Area Yoga Brooklyn

Salamba sarvangasana (Shoulderstand)

The weather is shifting and fall is on the horizon — school is starting and our biggest harvests are ripening. The extroverted days of summer are coming to a close. Take salamba sarvangasana (shoulderstand) to give in to the last heat of season and begin to turn your attention inward.

Tina demonstrates salamba sarvangasana

Getting In: We highly recommend you practice shoulderstand with a folded blanket under your shoulders to avoid crunching or pressing your neck into the floor. Yoga Journal has a clear photo demonstrating how to use a blanket in shoulderstand. Place a neatly folded blanket (an inch or more in thickness) at the middle of your mat. You will eventually put your shoulders on the smooth edge of the fold; take the end of your mat and fold it over the smooth fold of the blanket. Lie down, with your shoulders about an inch down from the end of the mat and blanket. Your head is off the mat and on the floor; when you touch your shoulders, you should feel an inch of mat underneath your neck. Bend your knees and place your arms along the sides of your body. Lift your knees toward your head and beyond to lift your hips. As your hips move higher, place your hands with fingers pointing towards your feet at your mid-back. With bent knees, shimmy your shoulder blades toward each other and narrow off the space between your elbows. Once your hips are directly above your shoulders, begin to lengthen your legs towards the ceiling. The higher your legs lift, the more you may want to walk your hands down your back — towards the ground and your shoulders. Take your gaze to your toes, your breathing belly, or close your eyes.

Lining Up: Lengthen your chin away from your chest to keep an open throat for steady and even breathing. Energetically move your elbows and upper arms toward each to reinforce a strong base to hold up your lifted body. Your hands press into your back to encourage your hips to move higher up off your shoulders; narrow the sides of your waist and hips to support your pelvis from the sides and underneath. Allow your abdomen to relax and move naturally with your breath. Draw your legs toward each other, as if you were standing in tadasana on the ceiling; both knees are directly facing the wall behind your head. Draw your kneecaps down your thighs. Simultaneously reach for the ceiling with your feet to ease the weight in your shoulders as gravity sends blood and energy back down into your heart center. Relax your jaw and your eyebrows to allow your head to fully release into the floor. Once you have established your alignment, you can play with variations of your legs. Be sure to also enjoy at least a minute of stillness.

Guiding light in shoulderstand

Tuning In: Salamba sarvangasana is said to be the mother of all the poses for its healing qualities. Indeed, BKS Iyengar says in Light on Yoga that shoulderstand is, “one of the greatest boons conferred on humanity by our ancient sages.” This gentle inversion is something of an antidote to standing on our feet. Shoulderstand allows your precious blood to seep down from your feet and legs back into your heart and lungs with gravity instead of the hard work of your heart. Thus, this pose promotes better circulation, a healthy heart, and flushed glands. The end of summer often signals the end of carefree, leisurely days and the beginning of a new time for introspection and turning inward. In this pose, you cannot help but observe your own self and body. Watch your belly breathe and your legs sway without any conscious movement on your part. See your torso and legs as a candle, with a bright flame at your feet. As the flame slowly burns and the wax drips down, feel your own body melt and give in.

Friday 9/4………yogalates………cancelled

Saturday 9/5…..8.30am open…cancelled

Sunday 9/6……..2pm prenatal..cancelled

Sunday 9/6……..5.45pm open…cancelled

Monday 9/7 …..we have 9.15 am and 12.30pm classes

All other classes cancelled!

For the past couple of months, swine flu has set off a frenzy of fear throughout the world. Where is the H1N1 Influenza A vaccination? we’ve been asking. Now, however, claims have been surfacing that yoga can cure or prevent the deadly illness. One of the most notable claims comes from Swami Ramdev (aka Baba Ramdev), whose televised yoga camps have gained widespread popularity.

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Ustrasana (Camel Pose)

We’re into the dog-days of summer, when the temperature outside is practically equal to our body’s natural temperature — the perfect time to juicy backbends, like Ustrasana.

Teacher Tina in Ustrasana

Getting In: Be sure you are quite warm before doing this pose; ustrasana is an excellent pose for the end of your practice. Start standing on your knees and shins, with your toes tucked under. You can stand on a blanket or double mat if your knees are sensitive to stand on. Your knees should be hip distance apart; check behind you to make sure your feet are hip distance apart as well. Take your hands to a prayer at your heart. Draw your shoulder blades towards each other and allow them to slip down your spine. Broaden across the front your chest and begin to direct your sternum and heart space toward the sky. Every inhale lifts your heart higher and every exhale holds you suspended as you begin to move your upper chest up and over your shoulder blades. Reach one hand for your heel and then the other. Move the fronts of your hips and thighs forward. Either drop your head or keep looking forward. Rise back to stand. Rest in rock pose (seated on your shins). Try the pose again, but with the tops of your feet flat on the floor.

Lining Up: Connect your mind and weight into your feet, legs, and knees to give yourself a sturdy base. To broaden your lower back, energetically move your thighs toward each other, as if you held a block between your thighs. Continue to move your thighs forward, looking to balance your pelvis directly above your knees. Notice if you are pushing forward by squeezing your butt, and instead open forward by releasing your tail down and moving the stretch into your front body — as if your body was being drawn forward with magnets. Keep your breath even, yet hug your ribs in as you crawl out of the sides of your waist and put more distance between your pelvis and your ribcage. Your breath inflates your upper body, to encourage the backbend to move into your upper back. Continue to slip your shoulder blades down your back to provide a surface for your heart to rest and offer your heart to the heavens. Ensure your throat is open to allow your breath to move freely by taking the tops of your shoulders away from your ears. Allow your head to drip from your spine.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons, taken by John O'Neill

Tuning In: Though this is a backbend, you are largely stretching your quadriceps, hip flexors, and abdomen, while encouraging flexibility in your spine and openness in your shoulders. Ustrasana means “camel pose,”  and we all know that camels store precious water and moisture in their bodies to survive in the scorching heat of the desert. Can you find your inner reserves, your inner fluidity, to open into this pose and draw the juice of your being to the surface? Imagine that you are pealing a mango as you shed layers of heart and body to find the supple and juicy pose. Or perhaps you are cracking open a coconut to spill the water from inside. When you’re fully in ustrasana, imagine that your heart’s water is pouring over you in all directions.