy to carry your intention, you might even imagine that you're carrying that intention up from the heart to your third eye, like it's ready to blaze forth into being, as we chant here together Om dum durgayena maha, you might find yourself staying with that awareness meditation and joining in whenever you're ready. Om dum durgayena maha, keep going, Om dum durgayena maha, Om dum durgayena maha, Om dum durgayena maha, Om dum durgayena maha, Om dum durgayena maha, Om dum durgayena maha, Last four.

Om dandar gayena maha. Om dandar gayena maha. Om dandar gayena maha. Om dandar gayena maha. Hands come together in prayer.

You can bring both hands up, thumbs to the third eye, and take this moment to dedicate your practice. And literally transmitting that intention out into the world. Dedicating your practice in some way. Lokha samastasukino bhavantu. May all beings be happy and free.

And we'll close with an om together. Deep breath, inhale. Om. Namaste. Thank you so much for showing your practice today.