Courtesy of: Advanced Level Practice September 2017 Sequence created & modeled by: Aretha McKinney Blevins, Intermediate Junior III CIYT, Nashville, TN Photography: Cassie O’Sullivan, Introductory I/II CIYT, Nashville, TN Aretha McKinney Blevins is a certified Intermediate Junior III Iyengar Yoga teacher. Aretha studies and attends workshops and teacher trainings with Patricia Walden, her mentoring teacher, along with taking workshops with other senior teachers in the Iyengar tradition when possible. She will be making her 6th trip to India for studies at RIMYI this coming December. Aretha has been the owner and director of the Iyengar Yoga Center in Nashville since 2006 where she teaches general classes for all levels. After assisting with Jan Campbell and Patricia Walden’s teacher training programs, Aretha started her first Iyengar Yoga Teacher Training program in 2017. In addition to her Iyengar certification, Aretha holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in Classical Studies from Vanderbilt University. Sequence for Parsva Bakasana All the standing poses should be held for a few breaths and repeated several times to warm the body. You can use bricks, the wall, or chair support according to your abilities and needs. Approximate time: Depending on repetitions, this sequence should take 1-1.5 hrs. Tadasana Spread the feet well. From the top buttock, stretch downward to the heels. Tighten the knees to extend the legs fully. Press the inner heels down and spread from the inner heel to the outer heel. Observe how the press of the inner heels down helps establish the grip of the outer thighs and hips in. Cut the outer calves slightly in and suck the inner knees and thighs up to help lift the pelvis and extend the lower spine. Observe how these small grips bring lightness and space to the spine. Keep the buttocks down and lift the side waist upward to open the lower spine further. Extend the arms, tighten the elbows, and suck the shoulder blades in to further lift the side waist and spread the chest. Although these are basic instructions and Tadasana is a well-known pose, it is useful to spend time going through Tadasana as it sets the stage for every pose to come. 1 Vrksasana Maintain the press of the balance leg heel and the grip of that outer calf/thigh in as established in (can use wall for a support) Tadasana. On the bent leg, spread the foot as in Tadasana and press the foot into the inner thigh of the straight leg. Especially press through the ball of the big toe mound and the outer heel while you reach out through the inner leg to open the groin fully. Cut the bent leg outer calf in and observe how it assists in opening the groin. Observe again how these small efforts and grips bring stability and lightness to the spine. Use the arms to reach up to stretch the spine fully. Grip the outer shoulder blades in and tighten the elbows to further extend the arms. Virabhadrasana II Many of the actions in the last pose are applied here. As in Vrksasana, cut the outer calf of bent leg in and reach out through that inner knee. Bring the bent leg buttock down and forward to open groin, keeping the back leg straight. Keep the hips level and the outer hips gripped in to give an even upward extension to the spine. The spine should not tilt. Grip the outer shoulder blades here to support the lift of chest and extension of the arms. Utthita Parsvakonasana Bend the leg as in the last pose. As you bring the hand down, invigorate the reach of the back leg and keep the back leg inner knee lifted. Don’t collapse into the pose. The effort to stay light is harder here as the weight of the trunk comes down. You must use the earlier grips at outer thigh and hips to maintain stability and lightness. Make the top and bottom ribs parallel and extend the side waist over the bent leg thigh. Balance the reach into the back leg heel with the reach of the top arm and rotate the abdomen to open ribs maximally. Virabhadrasana I As in all practices, intelligence is cumulative and many actions repeated. We are using this pose to prepare the body for twisting. Start with the legs straight and establish the turning of the trunk. Especially on the front leg, that side of pelvis must lift to turn the abdomen. The gripping in of the outer calves, thighs, and hips is what helps the trunk to lift and turn. The earlier poses in this way have tilled the soil for this pose. Keeping the knee in line with the foot, grip the bent leg outer calf and thigh in and cut them back to help bring the straight leg hip around and turn further. Turn the ribs further and grip the outer shoulder blades in to support the lift and turn of upper chest. The shoulder blade of the forward leg especially must draw onto the back to help the torso turn. 2 Parivrtta Parsvakonasana Maximize reach of the back leg as you turn and hook the arm. Keep the grip and lift of the bent leg hip especially as you work to turn the lower abdomen. Really suck the outer hips in and feel how it assists the turning of the abdomen and keeps that feeling of lightness. Don’t collapse as you turn. Stay compact. Press arm to turn upper abdomen and chest further. Since it is more difficult to open the ribs here, you must intensify the reach of the top arm. Give several attempts at this pose to go further. Adho Mukha Svanasana Reach down into the palms as you stretch up through the arms. Reach down into the heels as you stretch up through the legs. Tighten the elbows and hit forearms up and away from floor as you press shoulder blades onto the back. At the same time, increase the stretch of the legs moving top thigh back. Without twisting at the knee, roll the front thighs in and grip the outer hips in while pressing the thighs back to give maximum stretch to the lower spine. Uttanasana Feet together, hands down, head down – for release and in preparation for inversions and increasing stretch to spine/back waist in preparation for Bakasana. Adho Mukha Vrksasana Reach down into the palms and stretch up through the arms, especially the inner arms. Keep shoulder blades sucked in as you kick up and maintain that grip. Keep reaching down into palms as you reach up through the legs. As in Adho Mukha Svanasana, roll the front thighs in and suck outer legs and hips in and extend up through the inner legs to heels to get maximum lift and lightness. 3 Sirsasana II If using wall, place head about 2-3 inches out from the wall. Place the head down. Place the hands Can use the wall for support if so that they are forward of the head and under the elbows. Have the palms/elbows in line with the needed. shoulders. The forearms should be absolutely perpendicular to the floor and over the wrists. As in the last pose, press down into palms and lift inner arms. Grip the shoulder blades firmly in as you come up. Don’t let the forearms or shoulders collapse. Use the grips of arms and legs to make the pose light as you experienced earlier. Paschimottanasana Start in Dandasana. Roll the front thighs in and extend out through the inner legs. At the same time, pull the back of the thighs towards the buttock to lift the spine up. From here, reach forward and catch the feet. Intensify the effort of the legs and stretch the spine up maximally and then come forward. Stay for a few breaths. Marichyasana III From Dandasana, bend the right leg. Press down into the right foot as you would in Tadasana. Keep Take the support of a folded blanket or the straight leg as in Dandasana. As in earlier poses, grip the outer legs in to support the lift and two to help achieve a greater lift to the extension of the spine as you turn and hook. Much of the intelligence of the earlier poses must be spine if needed. harnessed here, integrating earlier efforts and grips. Use the arms and legs to assist turn as in Parivrtta Parsvakonasana. Make repeated efforts to bring the outer armpit closer to the bent leg outer knee. Malasana Heels on blanket. Knees and thighs together. 4 Parsva Bakasana From Malasana, turn as in Marichyasana III and hook the left upper arm to the outer right thigh. From here, place palms evenly as you did in Sirsasana II. Raise the hips and buttocks and shift the weight over the palms. See that the weight is even between the hands and that the hips are centered between the hands. Don’t let one palm bear more weight and don’t let the hips drop down. Lift the hips up and bring the shoulders down. Try to have the hips and shoulders level. Bend at the elbows and bring forearms forward and over wrists, sucking shoulder blades in. Raise the buttocks and lower the shoulders so they are more level and the weight on hands is even. Press through inner heels and suck outer hips in to help bring a light quality to the legs. To balance, bring the weight more into the palms and suck the shoulder blades onto the back.