Iyengar Course 2 Week 31 redo (Ariana)

Oh how I avoided coming back to these sequences.  I kept putting it off and thinking that I wanted to go through the sequence ahead of time and plan replacement poses for the ones I cannot do. Then I realized a month had passed since my last entry and I just dove in. Like it or not.

Mostly I did not like it. Most of the time I was wondering why I am doing this project. What's the point? To see what my body is capable of? Or is it to see how my mind/ego responds to what I can and cannot do? How about to learn about myself!

My shoulder is fine now and since the last time my headstands are much more deliberate and mindful. I decided not to do the headstand variations until I can balance CONFIDENTLY without the wall.

The shoulderstand variations were playful for me. Then I decided to take it more seriously and  focus more in the poses despite the fact that they are easier for me. That was a wise choice because then my shoulderstand felt more steady and stable.

Chakrasana is back and it is still not happening for me without rolling over to one side.


There were some poses that I had never heard of this time. Garbha Pindasana- Embryo Pose. When I read the description I chuckled to myself. Plate 116. Mr Iyengar looks like he is fixing his hair in front of a mirror...except for the fact that his arms are threaded through his crossed legs and his knees are up in the air. Mr Iyengar says that the pose resembles a human foetus in the womb. The difference being that the legs are in lotus and the head is down. I don't see any resemblance to a foetus here.

Then there was Kukkutasana or Cock Pose. Here the arms pass through  lotus bound legs and Mr. Iyengar props himself up on his hands only. This did not happen for me either. (I made a bad pun to myself that you'd have to be cookoo to try this pose).

Padmasana/Lotus is still not good for me. So I do a nice half lotus with a figure 8 strap configuration that I learned in Carrie Owerko's class recently. I love it.

I was almost rolling my eyes with annoyance by the time I reached the end poses Parsva Dhanurasana and Uttanasana. I was glad to do some Nadi Sodhana Pranayama until I sneezed. I decided that was a good time to head into Savasana and do the Ujjayi breath there as he instructs.

So mostly I feel glad that I finished the sequence (and did not abandon the blog), did what I could and felt ok about the things that I couldn't.