the beginning

Stillpoint is bloody marvelous and i'm at the end of day 2 and as yet haven't had a meltdown (no doubt it will be obvious when i do. There is so much to learn and i'm soaking it up... so many questions!! Practice is very intense... only 8 of us practicing at a time with both Lucy and John adjusting - and at the moment the two remaining students observing (they've practised earlier in the day with john and lucy).... We also have another 4 hours a day of tuition/adjustment training etc.... but today so many questions it ended up being about 6 hours! so by the time theres yarning, walking, and homework there's bugger all time left

So anyway darlins i sent my wee list of key points for the day to stace earlier.... its a bit abbreviated cos we've done quite a bit of repetition of what we learnt in auckland so its other stuff thats stuck on top of that...and its also my understanding of what was said and i could be a bit off....anyway heres some things to play with:

down dog being a bit more rounded towards cat ...having a much more rounded back than a iyengar dog ... it engages the bandhas more and is much more gentle

anchoring sit bones in dandasana and keeping them anchored in the same spot when moving into half bound lotus, janu etc..... ie not sliding the sit bone forward - keeps the perineum engaged

keeping the centre of the knee over the second toe in standing poses

doing full vinyasa's between poses because samasthihi is where we compose ourselves and check that we can bring our breath back to 3 secs in and 3 out.... and thats where we decide whether to continue on in the series or not. If we do half vinyasa's we skip samasthihi in the seated poses and therefore don't have the opportunity to compose/measure the breath and decide whether to continue

pulling up on the anus anchors the sit bones ....tis much more gentle however than applying locks in pranayama... as the lovely tucker say's.... a net........tis porous

Not to stretch out fully in the chest / arms when coming into hands above head in sun salutes... but just taking them up comfortably - it makes the breath easier

the order or calling in teaching is the Number / Breath / Action / Dristi

Its the toes that take the fingers not the fingers that take the toes in standing forward bends .........that engages the 3 arches in the feet

Guruji says 'popping is good' so when a pop happens on the physical its the release of gas but on the subtle level its the release of prana

prana is the breath within the breath

in forward bends knees and hips should be forward of ankles, bent knees and grounding of hands are good!

Asana is cleansing from the outside in, meditation is cleansing from the inside out

bloody marvelous aye?