Ether/space element – Intuition, Wisdom, expansion
This class is intended to be shared with trained Yoga teachers who would like to use this sequence. Please use your intuition and don’t force anything that doesn’t feel good for your body. If it doesn’t feel right for you then don’t do it. You can use a mat, blocks, bolsters, straps and any other props that you feel will be supportive in your practice.
Ether, the most delicate and ethereal element, serves as the foundation for all that exists in manifested reality. This practice is characterized by its lightness and fluidity, integrating the knowledge gained from the other elements and internalizing it within our hearts. It is within this space that we discover our inner truth, finding solace in stillness, emptiness, and the essence of freedom.
Intent:
How do I become bliss? What is bliss to me?
Meditation:
Find a comfortable seat, breath deeply and fully into the belly. Bring your awareness into your center in the belly Breathe fully there. Then imagine going further inwards. Into the middle of that center, as your energy becomes smaller and smaller. Let it shrink to the size of your cells and beyond. A microscopic world. Spend some time here feeling its depth. Then, when you are ready, start to expand back to your center, growing your energy bigger and bigger, beyond your body, then working your way outwards. Beyond this room, this town, this earth, this solar system and galaxy. Taking up the space of the entire universe. Feeling into that big energy that you now encompass. Feel yourself as every single thing in existence. Sit here for a moment and feel what it is to be everything, and how it feels to take up that space. Let emotions come naturally and let them go naturally. They are passing states that inform us. Then, when you are ready, slowly draw yourself inward again. Till you are back on this planet, back in this room, and back in the center of your body. Breathe deeply.
- Mountain pose (Tadasana), opening your side body, sliding your opposite hand down your side leg
- Feet hip distance apart, move your shoulders and arms organically, ground down into your legs and soften your neck
- Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana), long hold
- Balance with one knee lifted and arms to the sky
- As you balance twist towards your knee, and place your hand on your hip
- Repeat last three points
- Tree pose (Vrkasana), holding for 5 slow and steady breaths
- Eagle pose prep (Garudasana prep) and slowly lean forward
- Sun Salutation A (Surya Namaskara A) x2, holding Upward Facing dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana) on the first round and then holding Sphinx pose (Salamba Bhujangasana) with knees bent on the second round
- Dancer pose (Natarajasana) with strap to support
- Pyramid pose (Parsvottanasana) using two blocks to keep your spine straight
- Downward Facing dog (Ardo Mukha Svanasana)
- Repeat last three points
- High lunge (ashwa sanchalanasana) and twist towards bent knee
- Low lunge (Anjanayasana), dropping that knee to the ground gently
- Downward Facing dog pose (Ardo Mukha Svanasana)
- Repeat last three points
- Low lunge (Anjanayasana)
- Low Flying Dragon (Ashva Sanchalanasana)
- Twisted dragon (Parivrtta Utthita Ashwa Sanchalanasana)
- Repeat last three points
- Upward Facing dog into Downward Facing dog into Tadasana
- Garland pose (Malasana), rounding through the spine
- Garland pose (Malasana) planting one hand down and opening the other at an angle to the sky
- Butterfly pose (Baddha Konasana), holding for at least ten breaths
- Seated Cat/Cow movement
- Reclined hero pose (Supta Virasana), modifying by using a bolster or doing one leg at a time
- Reclined Butterfly pose (Supta Baddha Konasana), holding at least ten breaths
- Reclined Extended Hand-To-Big-Toe Pose (Supine Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana A B C D), using a strap around the bottom of the foot
- Waterfall pose (supta dandasana) with a bolster under your bottom. Lift your legs to the sky and hold for as long as feels good
- Legs up the wall arms in star position Corpse Pose (Savasana) – Breathing deeply to release tension in your physical body. Feel the mind relax as well as the breath starts to soften. Melting into the ground heavily. Keeping the mind light as you’re relaxing and practice contracting and expanding your awareness again at your own pace.
- Easy pose (Sukhasana) – Take a moment to sit and reflect on your practice. Let the sensations, insights, and lingering energy integrate. Asking yourself again How do I become bliss? What s bliss to me?
- Closing your practice however feel natural – perhaps bowing towards the earth or your internal teacher or repeating the words Om Shanti Shanti Shanti which is a powerful Vedic mantra or sacred sound with healing vibrations, that calls forth the cosmic peace.
