Sweet Vinyasa, Wednesday @ 8:30am

Large Group. Maybe 17.

I have been getting technical lately and having fun with it. But today I tried to balance some of the technical with the energetics of the breath. Emphasizing getting the BASE, LANDING...then opening and lightening up.

Sit for a few minutes.
Om.

Slow Cat Dog with emphasis on feeling the changing stresses.
Child's Pose.
Half Dog
Plank
Dog
Uttanasana
Tadasana

Lately I have been playing with using the breath to help land. SO "big inhale, exhale haaaah, Land". The sense I am trying to share is the possibility of relaxing into each moment.

Cactus Arms to Cigarette Girl Arms Action to "Standing Chaturanga"

Cigarette Girl Arms is a new thing. Imagine one of those girls from the 40s with a tray full of cigars, gum, cigarettes for sale. Shoulders drawn back and down, tits forward, elbows in close to the body and palms up.

Keeping action of shoulders, turn palms down and flex palms. Now, you are in the position of chaturanga, but upright. We hang out here and play with moving from "plank" to "chaturanga" standing to memorize the shoulder action without the weight.

Release to hands behind back for clasped hands behind back forward fold.

Cactus Arms to Cigarette Girl Arms Action to "Shoulder Stand"
Create the cigarette girl position again.
Then from that position, keeping the shoulders back and down, playing with drawing elbows back to feel the effort in the shoulders to stay "aligned" as you do this. Eventually, the hands are on the sacrum region and chin is rolling forward and down, mimicking viparita karni. Some peeps might draw the hands up back to mimic shoulder stand.

Release to hands behind back for clasped hands behind back forward fold (funky knuckle on top).

Three 1/2 Suns

Sequence 1
Sun to lunge
Twisting Lunge
Warrior 1 (emphasis on grounding thru legs and letting heart float up)
Down Dog

Vinyasa 1
Plank
Chaturanga Hover
Locust to Cobra
Rocket Cat
Plank
Dog

Jump Forward
Complete Salute to Tadasana

Sequence 2
Sun to Lunge
Twisting Lunge
Warrior 1
Warrior 2 (moving in and out of it with breath to really LAND)
Side Angle Pose Preparation
Triangle
Side Triangle
Parsvakonasana (hand on inside of foot)
Deep Hip Opener
Down Dog

Repeat Vinyasa 1

Jump Forward
Complete Sun to Tadasana

Repeat Sequence 2

Vinaysa 2
Plank
Chaturanga Hover
Locust with arms along side, rocking it around.

Release to Rocket Cat and Child's Pose.

Roll up into vajrasana.

Cactus Arms to Sirsasana Arms.

Sirsasana Prep.
Sirsasana.
(Most everyone coming to class these days practices Sirsasana. We use the "3 block method" as a starter. I always give legs up the wall as an option. Virasana is an alternative too.)

Transition onto backs.

Bridge Pose with "cigarette girl" arms.
Viparita Karni with option to move to shoulder stand.

Plow
Karni Pidasana
Uttana Padasana

Knees to Chest
Spinal Twist

Savasana

Sit.
Om.