Anandaville

Prasarita Padottanasana

I love this pose.   In fact, it holds the rare honor of being the only pose to remain on my "love list" for my entire 20+ years of yoga.  I have always felt good while in this pose and after coming out.  I am flexible in this position, too, so I am pretty sure my love of this pose has a little something to do with ego!  :-)

After reading Mr. Iyengar's words on this pose, I played more with having the head truly in line with the hands and feet.  I had not realized that I had been "cheating" for quite some time now placing my head in front of the feet and hands, making balance in the pose infinitely easier.  With the head truly tucked and in place, the legs must work much harder.

While reading about and playing with this pose, I went on to play with Prasarita Padottanasana II (with the hands in Reverse Namaste.)  It was remarkably harder!  In fact, I was a bit surprised at how much harder it was.  The legs really have to work to keep you balanced when the hands aren't in place.  Looking forward to continuing to challenge myself in this pose.

Yep, still love this pose!

Prasarita Padottanasana D
Originally uploaded by Melissa Holyfield

 

Paripurna Matsyendrasana

paripurna matsyendrasana
Originally uploaded by kpjayi

So this was my great attempt today. I must admit I spent most of the time giggling and saying, "Seriously?" I am very open in twists and this one is still way out of my league!  The pose was so complex (there are three stages to the pose) that he gives directions for getting out of the pose AND directions for getting into the pose on the other side.  (Usually he just assumes you can do it yourself.)

Mr. Iyengar rates it a 38 in difficulty.  Since his numbers go to 60 (that is the highest I have seen), I know I have my work cut out for me as I continue through the book!  :)

It wasn't just the twist, though, it was also knee flexibility.  Notice how tight his Padmasana is? 

This pose is one of only 8 mentioned in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, though, so I know it is a good one!  It is now going to make a regular appearance in my yoga practice. Will keep you posted!

Sayanasana

I did this pose today.  Yep, I did it.  I have been working on balancing in Pincha Mayurasana for quite some time now (think in terms of years...) and can do it...just barely.  I was reading Mr. Iyengar's thoughts around the pose and noticed this beauty of a pose (Sayanasana) as the next variation of PM.  (Actually, the pose in this photo is a Scorpion version.  The one I did was both legs up and both hands cupping my chin.)  Generally I would think, "Are you kidding me?"  But I was feeling a bit cheeky and instead thought, "Why the heck not?" So I did it!  Holy cow!  This pose is hard, but not for the reason you think.  Actually balancing on your elbows, surprisingly, isn't that hard.  What gets you is how hard you need to lift the head from your shoulders to get your hands under your chin.  Sheesh!  Then when I was done...oh, my back felt GREAT!

So, today, I got TWO poses in, including one that was on my "won't do without a teacher by my side" list!

sayanasana scorpion variation
Originally uploaded by aayogadance