Q&A May 1, 2020: Part 2 Transcript

[00:00:00] OK. So this is the second question and answer session of the day. Bye bye. Kitty Cat. I don't mind cats. 

[00:00:12] OK. The first question is. I'd like to know if there are variations we can do while doing Sirsasana with chairs and the wall? I guess they mean the chair used against the wall, like the ones that are done with Sirsasana on the head. 

[00:00:39] Well, it depends on how stable you feel. 

[00:00:44] But the answer is yes, if it's not damaging your neck. I'm assuming you're doing the chairs because you have neck issues. Yes. You can do Parsva Sirsasasana, you can even do Parivrtta Eka Pada Sirsasana if you're a little bit away from the wall. 

[00:01:10] You can do Eka Pada. Yeah, of course. So I'm going to go on to the next one. How can I improve my poor full Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana for Junior two. Oh, my goodness. Well. I think you mean full in terms of the whole cycle, and I just talked this pose last night, so you should take my class. 

[00:01:37] And there is no longer going to be a test for Junior two. That's an interesting question to me because I wonder. 

[00:01:50] You know, what do you mean? What do you want to improve about it? Is it the balance? So I and I just answered this a little bit this morning, that the longer you hold Tadasana and work the feet and work the ankles and work the shins, especially because that's what starts to wobble and shake and keep your vision steady, then that keeps you steady in the pose. If that's the problem with stability, you can always do. Yes. The problem is also stiffness. If it's stiffness, then my answer is always the same, for no matter what question you have to practice. You have to practice. You have to practice it more. The standing leg should be in front of the raised leg in the Parshva variation. And of course, Supta Padangusthasana in the cycle is always a good practice to open for anyone's stiffness. A lot of times what I do is I have a weight. If you have a sandbag, it would be the same. Because often it's the back of the leg. The leg along the floor could be more of the problem. And so you can put this weight so that the back of the leg extends. You can also put the heel up on a block to get the back of the leg to extend. And this weight should keep that leg down. When you're trying to improve the flexibility, it's also good. And I don't know how flexible what your problem with flexibility is - if its apparent that you're flexible, or if it's the aging process, you're doing some other activity that's making you tight. 

[00:03:56] I don't know. But you also have to keep the leg, the raised leg from going into your abdomen so you can put something like a block here. And keep that leg from coming forward. So that you're truly opening in the hips, because what happens when we make compromises? 

[00:04:20] See, this leg retracts, this hip rounds and you're just curving the back and you're not really going into the tightness. 

[00:04:31] OK. 

[00:04:32] The same thing is for Eka Pada Sirsasana in the head balance variation that we often bring our leg down to the floor. 

[00:04:50] OK. You're only going to see. Well. So we often, in a sense, cheat when we're in Eka Pada Sirsasana. 

[00:05:05] So when we bring the leg down, the whole pelvis comes with it. So that's one of the reasons where you should just go halfway first. And so you should work in such a way like in Supta Padangusthasana that you don't tilt the pelvis here. I realize, OK, I'm going to start tilting my pelvis. So I pause and I try to get that front thigh going away from the abdomen and pulling towards my hip. While the extended leg is trying to go up. So I'm not. 

[00:05:41] Cheating. And rounding the pelvis. So that can be learned first in Supta Padangusthasana. 

[00:05:48] And you can do Supta Padangusthasana every day. I tend to do. 

[00:05:56] The classic Supta Padangusthasana from Light on Yoga, but I also include Supta Parivrtta. 

[00:06:05] What I mean by classic Light on Yoga is this is the first stage while this is the first stage. But see, look. My light comes up, so it would be nice to have that weight there. And then the second is Acunchanasana. 

[00:06:23] And you can stay here for a while and using the forearm to really pull that shinbone down, you know, ideally I should put that weight back there or put the heel up because the leg straighter enhances the length of the lower back. And then you press your head onto the arm and you can use your hand to pull that arm down as well. 

[00:06:46] So this is definitely a hip opener. And then the leg to the side and of course, open and all the standing poses open the hips and pelvis. 

[00:06:56] So it's not just an Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana. You know, the base pose is a Supta Padangusthasana, but you don't really do that with beginners because they can't concentrate. They can't just lie down on the floor and concentrate. They need movement. And in fact, sometimes now when I practice, I actually do Supta Padangusthasana at the end of my practice. Most of us really do Supta Padangusthasana at the beginning of the practice because it gets you open and you can do both. You can do it at the beginning, but also do it at the end because it's actually relaxing. And there's a difference. Also, you shouldn't just go for a feeling of a pull. You should practice with a standard belt. That's buckled. So you don't pull. 

[00:07:55] And I am using the handles. And then when you go to the side, maybe I should show my other side so you don't just see my foot. The hand goes through the handles, you hold it and you keep both arms straight. This leg, of course, has to be down. You keep both arms straight and see what people like to do as they like to bend the elbow to raise that leg. But then you're just pulling your hamstring. You're only pulling your hamstring. If you're feeling only that pull, then you should back up. Let the leg go to the side. Let there be a freedom here in the pelvis, the lower abdominal organs. I don't know if that answered your question. I'm going on. 

[00:08:42] And let's see what's there still people wanting to come in. In Urdhva Prasarita Eka Padasana. How much do you allow the pelvis and the lifted leg to rotate up? 

[00:08:58] We're often taught not to do this, but it seems we need to allow it to lift. That's why I'd love that question, because a lot of people, you know, because I'm an assessor and I've seen a lot of assessments. What I see is people aren't actually doing Urdhva Prasarita Eka Padasana. They're actually doing Virabhadrasana three with the hands on the floor and because they're excessively concerned with keeping the hips even. Now this would be a great pose for people who are menstruating. You can't see my foot on the wall, but it's on the wall and the hands on the blocks would be more ideal. But this is intermediate or this is Virabhadrasana three for if you're menstruating and you want to include people in your class, OK? But when you do Urdhva Prasarita Eka Padasana, this is. Sorry. 

[00:09:57] OK, I'll do it in the back. So. 

[00:10:04] I'm still having technical difficulties now. 

[00:10:12] For Urdhva Prasarita Padasana, which starts in Tadasana and you go to Tadasana between sides classically, you start and you can start Ardha Uttanasana because it helps. You can do this with me if you like. That helps to get the front of the spine long. Actually, let's back up everybody do Adho Mukha Svanasana, if you're able, Adho Mukha Svanasana. 

[00:10:35] And then step for Eka Pada Adho Mukha Svanasana, step the left foot to the right. Now keep the hips and shoulders even and raise your right leg up. Raise the right leg up. Now maintain the hips and shoulders even. Notice the left hip drops. So roll the outer right thigh to the floor. To get that left hip even. Now bring the right leg down and repeat on the other side. So roll that now outer left hip down to keep the hips there and then come back to Adho Mukha Svanasana. You can still be with me. Repeat. Now the left foot to the center, raise the right leg up and now instead lift the outer left thigh up to the hip and move the left calf muscle to the floor and move the skin of the front of the right hip to the knee. 

[00:11:35] Go to the other side. Keep the hips and shoulders even raise the left leg up. Move the outer right, hip up. 

[00:11:44] Descend the calf to the heel and move the skin on the front of the left, hip to the knee. 

[00:11:51] And then come out now. 

[00:11:56] So what I've done is shown and Eka Pada Adho Mukha Svanasana how to work the standing leg. The leg that remains on the floor to get the hips even. 

[00:12:06] In fact, I just taught this, recently, a week ago, Saturday I taught it. But anyway. From Ardha Uttanasana, Well, start in Tadasana then Ardha Uttanasana now lengthen the front of the spine and be firm on the left leg, step the right foot slightly back. 

[00:12:30] Now take the right man to hold the inside of your left ankle. 

[00:12:35] Don't take the head down. Here's the other thing is that the leg and the chest have to coordinate. So the leg and the chest should go up and down together. 

[00:12:48] Chest down the leg up. Chest down in the leg up. Forget about the hip. Chest down the leg up.

[00:12:56] Now, if you can maintain that, keep going. 

[00:12:59] Chest down. Leg up, chest down. Leg up, chest down, leg up. Don't swing so much. The chest down, leg up. 

[00:13:05] If you're able, walk the left hand back, now, lift the outer left thigh up and move the skin of the front of the right hip to the knee. And only the head is the last to come in. 

[00:13:17] That leg has to go up. You can repeat on the other side. Repeat. Let me see what some of you are doing, those of you who chose to do it. So now start from Tadasana, start from Tadasana. 

[00:13:35] And then bend over Uttanasana, hands down, concave back, so arms and legs parallel first. Now lengthen the front of the spine maximum and keep it long dorsal in. Now step the left foot back slightly and pause. Keep the front of the spine long. Hold the left hand to the inside of the right ankle. And then raise the left leg as high as possible, at the same time, the torso comes down like a teeter-totter. 

[00:14:04] Chest down, leg up, leg up, chest down. Keep going. Leg up, chest down. Don't do separate. Come on, leg up. Chest down. Lengthen the front of the spine. Don't pull the head in yet. Do not pull the head in. Leg up. Chest down. Leg up, chest down. And then if you feel, yes, I'm going, take the right hand back and then leg up, chest down even more. 

[00:14:25] And then last the head in. Good, Lisa. But that's because you study with me. 

[00:14:31] Some of you are still like Virabhadrasana three legs anyway. Bring them down and then come up to Tadasana. 

[00:14:40] So the other thing is a teeter-totter doesn't bend on one side. It goes together. So the torso down and the leg up should go. And you can play with that. But then don't start over swinging because then it gets floppy. 

[00:14:59] You have to stay and just keep swinging to the right direction, not Virabhadrasana three. OK. So let me admit more. I hope that answered your question. 

[00:15:23] So the one, two, three, four, Supta Padangusthasana. That's my preferred method because I'm a student of B.K.S. Iyengar. But now they are doing, see, I've talked about this before, but sorry, you're gonna hear it again. So at a convention once. And I was on the certification committee, so we weren't asking Geeta to please clarify what Supta Padangusthasana is, one, two, three, four. And she she said, yes, one is leg up, two is the knee bent, three is to the side and four is across, like it would be if it was light on yoga. And then she went out to the whole convention group and changed it. 

[00:16:09] She said one was up, two was out to the side, three was across. And we were all like, what? Confused. 

[00:16:16] So in our system, we just stuck to Light on Yoga and we often referred to it. But really, everybody, nobody's doing that. Most people are considering- and they do this in Pune. 

[00:16:27] The teachers in Pune: leg up is one, two is to the side. Three is across. Four is the last. Personally, I like bending the leg behind because when I take the leg to the side after everything just opens and I love it and it's a release. So the best thing is to call it Supta Padangusthasana (one), Akunchanasana in Supta Padangusthasana (two), Parshva Supta Padangusthasana (three) and Parivrtta Supta Padangusthasana (four), for clarity. 

[00:17:00] Lois, could you please give any advice, action or way of practice for when there's a pain in the sacroiliac joint when doing Padmasana cycle and preparations? Well, that's a loaded question. I keep saying I need to do a Padmasana class on this. The Padmasana question keeps coming up. But this is a novel thing and it's not novel. People get sacroiliac pain. Actually, I. 

[00:17:28] I don't know who you are, but I don't really like my pregnant student/practitioners to do Padmasana when they're pregnant because of the relaxin that's present, you know, relaxes the joints and makes you over flexible. And when you do Padmasana, those sacroiliac joints also are too flexible. 

[00:17:52] And that could kind of put things out of balance. 

[00:17:57] And so it could be that maybe, I don't know, are you overly flexible there or are you overdoing it? Do you want to come forward and speak and show? 

[00:18:06] Who are you? Hi, Loise. Can you hear me? Yes. I'm from Chile. OK, so I put you on Spotlight. What? Yes, of course. OK, so everybody can see you. OK. I haven't I. I haven't had any child, so I would not I'm just saying that this happens when people are excessively flexible. 

[00:18:35] Yeah, when I do it, preparation for Padmasana or when I. I have to do a lot of preparation. Do not get pain. Sometimes I do the practice. I'm ok with Padmasana. But after the practice the pain comes on. It's only on one side. And I guess I'm trying to figure it out, but I guess I'm more flexible in that side? And I don't really know. I don't really know how to stop that flexibility or what action I want to show me or Padmasana are you able to do? 

[00:19:10] Tilt your camera down. Yeah, one sec. 

[00:19:25] So this is OK? Yes, it's good, it's showing. OK. So it is my rights side. 

[00:19:41] OK, can you turn around? Sure. So I see your back. I'm OK. 

[00:19:51] From the back. Yeah. I will remove my sweater. 

[00:19:55] No, I can see fine. OK. Just. You know, well, hmm. I don't know if it's the pants, but the lower back is definitely different right and left. The right side is wider than the left slightly. But that's where you get the pain here. Yes. OK. I don't have any pain right now, but it's the next day, probably, or in a few hours. And how often do you practice Padmasana poses? Well, I. The last month. Not that much because I haven't been really able to control the pain. You know, and I don't want to feel pain. OK. And then there are other poses like backbends or forward bends causing that pain or just only Padmasana, inversions are ok? Twists are ok? yes. So it's only Padmasana. In general, it's only Padmasana. Does it make a difference when you're doing a loose Padmasana or a tighter Padmasana? 

[00:21:06] I think it does. Maybe a loose Padmasana. It's better. 

[00:21:11] So it's not coming in to the sacroiliac, because first of all, when people struggle with Padmasana, it's better to do a loose Padmasana where the outer side of the foot is if you do it in the thigh. Huh? Are you doing it? Because I'm doing it. Let me see. Let me go away from you and spotlight. Sorry. Thank you, Lois. Thank you very much. I don't know. I'm not sure I can help you because it's a very nuanced problem. But the loose Padmasana could be better. But what's important regardless, because the loose Padmasana you have to really lift the outer shin and ankle bone up because it starts to go into the ankles. And so you have to really make sure the outer leg is lifting so the ankle bone stays parallel because otherwise it rounds too much and then you have a new problem. Now, the other thing that I emphasize is regardless of looser, tighter Padmasana, you have to tuck the outer thigh underneath you in, to the hip socket. It should, you should, never be going out like this. It should always be underneath- in and the outer thigh into the hip. And you might want to practice with your sacrum to the wall to make sure it's balanced so you can try and see what happens. I really can't help anymore in this. So welcome. Now. 

[00:22:57] Hiatal hernia, OK? That's where the hernia.  

[00:23:06] Well, the one thing is, you have to avoid. 

[00:23:11] Anything that makes any hernia, you know, there is inguinal hernia, which is lower down where you pull things, the hiatal is high up where the muscle is coming out through the organs. You have to, sometimes, it has to be surgically repaired. And yoga isn't going to do it. And you just have to accept that or you accept that you're going to have this problem and you should wear a buckle or something or some kind of band. You know, if the, I don't know why you have this hernia. 

[00:23:59] Or who/what your body is like. But it could be posture related. And, you know, you might be holding your body, your front body tight and hard, and you could do supine poses. 

[00:24:15] Were you let the organic body come into its place. Now I'm going to teach, you have to find out what makes the hernia go in. But one thing that's really interesting, and I haven't tried this with people with hiatal hernia, but maybe you could try it and we could all do this together. In fact, we just did this in my, one of my classes this week is have a block. It could be a heavy block or soft block. I'm going to choose the heavy block of all poses Utkatasana. You may have heard of diastasis in pregnancy where the muscles really split apart the abdomen. And even for a student who had twins, I forgot to include this in her practice. When she told me "my muscles are splitting apart," I said, "Oh, stupid me." And then she carried those twins and never more did her muscles split apart. But you need a wall, need a wall, and you put the block between your shins. It could be wide, and it could be narrow, your choice. It's harder when it's wide and then you sit so that the shinbone is perpendicular and the thigh is parallel and have the hands forty-five degrees away from you on the wall. Lift your toes. Lift the front of the shin. Squeeze the block. Lift the center of the chest. And widen the clavicles and see that the abdomen is undisturbed. And then you can come up. So this is good for when there's a complete separation of the abdominal wall, especially for pregnancy. So and menstruating woman can do. 

[00:26:02] You don't even need the block necessarily. It was just making it harder. So you work the legs more, lifting the toes. 

[00:26:09] The front of the shins helps, and the arms to the sides so that your using your legs and you feel that abdomen is soft. So I don't know. 

[00:26:24] Who this person is, but also I'll just repeat again, that poses like cross bolster, Salamba Purvottanasana, Supta Virasana, Supta Swastikasana, Matsyasana. 

[00:26:34] If you can then you can cancel Supta Swastikasana. These, with support, should help put everything the organic body into its place. But it's not. It may not fix it if there is already a tear. If there's a separation. It's not going to magically come together. A lot of people get them repaired and maybe if you don't just keep having this whatever is pushing everything out. 

[00:27:12] If you don't keep doing that, if you stop doing whatever makes it happen, there's a chance that scar tissue could form and it could heal. 

[00:27:20] But I can't, I can't say it will. Your scheduled "fun with Lois". 

[00:27:28] Yes. Well, so everybody now knows that Abhi is teaching next week. So from May 7th through May 12th or something. So I won't have anything next Friday. And I think the following Friday, I'll have fun with Lois. 

[00:27:47] OK. So I have no idea what that date is, but I'll try to give you a heads up on my Facebook page and my Web site. Thanks for asking. 

[00:28:01] Welcome, Iran. 

[00:28:08] OK. So while healing from a hernia surgery. So it's all the same poses that I. I just told you so I assume that's an inguinal hernia lower down. I just helped somebody with this, one thing is, you should- don't just go straight away, like doing Virabhadrasana one. You know how that pulls, you know, the back leg Virabhadrasana one that length there. You don't want to go for that straight away. You just had a hernia repair and maybe they've put a mesh. Or maybe they just sewed it back together. There's many different ways that it gets repaired. So do you want to sit? You can sit and open the pelvis. You can do Upavistha Konasana and it's best to do it with the sacrum at the wall. 

[00:29:08] You know, on a height. 

[00:29:14] And you can roll something else, a blanket. Oh, sitting on chumbals is the best. If you have chumbals, you get the largest size. These are the small sizes. But you put chumbals, two by two, because that releases the groins. That would be superior. You can make them out of washcloths. You can also. Put this and support the tailbone to get a lift in the back to the wall. Sorry, I'm a little cut off Upavistha Konasana. And then you also do Baddha Konasana the chumbals will be the best because they absolutely release you. Sorry, I'm out of the vision, but Upavistha Konasana, Baddha Konasana are great poses. And you can also do those supine poses I mentioned to help rest and recover. Then when it's time to get back to Virabhadrasana one, which would be the most challenging pose, it's best to do it supported. So the best way actually now I know you all don't have a trestle, but the best way is if you have a trestle and you would still sit on a stool facing the trestle, you would support, and you would actually put something on the forward leg thigh to press up to the trestle. 

[00:30:58] So maybe you can work with the bolster. 

[00:31:08] Maybe not. This would be the most challenging pose in terms of your comeback. 

[00:31:22] With the trestle its so much easier. I actually would just use a Halasana box. Put something under the foot. I show this in one of my books somewhere. Maybe my knee book. But I want this so that I can press my forward leg thigh up. The forward leg thigh should press up against something, and that takes it out of the back leg pulling here. 

[00:31:52] OK. But to recover, Baddha Konasana longtime Upavistha Konasana, the supine poses. You know, basically, when, you know, recovery, it's cross bolsters. And if you take my woman's class, you would have learned Cross bolsters this last week because people misunderstand cross bolsters. They do it a Setu Bandha. But it's its own pose. You can do Setu Bandha Sarvangasana ON crossed bolsters. But it's not cross bolsters. It's Setu Bandha Sarvangasana on cross bolsters. I just went through this in my last woman's class this week. We spent the first fifteen, twenty minutes on it. And then this next woman's class, which is canceled because of Abhi's class. So it will be in two Wednesdays. 

[00:32:41] I'm going to go through Salamba Purvottanasana. But the other really. 

[00:32:50] Abhi's, the last day of her course is on Wednesday. But the first is just starting next week. May 7th, Which is a Thursday, and she's continuing through Wednesday. And my women's classes on Wednesday morning at the same time. So it's canceled. So I'm going to go over Salamba Purvottanasana the next Wednesday because these poses are really healing and resting and rejuvenating unless you have low back pain. So I always start my woman's class with both these poses and my students walk in and see they just count how many people are in one or the other. And then they set up which one has less. They're like trained. In fact, one time I came like 20 minutes late to class because one of my neighbors got arrested and I had to go rescue them. And I was like, "oh, my God, I have to teach." I'm like, you know, I've never been late. And I get there. And they're all they've already done the first pose. And then they already started the second pose, I'm like, they're so well trained, they don't need me, I can just go home. 

[00:33:58] But then they just change because it's very prop intensive, these two. So now I'm doing this on the Internet. So I just went one week through crossed, bolsters, and the next week we're going over the Salamba Purvottanasana. They're just such healing poses, you know, especially after a surgery. And I have two abdominal surgeries, so I know it works. But then there's also, besides the supine poses, to let the abdomen settle down. Sometimes it's then good to get pressure on the abdomen and it can be relieving. 

[00:34:28] So, for example, if you have two tall stools or a tabletop, Virabhadrasana three, you know, adding what height you need to support the abdomen fully and taking the other leg back, so that stretch of the abdomen and supporting it with a little pressure gives great relief. 

[00:34:49] And these things are shown in my woman's book, actually. So and then Ardha Chandrasana fully supported, you can support the back to the wall, you can put that tall stool for the side body and the leg is supported and, you know, everything's opening for that body cavity. So this would be good for any surgeries. 

[00:35:16] I have a question about Pranayama. I have been following the courses in the back of Light on Pranayama, but I wondered how to create new sequences for the Pranayama families or links. You mean with the new levels? Judy, I'll unmute you. OK. Yes. Just for me figuring it out. 

[00:35:35] Because, you know, I've been going through, like, the sequences and stuff with when I go to class like you could be more creative in classes like you been more creative, like breathing from the brain to the ear or something like that. So it's one thing I examine. Sometimes you see links like Antara Kumbhaka, or Viloma. 

[00:35:58] So, I was just wanting to rearrange the different sequences. 

[00:36:05] Well, I actually I haven't done those light on pranayama courses. I do the light on yoga ones. I have done the light on yoga courses and they're crazy. And so I could imagine the light on pranayama ones are also crazy. And definitely when you take class in Pune, especially with Prashant and even Geeta did what I called Pranayama gymnastics, you know, taking Maha Mudra instead of deeply inhaling and sucking, deeply exhaling and sucking Maha Mudra or, you know, the two fingered digitals, and, you know, ultimately, and this is probably, you know, coming from Prashant, the pranayama practice really doesn't have anything to do with breath. So if you're at that stage of understanding, you don't even need me to answer your question. 

[00:37:03] But classically, you know, using the old syllabus that was given created by Guruji, I think from my experience, is the best way to build up, you Ujjayi one, Ujjayi two, and going through it and the Vilomas then all the other practices are only to make the Ujjayis and Vilomas impossibly, you know, Ujjayi 10. I think it's Ujjayi 10. When you deepen inhalation, you know, a Kumbhaka. And you lift everything and a deep exhalation and you suck everything back. You know, that's the ultimate that the other practices actually teach you, that ultimate Ujjayi last stage. 

[00:37:47] So. In terms of making sequences and stuff, you know, that's really going to have to come from your own practice. I'm not sure I'd really. 

[00:38:01] Answered your question, but once you understand the basic Ujjayi, Viloma and  all the other Pranayamas is that Guruji gave in the old certification syllabus. That was really progressive and it really made sense and also gave clues like always doing Bhastrika or Kapalbhati before the other Pranayamas. Because that's cleansing. It doesn't have anything to do with getting a more profound Pranayama practice. It seems fancier, more the digital Pranayamas are also for cleansing. And I certainly, this is maybe more individualized just for one particular Pranayama. But Nadi Shodhana is actually Anuloma, and Pratiloma and Surya Bhedana and Chandra Bhedana all put into one. So if you understand and Anuloma and Anuloma should come first, usually the exhalation from Pranamayas are learned first. So Anuloma, Pratiloma. Why? Because it keeps you quiet. You know, even when you breathe in the back of the head can fill up and become hard. People don't know that. But then the Surya Bhedana and Chandra Bhedana. And then you put that all together and then you can be creative by doing Nadi Shodhana with the right hand. The whole cycle and then with the left hand and starting on the other side, the whole cycle, which is more of a long practice. And then, you know me, I get even more creative with the brain filling, inflating and deflating or the Nadhi inflating and deflating or inflating and then deflating at the same time. So ultimately, it's not about the breath anymore, is it? It's the mind. Yeah. What about your it's your presence, your sense of presence. So you can get creative. The important thing is, are you balanced after the practice? If you feel that you became imbalanced, then something went wrong with the practice. That's the key when you start experimenting. Yeah. OK. Welcome. But that's a good question. 

[00:40:25] In the standing poses I am having. Oh, there's still people to admit. Woah. In the standing poses, now, I lost the question. 

[00:40:36] There it is. I'm having difficulty reaching the top hip back and the bottom hip forward other than angling the feet and doing the poses against a wall. Is there anything else I can do? Well, angular standing poses is certainly great. Guruji used to put, like, what he would call a ruler what we call a doll and make us do Trikonasana. You know, somebody holding this. And usually what you'll find is this huge gap between the back leg and the forward leg. That groin has to come all the way forward. I'd like to use a trestle actually to get the leverage I need in angular standing poses. But you can do angular standing poses with the back foot to the wall, the forward foot to the opposite edge of the mat. We also just did this. I just did so many things. 

[00:41:30] All your questions would be answered and then you work on the hand higher on a block would be better. But you work on moving the back thigh further back in the forward groin forward. That groin has to come forward. When I do this to the trestle, Guruji would yell at me to touch this groin to the trestle, but at the same time, you keep that back. 

[00:41:53] Now, there is another way that I just did in my woman's class for the abdominal effect, but it also has the benefit. Some of you were in my class Wednesday of working the groins so you can take the forward heel to the wall. 

[00:42:10] The toe is turned out more than 90 and Trikonasana with a block is better. And the head shouldnt touch the wall, but the head is back and the top hand is back and that turns the chest. Turns the chest. 

[00:42:26] Can you please mute whoever that is. That turns the chest, but then you can turn the pelvis. And so that groin comes forward and the abdomen is absolutely soft. 

[00:42:37] So those are some different ways to work standing poses. And with my last Women's class this last Wednesday, you should get it. My videos are available. But I covered that one just this last Wednesday. Let me mute because somebodies not. 

[00:43:01] And again, you know, when people tell me I have trouble doing this, trouble getting it. 

[00:43:06] OK. I gave you some suggestions. But the main thing is you have to have, as you know, tenacity in Iyengar yoga, you know, you know, other yogas I've heard. I don't want to put them down. Maybe this is people's cup of tea. You know, it's fine. You know, "go to your comfort zone." "Don't go beyond your comfort zone." OK. We're a different type of practitioner, where for us, going beyond their comfort zone is actually reality. 

[00:43:43] That brings you head-on into your reality, and then, you know, Guruji often used to say. That today's maximum should be tomorrow's minimum. 

[00:43:58] Now, that's hard when you roll up like a window shade after practice. The next day's minimum is far away from the day before as maximum. But you if you keep having tenacity, it comes, you know that. 

[00:44:13] And you just have to practice. A lot of things- my answer is practice. 

[00:44:22] How do you really feel or see in Asanas that the femur bone is in the socket? Well, the angular standing pose that I just did gets the femur head into the hip socket. And what I feel not only, you know, like I teach a lot in my woman's classes, just Utthita Hasta Padasana, you know, getting the outer feet down and connecting the pressure of the heel into the femur head. When you press that heel in Utthita Hasta Padasana you feel that outer hip socket and you should go in and you should lift it up if you don't feel that, you're dead. I don't know who doesn't feel this here. And then when you turn the leg out, you make compromises because we just kind of, you know, throw the hips apart so we can bend over. But no. That's why we don't often bring the hand all the way down at first. Beginners, I let them do it because they just need to move. I don't give beginners blocks actually, so it's good to be higher up so that, yes, you can truly it comes back to this groin coming forward. The buttock bone going forward to the groin lifting that outer thigh. Now this outer femur head tends to go out. So I emphasize moving it in. And when you lift the inner femur head higher, you know, you've done it because all of a sudden this back hip abdomen area is open, soft, and expanded. Then, you know, you've done it, whereas here that hip out is absolutely closed this, now, it's made it heavy, lifeless, whereas when I put the femur head in and this inner back femur had higher than the outer, I know it's in because the effect is felt in the abdomen. And also a teacher could tell you when we get back to real connection and classes, some of you are trying it. This morning, you said that Savasana with weight is a must for shoulder issues, but I don't have that help now I understand. 

[00:46:30] Another must. 

[00:46:37] I'm sorry that you were injured with the chiropractor, it happens. The other thing that is very helpful and you can try this with me is Parshva Hastasana. So that is one hand on the wall. The feet are hip-width apart. The other arm is down. And first, don't just go straight away to the actions in the arms. 

[00:47:06] You first have to press the heels and keep the thighs back and then the hand. I just simply turn the hand back and I roll, this tricep has to go forward, and the bicep has to go back, the elbow joint opposite to what you think, even if you're hypermobile, this elbow joint that is closer facing forward. That elbow joint has to really lift up with your mind and then keep all of that hand on the wall and spread the heel of the hand and really grip that tricep to the bone. And if you feel it all the way to the sternum and all the way to the torso, that's good. 

[00:47:45] And this has saved me myself from all my problems. Well, I wish. But all my shoulder issues. I'll tell you, it's a go-to pose next to shoulder Savasana. One morning, I don't know what happened. This was maybe a year ago. I don't remember exactly what was going on with me. But I woke up one morning where I couldn't raise my right arm. I could not raise it. It was absolutely hanging. And it was painful to lift it. And I was like, you know, just glued here. I couldn't lift it. And I didn't have any help. I was at home. I had to use my arm. It was dead. It was lifeless. So I went to the wall. I just went to the wall. And it was actually like hanging. I couldn't undo this arm from my body, but I just, like, went to the wall, put my hand up. It was so painful. And then slowly, slowly, slowly, I got to this point and I was happy. I made it there. And then I just stood there for the longest time doing all the actions and it was healed. So that's the other go-to one. OK. This is a question about a student they had feeling of being very cold, probably menopause, very much a Vatta type, she had the need to sweat in yoga practice. I only know that and in Iyengar, we recommend cooling poses for menopause. She left, but I hope I learn how to help people better the next time. 

[00:49:19] This is a good question. So, yes, menopause, even menses, pregnancy. These would be considered, according to Ayurveda, so-called heating kinds of conditions, even though they are normal. And you want to counteract that with cooling. But some people, if they feel cold and they need to move, you have to listen to your student and move them. Because one odd thing... 

[00:49:46] Even I went through this is, you know, the joints get really stiff and mental cause the body starts drying up, and Geeta Iyengar once said you actually have to start behaving like a teenager again. 

[00:50:02] And you should move. Of course, a lot of people, it would be dangerous, their joints can't take it. So, I call this oiling the hips. I have a belt. For Supta Padangusthasana. I make a small loop. I put it- I have to turn around because you don't want the wall. 

[00:50:28] And I put it on the foot and I had the back of the hand has to face you. Your elbows are bent. And then you should be able to let the leg go to the floor. And the other direction, I'm going to be a little cut-off. The hands to the floor and extending the left leg well, you just go down and up. However many times? Like 10 times. But you have to keep the firmness. And you press the foot into the belt. OK. And so that's like oiling the hips, getting movement. 

[00:50:58] No harm done. I actually personally did a lot of Surya Namaskars during menopause. I know that's kind of shocking because I certainly have heat. In fact, to this day, I'm 63 and I still get night sweats. I'm probably one of those unfortunate people who has night sweats for the rest of their lives. But I also ended late at fifty-nine. Lucky me. 

[00:51:24] So. Is this the same for when you're starting to go in menopause? 

[00:51:38] I would it depends for everybody, OK? I don't know. 

[00:51:43] You know exactly what your symptoms are. But if somebody, I'm just addressing this particular question, you know, if you feel like you need movement or I feel like I'm drying up, I build-up to one hundred and eight. 

[00:51:57] Surya Namaskars every 12 days. 

[00:52:01] Starting with 12. Twenty four. Thirty-six. Forty-eight. So on. And when I reach one hundred and eight I'm like, OK, let me go back to twelve. And I did that for a long time while I was going through menopause. OK, but that was me versus the other end of doing, you know, just leg up and down and getting movement. OK. So you could make people move if they want to move. Some people need and want to move. But if they're over hot and they want to cool, then then you have to have them cool, you know, so they can join you in standing poses just two legs apart, you know, Tadasana. OK. And it's going to be individualized. But basically the student went away. 

[00:52:52] And if you really want to help them, you should listen to them and give them what they need. 

[00:52:58] You know, No. I take that back. Give them what they want. So you can work with them and then give them what they need later. Because first they have to fall in love with the yoga. You know, and then give them what they want. So that's more of the question. I'm not going to get into menopause in particular, but they lost this person. I can't understand that question. The English isn't good. I have sciatica and wanted to know if I should avoid forward bends, which I love, when I'm in pain. Yes. Avoid them. 

[00:53:53] Because you're only going to compress that root nerve more. So, again, this is a question as a teacher. 

[00:53:59] Those of you who are teachers that you should always when somebody has back pain, you know, they can easily tell you where it is. They can go on and on about how they got the back pain. I was walking down the street and then this truck came by. And, you know, it's like, I don't need to know the story. I don't need to see their x rays, you know, although they could be interesting. I just want to know, does it hurt to bend forward, backwards, or twist, or invert, whatever. Does it hurt? And then find a way for the student to bend forward. When the class is doing forward bends. So. I have had students when I've taught them and trained them, when my class is going to start a long series of forward bends leading up to poses like Kurmasana or Eka Pada Sirsasana theyre at the wall. They know to get the chair, put the sticky mat on the chair. No sticky mat under the chair. They sit partway on/off the chair. Not so much on. Not so much off. It's got to be just right. The bolster under the shins. So they have an earth element to press down onto. If you have ropes, even better, but if not, the hands can be on the wall and then you lift and you learn to move the inner groins back with that lift. So you're not digging in your lumbar sacrum and you learn to create space and you have to do that donkey work if you want your sciatica to get better. The other thing that helps sciatica are the lateral standing poses of Trikonasana, Parsvakonasana, Virabhadrasana two and Ardha Chandrasana. I call those lateral standing poses versus say, Parivrtta. Angular, ideally at a trestle, because that creates a lot of space in the sacrum. And if I had you in my class, I would be taking a plank to your top of the buttock and pushing it the right way and holding your back leg thigh back. I learned this from Guruji once. A long, long time ago, he assigned me this student and he told me he had sciatica pain. And, you know, I just started doing Supta Padangusthasana with him and, you know, standing poses at the trestle. So he gave me the student in the beginning of the month, but then he never he would walk by. He would see what I was doing with him, but he never did anything. You know, it's kind of like Guruji often did this. First he has to see is the student not having an ego that's going to interfere with him teaching him, you know? So he just watches and waits and then he's going to come in. And basically go in for the kill when the student is ready, I prepared him and I'm doing the usual Supta Padangusthasana, and then I took him to the trestle and then he puts them at the trestle, faces him in. Has him do Angular takes him to Trikonasana, takes a slanting plank and really digs in his buttock and really pushes that forward leg forward and the back leg back. And the student comes out and he was free of sciatica pain for the first time in his life in twenty-five years. 

[00:57:27] But that BKS Iyengar, right? 

[00:57:31] So there's still people coming in that I haven't probably been waiting a long time. So. 

[00:57:43] Supta Padangusthasana, because it takes the buttock away from the waist. The angular standing poses does the same thing, but you're challenged because its a, you know, standing pose weight bearing and you could be sinking into the lumbar. 

[00:58:00] But you want to avoid those poses. 

[00:58:01] They're causing that pain because that's ultimately, you know, you if you're a skilled teacher, if you're experienced, if you meet someone and they say, "I have sciatica," and I usually say, let me see the back of your leg. Oh, it's your right side. How did you know? Because that sciatic pain, part of that nerve goes down the back of the leg. And it's so contracted that it's starting to take the whole muscle with it and it's sinking and collapsing that back at the left. So you can tell people with sciatica there's like a depression in the back of their leg. 

[00:58:35] So, OK, maybe it's pain you can tolerate. 

[00:58:38] And Iyengar yoga people especially have a high level of pain tolerance. But you shouldn't, you should recognize this is not right and stop. That's our problem. We don't stop. Do you have any helpful hints for beginning teachers as we help our friends who have Covid-19 online using the respiratory, but just teach them the first seven poses. It's very it's very simple. The first seven poses of the respiratory sequence and then finish with the prone Savasana, that's all you need to do. 

[00:59:15] And you can use couch cushions for bolster blankets.  

[00:59:25] A chronic vaginal candida yeast infection. T-shapes. 

[00:59:32] What's a T-Shape? You would know what a T-Shape is. If you study with me. A T-Shape, is two bolsters. In a T-shape. So there's cross bolsters, one on top of the other. And then there's t shape. So you have one bolster, I'll tilt the camera better across. Its a capital T. And one bolster vertical. Now, there's two ways to do this, so you can do any of those supine poses. Let's say you're doing just of course, Supta Baddha Konasana is really nice. You should put two belts though, one on each leg, because it has a better organic effect. So your feet are on the horizontal bolster. 

[01:00:31] Your head can hang back. You can reach your arms and stretch from the pubic bone to the fingertips. It's shown in my woman's book. But you want to make sure the tailbone and the bottom of the pubis are parallel to each other. So sometimes if the bolsters not right. You have to add something to make it more firm. And then when that tailbone and pubis are parallel to each other, I always think it allows the bladder, the uterus to rest in the bed of the sacrum. And it feels really good, but it's aligning the organs there and bringing circulation to heal. It's really effective. 

[01:01:12] And, you know, if people have an infection, you should take drugs and get rid of it. But some people are adamant not doing drugs and they drink their cranberry juice and just do yoga. And I know people who have helped it that way. Candida is a whole nother problem, but these T-shapes are good. You can do them. Virasana, where sometimes it's pleasant. People aren't used to this to put a blanket under the feet. And when Supta Virasana is really difficult, you can put one more bolster across and vertical. So it's higher. So it's easier on the shin. But it's the same thing where this uterus should get long in reaching the arms from the uterus and Supta Swastikasana Matsyasana. It's also good for the thyroid gland. Now, the thing about T shapes, the way I just showed you is good. If it's a problem for the lower half of your torso. So the lower abdominal organs. Now, when you have a problem of a thyroid, you can still do it the way I showed you. But when you have a problem of the upper half of the body that horizontal supports and widens the chest here. So this is also T-shapes. 

[01:02:43] The other way. And it could be good for the thyroid where you could roll a blanket  and pull that rolled blanket and lengthen and round that neck and stretch the thyroid so it doesnt puff.

[01:02:55] So if you have a blanket. Wow, I have a blanket! And you roll it. 

[01:03:05] It's nicer when somebody does this to you. But you could even pull it yourself. 

[01:03:10] So that the thyroid gets long. So that's T-shapes, a lot of people aren't familiar with T-shapes. But now you people are. Well, I already went over releasing the groins this morning. We started in Malasana with knees together releasing the groins Supta Padangusthasana, and I'm going to skip that. 

[01:03:41] Oh, I sometimes have a headache after practicing Sirsansana. 

[01:03:51] They're the same name as you. It's one of my teachers signed in as me on a separate account. OK. Well, sometimes that could be. I know Geeta has told a student I know that they're unknowingly making their eyes tense. Some people even get spots around the eyes, and you're making your own eyes tense and a lot of that could be fear. I don't know this student, you know, so it's hard to say. I would need to look and see, of course. But you have to look and see what's going on in their eyes. And one thing is to fix the gaze. And I often have taught my Saturday class if you've taken it. I teach facing the wall in Sirsasana. To learn to get over your fear so you can try this. And the back of the head has to release down. A lot of people come to the front crown, especially when you go up in the pose. The weight transfers to the front crown. And I emphasize bringing the weight to the back crown because that back of the head and neck has to release. It's not something you can really teach to beginners, though. So you have to sit with the feet to the wall and measure that the buttock is at the edge of the mat. And then when you go up. 

[01:05:21] You walk the feet towards you and lift your shoulder. They shouldn't walk up the wall. You should not allow wall walking. So when you go up, you have to raise the leg and you're in Urdhva Dandasana. The back of the head can release. You can give all the special points and then you go to Eka Pada Sirsasana, both sides. And when they're ready, they have to learn not to hop into the wall and go up. You have to learn that sucking of the front of the thigh towards your hip. So the leg comes off the wall from that action and they have to use the arms more. 

[01:05:57] But the point is, one of the real reasons is to overcome your fear because you're so close to that wall and facing the wall. You can't look all over the place. And so when your eyes are fixed in their gaze, your fear is less. So if they're bringing tension, I would try facing the wall. Yeah. Or wearing a head wrap, if it's that bad or doing it supported with the rope, and seeing, you know, inclined on a Simhasana box. Maybe they maybe there's something else going on. I don't know. I don't know their age. I don't know their body type. But in my neck and shoulder book, there's a million ways to do head balance. And she could try to do that. Different ways and see which one doesn't bring the headache. Or is it coming in each one. So it's complicated. OK, we already talked about Sarvangasana so much. I'm gonna skip that. 

[01:07:09] So the other day in class, I often do this. Bhekasana after shoulder balance. 

[01:07:20] It's interesting because one of the first things I'm going to do in fun with Lois is. 

[01:07:28] We were doing one of the weeks from light on yoga, and it just starts, as you might know, Sirsasana then Sarvangasana. By the way, we're getting we're past the time if you want to go. I totally understand. I won't be insulted. 

[01:07:44] So. 

[01:07:48] In Light on Yoga, classically, he does shoulder balance in the beginning. And then this practice we're gonna do, it's gonna end with 12 Urdhva Dhanurasana twos after way after. 

[01:08:02] So and even in Pune one time Guruji was teaching Abhi and he said do shoulder balance. And she said, well, I already did. No, he asked her to do head balance. Anyways, it was out of order. But he didn't care. 

[01:08:17] And then one time at this seventy-fifth birthday intensive for two weeks, every class ended - ended with Sirsasana and nothing from the Sarvangasana cycle. 

[01:08:33] So the point was that in Sirsasana should become a cooling pose. For me, when I was going through menopause, all I could do was stand on my head because it was a cooling pose for me. That's because I've learned to release what is the lunar plexus. The back of the head has to release down. You have to come really to this back crown. And I remember when Guruji really was on me once more, more, more to come. More here. 

[01:09:01] I felt like I was in Jalandhara Bandha, the way he had me do it, in Sirsasana. But ultimately, it does lengthen the neck and it cools your brain. So now I forgot the original question. Oh, yeah. So I'm just saying that anything is possible. I mean, I walked into the practice hall once and Guruji said, Do Urdhva Kukkutasana. Because the day before I was having back problems and he said Urdhva Kukkutasana, Bhekasana are good for back. And I said, thank you. It was the end of practice so it was time to go. I walk in first thing Urdhva Kukktutasana. Now, if I was going to say Guruji, I haven't warmed up. He would have never taught me again. Don't let these things block your mind, Guruji says Urdhva Kukkutasana, I'm going to do it because I'm going to be learning from the greatest expert in the world and I'm gonna miss that opportunity. 

[01:09:55] If I put a roadblock up and say, oh, no, I haven't warmed up, you often said no such thing as a warm-up. So I did or Urdhva Kukkutasana and it was terrible. But I did it. But I felt what he was after and I think I wouldn't have felt it as strong if it was later in the practice. So, yes, Bhekasana it's been done in Pune, not like I'm the only one doing this. But you're ripe and ready for Bhekasana after a Sarvangasana. And it's really good for the back. So when you come out and you know, you're you're there, you rolled out. You can just come right up. Separate the legs. Now, the key thing what somebody else asked, I already addressed because your groins have to be soft. Your groins should be like butter. And you can have the heels up on the shoulder balance props if you want. But as long as your groins are like butter and you keep them like butter, you can when you descend the inner edges of the feet and lift the outer leg and roll it in, because this should be the back, should be connected to your leg. 

[01:11:04] There should be no gap. The groin has to be soft when you're doing that. It's also great for the back. When you press the inner feet and lift the outer thigh, this spreads the sacrum. But as long as the groin is soft and then you're you're good to go. You're good to go. Maybe it's a bad pose at the end of the practice, but it feels really nice after your shoulder balance. 

[01:11:31] So try it yourself. And then if you think, wow, that was the wrong way, then do Supta Padangusthasana. Don't get stuck in your rigidity. You know, I call this Iyengar yoga fundamentalism. You know, you shouldn't really. Yes. 

[01:11:48] There's things that you should do. Things you shouldn't do. And long ago in Pune there were things that Guruji absolutely said you shouldn't do. And then they do them years later, you know, or you shouldn't do something one day, but then you're doing it the next day, you know. 

[01:12:05] It's all to expand your consciousness. You shouldn't do the same thing day in, day out. When I do a crazy, like, advanced class and we're doing, you know, crazy advanced so-called advanced poses, you know, when people are struggling with it. 

[01:12:20] I just my students are used to me saying this. I just remind them it's like all of the sudden I've rung the bell. I don't ring a bell, but it's like, why are we doing these poses? And then it brings them back to reality. And they just say "it expands our consciousness!" You know, you don't want to be getting in a rut. 

[01:12:39] OK. And doing everything the same thing day in, day out. 

[01:12:47] If you have a groin injury first, you should heal it. You should. You should always rest your injuries. And there's yoga rest. 

[01:12:53] So a typical yoga rest for groin is putting the block narrow between your shins, buckling it, lying down, put a bolster and then a weight. And it should that weight should weight the pubic bone. And then the groin and the sacrum will get better for it. It really works. But you have to do it before the practice. You know, the practice, before the practice. If you have cold things. Know how to heal them. 

[01:13:23] And don't do unbearable things, you know, when something's injured. 

[01:13:36] OK, so this is getting back to that Covid-19 thing I should have added, the symptom is tingling, pain, lower lungs. She feels her lower lungs are blocked and can't take a deep breath. This is four and a half weeks into her diagnosis. 

[01:13:51] It just proves my point. 

[01:13:54] And Guruji's point that when you have a respiratory condition, don't think breathing exercises are going to do it. You know, they're showing you probably all have seen that the lungs turned to like mashed glass or whatever, you know, and there's mucus built up. How can you breathe? You can't. You have to get the lungs to work by doing the downward facing poses that I show in the beginning of the sequence, the Pranayama will have to come later when you heal. And from what I know, because I do have a, I know somebody and I think maybe you probably know people. This thing is no joke. You know, when it hits you hard. I have a person I know who's an epitome of health and still, after a month and a half, can't even walk up stairs. You know, and they they're I think they're below 60. They're not a young spring chicken. But this illness is no joke. 

[01:14:59] And so don't think that youre... I've even read The New York Times had an article about this Covid survivors Support Group. And reading it is really scary. You know, people are having long term health issues. It's not just attacking the lungs. It's attacking all the organs in the body. And you probably read that people are even getting strokes. Young people are getting strokes. And I read the surgeon's report when they discovered a young 33 year old where they went in to remove that stroke or whatever. 

[01:15:31] That right before the eyes, that virus just went to another place and gave it another stroke right there. OK, now these are extreme things, and you don't know if it's going to be extreme with you. And we don't know the future, we don't know what's gonna happen, but we have this practice to try to maintain our organic body healthy. I've given it. There's also six poses. 

[01:15:59] Sirsasana. I'll say it's slow if you want to write it down, Sirsasana, Halasana, Setu Bandha Sarvangasana, Salamba Sarvangasana, Viparita Karani Sarvangasana and also before the shoulder balance cycle Viparita Dandasana. So, Sirsasana, Viparita Dandasana, Halasana, Setu Bandha Sarvangasana, Salamba Sarvangasana, and Viparita Karani. Which is all included in that sequence. But if you can hold these poses for ten minutes, so do it supported that maintains your healthy organs healthy. Because the ten minute time and these variations of how you're bending, inverting the organs and this is especially good for the liver. The blood circulates more times through. It circulates three times in one minute. So it's going to be circulating more times. So you're going to have healthy organs to start. So you want to stay healthy. And then if. 

[01:17:05] You know, you're going to get hit with it and they predict that everybody has to get hit with it at some point, actually. I mean, the only reason we're in isolation is to help the hospitals out. We can't stay in isolation forever. We're all actually supposedly going to get it. Let's hope a weak form of it. Then you have to just do those downward-facing poses in the beginning because you breathe better in the lungs. 

[01:17:30] You get lung recruit ability. 

[01:17:34] And then you have to climb back out of that slowly but surely. And I don't know the level of their practice, but that downward facing practice, those first six or seven poses are a must. 

[01:17:55] OK, so and Utthita Trikonasana my left leg. 

[01:18:00] The forward foot teachers keep telling me to turn my upper leg from the inside out. It's very restricted, doesn't turn much, but every time I do, my femur hurt, feels like it hits against bone and I can't turn any further. The more I try, I end up with a sore lower hip. Is there anything I can do to create more space? Well, you can take the forward foot up on a quarter round or even a Viparita Karani box higher. Ideally, use a trestle or face a wall and take the angular standing poses. The angular standing poses how hip dysplasia, which is when the femur head is not in the acetabulum. It might be a little off. There's complete hip dysplasia where the bone is out. OK. And then there's varying degrees of dysplasia. And some people are born with hip dysplasia and have to get corrected even at birth. So maybe that's what it's going on. I don't know your age. I don't know who you are. Maybe there's already wear and tear and yes, there's bone on bone and so you can't get that rotation. So angular standing poses help, especially when you put that forward foot up. 

[01:19:09] How to implement Supta Koormasana with hips that are hard to open, come to my Tuesday advanced class. We're gonna do it there because it's a whole practice. Now, Pranayama is taught in Pune, and my experience as a separate class, teaching inversions and quieting chest openers before Pranayama is good. Also depending on time. Now, yes, this was true. But over the years, in fact, this is more than a decade ago where everyone knows in Pune. This is pretty Pranayama week. Oh, yes. We're gonna get to lie around and relax and we go in and Geetas teaching. It's the woman's class. And by the time we get to Kapotasana, you know, we're looking at each other. Wasn't this Pranayama week? I thought this was Pranayama week why are we in Kapotasana. What's going on here? And then, sure enough, we still did Pranayama. So I have adopted that, actually. Yes. If you need to do recuperative, do your recuperatives, it's much needed. It's valued. But sometimes people get so caught up in recuperative, that's all they do. And then it can actually make you more tired when you're doing it all the time and you don't really need it. So I really even my Pranayama weeks, they're pretty active the first hour and then you give a deep rest after that. You know, you lie in the bolster for ten minutes. You're good to go for Pranayama. You're OK. In fact, your lungs are probably able to do more. 

[01:20:39] Gymnastics already covered scoliosis this morning. And that morning, Q&A is free. Lot of these things look repetitive. 

[01:21:02] Do you believe in all philosophy of yoga? I'm not exactly sure about that question. I would ask that person to clarify. But yes, I read the yoga sutras every week I. I find when I study, especially the sutras, I haven't done the Upanishads as much. I'm not a big fan of the Bhagavad Gita. I find it too preachy for my taste. But whatever floats your boat and helps you to get through life. Go for it. For me, I connect really to the sutras and they do help. Often, if Ive read a sutra in the morning and then I go and practice, it will come up. You know, even the ones that we're going through now in my advanced class where I give a suture before practice. We're on the third Pada. We're going through the powers. And one week we were doing Koormasana and it was on the sutra that day was on Kantha Kupa, the throat, the space of the throat. I was teaching and Supta Koormasana, you know, get that chin forward, get that chin forward. And then somebody in the class said, "Hey, Kantha Kupa there it is!"

[01:22:06] It's you know, so the asanas, even though they seem esoteric, it often, you know, can relate to what is reality. And so yes, I do. It's not a question. Do I believe in philosophy. I study it. 

[01:22:37] Do we have practice falling down in Adho Mukha Vrksasana, since it's three years I practiced and I can't get off the wall. Personally when I see people trying to get off the wall in Adho Mukha Vrksasana, I make them go right to the middle of the room because using the wall doesn't teach you the same efforts you need in the middle of the room. Well, I'm not going to do it now, but when you go up at the wall, you tend to lift your shoulders and throw your leg up in the middle of the room. You actually have to take the shoulders first beyond hand. The shoulders go beyond the hand. And then you have to lift the abdomen. You have to lift the abdomen. So then you go up that way. So it's a different going up. And I often take people in my advanced class. We spot each other so you can learn how to go up in the middle. And it's fun. But if you're learning to go up, do not use the wall. I also. Tend not to use the wall when I'm teaching Sirsasana. In Light on Yoga it says somewhere go up in the middle of the room and then go and use the wall. But you should experience it first in the middle of the room. It's a much different feeling than using the wall. And it's exhilarating and it's exciting. And I just let people fall down. It's OK. You're on the floor anyway. You need to experience the difference between good pain and bad pain. Yes, especially when you're healing. The difference I distinguish is, is it intense versus is it is a pain. If it's intense, then it's OK. If it's pain. It's not OK. Yes. You avoid inversions, but Adho Mukha Svanasana, even though it's a forward bend, it's a backbend. It's a standing pose. It's an inversion all in one. You do it. And I already taught my menstrual course. You do it with the hands higher on blocks or a chair. Or you can do with the rope, in which case you wouldn't need the blocks. Oh, I should post that article. We don't know how to teach. It was posted on Facebook. I'll find it and post it on my Web site with the other with the respiratory sequence. I've been meaning to do that. 

[01:24:59] Oh, labrum problems. So, the labrum. 

[01:25:05] Is a recent popular diagnoses that people have come to me more. I've torn my labrum. Usually, it's a shoulder, sometimes it's the hip. And the reason it's popular is because the labrums always been there. They didn't just discover it, but the imaging is getting better and they're seeing torn labrum. So they're able to say your labrum is torn. Even Ive had an image in my labrum is frayed. You know, I'm old, I'm frayed. But those are hard to work with. And I've had some students with labrum repairs and I haven't seen good ones yet. Maybe they'll get better at it, but I don't know, you're not telling me if it's the hip or the shoulder, if it's the hip, a good one is Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana with the rope wall. 

[01:26:06] Or, with the wall, not a rope wall, where your back is to the wall. The standing leg up on a quarter round. Your raised leg up on a stool where the heel should be slightly higher. If you're flexible, then the front of the thigh. 

[01:26:22] That's how you should judge how high. Then you should also have a threefold sticky or blanket behind your lumbar, above your buttock. 

[01:26:34] And then you can hold the ropes or hold the wall. 

[01:26:37] And then ideally that raised leg. You're pushing that hip into the socket. And if I had you, I would have assistance where I would be putting a rope on the standing leg inside, lifting that femur head in and up, standing leg out of femur head, I'd be pushing in. Or sometimes I have the rope from the other side of that standing leg pulling that femur head in. And then the raised leg femur head down and another person holding both the hips back. And if you're lucky to have three people helping you with that. And you do that every day, your labrum will get better because people are like, oh, my God. That's the best pose ever. Then if it's the shoulder, it's shoulder Savasana.

[01:27:32] And also Parsva Hastasana if you can't have somebody put weights on you. 

[01:27:40] Oh, here's a great question. Maybe you have already talked about that, but I am not an advanced student. Why do we always turn on the right side while coming out of poses on the ground. I bet some of you know the answer. The right side of our body is related to the heating side. The Surya Nadis. OK. It's the Surya side. The left side of the body is related to the Chandra Nadis, the moon side. The cooling side. The rolling to the right side is preparing you to get up when you roll to your left side. And it's not the end of the world. I've even taught. Rolling to the right, rolling to the left and getting up from the left. It's not the end of the world. If you do it every now and then turning to the left and getting up. But if you keep doing wrong things, then it becomes a problem. But turning to the right prepares you for stimulation. It's the balanced way to come out. Same thing organically. Like when you're doing Trikonasana on the right, you're getting the peristaltic movement. So you're ascending colon gets squeezed. When you go to the right Trikonasana and then it traverses. And then the descending colon gets squeezed on the left. So organically, like you would always be going that direction. That's what going to the right for the other poses. What's interesting what's very interesting to me, maybe you have noticed this, but in Light on Yoga, the four forward bends that I talked about this morning, for example, Janu Sirsasana, Light on Yoga, you keep the right leg straight and bend the left leg first. 

[01:29:19] Did you know that? In Light on Yoga, it's described that way. Maybe Guruji discovered later something. To me, the right leg bends first because this is the activator side. When you're doing the different poses, this is what's happening. This is what's changing. 

[01:29:37] So this is the activator side and maybe he figure that out and it changed after he published Light on Yoga, as you know, became an antique book the day after it was published. It's on LoisSteinberg.com. So if you go to my IYCU page and click my name, it takes you to my page. LoisSteinberg.com. If you feel pain in the sacrum, I'd have to see your Salamba Sarvangasana. But so much I've been talking about getting that spine forward and up and the legs lifting. So you might be sinking or you have a disc problem. So you have to find out how to do the shoulder balance so that you're not getting pain, especially if it's a problem with a disc. OK. I'm running out of gas. I haven't eaten at all since yesterday, but I'm happy to do this with you. And next Friday or next Thursday, Abhi is doing a seven-day course. So I will have nothing on Friday, next week, the following week, I will have class and I'll announce that probably starting it'll be a nine to 12 class fun with Lois. Be prepared for anything. But I already told you. Course. Appendix one course to week fifty-five.