BARBARA BORIS Yoga

A special mini YOGA SEQUENCE to do:  to celebrate the wind and water.

HURRICANE IRENE YOGA SEQUENCE
Wind, Water and Twist!

CHILD’S POSE
Grounding – for a long, long time with a bolster or pillow underneath your chest/ abdomen, especially if the wind is getting to your nervous system.

ADHO MUKHA SVANASANA
Downward facing dog and SHAKE all the water off like a dog!

UTTANASANA
Standing forward extension with head supported on a chair, again to chill you from the irritating winds.

SIRSASANA & ADHO MUKHA VRKSASANA
Headstand and handstand (technically downward facing tree pose!)
Turn everything upside down and look at the rain falling UP! Can you stay steadier than the trees blowing outside?

VRKSASANA
Tree pose, stay steady, even as the wind blows. Get ready for the twisting by first rotating the top of your bent leg from the inside out, and turning your chest in the opposite direction – make your tree as steady as a mountain (TADASANA mountain pose in your torso).

PARSVAKONASANA
Extended side angle pose. Practice the same rotation as in VRKSASANA. Except here be even MORE grounded on that back foot.

PARIVRTTA TRIKONASANA
Rotated triangle pose. Go for it! BE the hurricane. Twist!

PASCHIMOTTANASANA
East meets the west seated forward extension. Again, ground yourself. Head down on a bolster, stretch out the twisting and get L-O-W  to the ground…

SETU BANDHASANA
Bridge pose. It’s your bridge, build it any way you want, with blocks, bolsters, blankets or dropping over from Sarvangasana: but make it steady, so the wind doesn’t blow it down. Lift your chest and stay grounded in your feet.

SAVASANA
Corpse pose, with any kind of weight you can find – place it on your thighs, so you don’t “blow” or “float” away! Use as much as you can gather. Try for at least 50 pounds.

ENJOY! And please report back how stable you were in the 40+ m.p.h. winds.

Martha Stewart doing Iyengar Yoga in Grand Central Station in NYC last week. Great article! Thank you Wall Street Journal. Even Martha has been told to make her feet parallel at some time. There are videos. Take a look. Here’s the link:

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/10/19/for-one-day-new-york-was-martha-stewarts-yoga-mat/?mod=google_news_blog

I bet even Martha has been told to make her feet parallel at some point in her yoga practice. A big shout out to James Murphy of The Iyengar Institute of New York for leading the class.

Nice feet Martha!

Dharma is from the Sanskrit root dhr, meaning to uphold, support, sustain. As B.K.S. Iyengar writes in Light on Pranayama, it is “the code of conduct that sustains the soul and produces virtue.” At Estes Park [Yoga Conference] in 2005, Mr. Iyengar said, “That which has fallen, that which is falling, that which may fall, dharma holds it up.” In the body, the spine is like the dharma––it is that which keeps us from falling, that which holds us up.

From an article by Iyengar Institute of New York’s own Genny Kapuler, “The Spine: Form & Function” on the IYNAUS website:

http://iynaus.org/research/spine-form-function

ASANAS TO BE PRACTICED TO INCREASE YOUR IMMUNITY
RIMYI Pune October 2009
(H1N1 virus – Bird Flu Epidemic)

We will be practicing the MORNING SEQUENCE
tonight, 6 p.m. at Woodstock Yoga Center.
Don’t worry if you can’t hold the asanas this long.
We will work with what is possible for you and your ability.

Come on by and have your Weekly Yoga Flu Shot!

MORNING PRACTICE
Duration approx 1 hour

• Uttanasana             5 minutes
• Adho Mukha Svanasana    5 minutes
• Prasarita Padottonasana    3 minutes
• Sirsasana            10-15 minutes
• (5 minutes straight and 10 minutes sirsasana cycle)
• Viparita Danasana on your cot (!) [we'll use 2 chairs] with head down 5 minutes
• Sarvangasana        10 minutes
• Halasana            5 minutes
• Sarvangasana Cycle    5 minutes
• Setubandha Sarvangasana    5 minutes
• Viparita Karani        5 minutes
• Savasana with Viloma or Ujjayi pranayama 10 minutes

EVENING PRACTICE
Duration approx. 45 minutes

• Sirsasana             10 minutes
• Sarvangasana        10 minutes
• Halasana            5 minutes
• Setubandha Sarvangasana    10 minutes
• Savasana with Viloma or Ujjayi pranayama 10 minutes

“I sometimes tell my students that the practice they doing yoga class is not strictly speaking, yoga practice. The reason for this is that in class, although you are undoubtedly ‘doing’ and hopefully learning, you are listening to the teacher. The directing intelligence comes from the teacher and you follow the teacher to the best of your ability.

“At home, on the other hand, it is your own intelligence that is the master, and the progress that you make is yours and will be maintained. In addition, the will that you employ is yours. It is not derived from the power, the charisma, the strength or the fierceness of the teacher. It comes from you, and its effect profound.”

– B.K.S. Iyengar

Chronic Anxiety Sequence (Patricia Walden)
Print out and write your notes on how you practiced this tonight,
your results and insights.

Reflect on where you are in the moment, on all five koshas: physical, pranic, mental/emotional, root intelligence and bliss. Reflect on where you want to be after your yoga practice. Practice in such a way to achieve that goal. Not from an ego state or any mental ideations of what is “right.” Reflect at the end of practice if you achieved that goal, and what you would do differently next time. Keep notes. This is another aspect of Svadhyaya: self-study.

Iyengar Yoga in Woodstock with Kevin Gardiner
July 14-15, Saturday and Sunday, 2:00-6:30 p.m.
4 hours both days, with half hour chai break each day
$195

Sign up HERE!

THIS TWO DAY WORKSHOP will be for high Level I-II Iyengar Yoga Students. Those who regularly attend Iyengar yoga classes will get first priority, as we are limiting the attendance to 25, and we want to keep the level of teachings strong and inspiring. Participants are required to have a good command of Iyengar basics, be able to do sirsasana, handstand and be able to sustain unsupported urdhva dhanurasana with straight arms. If you are not a regular practicing Iyengar student, we can discuss whether this workshop will be appropriate for you.

Sunday’s classes will be based on Saturday’s. Students signing up for the whole weekend will have priority for available spaces. Only if space is available will you be able to register for a single day session ($100/day). Contact Barbara at Woodstock Yoga to be on the sign-up/waiting list for single day class. (more…)

Lots of snow on the grass, but the driveway isn’t bad.

CLASS IS ON!

OM
Who knows!?!?
Here is the latest from my FB pal Alex: He’s the man re: all weather issues…
I say COME! Drive carefully, and park carefully. If there is a huge snow event, I’ll let you know when I wake up where you can park.
But come on by!
more Back Bending!!!

Hudson Valley Weather

Important Update: (3 minutes ago… 7:57 p.m. Thursday)

Here’s the facts…. Temps are dropping quickly in response to clear skies. As you can see from the observations in the below post that we have temps ranging from 32-45 across the HV. When precip begins after midnight temps will also take another dip and if the info from the NWS in Albany serves true then the start of the precip may be quite heavy, this will cause a sharper drop in  temps and also quickly overcome any warm surfaces it is trying to accumulate on. Every hour that clear skies hold on across the HV temps will continue to drop, so its easy to figure that between all these factors most of the HV will get to 32 deg or lower be after midnight. Now to make this even more interesting both the NAM and HRRR which are good short range models are depicting 4-6 and even 8 inches of snow “see below post by Brent for HRRR” Now these models tend to be bullish with amounts at times but overall are accurate models. But we also have snow ratio’s to contend with, and with temps right around freezing they will be very low, resulting in a wet snow that will not pile up to quickly. This is going to be a now-casting event and I want to make sure you are all informed and aware of the wide range of possibilities that exist as this has become a bit of a challenging forecast. I have posted the forecast discussion from the NWS below. Stay tuned as me and everyone else continue to watch new data as it arrives and keep and eye on local observations to get a better handle on this situation. Again, this morning I posted 3-6 in the highest elevations and 1-2 in the valley, it’s the valley prediction, north of poughkeepsie that is in the biggest danger of being low at this point.

Twisting is one of the most powerful tools we have in yoga asana practice. Besides creating flexibility in the spine, the parivritta (twisting) action opens the nadis (energy channels) and deeply massages the organs. Twisting, bending and binding also detoxifies the system, bringing rejuvenation, clarity and balance into the body. This class through it’s intelligent Iyengar sequencing will create heat to challenge and clear out your body and nervous system for a deep long suppported savasana at the end that will leave you feeling pleasantly wrung out, fresh and restored to finish up the winter.

Saturday, February 18, 1:30-3:30
Woodstock Yoga Center
6 Deming Street
Woodstock, NY 12498
$40

845 679-8700

OM, Long time since posting… as you must know by now, Linda Lalita Winnick of Shakti Yoga and I are now owners of Woodstock Yoga Center (formerly Bliss Yoga Center) as of Jan 1, 2012. It’s been an awesome month of lots of work and organization. I will be using my site here now as a more personal yoga blog. So keep on checking it!

Today’s note! CHATURANGA DANDASANA.

Please look at our First Lady, Michelle Obama’s Pushup Competition with Ellen De Generes. Please observe that their buttocks are NOT poking up into the air. So what about the arm thing… this is amazing length in the lumbar and core strength. Chaturanga Dandasana should look just like this in the spine. Thank you!

We all have much to be thankful for living in the Woodstock area. I hope you add to your list how profound it is that we are able to freely practice yoga and to spend time on the spiritual path. This is one of our greatest blessings in life.

Have a great holiday, and I look forward to seeing you in this year’s

Post Thanksgiving Digestion Class
Friday, November 25
11:00 to 1:00 p.m.
Mountain View Studio, Woodstock
$20

(Mountain View Studio is just off of Rock City Road, opposite the Colony Cafe, behind the Main Free Public Parking Lot)

NOTE: Please bring your own mat if you have one, I usually run out in these big classes. Thanks.

This class is open to all levels and all students of all styles of yoga. But please, no absolute beginners or major injuries for this class. It will be moving too fast for your safety.

The Apana Vayu Prana is the main downward digestion energy of the body. Although most yoga classes and postures are done to stimulate the upward flow of Prana to lead towards Enlightenment, unless the downward Apana Vayu is moving correctly, congestion, blockages, sluggishness, constipation, and dullness will result.

It’s not: “You are what you eat.”  It’s: “You are what you don’t poop out!”

After a feasting holiday, it is good to work on asanas to stimulate this downward apana and the digestive circulating samana pranic flows. This will be a STRONG yoga class. Besides stimulating the Apana & Samana Vayu Pranas, we will work to stimulate the Agni Gastric Fire. Please let me know before class if you are having your period. Some abdominal asanas are not appropriate during menstruation. Alternate postures will be offered for you, so don’t let that be an excuse not to come.

We will work on the following:

* kriyas to stimulate digestion and elimination
* asanas to stimulate digestion and elimination
* jumpings in the various asanas and vinyasana
* inversions
* twists, compressions, and stretches to the abdomen
* a long expansive restorative pose to relax the abdomen and belly at the end

Regular 2 hour students can use their class card to pay the discounted $18 price. If you have an 1 1/2 hour card add $4. All other students pay $20.

Please be at the studio by 10:45 to sign in and get a space.
See the previous post “Be A Yogi, Be On Time!”

If you wish to register and pay in advance with PayPal you will reserve your space.