Day 72 : halasana (plough) & uttana mayurasana Stretched peacock) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

VIDEO LINK

As a reminder, Ramaswami recommends we spend five minutes in Sarvangasana (first three minutes with the legs relaxed next two with the legs straight in standard Shoulderstand) before practising the sarvangasana vinyasas

Ramaswami would also recommend a counterpose after sarvangasana so as to relieve the strain placed on the neck and shoulders, he suggests bhujangasana (cobra, Day 45) and especially makrasana (crocodile, Day 44) as ideal counterposes, stating that, 'The counterposes, as a rule, should be simple, effective and targeted' (Yoga beneath the surface p105).

This Subroutine could follow on nicely from Day 68 : Supta ardha badha halasana to Halasana

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

For Halasana (pic 2) from Sarvangasana (shoulder stand) we first place our arms outstretched along the mat and then lower the legs to the mat above our head on the inhalation.

Lowering on the inhalation gives more control of the descent as does engaging the legs by stretching out through the legs from the hips to the feet.

Remember to lower and raise the legs from the hips rather than thinking about lowering the feet to the mat.

Uttana Mayurasana (stretched peacock )

From Sarvangasana tuck the tailbone, engage moola bandha by drawing up the anus, bend the knees, expand the chest, arch the back and lower your feet gently to the mat on the inhalation.

Lowering on the inhalation gives more control as does engaging the bandhas.

Stay for a breath and then stretch first one leg and then the other, press your feet, from the toes to the heels and both sides of each foot firmly into the mat.

Stay for three to six breaths lifting up through the hips as in dwipadapitam

Return to sarvangasana by bending the knees bringing the legs back to where you first landed them.

Support the back, exhale, hold the breath and raise your hips and thus your legs off the mat, the knees stay bent until you ar vertical again when you stretch the legs back up into sarvangasana. 

Some may find the the  uttana mayurasana vinyasa's, where the legs are lowered one at a time (pictures 4-7) easier or less intimidating than full uttana mayurasana, in which case, you might wish to switch them around in the subroutine, at least in the beginning.

This vinyasa is less intimidating because the trailing leg can act as a counter weight to the leg lowering to the mat behind you.

From shoulder stand lower one leg above your head (your right leg say) then inhale, hold the breath and bend the knee of the upright leg (your left) and arching your spine and supporting your back with your hands lower the left foot to the mat behind you.

As you lower your right leg will come up, stretching out through this leg will give control of the descent to the mat of the other leg. The right leg will come up to vertical as the left leg comes to rest on the mat behind you

Stay in this position with one leg bent and the other straight for three breaths. Stretch out through the vertical leg from the hip.

After three breaths on the next inhalation stretch out the left leg along the mat while trying to keep the vertical leg stretched and engaged.

Stay for another three breaths.

To return: On the exhalation bend the left leg again bringing it closer to the body, stay for a breath. Exhale, hold the breath, press down from the shoulders to the elbows, round the back and from the hip raise the leg allowing the right leg to lower back into eka pada halasana. On the next inhalation bring your right leg back up to join the left in Sarvangasana sthiti

Basically, as one leg goes down the other come up like a seesaw.

Day 71 : Niralumba Salambhasana ( unsupported shoulderstand) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

VIDEO LINK

As a reminder, Ramaswami recommends we spend five minutes in Sarvangasana (first three minutes with the legs relaxed next two with the legs straight in standard Shoulderstand) before practising the sarvangasana vinyasas

Ramaswami would also recommend a counterpose after sarvangasana so as to relieve the strain placed on the neck and shoulders, he suggests bhujangasana (cobra, Day 45) and especially makrasana (crocodile, Day 44) as ideal counterposes, stating that, 'The counterposes, as a rule, should be simple, effective and targeted' (Yoga beneath the surface p105).

An unsupported shoulder stand assumes your regular shoulder stand is stable and comfortable. if your feeling any stress on your neck then you should probably avoid the unsupported version for the time being.

A good warm up is often required to allow the shoulders to relax enough for unsupported shoulder stand, the and arm variations in Tadasana from Day1 are a good place to start, these could also be done in dandasana.

Practicing forward folding postures with the chin down will also stretch and relax the neck in preparation for shoulder stands as would engaging jalandhara bandha (chin lock).

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

Explore the unsupported headstand by removing one hand at a time from supporting your back may be a good introduction to finding the required balance.

In regular shoulderstand, stretch your back more, extend up through the legs and lean your torso and hips in the direction of your head, your legs will come beyond your head but remain straight up. 

Your hands on your back should feel as if they are hardly necessary to support the shoulder stand.

Reach up with on arm on the inhalation and stretch it up along your thigh, remain for three breaths. Return it to your back and repeat with the other hand, remembering to stretch your hand up along the thigh, stretching through your trunk and the full length of your legs feet and toes.

If one hand at a time is comfortable, take first one hand off the back, stretch it along the thighs and then after a breath bring the other hand to the other thigh. Hold for  a breath and then bring the first hand back to the back and after another breath return the second hand.

When comfortable in niralumaba sarvangasana (unsupported headstand) consider exploring the vinyasas.

When lowering and raising the leg, begin the action in the hip, while stretching through the length of the leg.

By lowering on the inhalation you keep more control of the descent.

In lowering the leg to the mat (pic.3) place one arm on the mat above your head on the inhalation, stay for a breath and then on the next inhalation lower the leg to the palm, hold the toe and ideally stay for three breaths.

You may wish to lower the leg on the inhalation and raise it on the exhalation while you become comfortable with the movement and shift in balance, repeating three times and then holding the toes on the third lowering.

Problems can come on the raising of the leg back up to horizontal. be sure to keep the torso forward and stretching up through the legs and keeping the the trailing leg forward of your head while raising the leg.

in the next vinyasa bring both hands above the head. in the beginning you might lower first one hand, stay for a breath and then bring the other to join it staying for a breath before returning the first hand on the next breath and the second hand on the following breath.

As this becomes comfortable and stable try bringing both hands above the head and stay for three breaths.

There is another vinyasa not shown, where you bring you arms behind your head  clasping your elbows.

In the vinyasa in picture six, halasana (plough) lay the hands along the mat behind your head and then on the inhalation lower your legs to the mat above your head, the stretched out arms give more stability in this posture.

Day 70 : Urdhva Padmasana (lotus) in Sarvangasana (shoulderstand) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

VIDEO LINK

As a reminder, Ramaswami recommends we spend five minutes in Sarvangasana (first three minutes with the legs relaxed next two with the legs straight in standard Shoulderstand) before practising the sarvangasana vinyasas

Ramaswami would also recommend a counterpose after sarvangasana so as to relieve the strain placed on the neck and shoulders, he suggests bhujangasana (cobra, Day 45) and especially makrasana (crocodile, Day 44) as ideal counterposes, stating that, 'The counterposes, as a rule, should be simple, effective and targeted' (Yoga beneath the surface p105).

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

Padmasana (lotus) can be a challenging posture and there are many places to work towards it in Vinyasa Krama.

In Asymmetric Sequence: Padmasana doesn't appear as such but there are several hip opening postures, janusirsasana in particular, that prepare you for ardha baddha padmasana (half lotus).

In Lotus sequence : The lotus sequence picks up where Asymmetric leaves off with more vinyasas in half lotus before moving on to full lotus.

In Seated sequence : Padmasana (lotus) follows the deep hip opening subroutines of upavishta konasana and badha konasana.

In Supine sequence : More half lotus variations, this time in dwipadapitam (table pose). In shoulder stand we have the half lotus vinyasas of Day 68 but also the extreme hip openers of the previous (Day 69 ) Urdhva Konasana subroutine.

In Inverted Sequnece : As with Supine and Seated the lotus vinyasas in headstand follow, konasana and badha konasana subroutine.

In all of the above sequences we can see that padmasana (lotus) follows hip opening postures, this is because padmasana (lotus) is a hip rotation rather than a twisting of the knees.

CAUTION
Don't twist the knees to get into padmasana, rather the knee is relaxed slightly and the femur head rotated in the hip joint allowing the knee to come out to the side like turning the page of a book bringing the foot up toward the opposite thigh. We bring the foot to the opposite groin by rotating the hip joint further and using the hand to guide (guide not pull) the foot into place.

Once one foot is comfortable on the opposing thigh we do the same for the other leg, relaxing the knee slightly, rotating the femur head in the hip joint but here in the inverted postures of shoulder stand and headstand we can allow the first leg to drop back a little to allow the second foot to come up smoothly on to the thigh, guiding the foot deeper into the groin with our hand.

Allowing the first leg to drop back to allow the second foot to come up onto the thigh more easily is something that's only available in the inverted postures. For this reason Supine may, surprisingly, be an easier option for developing padmasana.

Because we want to use one hand to draw the foot deeper into the groin we need to make sure that we are firmly supported in shoulder stand with the other hand. Be sure to have the hand supporting the back rather than the hip. the hand should be close to but not on the spine with the fingers pointing upwards.

You may want to bring the trailing leg further over the head and shoulders in the beginning to stay stable.

Lowering the lotus (pic.3)
Engage the bandhas, draw up the anus and draw the belly in and up to create space to fold your lotus towards your head, try to keep your lotus as close to your chest as possible.

Pindasana (pic.4)
To achieve pindasana you need a nice tight lotus with the knees brought closer towards each other, the thighs almost parallel.  make sure your hips are over or preferably in front of your shoulders so that when you remove your hands you don't roll back down to the mat. Swing your arms around your legs and clasp your hands and ideally bind at the wrist

If your lotus is not tight enough to bind fully you may still be able to hold the thighs while you work towards tightening your lotus and deepening the fold.

The Twists (pictures 5&6)
Assuming your right foot is on your left thigh the first twist bringing the left knee to the right side of the head is less challenging than bringing the right knee to the left side of the head due to the way the legs are folded.

Start with the twist. Twist at the waist to the right on the exhalation, stay for three breaths. then, on the next exhalation, twist a little further to the right while at the same time lowering your left knee towards your right ear. Stay for three breaths.

Pratkriya (pic.7)
The final posture of the subroutine, Sarvangasana padmasana (pic 7) is the Pratkriya (counterpose ), bending the waist backward to counter the forwards bends.

Move the hands to the hips with the fingers facing forward over the hips and the thumbs pointing towards the spine.

In the beginning bring the chest further over your head and then arch back just a little at the waist on the inhalation and then come back to vertical on the exhale, arch the back a little further on each inhalation as you become more confident.

Use the bandhas to keep stability, engage mula bandha strongly by drawing up the anus, draw the belly in and up and engage the chin lock.

Stretching up out of the hips as much as possible in this position by expanding and lifting the chest, push the hips upwards.

To return. point your lotus up on the exhalation, slide your hand back into the regular shoulder stand position with the finger pointing upwards, when vertical allow your hips to open which will bring the knees further away from each other bringing the feet down the thighs and out of the bind.

Day 69 : Urdhva Konasana in Sarvangasana (shoulderstand) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

VIDEO LINK

As a reminder, Ramaswami recommends we spend five minutes in Sarvangasana (first three minutes with the legs relaxed next two with the legs straight in standard Shoulderstand) before practising the sarvangasana vinyasas

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

Ramaswami suggests the option of opening and closing the legs into urdhwa konasana three times, on the breath, before remaining in the posture for three to six long breaths. 

This is a good opportunity to work into the stretch, starting with the legs opening to quarter, half and finally full stretch.

Try not to allow the legs to come forward or the back to drop too far back into your hands, this posture should ideal happen with the hips and legs in line, on a plane as it were.

In Urdhwa baddha konasana, I find it useful to roll on to the outside of the feet to open the legs wider before bringing the feet back together.

There is the option of bringing the legs down towards the mat and then raising them back up into urdhawa konasana, three times on the breath, each time going deeper into the fold.

Engage bandhas, drawing the belly back and up to create mere space for the deep forward bend.

We can begin by holding the toes, then the sides of the feet and finally the heels, drawing ourselves deeper into the posture on each long exhalation.

Day 68 : Supta ardha badha halasana to Halasana in Sarvangasana (shoulderstand) subroutine from Vinyasa Krama Supine sequence

VIDEO LINK

As a reminder, Ramaswami recommends we spend five minutes in Sarvangasana (first three minutes with the legs relaxed next two with the legs straight in standard Shoulderstand) before practising the sarvangasana vinyasas

HINTS/TIPS/SUGGESTIONS

Picture 2+3 lower the leg from the hip, try to keep both legs, the one lowering and the one remaining straight by stretching through the whole leg right up to the toes.

Engage mula bandha by drawing up your anus and then uddiyana bandha by drawing your belly back and up at the end of the exhale, this hollowing of the belly will allow you to lower the last inch or two to the floor with control.

Raise the leg back up to standing slowly with control on a long inhalation, there's a tendency to take the leg back up quickly, thinking that the important aspect of the posture is the lowering of the leg.

Both the lowering and raising of the leg are vinyasas.

Between picture 3 and 4 we can include an extra vinyasa in which we bend the knee to bring the right foot into the left groin then bend the left knee to bring the knee towards the forehead. This can act as a preparatory vinyasa for Supta ardha badha halasana.

It's also possible to include yet another vinyasa where we bring the right foot to the left goring then lower the left leg bringing the toes to the floor above our head. This is an unbound version of Supta ardha badha halasana

It may be advisable to work on the bind in the On one leg sequence or asymmetric  where one foot is in half lotus and the is a more stable base.

In Sarvangasana, bing the right foot to the left groin and lower the left leg slightly. Support the back firmly with the right arm, making the right leg good and straight by engaging it strongly.

Use the left hand to bring the right foot deeper into the left groin. Return the left hand to support the back and then swing the right arm around the back twisting the hips to gain better access to the right toes.

It's may be useful to think of the action of putting on a jacket in which the second sleeve has become a little tangled.

before lowering the foot to the mat, try to straighten up and relax the shoulders as much as possible

Gain a firm hold of the right toe with the right hand and lower the left foot to the mat above your head..

In Halasana, Picture 6, lower both legs to the mat above your head first then stretch the arms to the floor

Engage bandhas, enabling you to draw in your belly to create the space for a deep fold.

Inhalation will be shorter than normal but exhalation can be long and slow, stay for 6-12 breaths.

For urdhwa-mukha-paschimottanasana, picture 8, take the the toes as in picture 7 and work towards a deeper foold as in paschimottanasana in the seated sequence over a number of breaths. For the first three hold the toes, the next three fold deeper and take the side of the feet, with the next three breaths take the heels if that feels available to you.

This is an extreme forward bend and you will want to make sure that your hamstrings have been sufficiently warmed up and loosened  earlier in your practice.