LOOKING FOR THE GOOD - IN OURSELVES

Another beautiful day in Park City -- both from a weather and a training standpoint. More on the Bhagavad Gita, but opportunities for more discussion and more questions as well. And, a longer practice in the morning.

Wednesdays used to be kind of a negative 'hump' day in trainings for me - the day when I would wonder 'why in the world am I here?', or 'what do I have to offer', or - worse - 'I'm not good enough to be here'. This training (as I think it was in San Francisco) has a different feeling -- I'm comfortable, I'm able to comment and ask questions (though, not too many),  and I feel that I belong. It's a great thing.

One of many big learnings for me yesterday -- what to do with the neck in Ustrasana. And, when you do it, it makes the pose so much more accessible. (This question is one of the most common heard in yoga classes and trainings, in my experience.) We apply the 5 principles of the neck as we move up and back into the pose.  These are:

1. Inner Body Bright - use the breath to lengthen the torso all the way up to the crown of the head. The back of the neck should feel soft as you gaze straight ahead, eyelids level (top & bottom).
2. Muscle energy - hyoid bone moves back (the hyoid bone is situated at the base of the tongue in the front of the neck). This action will tone the neck. 
3. Create a cervical curve using shoulder loop
4. Now do skull loop (circular loop of energy from upper palate, back and up back of skull - over top - and down face)
5. Organic extension through top of head.

NOTE:  doing shoulder loop first will create the curve in cervical spine; skull loop will create length in the neck. Curving happens before lengthening.

When I did all five as I moved into the pose, the pose seemed effortless and my neck felt great. The key, for me, is thinking of all five as I go into the pose -- otherwise, I'm holding my heels and trying to figure out how to get my neck in position; not the way I want to be.

Other practice and therapeutic highlights:

• A brief foray into hopping; then hopping into handstand (well, mine was a good effort)
• For me, a well-integrated padangusthasana on the left side (I was even standing up straight). If you know me and my hamstrings, you understand. The right side still needs work, but the leg was up. Tip from Sundari: Re-focus on the focal point -- very helpful. 
• I may not 'melt', 'root', 'extend', etc., as much as needed - another pair of eyes is often helpful to tell me that - even though I think I am doing as much as I can - I need to do more; we all may, as JF said.
• 3 most common misalignments of pidgeon prep:  Hip of bent leg drops to floor, lack of muscle energy in the front leg, hips not squared.  
• Remind myself of my good 'stuff' more often - this was an exercise for us in a group of 3 - telling each other about our good points. Not easy.  A practice that should happen every day.  

Enjoy your Thursday (Jupiter's Day) - a very auspicious day,