The first time I showed my brother Marichasana A he declared it 'impossible'. I tried easing his feelings and mentioned how if you bring the bended knee close to the chest and negotiate on the exhale the arm forward in between then legs, then bend it, it might not be AS hard to grasp hands. Maybe not the first time, but with a little practice, it comes.
"NEGOTIATE" was the word that stuck with him. Later on I noticed while talking to James about Utita Hastha (see video here of both Utitta and its following pose, Ardha Baddha Padmotanasana), that such word seems to stick and make sense for him too.
What is asana, after all, if not a negotiation of what we can do with the current status of our body, how far can we get into it to find the edge (never forcing, of course) and finding an area where we can work with what we have and inching towards going a bit deeper.
In my return from 3 months of bed, the negotiation shows up in every pose. For some reason one of my legs seems to have become tighter than the other so every forward bend means more 'negotiation' when the left one has to be stretched.
The Prasaritas (A, B, C, and D) are a perfect example of negotiation.
I find the pose to be a work of art, it includes not just forward bending but also the right spread of the legs so that the head can be 'negotiated' to the floor and close the energetic circuit, as well as all the negotiations that have to happen to get the arms to the floor on C -I am getting closer-, and everything else really.
It is an exciting pose, full of interesting touches, flavors, truces, twitchings, disappointments, sense of fulfillment, exhilaration, lost and re-found focusing point, and on and on. It is full of surprises.
In spite of the emotional territory it takes us into, it is also a very strict pose.
Every stretch of the arms has a breath count associated, every count is perfectly designed, every 'hands to the waist' has been pre-determined.
It is, I believe, the only pose in which Sharath in Mysore gets on the front (which for this would be one of the sides of the room) and guides the arm movements for everyone to see... that is how important the vinyasa (or dance, or how to get from one to the other (from A to B and so on)) is.
I am pointing the negotiation because as I watch this video this is what I mostly see. There is a lot of extra little things I am doing which help me getting into the pose, going deeper and exploring it.
Eventually all this flower ornaments will have to go to make the pose much simpler, but for now I am allowing myself to enjoy the negotiation.
RELATED: IS THIS CHEATING?
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| Marichasana A, I finally have a picture for it! |
What is asana, after all, if not a negotiation of what we can do with the current status of our body, how far can we get into it to find the edge (never forcing, of course) and finding an area where we can work with what we have and inching towards going a bit deeper.
In my return from 3 months of bed, the negotiation shows up in every pose. For some reason one of my legs seems to have become tighter than the other so every forward bend means more 'negotiation' when the left one has to be stretched.
The Prasaritas (A, B, C, and D) are a perfect example of negotiation.
I find the pose to be a work of art, it includes not just forward bending but also the right spread of the legs so that the head can be 'negotiated' to the floor and close the energetic circuit, as well as all the negotiations that have to happen to get the arms to the floor on C -I am getting closer-, and everything else really.
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| Preparing for Prasarita Padotanasana A |
In spite of the emotional territory it takes us into, it is also a very strict pose.
Every stretch of the arms has a breath count associated, every count is perfectly designed, every 'hands to the waist' has been pre-determined.
It is, I believe, the only pose in which Sharath in Mysore gets on the front (which for this would be one of the sides of the room) and guides the arm movements for everyone to see... that is how important the vinyasa (or dance, or how to get from one to the other (from A to B and so on)) is.
I am pointing the negotiation because as I watch this video this is what I mostly see. There is a lot of extra little things I am doing which help me getting into the pose, going deeper and exploring it.
Eventually all this flower ornaments will have to go to make the pose much simpler, but for now I am allowing myself to enjoy the negotiation.
RELATED: IS THIS CHEATING?
Claudia: Wanted to say that I have been doing the divine light (or is it mother)prayer that you posted some time ago along with your OM chant also posted a while ago and am seeing positive results in my yoga and my life. I continue to incorporate these two into my daily yoga. Again, thanks for your blog.
ReplyDeleteVery informative and enjoyable blog. Thanks for sharing your Yoga practice.
ReplyDeleteAnon, thanks for sharing with me about the divine light, I have found the prayer to be of profound effect and I am glad to see you experience it too... thanks for commenting!
ReplyDeleteSteven, thanks, glad you enjoy reading about yoga
Wait, what and where is that energetic circuit you just mentioned today??
ReplyDeleteSF, good notice.... Christopher was always keen on mentioning how the circuits of energy get closed as we grab a toe in the triangle, for example, as per the head coming to the floor in the prasaritas, I remember John once mentioning there was some form of a release by having that happen. I am no expert, but intuitively, at least to me, it makes sense....
ReplyDelete