Greetings and welcome to the September 2013 Mastery of Meditation and Yoga newsletter.
Mandala Variation of Surya Namaskar
Most of us are familiar with a Standard Sun Salutation A or B. However, there are many more creative variations of sun salutations that work the body and nervous system in a holistic manner.
Shiva Rea, a master Vinyasa Flow teacher, teaches Mandala Namaskar variations which work in a circular manner around the yoga mat. This encourages us to step out of our set back and forth linear patterns and embrace a more natural, cyclical way of life.
It can be uncomfortable and disconcerting when we first start - which way am I moving now? - and that's exactly what we want. We want to break up habitual movement patterns and encourage our nervous system and brain to fire in new ways.
For the purposes of keeping the set at a manageable length, we'll start in Downward Dog. You may wish to start in Mountain Pose (Tadasana) and move through a Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana), High Plank to Low Plank (Chattaranga), and Upward Dog (Urdhva Mukha Svanasana) before you arrive at our starting point of Downward Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana).
Mandala Variation of Surya Namaskar
Five Breaths or so:
Downward Dog - Illustration #1
Dynamic Downward Dog - Illustration #2
The key aspect in Downward Dog is a straight spine, so if you have tight hamstrings, keep your legs bent and focus on lengthening your tailbone towards the sky.
Play with bending one knee and then the other as you walk your heels up and down to the ground, releasing and lengthening the hamstrings. Focus on getting a forward tilt on your pelvis.
Watch the video below to get an idea of how these subtle movements in Downward Dog can move into a Dynamic Downward Dog, where the breath and Prana moves through the spine and pelvis as needed to release the body. In Dynamic Downward Dog, the foundation stays firm and strong.
#2: Three-Legged Downward Dog
Five Breaths or so:
Three-Legged Downward Dog
From Downward Dog, sweep one leg high into the sky, bending at the knee and opening that hip up sideways. Keep your shoulders square, creating a twist in the spine. The raised foot presses backwards over the opposite butt check.
This is a great way to free the hips, and set up for a High Lunge.
5 breaths:
High Lunge
Any standing posture starts with our connection to the ground through the feet - ground down firmly through the front heel and press back firmly through the back sole, as if you were standing on a wall. This helps keep you from sinking into your joins. Press your back thigh up to the sky and keep that leg straight too.
Allow the spine to lengthen forward and lift the sternum up slightly to open.
#4: Side Twist Lunge Variation
5 breaths:
Side Twist Lunge Variation
Side Twist Lunge Variation Backside
From high lunge, firmly ground the opposite hand to the front foot into the ground so the arm is perpendicular tand directly under the shoulder. This provides strong support for your weight.
Pivot on your feet so the front foot swings 90 degrees out sideways, but stays grounded. The back foot also pivots sideways but you roll on to the outside edge of the foot.
Sweep the other arm - same as the front foot - around and down the length of the body, opening the front of the body.
You're now facing the side of your yoga mat.
Keep both legs strong, just as in lunge. Press firmly down through the front foot, in particular the heel. Extend strongly through the back leg keeping the leg strong and straight.
Don't sink into your joints! Press through the grounded arm as well.
#5: Wide-Legged Forward Bend, One Leg Bent
5 breaths:
Wide-Legged Forward Bend, One Leg Bent
From Side Twist High Lunge Variation, inhale and lift your hips up towards the sky. Take your skyward arm and swing it around in an arc in front of you. As you do so, pivot on your front foot around toward the front of the yoga mat and then the opposite side.
You're now facing the opposite side of the yoga mat.
What is now your back leg bends deeply, the spine extends straight out from the pelvis, which is tilted forward. Hands rest directly underneath your shoulders. Surrender into the forward bend.
#6: Crescent Lunge, with Variations
5 Breaths:
Crescent Lunge with Interlaced Hands
Crescent Lunge with Extended Arms
From Wide-Legged Forward Bend with One Bent Knee, inhale and pivot toward the BACK of your yoga mat, coming into High Lunge again. Exhale and ground through your feet, connecting to your foundation again.
You're now facing the back of your yoga mat.
Inhale and interlace your hands behind your spine and use this momentum to draw your torso upright, keeping the back leg straight and the front thigh parallel to the ground. Pause there and breath into the spine and the hips.
Once you feel stable, inhale and lift your arms above your head, keeping the shoulder blades down and firmly agains the spine. Gaze moves with the finger tips. Breath openness into the front of the body.
Come out of Crescent Lunge and back down into Downward Dog. You're now ready to start again!
#7: Repeat Again on Same Side
1 Breath Per Posture:
Repeat the exact same sequence, on the same leg, to take you back around to the front of the yoga mat. Only this time, instead of taking five breaths per posture, take one breath per posture, creating flow.
It might take awhile to figure out when to exhale and when to inhale to find smooth transitions. In general, use inhales to lift up and move between postures, and exhales to ground and find stability in postures.
#8: Repeat twice on the other side
From Downward Dog, repeat the same sequence again but start with the other leg in Three-Legged Downward Dog. The first set, do five breaths per posture and explore your way in, noticing where you feel tight and where you feel open.
The second set, which brings you back around to the front of the mat, do one breath per posture, finding the flow in the sequence.
Watch Video of this Sequence
There's a few extra flow movements added in - knee sweeps in Three-Legged Dog, and a pulse in High Lunge. You can miss these out or add them in as you please. The video also gives you a much better idea of Dynamic Downward Dog.
Watch a couple of times to get the general flow, and then start to explore on your own yoga mat.
Have fun!
Top 5 Relationship Articles:
Everybody wants to fall in love and have an incredible relationship... yet sometimes it seems so impossible to make happen. Have you ever thought deeply about how your perception of relationship may be stopping you from enjoying a wonderful relationship?
Here's some excellent relationship articles from the website.
http://anmolmehta.com/blog/2007/01/08/the-true-purpose-of-relationships/
Your relationship is not there to make you happy. It is not there to satisfy your needs. It is not there to help you escape your loneliness. Its purpose is not for you to procreate, although you might. It is not there to provide you with a tax break, although you should take that. It is certainly not there for you to exploit, by exerting power and control over the other. It is not there to hold together the so called moral fiber of society. It is not there because God mandates it. It is not there for divine male and divine female to merge through you and your partner. It is not there to play with Kundalini, although can be used for that. It is there as the mirror in which to see yourself clearly. That's it.
I want to share with you a very interesting technique that I have found to be very helpful in dealing with relationships, helping make them a positive, interesting and transforming experience. A technique which should go a long way in helping you have fun, healthy relationships.
http://anmolmehta.com/blog/2008/06/19/relationship-questions-issues-for-the-spiritually-inclined/
One of the most complex aspect of life is relationships and I have noticed that for those who are deeply spiritual, relationships, specially the long-term serious kind, pose additional challenges and issues. Questions such as, should I get married? Should I have children? Will a serious relationship be an obstacle to my obtaining Enlightenment? Should my partner by equally spiritual?
http://anmolmehta.com/blog/2007/10/16/effective-tantra-breathing-technique-to-prolong-sexual-intercourse/
In this variation of Kundalini Tantra Yoga, the sex act is utilized to not only arouse and intensify one's sexual excitement in order to reach heightened states of eroticism, but, much more importantly, sex is used to reach and experience altered states of consciousness.
http://anmolmehta.com/blog/2011/11/18/how-to-good-healthy-improve-relationships/
One of the benefits that is often cited by the students of my Free Online Meditation Classes and the
Meditation Certification Program, is the significant improvements they see in their relationships as a result. To me this is no surprise, as the inner transformation that meditation bring about ends up affecting all aspects of one's life, especially one's relationships. So how exactly does meditation lead to healthier and happier relationships? Below is a list of 5 ways it helps.
Forty Days of Yoga - Breaking down the Barriers to a Home Yoga Practice
Regular Mastery of Meditation, Yoga & Zen writer Kara-Leah Grant draws on her years of home practice experience to examine the many obstacles - both internal and external - that one can face when undertaking a self-directed practice, especially while living an ordinary life in the busy, modern world.
Packed full of ingeniously practical worksheets and examples from Kara-Leah's own life, this book invites readers to reflect honestly and creatively on their own process and aspirations for a home yoga practice.
In this way, Kara-Leah helps readers see that their life - obstacles and all - can become part of the solution, rather than being seen as a 'problem'.
It's the perfect accompaniment to the many yoga resources available on Mastery of Meditation, Yoga & Zen.
Because, after all - you know you feel better when you practice yoga on a regular basis. You're calmer, stronger, more flexible and life has more ease. You feel connected and in-tune.
You know all this and so you want to practice yoga at home on a regular basis. But it's almost impossible to make yourself get on your mat and do a regular home yoga practice.
There's always a reason why not.
Maybe you don't have enough time. Or the right space to practice in. Maybe you don't know enough to practice by yourself. Maybe you're not disciplined enough, or have enough will-power.
Maybe maybe maybe...
Or maybe none of that is true and there's another reason why you don't practice yoga every day.
Mastery of Meditation and Yoga 
