Drapery

Drape: 1. To cover, dress, or hang with or as if with cloth in loose folds: draped the coffin with a flag; a robe that draped her figure 2.To fall or hang in loose folds: arranged the cloth to drape over the table legs 3. to cover or dress loosely with cloth; drape the statue with a sheet.

I have started running a yoga inspired warm-up at the beginning of each dance class I teach with elements to aid the students in their particular dance styles. One of the items that I discussed at length with my young flamenco dancers was the concept that they need to experience an upper-back back bend while dancing. I had them imagine that they were lifting up and over in their upper-backs, trying not to touch an imaginary pin point that was being held just below their shoulder blades. I had them lift up, while I placed my finger in this exact spot and had them lift up and then drop over my finger, yet never touching it. They must keep their chests open wide and at the same time, they must keep their backs broad. From there, the arms are free to move on their own, irregardless of what the torso or legs/feet are doing. They can lift their arms seemingly effortlessly.

One pose that I have been experiencing very deeply in my own yoga practise is the back bend. In the weekly classes I take, my teacher often has us recline over a bolster of rolledup blankets. I have moved on to drape myself over a crate. I imagine that I am a piece of material and then allow myself to relax fully on the crate, with my head dropped back, not touching the floor. My lats are very tight though and when I try too reach above my head and then grab a hold of the crate, my back tightens up. I am basing my home practise on release in this area and am feeling emboldened and strong. It is an exciting journey.

As written by Barbara Benagh, Iyengar teacher and mentor:

Back bend Over a Crate
Roll two blankets into a firm cylinder and place them on top of a sturdy crate or stool. Lie back over the bolster, positioning it in the small of your back. With your hips and shoulders at the same level, melt back over the bolster until your spine relaxes. To extend further, stretch your arms overhead or bend your elbows and grasp the crate or stool. Relax your neck, and roll your top shoulder blades toward the stool to open your chest more. Extend your legs and place your feet flat on the floor. Focus on steady breathing to enhance an internal focus.

Flipping Your Dog

Yesterday I attended Barbara Benagh's 3-hour Flipping Your Dog workshop. It was wonderful. She describes the action of starting in Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog Pose) and then flipping yourself over into Urdhva Dhanurasana (Wheel or Upward Bow Pose) as a vinyasa sequence: "a series of movements consciously connected by breath. It is a wonderful example of how a sense of dance can be preserved in yoga" And it was! Downward facing dog pose is a wonderful pose. It combines three very important elements: It is an inversion pose, a hip flexibility pose and a strength pose. When you add the flip, you get a great twist. You get to hang in the twist and then end up in a back bend and then you have to rewind the sequence to get out of it. We practised for about 2 hours before we even approached the vinyasa.


She started by leading us through a few lying twists. I have to note that this morning, my mystery hand pain seems to be gone and I think that is directly related too these two twists. I got such a great shoulder stretch. I will definitely add these to my morning practise.

We then placed a block under the base of our neck, behind the shoulder blades, brought our hands together and cradled our head and then brought our elbows together as close as possible. After a time, we let our elbows slowly open up consciously keeping our shoulder blades open against the block.

We did two different low lunges. The first we let the bent knee pass over the foot and raised one arm (same arm as the foot on the floor) and if we could, without bending sideways, touched the floor with the other hand right by the side of the body. The raised arm, we let reach back and created a back bend. The second pose, we kept the knee directly over the foot, bent our back leg and held the inside of the foot with the same hand, and then raised the other arm to create a back bend.

Next was the straight legged version of Dying Warrior.

Then a crazy twist that she calls Eric's Twist, where you sit on your heels and grab the heel of one foot with he same side hand and then bring yourself down to the floor, onto your shoulder.

We did 3 series of Dog-in-Prayer-2 to Cat to Cobra.

Then Pasarita Padottanasana (Standing Wide Legged Forward Bend), where we put more weight beind us and then stretched our arms out forward on the floor, creating a dual direction tug. Then we just hung out in the pose.

We did two Virabhadrasana I series(Warrior I). The first was Dancing Warrior into Virabhadrasana II. The second ended in Parsvottanasa, relaxing over the leg.

Next we did a series of Hand Stands against the wall.

We then used a block as a bolster, laying it right at the edge of our shoulder blades.

Then came about 40 minutes of flipping our dogs. We started with regular wheels to warm ourselves up. I had great success and was even able to give a good assist to the woman on the mat next too me. My wheel felt wonderful and light. I was even able to imagine myself standing up from a back bend (by going onto my finger tips in the pose)and one day know I will be able to stand up.

We ended class with Baddha Konasana, Janu Sirsasana, Headstand and Savasana.