Sept. 19th: Day 2 of the Jayne Orton Workshop

Day 2 consisted of 2 sessions, 4 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon. Needless to say my body was an aching unit later that evening. The below descriptions are not for beginners but rather those who have are already familiar with the poses and have good body awareness. Having said that, some of the cues below can be practiced by a novice student. One focus: twists. Here are the poses and cues that stood out for me in sequence:

Vrksasana (Tree Pose) - For the bent leg, concentrate here on pressing 1) the inner thigh forward and 2) the small toe/outer heal side of the foot into the inner thigh to allow the hip to open and the knee to point out to the side. For the standing leg, contract the thigh muscles, lift the knee cap, and draw the outer hip and thigh in. These actions compact the hips and help to maintain the placement of the bent leg foot (no slippage!) and balance. Students who are less steady can stand with the wall behind them at arms length

Parighasana (Gate Pose) - Similar actions to Vrksasana - showing off the concept of linking* in Iyengar yoga. Instead of straightening the "leading", externally rotated leg, bend the knee and place the foot flat on the floor, front edge of this foot in line with the opposite kneeling knee. I like to use the front edge of the mat for this to ensure the knee and foot are perfectly in alignment. Place a block in front of the leading heal. Bend towards the leading leg as usual and place your hand on the block in front of the leg. Press the inner thigh of the leading leg forward towards the front edge of the mat. Don't bend forward at the waist! Use the arm whose hand is on the block and press back into the inner thigh. This last action helps you to twist the torso, open the chest, and look up

Garudasana (Eagle Pose) - Place your feet one foot-length away from the wall. Take your feet together. Bend the knees slightly and rest your buttocks on the wall, back off slightly while maintaining it's nature curvature. Cross the right leg over the left, tucking the shin and foot around the standing leg calf. This variation allows those who may not be able to usually "bind" the legs do to so being balanced against the wall

Utthita Hasta Padangustasana (Extended Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose) - Not really big news but using the wall for all variations of UHP is great for keeping the hips level and thighs compact

Adho Mukha Vrksasana and Eka Pada Mukha Vrksasana (Handstand) - While facing the wall, this variation allows you to get more extension in the spine by pressing the feet/fott into the wall

Salamba Sirsasana (Supported Headstand) - Using a folded blanket under the arms to allow for the little fingers to come off the edge helps the wrists the press down and ground. Another trick I liked was to keep the thumbs together to prevent the wrists and forearms from rolling out

Salamba Sarvangasana (Supported Shoulderstand) - Many styles of yoga use no blankets to practice this pose; Iyengar is not one of them. I even figured I could use 5 blankets to give myself LOTS of height under the neck. This extra height is more than I've ever used and may seem excessive to some but keep in mind it frees the back of the neck to prevent stiffness. The extra support cause a rebound action in the torso where the chest opens more, the upper back is allowed to extended, and the pose eventually becomes almost effortless

Marichyasana I and III - For M I, allow the buttocks to come off the floor slightly to enable a proper, safe, and full forward bend. For M III, sit with your back towards the wall and when you twist, take the leading hand back pressing against the wall to leverage yourself into a deeper twist.

Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana (Revolving Head-to-Knee Pose) - We also practiced regular JS but I'll only talk of the revolving pose here. Jayne showed how you can twist, lean way back towards the side of the straight leg, allow the bent leg to list off, and reach up and back with leading arm (bent-leg side). This point of this prep work was to allow for a deeper rotation in the torso usually restricted for most by the grounded bent leg. From there, garb the foot and work to press the bent leg down again.

*A note on linking: The process in Iyengar yoga whereby poses with similar cues and actions in the body precede one another. The benefits of linking are to teach proper body alignment in beginner poses and prepare the student to eventually practice more advanced poses.

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