Iyengar Level 2-3 : 2015.10.06

Invocation
(still need to work on this - getting there, need to put more daily time into this, would like to be able to both understand and properly pronounce by end of October - at least close to the Ashtanga Invocation)

jathara parivartanasana with urdhva prasarita padasana I and eka pada jp as prep.
--> prep moving through various leg combinations, building to JP. Use sandbags to stabilize shoulders. Move upper hip away from shoulder to bring feet even. Changing angle of the legs as they cross the body change which parts of the abdominal muscles utilized. In LOY - Iyengar says "This asana is good for reducing excess fat. It tones and eradicates slugishness of the liver, spleen, and pancreas...By its regular practice all the abdominal organs are kept trim." (LOY 239-240) use bottom leg to lift top leg up.

adho mukha vajrasana to adho mukha svanasana
--> shorten more than normal or use board/sandbag under heels to give the heels something to press down and into, lifting upper thigh bones out of the back of the legs.

utthita hasta padangustasana
--> descend to ascend standing leg, roll outside hip of lifted leg down, press through heel to ball of foot and toes to lift leg higher. focuses on strengthening quads, foot is light

parvritta utthita hasta padangustasana
--> use wall for balance, for distance fingertips brush against wall. same standing leg set-up, lift bend knee take hold of outside of foot with opposite hand, descend to ascend inhale lengthen, exhale twist, shoulders even, pull down with back hand to lift and spread collar bones.

adho mukha vrksasana
--> my backbending love still comes through, strong back and lower ribs migrate out from the rib cage. need to work on lifting through base of calcaneus, lifting the skin of the fee, pulling up with the anterior tibialis, pulling femus heads in, working with those gluts and oh, yeah...UDDIYANA

parsvaika sirasana
-->  need to get off the blocks, if only this asthma flare would only clear up...anyways, this is hard! like in UHP, stabilize through "standing leg" rotate out other leg from deep in the hip socket, quad pulls down leg, while hamstring pulls up, weight of foot providing ballast. noticed there is a shift in weight on the forearms and need to ground down more on the side with the leg that is coming down to the side. (like in JP, need to redirect weight more to shoulder of top leg).

upvistha konasana
--> love love love love sandbags, at the hip creases. sit on center/front of sit bones, not allowing the shift to the back, one line from hip socket through to foot, draw in head of the femur, knees point up to ceiling, spine extends up and out of the pelvis, gaze goes up, exhale bend forward from hip crease, bringing torso as close to floor as possible. inhale come up release both feet, exhale rotate torso from base of spine, hold one foot with both hands, inhale extend spine, exhale fold torso over leg really rotating belly, chin comes to knee. it's like a wide angle janu sirsasana.

catushpadasana prep for sarvangasana to setu bhandasana
--> and those pesky sarvangasana drop downs and up. apparently, these are supposed to be easier than standing dropbacks. working with one leg and added height from a blanket is helpful, but two legs are the same time is still difficult for me and quite tiring, almost managed three successive with rope assistance.  bring hands as far up the back as possible, bend knees allow feet to become heavy, curling spine over hands, gently placing feet on ground and immediately lifting up.

halasana to karnapindasana
--> knees either side of ears, hands to outside of feet.

savasana.