Themes:  Autumnal Equinox, slowing down, finding balance, embracing change
Sequence: Peak Pose- Compass pose





 

1. Meditation- Ground and settle the dustTadasana and Supta Pada Series (thigh rooting series) 
2. Lunging Sun Salutes with Shalambasana (locus pose)
3. Standing Poses (from one legged down dog) 
• Parsvokonasna (extending side angle) 
• Trikonasana (triangle) 
• Vira 2 (Warrior 2) 
• Baddha Parsvakonasana (Bound side angle) 
• Prasarita Paddotanasana (wide legged forward fold) 
• Trikonasana  variation (triangle with arm over head) 
• Lizard pose 

1. Seated Poses
• eka pada rajakapotasana (pigeon) prep with forward bend
• agnistambasna (fire log pose)
• agnistambasana with twist
• Parivritta krouncasana variation (twisting heron pose with leg in front) 
• Janu sirsasana (head to knee forward bend)
• Parivritta Janu sirsasana (revolved head to knee forward bend) 
• Surya Yantrasana  (compass pose- a tool of guidance) (option- astavakarasana) 
2. Finishing Poses
• Eka Pada Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (One-Legged Bridge Pose)
• Freedom pose
• Twist 
• savasana and meditation 

I teach yoga, but really I facilitate movement.  

I practice yoga, but really that's only a portion of my movement diet.  

I eat really clean and consciously, so I can move freely.  

In our modern lifestyle, which is pretty darn amazing, we have little encouragement to move in a variety of ways.  We actually don't move that much at all.  AND if we get inspired to move the entry point into which we rediscover our love for movement becomes our obsession.  There is so much compulsion around, let's say yoga.  There is pressure to practice yoga every day and it even gets as restricted to practice one style or with one teacher.  Then comes boredom, repetitive stress injuries or hyper- mobilization.  I'm not even going to get into the spiritual shaming that then occurs. 

I'm going to say it,  Yoga is Broken.  And not because it's been westernized or because it's lost its spiritual roots. It's broken because it's rigid, exclusive, and doesn't embrace that we are beings designed to move a so many ways that it's impossible to systematize and package it into one perfect method.   There is a whole universe of movement available to us at any given moment.   The best time I've ever had in a yoga practice was when I'm playing yoga with my friends.  Trying out different yoga poses without the supervision of a teacher.  Left to our own intuition there was inversions, backbends, crawling, jumping, and maybe even hanging (brachiation) from some monkey bars at nearby playscape.  It's in our nature to connect with others and particularly thru movement.  Ido Portal, movement genius, talks about how it would be more natural for us to connect as human beings thru movement.  Can you imagine, meeting someone new and before asking them what they did for a living, how many kids they had, or where they are doing on vacation if you had a fun and friendly wrestling match or played a game of chase or hide and seek.  

As a mother of a 18 month old I'm seeing movement patterns that we develop as human beings from an early age.  Squatting, crawling, reaching, sprinting, climbing. and resting the body in a very efficient way (Laying down on our back).  I'm inspired by her.  In fact I mimic her.  Every afternoon I lay down on my back and rest just like she does.  And beyond movement I feel her joy and happiness by her unrestricted movement diet.  I'm less concerned with her vocabulary development as I am her movement development.  I let her climb onto the kitchen table, jump on the couch, run around like a wild women.  And most of the time I take her lead and join her and because of it I'm happier and more connected.  

I continue my work as a yoga teacher in hopes that at the least I'm an entry point to the world of movement or I can offer a refreshing and different perspective for one that already practices.  But my greatest joy would not be that a person regularly attends my class year after year but that they move on, literally, and try other methods,  take dance, martial arts, play with their kids, and joyfully live their mobile life.  

Right now I'm enjoying Sridaiva Yoga, swinging on monkey bars, climbing up jungle gyms, and inverting as much as possible. 

What's your movement diet?  Inspire me!