Iyengar Course 2 Week 42 (Ariana)

Still consolidating all of the poses - especially those left out in Course 1.

I am not exactly sure what this even means. I have been consolidating the poses from weeks 31-40. I hope he did not mean to consolidate the poses from Course 1 and 2.

I took the dog for a walk before I did the sequence and felt warmed up so did not feel the need for sun salutes this time. But did stretch out with some cat/cows and a long downward facing dog. Then right into headstand and shoulderstand. Did some variations  - not many. Then Jatara Parivartanasana (loving this lately), Supta Padangustasana and all the Navasanas. Skipped Ustrasana - wanted to save the back bends for the end. Then Virasana and Supta Virasana. In retrospect, would have preferred to do those after all the standing poses around when I did the rest of the seated postures. But ok, not so bad to stretch out my quads before doing the standing poses.

Then on to standing poses. Did them quickly in rapid succession one after the other. I was not pleased with myself. But for some reason I felt like I was "done" with the poses quickly. This is not how I usually practice. I like to be curious in each pose and explore a little. I don't think of poses as having an end to them and that's not how I teach them.

Then onto seated poses starting with my favorites Janu-Sirsana and Parvritta Janu-Sirsana. But it had been a while since I did these. I forgot to bend one knee as I stretched over the other leg. So redid them. It was an interesting mistake - I felt the difference it makes to have one leg bent. It felt like it helped to anchor the hip down as I folded over the other leg. I moved through the rest. Skipping my usuals and and doing half lotus instead of full. My left thigh is able to externally rotate more in my hip socket these days. Not sure why.

Then the back bending. Salabhasana, Dhanurasana, Parsva Dhanurasana, Urdhva Dhanurasana.

Savasana began with a rapid heartbeat from Dhanurasana. Briefly contemplated winding down with something else to ease into savasana. But then just enjoyed watching my heartbeat eventually slow down and slide into savasana.

And finally a few minutes of Nadi Sodhana Pranayama which means purification of the nerves according to Iyengar. He also says that blood receives a larger supply of oxygen with this breath exercise. I have been listening to Georg Feuerstein's The Lost Teachings of Yoga as part of my 500-hour Zenyasa teacher training I am doing now.  In the 9th chapter he mentions that there are thousands of nadis (or channels of energy) but only 3 are important: the central channel, and the two side channels which travel in helical fashion up the central channel. The 2 side nadis start at the base of the spine and travel up to the 3rd eye. They also are connected to the left and right nostrils which are related to the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. He also says that when the nadis are purified the chakras are activated.