In this warm up, the wall is your partner. The idea is to prevent energy from leaking through our own physical patterns and misalignments. We use Jalandhara Bandha (Chin Lock) to ‘lock’ our Upward Moving Wind out of our head and move it down towards our heart. This will preserve our energy and direct our focus. The meeting of our winds at our heart gives us the opportunity to become full of compassion.
Watch for ‘leaking’ in Mr. Peanut (image #5 below). Students either unknowingly drop the chin down onto their chest even though this one isn’t Jalandhara Bandha or tend to push the ribs forward into a backbend. I get good mileage out of the image of an Empty Canoe here, which works well for Boat Pose too.
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1. Chaturanga: standing at wall. |
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2. Down Dog at wall. |
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3. Parsvottanasana at wall: stretching arms up. |
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4. Shoulder Stretch: Turn to right, right hand stays on wall at shoulder height. |
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5. Mr. Peanut: Cross left foot (inside foot, closest to wall) in front of right foot, lean away from wall and stretch right arm up to touch wall with fingertips. Press away from wall with right fingertips to open right side. |
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6. Elbows at wall: turn to face away from wall, placing hands on back like shoulderstand. |
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7. Jalandhara Bandha at wall: *Inhale. Exhale to lower chin towards chest*, Repeat * 3X. Finish with Inhale. |
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8. Wall Squat |
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9. Wall Squat: arms up. |
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10. Uttanasana: at wall |
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11. Uttanasana: pushing away from wall. |
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12. Uttanasana |
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13. Jalandhara Bandha: roll up |
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14. Tadasana |
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15. Repeat: second side. |
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