POSE OF THE MONTH: Ardha Bhujangasana with chrisandra fox, image by faern

POSE OF THE MONTH: Ardha Bhujangasana with chrisandra fox, image by faern

This deep lunge, often called Anjaneyasana, for Lord Hanuman, resembles the sliver of light of the crescent moon, and powerfully links the downward flow of prana with the blossoming of the heart center.

Devotion, from the Latin “vovere” – to vow completely – implies discipline and enthusiastic dedication. The Hindu mythological monkey god, Hanuman, is a servant of love and devotion to the divine, and it is this servitude that empowers his incredible strength and heroic power.

In this powerful and deep lunge, as we apply the downward flow of gravity into the legs and the standing foot, we can receive the expansive warmth and spaciousness of the open heart and throat areas, awakening the wisdom in the lotus of the heart and connection to a love that embraces beyond condition.

Preparation

Stand in Tadasana (Mountain Pose), with feet hip-width apart, and hands resting together at your heart in Anjali mudra. Feel your place between the earth and the sky. Become aware of your navel center and your heart center. Inhale from your heart to your navel, and as you exhale, return your awareness to your heart.

Exhale and release your arms to your sides. Inhale slowly, sweep your arms up overhead, and press your palms together. Exhale and fold forward at the hips into Uttanasana (Intense forward stretch). On an inhalation, lift and lengthen your spine to a firm back position. Exhale, and lower once more to Uttanasana.

The Pose

As you inhale, step your right foot back, lower your knee to the ground, and rest the top of your right foot on the floor. Bend your left knee and deepen the crease in your ankle. The front foot may turn out slightly to encourage a release in the groin. If your knees are healthy, continue to fold the leg into a deep lunge, so that your knee moves in the direction of your toes.

Root your left heel by drawing it down towards the ground. Depending on the structure of your ankle and the flexibility around the joint, your heel may not reach the floor. See how the heel is lifted in the photo above? Disclaimer – it’s an older photo, and after some years of practice, the pose has changed nicely. The heel is now down, and there is less strain in the throat. If your heel is lifted, you can place a blanket or rolled section of your mat beneath it, or, better, move your back knee further away from your pelvis to bring the front heel to the ground. You’ll find how this changes the sensations in your chest and throat as you arch back -more grounding yields more space and freedom in the opening.

So actively root through your heel. This action will encourage the grounding of your legs and pelvis, and create the foundation necessary for the circulation and blossoming of the heart energy.

Rest your arms alongside your torso as you begin to find the arc of the spine from the root of your pelvis towards your heart and the crown of your head. Relax your eyes and jaw and feel the drop in and down through your groin.

Use your inhalations to maintain your root through your legs and left heel, and to embody the space across your chest, ribcage, and shoulders. Continue to drop your heel down and back towards your groin. This will deepen the fold in your knee, and open the heart from your back body. Feel your back body become deep to support the opening of your heart into your front body. Imagine the petals of a lotus flower, and the slow, graceful unfurling of these petals from their base. The lotus is a classic image in the yoga tradition, used to portray purity, beauty, and the seat of the soul.

If there is no strain in your neck, then release your neck from its base at C7 as you draw your head back.

Imagine your spine as a cord of light now, radiating the expansive energy of your heart throughout your body. Can you feel the counter lift of your root and the natural tone through your navel center from your monkey tail as you explore this spaciousness and freedom?

You may feel some compression within your kidney area. Soften your kidneys down and draw them more deeply into your back body as you soften your front ribs.

When you are ready to come out, lift your head, plant your hands on the floor, and step back to adho mukha svanasana (downward-facing dog). When you are ready, step your right foot forward, and come into the second side. Then, step to Uttanasana, and slowly roll up through your spine to Tadasana.

Inhale the arms overhead, and as you exhale, return your hands to Anjali mudra at the heart. Feel into the center of your heart, resting in your awareness of the spacious, open, loving seat of your soul.

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By Chrisandra Fox

pose of the month photography by faern, faernworks.com
With special thanks to Michelle Duguay for her skillful insight.

Come and practice rooting into your heels and resting in the seat of your soul with Chrisandra, who teaches 5 classes a week at 3 Yoga Tree locations. Click here for her weekly schedule.

originally posted at :

http://faern-in-the-works.com/2010/02/08/pose-of-the-month-ardha-bhujangasana/

and

http://www.yogatreesf.com/newsletter/images/feb10_pose.html

 

POSE OF THE MONTH: Utkatasana – “Fierce” Pose or Chair Pose with chrisandra fox, photo by faern

POSE OF THE MONTH: Utkatasana – “Fierce” Pose or Chair Pose with chrisandra fox, photo by faern

It’s the New Year, and a common time to “renew’ commitment to our practice, which may have become uninspired, or difficult to maintain throughout the holiday season. Even the ancient texts recognize a number of obstacles to yoga (overeating, exertion, illness, doubt, laziness), and offer ways to overcome them.

Iccha shatki refers to the desire of manifestation, the impulse of creation that permeates and lives within manifest form. In our hatha yoga practice, when the energies of the body, including desire, are channeled and brought into balance, we enjoy steadiness in our body’s metabolism, our mental acuity, emotional health, and sense of connection to the world around us. Steadiness in body and mind also leads to unwavering willpower. When our personal will is aligned with the will of creation, we may be fortified in our efforts, and carried along the rivers of grace.

Meaning “fierce”, “powerful”, or “uneven”, a steady practice of utkatasana can ignite the willful desire that fuels our practice and keeps our inner fire bright.

Utkatasana is a challenging posture, placed at the beginning of Surya Namaskara B in the Astanga Vinyasa system. Chair pose is also described in Iyengar’s Light on Yoga, and prescribed in The Gheranda Samhita for conducting water enemas as a purification taken before beginning a practice in hatha yoga.

This powerful posture develops the ankles, calves, and thighs, opens the shoulders, tones the abdomen and diaphragm, strengthens the back, and increases capacity in the chest, for better breathing and circulation to the heart.

Utkatasana builds heat in the body, and can increase and fortify our will. As uncomfortable sensations arise, as we find ourselves in this new, unchartered territory of “sitting” in space, we have the opportunity to witness and surrender our doubts and to remain powerfully “seated” in strength and grace.

The Pose

Stand in Tadasana (mountain pose) with your hands in anjali mudra (prayer) at your heart. Beginners, try this with your feet a hip’s width distance apart. Spread your toes, and align your head, shoulders, and pelvis so that your weight is shifting evenly through both legs, and you feel a sense of spaciousness across your chest.

On an exhalation, release your arms to both sides. As you inhale, raise your arms overhead. As you exhale, bend your knees and lower your pelvis towards your heels, so that the thighs are moving towards parallel with the floor.

The Work

Deepen the fold in the front of your ankle, so you feel your heels taking root on the ground, and a sense of grounding through the lower legs. For some us, the bones of the ankle and foot compress during dorsiflexion, and that will be the edge we meet in the ankle.

Hug your thighs in towards one another, as though you are squeezing a block between them. Lengthen the sides of your sacrum towards the earth, taking your tail gently towards your pubis to draw the length out through your low back. Tone your abdomen towards the spine to maintain internal support, and to awaken your core body in the pose.

You can work your arms and neck in several ways. Do keep your arms drawn back in the shoulder joint, and your shoulder blades actively engaged on your back ribs. Soften your front rib cage, so that your torso follows the alignment of your pelvis and your chair pose doesn’t become a bent-knee backbend.

Postion 1
Keep your neck in the line of your spine and draw your chin slightly towards the center of your throat. Gaze towards the tip of your nose. Separate your hands to the width of your shoulders. Relax the tops of your shoulders as your spread your fingers widely.

Position 2
Press your palms against one another firmly, and draw back through the crown of your head, lifting the base of your skull lightly off the upper spine, so there is no collapse through the back of your neck. Gaze towards your fingers, keeping your forehead and eyebrow center soft and relaxed.

Postion 3
Bring your arms alongside your ears, with your head in a neutral position, and gaze towards the horizon. To increase the power in your pose, lift your heels off the floor, drawing up through the arches of your feet. Then lower your pelvis to your heels. The Gheranda Samhita describes this as The Utkatasana, or hazardous pose.

Have your feet tensed up? Soften the spaces between your toes, so that your feet remain steady, yet happy as you deepen in your chair. Breathe rhythmically and hold the pose for up to a minute, with a soft and steady gaze, and the hint of a smile to release any interior gripping in the brain. Allow yourself to feel the arising of sensations and the heat of any tensions coming to the surface. Allow these sensations to expand and dissolve. Afterwards, return to Tadasana, or follow up with Uttanasana (Intense forward stretch).

The practice of Utkatasana not only strengthens our will, but our sense of surrender as well. We observe how our desire can be channeled into a force greater than ourselves- one that holds us fiercely in grace.

Chrisandra Fox teaches utkatasana in many forms in weekly classes at Yoga Tree and on The Heart of Renewal Retreats in California and internationally. pose of the month photography- faern, http://www.faernworks.com

originally posted at:

http://faern-in-the-works.com/2010/01/27/pose-of-the-month-utkatasana-fierce-pose-or-chair-pose/

http://www.yogatreesf.com/newsletter/images/jan10_pose.html

 

Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose) with chrisandra fox, photo by faern

Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose) with chrisandra fox, photo by faern

For many of us, the world of backbends and heart-openers begins with bhujangasana. Strong and centering, cobra is excellent for reversing imbalances of the shoulders, chest, and spine, and massaging the endocrine system. Deceptively simple, when practiced with patience, awareness, and sensitivity to the energetics of the pose, cobra nurtures the “open” heart’s compassion, and a calming, centered sense of wisdom, power, and grace.

The Pose
Lie on your belly with your forehead on the floor, arms rested alongside your torso. Take a few long, slow breaths, feeling the movement of your spine as you breathe. Notice the natural lengthening of your spine as you inhale, and the release to its neutral shape as you exhale.

Place your hands beneath your shoulders and draw your elbows alongside your outer ribcage. Spread your fingers widely, lightly pressing your finger pads against the floor as you draw your shoulder blades firmly onto your back ribs.

On an inhalation, lift your head, shoulders, and chest off the floor, using the strength of your back body and lengthening the front of your spine into cobra.

The Work
Spread across the bases of your toes and press the tops of your feet into the floor. Engage your lower quadriceps and tone your inner thighs. Work your legs actively to support the lift of your torso. Press your pubic bone against the floor, relax your upper buttocks, and lightly draw your tailbone towards your heels. These actions help to create space across your lower back, so that you can distribute the sensation along the entire length of your spine.

Deepen your inner elbows towards your heels as you continue to press through your hands, into the tops of your feet, and into your pubic bone. Rise up by straightening your arms and drawing your chest through. On an inhalation, lift your chin, drawing up and back through the crown of your head. Be careful not to collapse the base of your skull onto your upper spine. You can support your neck by drawing your chin towards the base of your skull, so that you feel a slight lift and softening here, even as you take your head back.

Turn your gaze towards the tip of your nose and soften your forehead as you find a place of rest in the pose, balancing effort of the body and absorption into the energetic experience of your heart.

The Heart
In cobra, feel the length of your abdomen and the sensations across your chest, especially in your heart center. As you breathe, spread your awareness throughout your entire body. Relax the space behind your sternum, or breastbone, allowing for your breath to circulate through your heart center. Feel the connection between your pelvis, your navel center, your heart and your hands.

Cobra Vinyasa
You can create more heat and energy in cobra by incorporating breath-based movement in and out of the pose. From cobra, as you exhale, slowly lower your torso to the floor, resting on your forehead. Inhale, and roll up through your spine to make the shape of the cobra, as you exhale, tone your navel to your spine and slowly lower back down to the forehead. Repeat for 8-10 rounds. Try turning your cheek to one side and then to the other, feeling the release across your neck.

On your last round or so, bend your knees, drawing up and back through the crown of your head, pointing toes towards crown, as though to strike the crown with your tail. If your feet touch your head, take a few deep breaths, relax the space behind your sternum, and continue to spread awareness throughout your body evenly. If your feet are still far from your head, simply imagine the circuitry through your body, connecting a line of energy from your navel center towards your toes and up through your heart center towards the crown of your head. Exhale and release, coming back to rest on your belly.

Any time of year is a good time for practicing cobra pose. In the rituals of our daily lives, we often find ourselves in “forward-focused” positions, with shoulders slumped, spine rounded, and neck jutting forward. A daily practice of cobra can help to correct those tendencies. During this winter’s holiday season, practice cobra to cultivate the enduring wisdom, warmth, and compassion of the open heart that lives in each of us.

Chrisandra Fox teaches bhujangasana and other poses at Yoga Tree. She leads The Heart of Renewal Retreats in California and internationally. Upcoming retreats – Solstice Renewal Retreat, Dec 20th. New Year’s Sankalpa Retreat, Jan. 3rd. Register at yogatreesf.com

originally posted at :

http://faern-in-the-works.com/2009/12/04/bhujangasana-cobra-pose/

 

Vrksasana (Tree Pose) with chrisandra fox, photo by faern

Vrksasana (Tree Pose) with chrisandra fox, photo by faern

Stand straight on one leg (the left), bending the right leg, and placing the right foot on the root of the left thigh; standing thus like a tree on the ground, is called the Tree posture.
—Gheranda Samhita: II.36

In celebration of Yoga Tree’s 10th-year anniversary this month, what better pose to highlight than Vrksasana- Tree Pose. With strong and subtle roots moving towards earth, and energy that rises towards the heavens, vrksasana teaches us how to ground through our center, while being receptive to currents of expansion and growth. Tree pose asks us to stay connected to our breath in each moment of uncertainty, and to maintain steady focus as we fan our inner fire with just the right amount of effort. With too little attention given to form, our tree will be lazy and limp; with too much effort, our tree will collapse. Vrksasana is a practice – and a celebration – in striking a balance between effort and surrender.

For thousands of years in India, spiritual aspirants have made a practice of Eka pada sthana – standing on one leg – for extended periods of time. Considered an austerity, or tapas, this type of practice stokes the inner fire and desire of the individual whose longing is to merge with the divine in the journey of self-realization.

In modern times, Tree pose is often practiced in shorter bursts, with a sense of celebration and surrender, as we consciously internalize our awareness and unfold the stillness within, connecting to our roots, and riding the prana-filled waves of possibility that expand our bodies and our consciousness.

Preparation
Stand in Tadasana, (Mountain Pose). Bring your hands together, interlace your fingers and as you inhale, turn your palms to the sky, raise your arms over head and lift your heels off the floor. Stand on the metatarsals, lifting firmly through your inner heels. Press through the center of your palms with arms stretched towards the sky. Allow the tops of your shoulders to soften as your shoulder blades root on your back ribs. Keep your heels lifted and as you breathe, lengthen your belly. On an exhalation, sweep your arms out to the sides, slowly lowering your heels to the ground. Return to Tadasana.

The Pose
Standing in Tadasana, turn the right thigh out, lifting your heel off the floor, so your weight rests on the bases of your toes. Bend your right knee and take hold of your ankle with your right hand. Place the heel of your foot high up on your inner left thigh, close to the groin. Spread your right toes and point them towards the ground.

Press your palms together at your heart in Anjali mudra (Prayer Pose). On an inhalation, lift your arms towards the sky. You can maintain Anjali mudra, or separate your hands shoulder’s width apart. Spread your fingers, and gently turn your hands towards the backside of your body, to encourage an outward rotation in your upper arms.

The Work
The work of Tree, as in all the poses, is holding a mental space of concentration, while spreading awareness throughout your body. Witness the subtle elements in your breath and your body, responding so that the posture “grows” from the inside out.

Maintain an even spread across the bases of all your toes. You’ll feel your center of balance steady as you lengthen through your inner ankles and ground your heel bones.

Draw your left thighbone back into your hamstrings, so your pelvis is held in its upright position. Lift and lengthen your inner left thigh wall towards your pelvis as you soften your upper buttocks flesh. Feel the release of your tailbone towards your inner left heel. Take your right thigh back, in its outward spiral, so you feel the length from your inner right groin towards your knee.

Tree pose is a living, breathing moment of being in the center of all possibilities. Tone your navel to your spine and gently lift your lower belly in and up towards the center of your ribcage to open the gateway to stability as you lengthen through your trunk. Soften your front ribs to balance this action. Feel your shoulder tops soften as you root the reach of your branches from the bottom tips of your shoulder blades.

Look
Turn your gaze towards the tip of your nose, to steady your mind. As your steadiness grows, lift your gaze to the horizon line, challenging yourself to look with clear, open, receptive eyes. As you like, lift your chin towards the sky, drawing back through the crown of your head, without collapsing the base of your skull on your upper spine. Maintaining awareness in the roots of your standing leg, gently close your eyes. Breathe. Feel and witness each breath as you root, as you grow.

Play
Oh so many trees! You can work with your hands in Anjali mudra at the heart or with arms raised overhead, and with hands spread apart. This variation, pictured above, increases coordination and brings a graceful, feminine quality to your tree:

Stand in Vrksasana, bring your arms out to the sides, to the height of the shoulders. While standing on your left leg, raise your left arm up and arc it alongside your head, as you lower your right arm towards your bent knee. Bring your forefinger and thumb together in Jnana mudra, and continue to reach through your arms as though you are holding a ball between them. Lengthen through the sides of your waist as you arch your spine to the right. Keep steadiness through your left leg. Breathe. Root. Flourish.

Trees stand alone and in a forest, a family, and a community of trees. Balancing the gifts of heaven and earth, trees are nourished by their surroundings, and, in turn, nourish all who come to sit in their presence. Practice vrksasana, and celebrate these moments of inner strength, connection, and serenity.

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Chrisandra Fox teaches handstands and other postures at Yoga Tree 5 classes per week, and leads The Heart of Renewal Retreats. To check out her class schedule, Click here. Questions? Pose Requests? Retreat schedule? Email Chrisandra@gmail.com

*originally posted at:

http://faern-in-the-works.com/2009/10/01/vrksasana-tree-pose/

http://www.yogatreesf.com/newsletter/images/oct09_pose.html

 

pose of the month- Adho Mukha Vrksasana with chrisandra fox photography by faern

pose of the month- Adho Mukha Vrksasana

with chrisandra fox photography by faern

Adho Mukha Vrksasana

Downward-facing Tree Pose

with Chrisandra Fox

As a little girl, I had practice of throwing my legs up against the front door of the house, and standing on my hands as long as I could. Each summer, I practiced these handstands on the beach, with no door. Often, I would fall, bringing my legs out to one side, or into Urdhva Dhanurasana (upward-facing wheel), which is how I learned to love backbends. Once in a great while, I would find my balance on the hard sand near the water’s edge. Time would stop and in those precious moments of exhilarating awe, I would try very hard to remember exactly what I had done so that I could repeat the experience.

Handstand gives us the moment of our power – a moment of pure potential – where we may yoke our root and our expansiveness in a single breath cycle. We learn to engage our bodies harmoniously, strengthen our core, sharpen our concentration, expand awareness and engage the mysteries of gravity and levity on a physical level. Handstand asks us to build strength in new areas, heighten coordination and reaction time, and trust that our bodies, and our egos, can take a fall.

When we practice handstand – at the wall or free standing against Nature’s backdrop – we literally turn our worlds upside down for a moment or more of truly exploring the unknown. Within that moment, we may find the power of living in true potential. We may fall to one side or another. We may not be able to kick up every day. Some days, our wrists hurt, our shoulders feel tight, and we can’t find the internal support of our breath and our bandhas to sustain balance. And more, we may meet an incredible fear and discomfort towards going upside down.

But handstands were child’s play for many of us, when we were children. And for those of us who are rediscovering that childlike nature through our yoga practice, there are tools we can use to make this journey to our center one of joy, power, and grace.

Handstand Preparation

The Wrists

Often the biggest obstacle to standing on the hands is meeting the weakness of the wrists. If you suffer from carpel tunnel, you may want to avoid handstand for now and work inversions that strengthen the shoulders, like dolphin pose. The following exercise will help alleviate stiffness and mobilize the wrists:

Sit or stand. Interlace your fingers and press your forearms together, bringing the elbows to the level of the shoulders. Circle the wrists in one direction, 10-20 times. Feel the movement of the bones in the wrists, through the forearms and in the elbow. Maintain a steadiness in your shoulder blades as you rotate the wrists in one direction, then in the opposite direction.

The Shoulders

Keep your fingers interlocked and press through the center of your palms, lifting the arms overhead. Lengthen through your inner elbows, and lower your chin slightly towards the center of your throat. Soften the tops of your shoulders as you root your shoulder blades on your back ribs. Continue to press through the center of your palms. Can you feel a sense of grounding in your shoulders and the navel center, even while you explore that wonderful stretch?

Now lift your head and draw back through the crown, arching your neck and turning your gaze towards your brow center. Take a few breaths, still anchoring the shoulder blades and feeling a sense of length through the front of your neck towards your chin. Bring your head back to center and release your arms to your sides.

The Abdomen

Once you turn upside down, you will want to engage through your core to support the lower body. You’ll feel a natural toning of your abdominal wall in handstand, and you can further build this strength through the following exercise:

Lie down on your back. Lift your arms up overhead and press the backs of them to the floor. Lift your legs to 90°. If your low back is tight, you may try this one leg at a time. Point your toes and lower your legs towards the ground as you inhale. Flex through your feet and lift your legs back to 90° as you exhale. Repeat, keeping your pelvis steady and your inner knees firm.

The Third Arm Eye

A tripod is more stable that a two-legged chair, and so for handstand, we can use our drishti, or eye gaze, to create a third arm.

Come into Adho Mukha Svanasana (downward-facing dog) with your fingers a hand’s width from the wall. Broaden your shoulder blades from your upper spine, outwardly spiral your upper arms, and feel for a sense of grounding in your forearm bones. Turn your gaze to the line where the wall meets the floor. This is about where you will direct the focus of your eyes when you come up into handstand.

The Pose

Handstand at the Wall

Continue in downward-facing dog at the wall. Lift one leg toward the sky, rooting the pads of your fingers to the earth. Feel the tone of your abdomen as you extend the leg. Repeat on the other side. Now, step one foot halfway to the hands, bend your knee and lift your other leg with a firm press into the ball of the standing foot. You may need to kick the extended leg towards the wall, but keep feeling the root of your leg in your navel center. As you kick your leg up, it will carry your pelvis. The more awareness you have in your legs, the lighter they will become. Let your second leg follow the first with great enthusiasm.

The Work

As you kick up, keep your legs active and engaged, as you did while practicing your leg lifts. This will literally lighten the load for your arms and your shoulders. Press your heel bones against the wall and reach actively through the soles of your feet, as though you are standing on them. Bring your inner knees together.

Have you kept your third arm steady? If not, re-establish your focus through the gaze of your eyes. Continue to anchor your shoulder blades on your back ribs while you lengthen through your inner elbows. Wrists hurt? Give more pressure to the finger pads, as though you are clawing the earth. If your wrists feel fine, give your weight to the roots of your fingers, working with equal effort to awaken the sense of earth energy “lifting” up through the palm of your hand.

Once up, tone your navel to your spine and lengthen your tailbone towards your heels. This will shorten the distance between the pubic bones and the front ribcage, thus eliminating the “banana” shape that often occurs when we fall into our low backs.

Breathe steadily. Feel the orchestra of your body harmonizing, as gravity anchors your shoulders, forearms, and hands, and your legs and feet become firm and light. You may feel an incredible root through your navel as an unbearable lightness lifts and tones your pelvic floor.

Variations

You can release the neck and gaze directly ahead in handstand. This will bring your head and pelvis into alignment, and help you to pull in towards the midline of your body. As you lift your head and engage your third arm gaze, this will lengthen your abdomen and allow you to play with balancing the shoulders and pelvis.

Play! Keep one heel pressed firmly against the wall, point the toes of your second foot and slowly lower your leg towards the ground. You’ll feel a hollowing out in the belly as you lower your leg. Then, on an inhalation, lift that leg right back up to handstand, feeling the length of the abdomen. Change sides. This exercise will strengthen your abdomen, spinal muscles, low back, wrists, and shoulders, and prepare you for floating up to handstand with effortlessness.

Handstand without the Wall

With the support of a friend, you can reduce your need for the wall. Take your downward-facing dog, and have your friend stand to one side of your hands. Tell your friend which leg you are kicking up with before you kick. Your friend extends her arm parallel to the earth, just above your hands. You kick up with one leg to meet her extended arm. Take the second leg to meet the first. Your friend may place a fist between your knees for you to squeeze, or she may place her hand above your feet for you to press up into. Reach through the soles of your feet, spreading your toes and lifting through your inner ankles.

Falling

Falling is inevitable, and the more comfortable we become with “falling” out of pose, the more we learn about how not to fall. As you fall out, fall to the side or back to your downward-facing dog. Fall with awareness. Feel your body move through its descent to find earth. Friends, let go of your partner’s legs. Like cats, our feet know how to find the ground, but we must be free in order to do so.

If you have a practice of urdhva dhanurasana or upward-facing bow pose, you can practice coming out of your handstands by slowly falling back, and bringing your feet to the floor. Stay steadily rooted through your hands.

If fear is the obstacle, place a bolster against the wall, so you have something to “catch” your head as you kick up. Use your inhalation to kick up, and as you exhale, pull into your midline. Remember to use your eyes to maintain a sense of internal steadiness.

Once you begin to unlock the mysteries of your relationship with gravity through handstand, you might find yourself practicing anywhere and everywhere. Plant your hands in the grass, on dirt, in sand, on rock, on the pool’s cement bottom, even on the concrete outside your building. Establish your gaze and float up to your moment of power and potential against a wall, a tree, or nothing at all.

Chrisandra Fox teaches handstands and other postures at Yoga Tree 5 classes per week, and leads The Heart of Renewal Retreats. To check out her class schedule, visit http://www.yogatreesf.com/teachers/chrisandra_fox.htm.

all photos courtesy of faern at http://www.faernworks.com

originally posted at :

http://faern-in-the-works.com/2009/09/29/pose-of-the-month-adho-mukha-vrksasana/

and

http://www.yogatreesf.com/newsletter/images/sep09_pose.html

 

pose of the month Parivrtta Anjaneyasana: Revolved Lunge Pose with Chrisandra Fox photography by Faern

pose of the month Parivrtta Anjaneyasana: Revolved Lunge Pose Highlighting Manipura Chakra with Chrisandra Fox

Manipura chakra, “lustrous gem” or “city of jewels”, refers to the psycho-energetic center located behind the navel at the solar plexus. Characterized by the color yellow, the element fire, and a lotus of ten petals, manipura holds the radiant power of the solar energy that regulates digestive fire, heat, and metabolic function in the body. Manipura governs the stomach, liver, and small intestine, and is the seat of agni, or the fire that metabolizes our food and experiences. Its vital wind is samana vayu, the “wind” of the body that regulates prana and circulates the essence of our food to the entire system. Manipura chakra evokes our life force, dynamism, individuality, and personal power.

This third chakra holds the space between heaven and earth, in that it separates the lower chakra centers from the higher ones. As the seat for transformation of food, prana, and experience, manipura is where the raw energy of the lower chakras is converted into consciousness. In yogic practice, the downward wind, or the apana is reversed to meet the upward wind, or prana at the navel center. At this juncture, the yogi is said to gain a spiritual perspective into realities of the higher chakra centers. This is where our willful action aligns with our sense of connectedness and higher purpose.

When the third chakra is in balance, one may benefit from responsibility, self-esteem, confidence, the ability to meet challenges and take risks, physical and emotional warmth, and good digestion. In a deficient condition, one may experience the symptoms of low self-esteem and decreased energy, inconsistency, lack of discipline, physical and emotional cold, and poor digestion. In its excess, manipura may manifest as aggression, manipulation, the need to be right or in control, excessive heat, arrogance and digestive disorders such as ulcers.

Caring for our power “center” is key to living a balanced life, physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

Exercise

Sit or stand with your feet hip width apart. You may also sit in simple cross-legged position or lotus. Close your eyes and bring your awareness to the space behind the navel. Feel the sensations of your navel center as you breathe. Notice the temperature of this spot, and any colors or sounds that come to mind. Continue to rest your awareness at the space behind your navel and visualize the breath moving simultaneously from the navel towards the heart and the perineum on the inhalation, and returning to the navel on the exhalation. You may chant the seed mantra, Ram, or repeat an affirmation that rings true for you. For example: I move from the center of my being with strength, grace, and power, or I am filled with the radiant source of all light and energy.

The Pose

Stand in Tadasana (Mountain Pose). Inhale and extend your arms overhead. As you exhale, press your palms together and lower your hands to anjali mudra (hands in prayer at the heart). Turn your fingers towards the earth and bend your knees to Utkatasana (Chair Pose). Extend both arms alongside the outer left thigh. Bend your elbows and bring you hands back to prayer at the heart as you sit in your twisted chair pose.

Step the right foot back and extend the leg into a full lunge (Beginners may want to lower the right knee to the ground). Keep your left knee bent and positioned above your ankle. As you reach through the sole of your right foot, maintain symmetry in hips, left to right. Keep your hands in prayer pose, so that the inner elbows are bent. The power of this twist comes from the ability to dissolve the belly in the twist rather than from overworking the muscles of the arms.

The Work

Turn your navel and coil the right ribcage towards your inner left thigh. Can you feel the spiral of the spine as you twist? Keep the right hip from riding up into the waist by drawing back through the right heel. Turn your gaze towards the earth to release any tension in your neck. As you wind more deeply into the twist, relax your eyes, the base of your tongue, and both sides of your jaw. Feel the compression of your organs as you turn your belly towards your inner thigh. Coax your inhalations into the spaces between your ribs and collarbones, feeling the length of your spine. As you exhale, release the navel more deeply towards the spine, softening your ribcage. Turn your head in the direction of the twist (towards the sky) so long as the neck does not feel strained.

To come out of the posture, step your right foot forward to meet your left foot, so you are sitting in your revolved chair pose. As you inhale, unwind your twist, straighten your legs and extend your arms overhead. As you exhale, fold into uttanasana (standing forward bend). On an inhalation, slowly roll up through your spine to return to mountain pose. Repeat on the right side.

Vinyasa Variation

You can increase energy, balance, coordination and confidence by practicing this simple vinyasa of the revolved lunge pose.

Come into the pose, using the sequence listed above. Once you are in the posture, use an inhalation to unwind your torso from its twist. As you lift your torso, turn your right foot towards the wall behind you; turn your left foot in and twist your torso towards the inner right thigh. You are now in parivrtta anjaneyasana to the right. On an inhalation, unwind your torso from that twist, and as you come up through your spine, turn your right toes in and your left toes out to position your feet and legs for the twisted lunge on left side.

Repeat this simple sequence, refining the movements and your breathing until you feel yourself in a slow, rhythmic dance between the breath and the movement of your body. This sequence teaches us how to find peace, comfort, and confidence within the moments of the “unknown”, or the transitions, and to move with strength and grace from our center of being.

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Chrisandra teaches 7 classes a week at Yoga Tree. Click here for Chrisandra’s schedule. She leads the Heart of Renewal Retreats at Tara Bella Villa in Glen Ellen, and beyond. www.chrisandrafox.com (coming soon) photo from faernworks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

originally posted at :

http://faern-in-the-works.com/2009/08/08/pose-of-the-month-parivrtta-anjaneyasana-revolved-lunge-pose-highlighting-manipura-chakra-with-chrisandra-fox/

and

http://www.yogatreesf.com/newsletter/images/aug09_pose.html