May - Upper body awareness/strength, Annamayakosha, Allowing rather than striving

Asana Practice

I. Breath and Body Awareness/Warm-ups

·  Shavasana
·  Easy Seated Pose for the Breath awareness
·  Shoulder Rolls
·  Seated Crescent Moon (Ardha Chandrasana)
·  Hero’s position for Cow-face pose (Gomukhasana)

II.  Bramana (Heating) Poses

·  Table posture with “peacock feather”
·  Gate (Parighasana ) to Down Dog (Adho Mukha Savasana) to Plank Chattaranga Dandasana) to ½ Circle (var. Banarasana), (repeat other side)
·  Dancer (Natarajasana) against the wall
·  Shoulder stand (Sarvangasana) with chair

III.  Langana (Cooling) Poses

·  Extended Child’s Pose (Balasana with arms extended forward)

IV. Shavasana/Pranayama/Meditation
·  Corpse Pose

Visualization

I.
Observe the breath. As you breathe in feel yourself anchored into the earth. Feel yourself heavy into the floor, past the concrete, and down to the earth below. With each out breath, feel yourself lifted up into the sky. Feel with each breath the heaviness into the earth and with each out breath a gradual lifting into the sky all the way up the spine…the shoulders naturally dropping down and back…Shoulder blades sliding down and in. At the bottom of the exhale, feel yourself waiting for the breath to begin the inhale…a pause at the end of the inhale…the breath turns and begins the exhale. At the end of the exhale, a natural pause, the breath turns and begins the inhale.

With all the following poses, first sense the energy in the direction you are going to move and then let the energy draw you into the move. Allow rather than do…feel yourself being moved rather than move yourself.

II.
In table imagine a peacock feather in your butt and begin to dust the wall behind you. Imagine one on the top of your head and dust the wall in front of you; dust the ceiling…dust the floor. Dust the ceiling with the feather in your butt and lift into down dog and dust.

Keep the awareness on the sense of energy and the turning of the breath. Release the effort and allow. In the sequence, focus on the shoulders dropping back and down, shoulder blades moving in.

Focus the Dancer and Shoulder stand on the shoulders moving back and down, shoulder blades moving in and to the center.

III.
Feel the body expanding until you “disappear”. Feeling only energy and light.