Day 21 - Abhijata Backbends
Today I ventured into the institute for practice as I was meeting Raya to discuss collating and sharing my notes from my time in the medical class with Guruji and Stephanie Quirk working on poses for Diabetes. Perhaps it was coincidence or perhaps my practice was observed, as many of my mistakes appeared to be corrected in Abhi's class this evening. In the afternoon we took a trip to FC Road to do some shopping for the bits and pieces we will be bringing home as our thoughts start to turn towards the inevitable journey back to real life. The weather is getting more and more oppressively hot as the season changes and I am struggling to cope with the heat (I'm thinking longingly of plunging into an ice cold lake when I get back to UK as is part of my daily routine). Abhi picked up on the weary faces infront of her and started the class with Pratyahara actions of withdrawing the senses and taking a few minutes of quiet to recover.
I discovered it is very difficult to chuckle while balancing upside down in Sirsasana when just at that moment the pose had started to go beyond it's best, she told us 'If your normal face has now turned into your Dracula face, it is time to come down!' This urge to giggle was made worse by the fact I could hear Sue a few feet away chuckling too.
The class concentrated on lengthening the abdomen towards the chest in backbends and felt uncannily like we were preparing for Tadasana / Urdhva Dhanurasana drop backs in tomorrow morning's class. We will see tomorrow whether this is correct!
Day 21 – Abhijata Backbends
Swastikasana invocation – We have a couple of minutes to sit quietly, so use it wisely – maybe you’ve had a long working day or you’re exhausted from the heat. So use this time to recover, of course you have to still maintain the upright spine so that the energy flows properly there. But withdraw the eyeballs so that instead of looking outwards, they look into the blackness. Bring the senses of perception into a state of Pratyahara so that they can rest and recover.
AMVirasana – Keep knees slightly apart so that trunk can extend forwards properly.
AMSvanasana – Press the palms, take proper distance and from the outer hips LIFT UP!
Uttanasana
Prasarita Paddottonasana – From the sides of the navel descend downwards, don’t hold yourself tight in the abdominal area.
AMSvanas