Prashant’s Classes, July 16-19, 2018

Empowering Beyond the Body

This week the monsoon arrived with more force than recently. We had some days of serious squalls and significant rainfall. Umbrellas and puddles and empowerment sum up the week so far.

Here are the sequences:

Monday— July 16, 2018

Brick setu bandh or rope sirsasana

Rope sirsasana or bharadvajasana

Mariachi I or ropes I

Ropes I repeat

Adho mukha svanasana at the grill

Tadasana, urdhva hastasana

Janu sirsasana or viparita dandasana

Swastikasana forward

Savasana

Monday’s themes: Acumen and prudence, corporeal conditions and corporeal effects.

What good is logic in an insane asylum? This was one of Prashant’s questions; he pointed out that sometimes pure logic can lead to insanity. He broached the topic of justice and suggested that justice blindfolded might be a bad idea.

Looking into the etymology of the words:

Acumen, from PIE (Proto-Indo-European) root “ak” “to be sharp, rise out to a point, pierce”, Latin Acumen, “a point, a sting”

Prudence, from Latin “prudentia”, a “foreseeing, foresight, sagacity, practical judgment”, contraction of providentia “foresight”, related words—providence, jurisprudence.

Etymology, from GK (Greek), the study of (ology) of the true sense (etumon)

Tuesday—July 17, 2018

Ropes One, long holding

Adho Mukha Svanasana at the grill

Rope Sirsasana

Upavistha Konasana, twist

Purvottanasana

Viparita Karani alternate with

Janu Sirsasana and

Paschimottanasana

The Tuesday class theme was using asana practice as a time to educate oneself, and to empower more than the body (Prashant pointed out that the group he teaches in this early morning class is “way past their prime”). Mind, consciousness, conscience, all these can be empowered through asana practice, not just the body.

Prashant also brought a father and his son from the group to stand before the class to make his point that sometimes we learn life lessons from our parents or children and fail to learn lessons from our own life experience. This is a phenomenon I have noticed in my sojourn on the planet. The implication in the class was that if we cultivate a practice of “the real yog”, we might actually learn something from our own life experience, rather than letting our lives enlighten our offspring or parents.

Thursday—July 19, 2018

Adho Mukha Svanasana at grill or rope wall or column

Brick Setu Bandha Sarvangasana

Ropes Sirsasana

Ropes I static and feet to wall, knees on bolster

Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana lateral at the grill

Anterior ropes (ropes II), slide hands down from highest point to hold, arch back, then pull up in Dwi pada Viparita Dandasana shape, legs straight, elbows bent, head back

Standing Back Arch, alternate with

Ustrasana

Alternate with

Urdhva Mukha Svanasana

Purvottanasana

Bhujangasana

Urdhva Dhanurasana

Setu Bandhasana (On crown of head, straight leg back arch), at this point he suggested we do a backbend we had not already attempted, like Setu Bandhasana or Kapotasana

Parsva Dhanurasana

Chair Halasana, thighs supported

Janu sirsasana or

Viparita Karani

Savasana

Prashant’s exhortations during this backbending class were to “suck the back” and compare the difference between contracting and sucking. He said “empty the back” several times. At one point, he had us sit and listen to him tell us that nerve health is measured when muscles are contracted. This is why, when we do” I-younger-yoga,” we need to contract the back muscles and suck the spine in—it keeps us young! After my several decades of life on the planet practicing yoga, I can attest to the wisdom of doing this, for I’ve read “the research” which says that as we age, our muscle strength will wane more quickly than it did when we were younger. So we have to do these “contracture” asanas MORE frequently, not less! Guruji B.K.S. Iyengar himself was a tremendous example of this principle, keeping up his back arches into his nineties as he did.

At another point, Prashant had us sit and listen again to tell us that the PNS is misnamed! It is called usually peripheral nervous system. His point seemed to be that it is not “peripheral” at all, it is rather DEEP and better called PSYCHIC nervous system. From the yogic perspective, the nervous system itself is conceived quite differently than from the western medical perspective. A better understanding, through yoga, of this complex, delicate, and interconnected system will surely lead to a more integrated embodiment.

It must be obvious by now that Prashant likes to play with words. He mentioned that we have the word “spineless” in our language, so why not spine-full? All the contracting we did in class made my spine feel very alive, and not at all as though I was emptying out the back to do them. It was more as if the work through body, breath and mind was bringing a vibration, a vibrancy to the spine and the entire electrically-charged nervous system.

While we were in savasana he repeated again “empty out the back.” Of course, this was a radically different kind of emptying out than the emptying out process we had worked on in class. Space, however, is space, and though it’s hard to talk about, it remains my favorite element. It’s everywhere--like Prana.