compass

Upper back and core are the main “asana” (pose) groups students want to practice in almost all yoga classes. Or maybe my students always want to focus on these two areas. Personally, I do not like the routine in my daily life and so I do not want to teach same type of class and “asana”s in my yoga classes. That is why I am trying to find different “asana”s and teach them in the classes to make the students happy. What I am trying to mean by “finding” is to try to remember “asana”s I used to know but threw to the back of my mind.

Last week, students wanted to practice a class focusing on the upper back. Then some of the students told me that they wanted to stretch hip muscles. Then what I would do was to find a peak pose combining both parts of the body and prepare the bodies for that peak pose. That day the peak pose would be “parivrtta surya yantrasana” (compass pose).

After the opening meditation, we warmed up the bodies with “surya namaskara” (sun salutation) series. We should stretch hamstrings, hip external rotator muscles and the shoulder girdle and prepare the spine for twisting. In the first half of the class, we practiced “uttanasana” (standing forward bend), “vrksasana” (tree pose), “ardha baddha padmottanasana” (half bound lotus standing forward bend), “ashwa sanchalanasana” (high lunge), “anjaneyasana” (low lunge), “padangusthasana” (big toe pose), “eka pada raja kapotasana” (pigeon pose), “garudasana” (eagle), “gomukhasana” (cow face pose) and twists in “uttanasana”, “ashwa sancahalanasa”, “anjaneyasana” and “gomukhasana”.

Just before the peak pose, we bent on the leg front in “half frog” to stretch hamstrings and then we stretched in-between two legs in order to stretch groins and inner thighs. After a last stretch of hamstring muscles with “paschimottanasana” (seated forward bend), we started to warm up the hip external rotators with “rock the baby”. After this pose, we drew circles inside and outside with the hip. Before “parivrtta surya yantrasana”, we got into “akarna dhanurasana” (archer pose) and “krounchasana” (heron pose). Immediately after heron pose, we placed the right leg over the the right shoulder and placed the right hand on the ground. The internal rotation of the shoulder was pushing the leg back and extending the hamstrings. As the leg became straighter and straighter, the spine was twisting to the left. We grasped the right foot with the left hand and twisted the spine to the left side as much as we could for the last stage of “parivrtta surya yantrasana.” Some students had flexible hamstrings and could so easily do the pose. Some bent their knees but tried to do the pose as much as their bodies let them. Then came the other side.

We neutralized the spine with “dandasana” (staff pose), “paschimottanasana” and “setu bandhasana” (bridge pose). We hug the knees to the chest (apanasana). We laid supine and did pelvic tilt on the ground. The flow ended with “ananda balasana” (happy baby pose). We ended the class after “savasana” (deep relaxation and resting pose).

Why did compass pose come to my mind those days? Every one was so confused, sad and unhappy due to recent incidents in our country. We were like passengers travelling on a highway but had lost our way. Our compass was out of order. By practicing compass pose that day, we tried to bring together the body, mind and soul and correct our compass. Whenever our compass is out of order, yoga will show us the path and will enlighten our path only if we can perceive and listen to what yoga is telling us.

real yoga

“We haven’t practiced real yoga for a long time teacher? I enjoyed today’s class so much.” When I heard this sentence in my private class last week, the class was not over yet. I was helping the student get from one “asana” to another with verbal directives and trying to preape the body and mind of the student for a peak pose. When I heard this sentence, I was shocked for a moment because I could not understand what she was trying to say. After that “one moment”, I realized what she was talking about and I thought that it was too realistic, natural and sincere. I was happy and started to laugh. I am sure you will laugh too when I tell you the whole story.

I am working with this student for a long time and we both prefer “vinyasa” (flow) yoga. However, we focused on “yin yoga” (a type of yoga that aims to stretch the body up to deep connective tissues) due to physical problems of my student. As she started dance classes and her muscles were getting tighter and tighter due to these dancing classes, we gave priority to stretching her body in our recent classes. We stopped yoga flows that prepare the body and mind to a peak pose for some time.
When I got to class that day, I was planning to teach a core strengthening yoga flow. She said, “I do not feel well today but exhausted today, teacher. I do not think a core strengthening yoga flow would be good for my body and mind right now. Can we practice something else?”
As yoga is a flexible philosophy, I was used to such demands. After checking the physical condition of the student, I was trying to visualize how she was feeling. An exhausted body and mind… What type of class could we practice? To which asana group could we focus on in order to feel better and well? We should either focus on inversions or twists. I eliminated inversions all of a sudden because she was having problems in her shoulder girdle and wrists. The best thing to do was to focus on twists, clean and detox the body and calm down the mind. After deciding on the asana group, I should decide on the peak pose. “Parivrtta janu sirsasana” (revolved head-to-knee pose) or “parivrtta upavistha konasana” (revolved seated angle pose) would be easy poses for the student. I should have picked deeper twists for my student and I found it: “Parivrtta surya yantrasana” (compass pose). For this pose, we should stretch hamstring muscles and hip external rotators and prepare the body to this deep twist.
Following the opening meditation, we walked the hands to right and then to left side in “utthita balasana” (extended child pose) to prepare the spine to twists. After twisting the body on all-fours with “thread the needle” pose, we started to stretch the shoulder girdle. Sitting in “virasana” (hero pose), we stretched the shoulders with the arm positions of “gomukhasana” (cow face pose) and “garudasana” (eagle) poses. Then we stood up and started to warm the body with “surya namaskara” (sun salutation) series.
In-between “surya namaskara” series, we started to add twistis. “Parivrtta uttanasana” (revolved standing forward bend), “parivrtta adho mukha svanasana” (revolved downward facing dog), “parivrtta parsvakonasana” (revolved side angle pose), twist in “ashwa sanchalanasana” (high lunge), twist in “anjaneyasana” (low lunge), “parivrtta prasarita padottanasana” (revolved wide-legged standing forward bend)  and “parivrtta trikonasan” (revolved triangle pose) were some of them.
After preparing the spine for twists, I wanted to open shoulders more. We used “garudasana” (eagle) arm position in “virabhadrasana I” (warrior I) and then we interlaced fingers in the back and stretched the body inside the front leg. When we got into “virabhadrasana II” (warrior II), we joined the hands in “namaste” (prayer pose) in the back and tried to round the shoulders back. In “prasarita padottanasana” (wide-legged standing forward bend), we interlaced hands behind and bent forward. Then we tried to bring the hands away from the body and tried to stretch the shoulder girdle more.
For hamstrings, we stayed long in “uttanasana” (standing forward bend). When we sat down, we tried to open hamstrings more with “janu sirsasana” (head to knee pose) and “paschimottanasana” (sitting forward bend).
Ahead of the peak pose, we needed to stretch hip external rotators. We began with right leg. We held the right leg with our hand and the knee with the other hand and rocked the leg in and out, just as rocking the craddle. The name of this pose was “rock the craddle.” Then we held the right foot with the right hand and pulled the leg to the back under the armpit, just as nocking. As you may guess, the name of the “asana” was “archer pose” or “akarna dhanurasana.”
It was now time for the peak pose. We put the right leg over the right shoulder, put the right hand on the floor and then rotated the body to the left. This was teh first stage of this pose. If we could easily rotate the body, then we could grab the right foot with the left hand to twist the spine to the left a bit more. And now you were showing “parivrtta surya yantrasana”. In English, “compass pose.”
As we started to try the pose on the other side, the student said, ” we haven’t practiced real yoga for a long time teacher? I enjoyed today’s class so much.” As I have said in the beginning of the post, I could not understand what she was trying to say. What did “real yoga” mean? If we were not practicing “real yoga” so far, what were we doing? That moment, I stopped directives and took a deep breath. My mind needed fresh air so that I could understand what that sentence supposed to mean. Yes, breath did help.
I told my student, “when you say real yoga, I think you mean flow classes and vinyasa yoga. Yes, we were trying to stretch the body for some time and we were not connecting asanas to each other. We were getting into one asana and then flowing to the other. In today’s class, we flew from one asana to the other each time we inhaled and exhaled. We linked the asanas to each other as if we were dancing. Do you mean this when you say real yoga?”
The student said, “yes I am actually saying so. I am talking about the flow. I think I expressed it wrong. Yes you are right, everything we are doing is yoga. Yoga is a philosophy and a way of living. I am talking about flow classes when I say real yoga. I mean about the classes in which we flow from one asana to another each time we inhale and exhale. We have not done this way for a long time. I missed it so much and I enjoyed it a lot.”
Yes, this was “real yoga.” I could not stop laughing when we were talking. I was humming “real yoga” and laughing at the same time. I liked it so much. You could see the happiness of my student from her eyes. The tiredness of a flow yoga and  the state of awakening the energy and breath created in the body and mind. Things that lacked in the classes we focused on stretching the body. When we focus on stretching the body and particularly on “yin yoga”, a relaxation, lightness, stillness and calmness. However, energy and a state of awakening the “vinyasa” flows give us. This was what “real yoga” was providing us.

firm navel, firm stance…

I have focused on philosophical issues for some time for I could not self-practice, try new asanas and do asanas I used to do very well. Everything happens for a reason. Maybe I have handled yoga only on the basis of asanas for a long time and I distanced myself from philosophy I liked so much. As I have given up asana practice, I can spend more time on new books and researches, which makes me give priority to philosophical approaches in my classes. My private and group classes all focused on philosophy last week.

I am trying to focus on different parts of the body, work out and strengthen different parts of the body and reveal the emotions of that part in every class. As I have read books on “kundalini yoga” for some time, I focused on “chakras” in my last week’s classes. I worked on the first two chakras in the former classes and tried to strengthen “muladhara” (root) and “svadisthana” (sacral) chakras and ensure an emotional relief. Acceptance, trust and creativity. Now it was time for the third chakra, i.e. “manipura” (solar plexus/navel) chakra. Its emotion was “determination” while its shadow emotion was “anger.” What did this mean? If the navel chakra was working well, the person would be energetic and a person who could make his goals come true. If this chakra was week, that person did not have any energy to make his/her thoughts come true. S/he was unhappy and not content with whact life brought to him/her and a furious and a disappointed person. In physical sense, the stronger the core muscles were, the fewer the back problems were and the easier the body balance could be ensured. That meant the navel was both physically and emotionally important place.
That day, I had a private class in the morning and a group class in the evening. I talked about “manipura chakra” at the beginning of the private class and said that we would focus on core. After the meditation, we twisted the body in “balasana” (child pose) and then we sat in “virasana” (hero pose). We practiced “kapalabhati kriya” (skull cleansing method) and worked out core muscles and diaphragm. After a “vinyasa” flow we stood up in “tadasana” (mountain pose), warmed the body up with “surya namaskara” (sun salutation) series and rested in “tadasana”. Then came “nauli kriya” (abdominal cleansing method). “Nauli kriya” was difficult and it could take a long time to fully practice it. However, we just tried to completely empty the lungs and tighten core muscles. This was the first stage of “nauli kriya”. If we managed to do this, we would try to tighten the right and left abdominal muscles and those in the middle and then relax them. Then we would try to tighten one side of abdominal muscles and relax the other side. The last stage was to tighten the central core muscles, then tighten those in the right side and relax them and then tighten those in the left side and relax them. Thus, we could massage the abdomen. After trying the “kriya” for a few times, we went back to “vinyasa” flows.
We focused on “twists” in the private class and wanted to work out and detoxify the navel chakra with “twists.” Therefore, in-between “vinyasa” flows, we practiced “parsvakonasana” (side angle pose), “parivrtta parsvakonasana” (revolved side angle pose), twist in “ashva sanchalanasana”da (high lunge), twist in “tadasana” (mountain pose), twist in “uttanasana” (standing forward bend),  “parivrtta prasarita padottanasana” (revolved wide-angle pose), twist in “adho mukha svanasana” (downward facing dog). “Svarga dvidasana” (bird of paradise) was the last standing twist. It was time for the peak pose. We sat down. We stretched hips with “rock the baby”, “akarna dhanurasana” (archer pose) and “krounchasana” (heron pose) and twisted the body to the right and left in heron pose. Then we tried “parivrtta surya yantrasana” (compass pose). We ended twists with “parivrtta upavistha konasana” (revolved seated angle pose).
We balanced the spine with “dandasana” (staff pose), “paschimottanasana” (sitting forward bend) and “purvottanasana” (upward plank pose) and ended the flow with “ananda balasana” (happy baby pose). We relaxed the body totally in “savasana” (deep relaxation and resting pose).
In the group class, we focused on core strengthening poses. At the beginning of the class, we practiced “kapalabhati kriya” and after warming the body up, we tried “nauli kriya.” In-between “vinyasa” flows, we practiced “phalakasana” (plank), “chaturanga dandasana” (low plank), “vasisthasana” (Sage Vasista pose/side plank) and strengthened arms and core muscles. We inhaled and exhaled and flew between “phalakasana” (plank) and “adho mukha svanasana” (downward facing do) and between “urdhva mukha svanasana” (upward facing dog) and “adho mukha svanasana.” We tried to lift the bodies from “chaturanga dandasana” (low plank) to “phalakasana” and we moved forward and backward in “chaturanga dandasana”. In every inhale and exhale, we flew from “ardha salamba sirsasana” (dolphin pose) to “plank on elbows.” After working out core and arm muscles, we tried “bakasana” (crow pose) and “pincha mayurasana” (forearm pose). Those who did not want to practice “pincha mayurasana” chose either “salamba sarvangasana” (shoulderstand) or “salamba sirsasana” (headstand) or “adho mukha vrksasana” (handstand) in order to change the flow of blood in their bodies.
I wanted to end the class with “vinyasa” flows. My intention was to cool down the body with “vinyasa”s. In-between “vinyasa” flows, we put the back knee on the floor in “ashva sanchalasana” (high lunge) to stretch the quadriceps. We relived the chest with “bhujangasana” (cobra pose) and stretched the neck by looking to the right and left in every exhale. We stayed long in “uttanasana” (standing forward bend) to stretch the hamstring muscles. In the last “vinyasa”, we jumped forward to “dandasana” (staff pose). We lied supine and relaxed hip external muscles by “eye of the needle” pose and then twisted the body with “twisted roots.” We balanced the spine with “ananda balasana” (happy baby pose). Then came a long “savasana” (deep relaxation and resting pose).
How would I end the class? If “manipura chakra” (navel chakra) was strong, our stance in life would be strong. Ambitious and determined. When we said ambition, we were not talking about greed. We were talking about the talent to start a project and have the will to end it up. If we started playing a musical instrument and quitted, this meant the navel chakra was not working well. “Manipura chakra” was where one had the determination and power to start a project and maintain it. If we were determined and ambitious, we would be purified from the shadow feeling of this chakra which was anger. When every chakra had a positive emotion and we had the chance and will to fortify that emotion, what is the use of being the slave of the negative emotions of the chakras?

after a yoga class…

To become a yoga instructor and start teaching yoga is an excellent feeling. Not to self-practice and not to join other instructors’ classes as much as you can due to an increase in your own teaching classes is a twist of fate. However, what develops us is to self-practice when we have spare time and to learn from our own practice. New asanas and new ideas… Moreover, what develops us more is to join other instructors’ classes and to remember and experience some asanas you knew but have forgotten or you have never tried before.

I joined one of my friend’s classes a few days ago. I had a prenatal yoga class that night. There was a hatha yoga class in the same studio at the same time. When nobody showed up for my class, I thought this was a good opportunity to join the hatha yoga class. I was really lucky to practice hatha yoga that evening. That class took me to two years ago. The days when I attended teacher training program.

We had to prepare and teach an internship class during the training program. We had set up four-member groups and the class was about to last for two hours. Everybody had half an hour to teach. We were asked to teach either hatha or vinyasa class. There would be a peak pose in the class. In the first half of the class, we would prepare the participants for the peak pose. Just as one hour passed, we would practice the peak pose and we would do neutralizing and counter poses in the second half of the class. The class would end with “savasana” (deep relaxation and resting pose), which would be the last five or ten minutes of the two-hour class.

Our group had one and a half months to prepare the class. We were lucky. Some of our friends would teach a yoga class only two weeks after the groups were set up. We started to practice our own class by meeting once or twice a week. We first needed to prepare the flow. We had to find a peak pose and choose the asanas to prepare the bodies for the pose and then pick the asanas to relax the bodies.

The decision was made. The peak pose would be “parivrtta surya yantrasana” (compass pose). In the hatha yoga class I joined that evening, my friend also picked this asana as the peak pose. And I remembered those days when I was doing the asana. The peak pose was a hip opener. We needed to open the shoulder girdle and hips and prepare the body for twist. The first half of the class focused on opening and stretching the shoulder girdle and hips and twisting the body. Surely, we also worked or abdominal muscles up.

That evening, my friend started the class by lying supine on the mats and working our abdominal muscles up. We lifted our legs up one by one and then we lowered them down one by one. After that we lifted and lowered both of our legs simultaneosly. We focused more on the abdominal muscles with “navasana” (boat) variations. Lying supine, we made dynamic twists to right and left. To work out obliques, we did not touch our knees on the ground when twisting. The other partner of the studio, who was also a yoga instructor, also joined the class. Her mat was beside mine. We were looking at each other in every asana and asking “what will the peak pose be?”

We then stood up and practiced some standing asanas. Between “surya namaskara” (sun salutation) series, the instuctor placed “virabhadrasana II” (warrior II), “parsvakonasana” (side angle pose) and “svarga dvijasana” (bird of paradise). We were practicing “adho mukha svanasana” (downward facing dog), “phalakasana” (plank) and “chaturanga dandasana” (low plank). I was so curious about the peak pose.

We also tested our balance. We not only kept the hips square in “eka pada adho mukha svanasana” (one leg p downward dog) and sometimes we were bringing the iliac crests over each other, which meant changing the angle of the hips. Moreover, we bent the knee of one of our legs and tried to bring the sole of our foot closer to our hips in order to stretch the quadriceps muscles. When doing this, we first tried to keep both knees at the same level. Then we distanced the knee from the hips. In the end, we not only stretched the quadriceps but also tried to open the chest and paid attention not to squeeze the lumbar spines when doing this.

Later, we lied down again. I could not guess the peak pose. After sitting down, we did a few hip opening poses. “Rock the baby” and “akarna dhanrasana” (archer pose) took me to two years ago. I remembered our own internship class. I thought the peak pose of the night would be the same with our internship class. I asked, “will the peak pose parivrtta surya yantrasana?” with great enthusiasim. Yes, it was the peak pose. Believe me, I had forgotten that asana after our internship class. I had never used it in my own classes. I do not know why. Maybe I had really forgotten that asana. However, it was a very effective pose. Both a hip opener and a twist. It was a good peak pose.

After “akarna dhanurasana”, we tried to open one of our legs to the side as much as hamstring muscles let us do so. Then we held our foot and turned to the side under our leg. And this was the right side of the body. Now it was left side’s turn.

Following the peak pose, the class was over with “paschimottanasana” (sitting forward bend/west facing asana) and “twisted roots”.

Before “savasana” (deep relaxation and resting pose), we practiced “nadi shodhana pranayama” (a breathing techniqe that cleanses energy channels in the body).

Throughout the whole class, the instructor drew attention to the right and left energies in our bodies. It was a hatha yoga class and it was so natural to focus on solar and lunar, male and female, right and left energies. How different right and left parts of the bodies can feel, how our balance may differ from one side to the other, how we can feel comfortable in one asana in one side but uncomfortable in the other side, how one side can be stronger and more flexible than the other side… All these were things our instructor reminded us in that class. Maybe this was becase the peak pose was an asymmetric asana. Just to make s feel the two different energies of our bodies.

What did I feel at the end of the class? That my left side was more relaxed than the right side when lying in “savasana”, how much I needed to join other instructors’ classes and relax, that I can learn new asanas and new things in other instructors’ classes and that other classes could open new horizons… That we should be open to new experiences… And that when we were open, new experiences could come and find us…