August weekend - Day two

Discussed chakras most of today. Chakra literally means "wheel" or "disc". There are seven main chakras we discussed and they exists at the intertwining points along the two main nadis along our spine: Ida and Pingala. Each is associated with a color as indicated in this "stick figure" self portrait in meditation with the chakras colored in.










After this drawing, we got up and practiced for an hour on our own.

After we finished samadhi from our practice, Kathy asked us to draw ourselves in a pose with the chakras indicated in color as well. Here is me in utthita parsvakonasana. Kinda looks like Elastigirl.












Kathy asked us to answer questions about the practice we did today.

Did you feel like you were planning the practice or just doing what came to you? I was mostly just doing what came to me, but I planned it so the poses stayed within the realm of standing poses before sitting poses, before finishing poses.

Were you practicing freely, or a sequence of postures? If in a sequence, was it something you normally do, or something you were trying to learn? I was mostly practicing freely, but trying different poses together in a sequence to play with how they flow together. Most of the time I was just reciting the opening prayer to learn it. I held each pose until I could recite the whole prayer in my head without having to look it up.

We broke for lunch, and I saw to articles that I want to look up and a book I want on my wish list. I'm putting them here for future reference.
"Sports, Women, Yoga" by Beryl Bender Birch
"Yoga for Runners" by Baron Baptiste and Kathleen Finn Mendola (Yoga Journal)
"Ashtanga Yoga Primer" by Baba Hari Dass

After lunch, Luisa gave her presentation on prenatal yoga. She recommended some books, one of which is Bountiful, Beautiful, Blissful by Gurmukh. She also recommended Midwinter Day by Bernadette Mayer. Here are Luisa's notes for pranamammas. Happy Birthday Luisa. I hope we meet again soon.

We paired up and sat back-to-back so our chakras were close. We then OMed the seed sound (bija manta) of each chakra (see Chakras for details). Kathy read more about each chakra. I have listed some basic facts about each chakra in a separate blog below, but all of the information is the book: Chakras: Energy Centers for Transformation. Scott came in and we repeated the bija mantra again, slow first, then fast and blending the sounds together: LLLVVVRRRYYYHHHAAAuuuuumm.

I asked if we could do the Maha Gayatri Mantra again before class was over, for reasons related to all of the koshas:

1. Annamayakosha: to speak it, feel my mouth form the words
   
2. Pranamayakosha: to bless Luisa's baby
3. Manomayakosha: to hear the beauty in it when everyone speaks it
4. Vijnanamayakosha: to be aware of its relationship to the chakras
5. Anandamayakosha: to unite everyone together in a blessing

Maha Gayatri Mantra
Om Bhuh
Om Bhuvaha
Om Savaha
Om Mahaha
Om Janaha
Om Tapaha
Om Satyam
Om Tat Savitur Varenyam
Bhargo Devasya Dhimahi
Dhiyo Yonaha Prachodayat
Om Apajoti
Raso Amritam
Brhama Bhuhr Bhuvaswarom