April | 2015 | Bobby Clennell

Archive for April, 2015

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. February 27, 28 & March 1st.

April 5, 2015

Weekend Workshop at TreYoga

This was my third trip to Kuala Lumpur. The ethnicity of the student body here is diverse; Chinese, Malaysian, Indian, European and (a few) British.

Adho Mukha Svanasana with a belt attached to lowest hook. Here the belt is a little high – it’s not catching the student where she needs it.

The belt is in the correct place now. If nessessary, you can help by pressing between the shoulder blades, but don’t press for more than a few seconds, and this is NOT for beginners! It can take several years of practice in this and other poses for a stiff beginner to open up the shoulders and upper back, and a weak beginner to develop strength. Both groups need to explore this pose with good instuction, but with a minimum of disturbance and props to begin with, to establish an aligned and integrated pose.

This student does not need anyone pressing between shoulder blades. You can see the spine is a perfect curve from wrists to hips.

Urdva Mukha Svanasana. An assistant is gripping the student’s heels between thumb and fingers, and is pulling them back to stabilize the pose, and to help her avoid jamming the lumbar spine.

Urdhva Dhanurasana with the rope knot placed on the sacrum. Take some time to press the heels down and the dorsal spine up into the chest as you curve back, before bringing the arms over.

Have the toes pointing straight ahead. Move the deltoids up onto the shoulder blades.

Urdhva Dhanurasana drop back: before dropping back move the tailbone down, far away from the lumbar spine and pull the back ribs up.

Sirsasana: Spread the skin between the mounds of the first two toes.

Setu Banda Sarvangasana. This is how active the legs have to be in order to avoid compressing the lumbar spine.

This is Nanda (and his wife). With the help of a preist, they are blessing the new room – an addition to his studio, B.K.S. Iyengar Yogashala. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.