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The following descriptions of the 12 Themes taught
in Beginning and Continuing Svaroopa® Yoga classes are adaptations from
materials that I received from Master Yoga® in my teacher training. I have attempted to write descriptions based
on my own understanding of the themes—which is still being refined
and deepened. Any errors are entirely my own, and not the
fault of Master Yoga®.
In this Theme you will learn three different sequences
of poses, which will be repeated tduring the same class. Hopefully
this repetition will help you remember the sequences so that you can practice
them at home. I will give you homework-- to do the sequences
at home during the week - to begin to develop a Home Practice.
Why develop a Home Practice? Developing a
Home Practice will help you release deep core spinal tension faster
as well as experience the benefits of Svaroopa® Yoga in a shorter time.
And when you come to class you will also benefit more.
For Continuing Yoga students this theme is an opportunity
to refine your alignments in each pose, to deepen your experience in
each pose, and to re affirm your commitment to a Home Practice.
You will receive a first tool to support your home
practice - the Magic 4 handout.
There are other Yoga Tools available for
you to purchase - Rama 'The Primary Practice video/CD; her Life's Breadth
CD; yoga blocks, blankets, and even Svaroopa® Yoga posters.
In class I will ask you if you is you are doing your homework and if
so, what are the benefits. I'll try to get you to share your successes
so other students will be motivated to develop, refine and deepen their
Home Practice.
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2.
Lower Spine Release
In this theme we will be using poses that position
your legs in particular angles in order to reach into your spine and
reliably release parts of the lower spine. You will be helped to learn
the correct alignment and proper timing in the poses.
You will be cautioned to NOT STRETCH LIGAMENTS.
Doing so causes instability in your hip and knee joints and therefore
can be dangerous. If you have already over stretched these
ligaments the proper alignment in the poses can help to realign and
re stabilize these joints--a major benefit of Svaroopa® Yoga done correctly
and over time.
Throughout this theme I will keep reminding you that
in Svaroopa® Yoga, the goal is not to master the poses but to use the poses to get certain predictable and reliable effects.
You will continue to recieve homework assignments, which now ask you
to pay greater attention to alignment
of your legs in your Home Practice poses, and to report
in class what you are becoming aware of as your lower spine releases—what
are the benefits that you are experiencing?
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3. Upper
Spine Release
In this theme you will be introduced to poses that
move the entire spine, rather
than concentrating in just one spinal area at a time. The goal
will be to open the entire spine and to keep it open as you leave Springdale
Yoga and go about your daily life--a lofty goal but possible!
The new poses (Bridge, Cat & Cow) will be used
to help you become aware of the parts of your spine that are stuck,
move in a chunk, and do not move easily. You will learn to use
your legs and arms for strength and support, rather than tensing your
spine, as we do the poses.
Throughout the day, most of us primarily use two
areas of the spine - the neck and waist. These areas get over
used and become weak and unstable. In this theme we will focus
on moving the "unused" areas of your spine - ;the lower spine
tailbone and sacrum and the upper spine rib cage and heart areas.
Again you will get homework - to notice what parts of your spine you
are using easily and what parts are stuck, as you go through the day.
As the spine opens you will experience many benefits
that will be mentioned in class - not only physical benefits, but benefits
to your mind and spirit. We will discuss the benefits in class,
and I will suggest that you may be ready to add upper spine release
poses to your Home Practice.
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4. Abdominals
Theme
The main purpose of this theme is to help you develop
a different understanding of how the abdominals work. You will learn
that the abdominal muscles automatically
work when your spine releases. This theme is your first introduction
to the process of finding your abdominal muscles - a process that may
take a couple of years, as you preserve!
This theme is not for the purpose of working your abs, strengthening your abs, or finding
your abs. It is for the purpose of releasing your spine and finding
that your abs automatically work.
We will focus on learning to use two sets of superficial abs—the transverse abdominals under your ribs and the long rectus
abdominus that run vertically from your ribs to your pubic bone.
We will learn to use these superficial abs instead of your spinal muscles
for everything, including release in your spine.
After this theme I will recommend that you add abdominal
poses to your Home Practice, and practice using your superficial abdominals
instead of your spine, throughout the day. You will again get
Homework - noticing when your abs work!
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5. Backbends
Theme
Most of us are crunched over throughout the daytime—sitting
in the car, at the computer, at the tables - in meetings, at mealtime,
and on and on. Therefore, backbends are a very important direction
of movement to learn, and particularly to learn to do safely.
Backbend poses, like Fish and Cat Stretch, should
be done after warm-up and preparation poses that get your spine moving,
including the abdominals. Again the focus will be on helping you
to use your arms, legs and abdominals in the backbend poses, rather
than tightening the spine. So the classes during this theme will
prepare you by first opening up your spine.
You may or may not be ready to add Backbend poses
to your Home Practice. Take time to discuss this decision with
your Instructor. You will be cautioned against doing backbend
poses without first opening the spine, and you will be encouraged to
do a re release pose after doing backbend poses, in case you did tighten
your spine - as many of us do when beginning to do new poses.
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6. Standing
Theme
In this theme the goal is to learn to stand in your
bones and how to do standing poses (like Tadasana and Uttanasana) by
using your leg muscles and abdominals instead of spinal muscles.
Balance is an element in every standing pose, so each pose will have
suggestions and tips on balance. We will be doing challenging
standing poses, like the Warrior poses, paying attention to using leg
and abs instead of tightening the spine, and how to achieve the proper
balance and alignment in these poses.
Another goal in this Theme is to help you learn a
new definition of strength.
You will learn that strength comes from leaning into our legs, not from tightening your spine and developing (over developing) the
back muscles. I will talk about stamina being more important than strength. Stamina comes from keeping
your spine open - released, without tension, throughout the day, as
you use leg bones, leg muscles, and abs, to support yourself.
You will again get homework - to practice standing
"correctly" throughout the day - when brushing your teeth
in the morning, shaving, at the sink when washing dishes, preparing
meals, when standing in lines, at church or when standing and talking.
When appropriate, you will be encouraged to
add standing poses to your Home Practice. In the beginning you may tighten
your spine in the new standing poses at home so I will suggest that
you do a re release pose after each standing pose.
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7. Forward
Bends Theme
The forward bend poses that you will be learning
in this theme, such as Downward Facing Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana) and
Angle Pose (Konasana), can be create deep releases in your body.
During this theme I will caution you about too much release, too fast,
and how to take care of yourself, gradually opening - particularly if
you do these poses in your Home Practice. I will pay attention
to your alignment and help you understand how to do so as well.
I will caution you against tightening to create the forward bend movement
- which is easy to do when you are first learning the poses or if you
have learned them in other styles of yoga.
Since early themes you have been learning about tight
hamstrings. In the new poses that we will be doing you
may again experience tight hams. I will keep reminding you that
releasing your spine will lengthen your hams, releasing tightness. Again
you will hear about softening and lengthening muscles, rather
than stretching them--this
is another key difference between Svaroopa® Yoga and other styles of
yoga.
In this theme we will focus on softening the many layers of back muscles. Softening is important and we
will work on this goal as well, although for some of you this may take
a long time.
Finally, the deep forward bend poses can create emotional
releases as well as physical ones. In Svaroopa® Yoga we underestand
this is a natural part of the
process of spinal opening. If this happens in class you
willl be helped to calm down. No one will be uncomfortable because
of these natural emotional releases - we will welcome them and I will
take care of you! You will learn how to take care of yourself
if this emotional release happens during your Home Practice.
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8. Neck
and Shoulders Theme
Since your first Svaroopa® Yoga class you have heard
the same key principle repeated over and over again - that releasing
the tensions held in deep, tight muscles of the lower spine - the tailbone,
sacrum and waist area, can create changes in the whole spine.
Now in this theme we will do poses that allow you to deepen your experience
of this basic principle, and to deepen you understanding of it.
We also will continue using principles and understandings
developed in previous themes. For example, we will continue to
do abdominal poses to deepen your understanding that when the
spine is released, abs work.
The previous Forward Bend theme introduced the importance
of softening the back muscles and clearing away emotional as well as
physical tensions. In this theme we will focus opening up the
front of the torso, the chest, by lengthening through the rib cage.
The neck and shoulder poses that you will be learning
are ones that you many have been introduced to in other styles of yoga
- such as Eagle Arms or Head of the Cow, and we will be doing challenging
poses like Fish. You will enjoy these poses and want to do them
at home.
However, you will learn about two cautions in order
to do these poses in ways to protect our rotator cuff - shoulder joint,
and the importance of opening the spine through the rib cage, before doing neck and shoulder poses. In this theme we
will try to deepen and refine your understanding of the importance of
releasing the spine and doing the poses without retightening the spine.
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9. Balance
and Inversions Theme
In this theme we will review principles learned in
the Standing Pose theme—about finding your balance when standing,
leaning into legs and using leg muscles rather than tightening the spine
and back. During this theme one goal is to refine and deepen your
understanding of these earlier principles. You will find this
theme much easier if you have learned the principles of balance in other earlier themes as well, and if you are practicing
these poses at home. Balance without tightening is key here!
During this theme we will pay close attention to
safety - we will warm up your spine through the neck and shoulders before doing any inversions. This too is different from other styles
of yoga where students do Full Inversions on their own, without a series
of warm up poses. Also, we will start this theme by doing mild inversions,
progress to moderate inversions, and then move into full inversions.
No one will be forced into doing full inversions. As always, you
can come out of a pose early or skip a pose, doing a substitute pose.
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10. Classical
Poses
Now that you have practices Svaroopa® Yoga through
the previous themes you are ready to do "Classical Hatha Yoga"
poses. You may have been wondering why we are not doing certain
poses such as Cobra, Locust, and Upward Facing Dog. We did not
want you to get into these poses by tightening your spine! We
want you to understand how to take care of your body as you are doing
these poses.
Hopefully now you understand how to keep an open
spine, and you will be able to use these poses to release the spine.
Just in case you cannot do so when beginning you will be provided with
re release poses afterwards.
In class you will be watched carefully as you do
these poses, as it is quite tempting to do them in the "old ways"
that you did them in other styles of yoga, even though you are doing
your best to follow my instructions. We will try to take care
of your body with you; pointing
out ways you are missing the point of the poses.
This is particularly important to those of you who
will want to add these poses to your Home Practice. We will try
to develop your understanding of errors that you can make when doing
these poses at home - for example, errors in alignments and in how you
sequence classical poses with other poses. There is much to learn
in this theme, and it is exciting! We will try to have fun together
as we learn to do these classical poses in new ways - for new reasons.
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11. Vinyasa
Vinyasa is sometimes known as Flow Yoga. Vinyasa
means putting together a sequence of poses in a specific order, and
repeating that sequence and order several times. Some of the Vinyasas
that we will learn are more strenuous and others are gentle.
If you have participated in previous Springdale Yoga
sessions and learned the vinyasa poses in previous themes, then some
of the poses will not be new to you. For Beginning Yoga students
who are new to Svaroopa® Yoga, you will have the opportunity to
learn some of the poses before they are put together in the sequence.
For Continuing Yoga students this will be time to fine-tune some of
the poses within a Vinyasa.
You may even be assigned homework - to practice some of the poses
or sequences at home. This should not replace your regular Home
Practice, but rather support and supplement it.
One of the Vinyasa is a Joint Movement series that
you may or may not have participated in at Springdale Yoga. This
series is NOT based on the "Start at the Tailbone" philosophy
of Svaroopa® Yoga. It has been previously offered as a special
session.
My teacher Rama Berch developed this Joint Movement
series based on many other styles of yoga in which she is certified.
This is not a strenuous series, yet it can be quite beneficial for most
students. You will be moving every joint in the body in every
direction, which can be both relaxing and invigorating at the same time!
This is one Vinyasa you will want to repeat again
and again. When offered at Springdale Yoga you can take one, two
or all three classes. Taking three classes will deepen the benefits.
And we will have fun while doing so!
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12. Seated
Pose and Twists
This final theme is a Meditative one - you will be
learning about the importance of sitting poses and sitting as an important
practice by itself. Asana, the ending syllable on the name of
most yoga poses, means "to sit". In the previous themes
we have been developing your ability to sit, comfortable and steady,
with a fully open spine.
During the Shavasana and Ujjayi Pranayama breathing
done at the beginning of each class, we bring our attention inward and
quiet our mind. Hopefully you have experienced this inner peace
during final Shavasana.
The new Twist poses learned in this theme, Ardha
Matsyendrsana and Marichyasana, are particularly effective in turning
attention inward, opening the spine, and quieting the mind.
In each class you will do some sitting.
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13. Abdominals
Redefined
Learn the "how's" and "why's" of using your abdominal
muscles. Gain experience and understanding of abdominal strength, digestion,
and emotions and how it all relates to the spinal releases that are
the foundations of Svaroopa® Yoga. Find your abs and your voice. Learn
to meet life's challenges with new confidence, joy and enthusiasm.
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