Saturday, November 27, 2010

Yoga Before Bed

I have been able to enjoy a lot of time on my yoga mat lately. I consider that to be a great gift. I usually am able to do yoga in the late morning and again at night before I go to bed. Tonight I held the poses for at least 3 minutes each and did around a 10 minute setubandha sarvangasana (bridge pose) sequence. Here is what I did:
child's pose/ balasanaack
adho mukha svanasana
vinyasa thru surya namaskar a
uttanasana legs as wide as mat head supported with block
with a roll in 2 positions. 1) step halfway on the roll with back half of arch and heel on rolled up blanket 2) front half of arch and ball of foot on rolled up blanket
sirsasana
setubandha sarvangasana on block. remove block, then parsva grabbing ankles on each side. knees bent first then straight
sarvangasana
baddhakonasana
bolster under lumbar for savasana.
I was reading Iyengar's hardback book tonight and he said "When I was young, I used to play, Now I stay"
So, in my own practice I've had the opportunity to work on the subtler aspects of the asanas, refining them like gold. I have recently had a tweaky knee, so in the inversions, I work on Iyengar's series, as given in Light on Yoga, which elongate the spine and the thighs, leg muscles and strengthen upper body. They also do a great job with digestion. It feels good to be with my own practice. Being a tree. Transplanted on my own into the sun. Om Shanti.