Day #30 - Last Class
/My last class was at 5.45am with Raya. My bags are packed and full!
It is Pranayama week at RIMYI. Week one is standing, two is forward bends, three is backbends and week four is Pranayama.
The sequence is less relevant than the kriyas in the asana. I don’t think I have ever started a class in Matsyasana or even thought it possible… but it is.
Basically the entire class was doing Matsyasana.
Lying on our backs
Lying prone
On the patella facing the wall and holding ropes to traction
On the patella back to the wall holding ropes to traction
Padmasana in Sirsasana which is essentially Matsyasana on your head
Setu Bandha with the legs in padmasana and the pelvis on a high support which essentially Maysyasana with support
The pranayama classes this month have not been lying or sitting and simply doing the Ujjayi or Viloma etc.
Rather the awareness has been on the breath in the asana, perhaps with a few minutes of sitting and doing Ujjayi.
Observing how the breath changes with slight or gross movements.
Observing where the breath travels in different asana.
Focussing on the inhalation but more often the exhalation of the breath into different regions of the body.
We often find pranayama challenging because we think we have to lie or sit still for a long time just focusing on the breath, but I learned that it does not have to be that way at all.
Actually we can focus on the breath in every asana in every practice and hence be practicing pranayama daily, rather than something that is separate or different.