Twists and the Willingness To Be Surprised: Teaching Gentle Yoga at the Wailea Yoga Shala: Wailea, Hi: December 10, 2017

Our little pom Lucy, the black dog on the right, was diagnosed with advanced heart disease after she had a fainting spell this week. My ex-pat home in California was ablaze and other twists of fate were fodder for exploring twists in my own body and sharing that in class today.

One translation of twists, or in sanscrit parivrtta, is 'the turning of the heart'. The heart can shrink from fear or despair when twists or changes occur because she knows things will change. The practice, and believe me it takes a lot of practice, is to stay tuned to positive emotions such as faith, trust, a willingness to be surprised, and wonder. Our main alignment was from the shiva sutras: Vismaya Yoga Bhumikaha, or "wonder is the foundation of yoga"

Here was our sequence
Seated on bricks
twist
arms stretch

wrist stretch
toe stretch

cat and cow
floor twist

downdog
uttanasana
tadasana

at wall:
shoulder openers with SI joint breath

tadasana
warrior I
twist
low lunge hamstring stretch

downdog

cobra
locust
bow

eye of the needle

bridge

savasana with bone meditation

sit
namaste