RICHARD ROSEN'S ASANA BREAKDOWN - Akarna Dhanurasana

Hold on please, I am on the other foot….

AKARNA DHANURASANA
To-the-Ear Bow Pose

(uh-car-nah dahn-your-ah-su-nuh)

Five hundred and fifty years ago, this pose was called Bow (dhanurasana, see the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, 1.25). Nowadays that name has been given to a backbend, and this Bow pose is now qualified with akarna, “To-the-Ear (karna).”

Nest Yoga dedicates this month’s pose to the members of the US Armed Forces. 

1. Sit with legs extended forward (dandasana). Bend your left knee and cradle the foreleg in your arms. Brace the left foot in the crook of the right elbow, be sure to push through the inner foot to keep the ankle neutral. Rock the leg back and forth.

2. Move the left sit bone off to the left, so the torso partially turns left. With your index and middle fingers of the left hand, hold the left big toe, wrap your thumb around the two fingers to secure the grip. 

3. Draw the left foot toward your left ear as if drawing an arrow on a bow string. If you find this difficult, rest the heel on a block standing on one end. 

4. Lean your torso to the right. Hold the right big toe with the right index and middle fingers, thumb secures the grip. The torso will be in a true side bend, right side shortens, left side lengthens. If you can’t reach the toe, hold the foot with a belt. 

5. Hold for 30 seconds to a minute. “Shoot” the arrow, then repeat to the other side. 

PREPARATORY SEQUENCE

Bound Angle (baddha konasana)

Cow Face legs (gomukhasana)

Head-to-Knee (janu shirshasana) 

Gate Latch (parighasana)

Knee to Heart (hrd janu samyoga) (cradle foreleg in arms) 

Staff Spotlight: Quamay Sams

Often times our interactions with the yoga community are brief. Greet the front desk associate, run to class to set up, check in with the teacher and practice. We thank the teacher and move through the rest of our day. Every once in awhile we have some time to chat about life. Nest Staff Spotlight allows fellow teachers, staff members and our yogis the opportunity to delve into the life of a selected community member. We hope this gives everyone a chance to learn more about our teachers and staff.

For the first Staff Spotlight, we interviewed one of our newest teachers, Quamay Sams. Quamay completed his 200-hr teaching training in New York City in 2016 and moved to the Bay Area in 2018 to pursue more education and further his career. We are thrilled to have Quamay join our team of highly skilled instructors!

Tell us about yourself. Anything you want the Nest community to know.

I’m just here to spread love.  

What would you like the community to know about your classes, teaching style or you?

I would like them to know that everyone is welcome. I wish to provide an environment in which you are physically and mentally challenged at any level. My mission is to help people feel empowered to be who they are in their truth. I want people to feel like they belong in any space and that they are enough regardless of how they show up by displaying that in my own practice and teaching. 

What or who inspires you?

Alan Watts

Malcolm X

Words. Words draw me into another space mentally, whichever form i take them in. Music, Books, Poetry, Speech. All these things resonate with me because of my love for words.   

What are three things still left on your bucket list?

Bungee Jumping

Climb El Capitan

Visit Japan 

When was the last time you laughed so hard you cried? 

I laugh and tear daily because i have hilarious friends & family, but i will say the last REAL hard one was back home in NYC. 2 years maybe?

What are you currently reading, watching or listening to?

I am currently reading 12 Rules For Life by Jordan B Peterson (Clinical Psychologist) watching Lie to Me (abc) and an Anime called Black Clover. Listening to Kirk by DaBaby . 

What do you love most about your hometown?

How authentic people are. It’s so RAW. You always know where you stand with someone and no one will hesitate to tell you how they feel. We just Real. Also, 24hr deli’s..

What obstacles has yoga helped you overcome? Has yoga created any obstacles?

Besides the mental aspect being an amazing aid to my depression and anxiety, the ability to create physical range and strength in my body is transformative. I’m not sure if this is so much an obstacle as it is a natural truth in life, but I often have to remind myself that my view on the world isn’t the only view; and my job here isn’t to push my beliefs on anyone. When you know something that is good to you, you can’t help but want to share it with everyone. 

What’s a typical day like for you?

I'm pretty boring. Wake up, drink coffee, read/journal, meditate, do yoga, teach yoga, maybe climb or dance depending on the day, and end it with video games or a good show at night. I like sleep.

What are you happiest doing when you’re not working?

Not working lol, trying to be as lazy as possible. 

What is one thing you can’t resist? Why?

Following my intuition. From a young age I've supported myself on my own and whenever i’ve done something that wasn’t true to me I’ve lost more than I've gained.

Where is the best place you’ve traveled to and why?

Here. My world changed in the Bay.

You can catch Quamay at the studio teaching Vinyasa classes on Monday and Wednesday from 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm and Friday 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm.

A Bodyful Bridge Home

A BodyFul Bridge Home
by Elenna Rubin-Goodman

Following an almost 2 year descent into anxiety, depression and insomnia that refused to yield to any amount of love, devotion or healing practices, my life was achingly bare as 2018 ended.  I strongly doubted I’d see the new year. 

Yet, January came and I was still here. For the first time in what seemed like forever, I felt tricklings of interest move through my body.  Sensation and emotion began to unthaw my frozen heart.  Anxiety became less of a constant companion and I could once again imagine a world beyond the next 10 minutes. With these gifts also came the recognition that I needed to find a way to hold this return to life. 

Three possibilities found me that January.  Among them was an all you can take yoga offer that caught my attention while walking down Piedmont Avenue late one afternoon.  

New Student Special: 30 days of unlimited yoga for $49

Something in me seized on the idea that taking as many yoga classes as my body could manage would become the way to organize and motivate my days. I’d trained as a dancer for decades. Yoga had been a regular, if on and off, part of my world for years.  And I instinctively understood that any true return to life required that I re-inhabit my body for it to remember itself.

In 30 days I took 28 classes. 

It is humbling to be reintroduced to your body after its gone missing In inaction. It requires forging a whole new relationship with what was once familiar and at times, letting go of ways of moving that had once served me well.  My natural turnout and flexibility, a boon as a dancer, was now destabilizing and something I had to release as I reached for balance both in and through my body. For weeks I was sore. And though continually encouraged not to judge our practice, I was often frustrated at what no longer came easily.  But trusting something about the reliably warm welcome I received as I checked in at the front desk, and again as I laid out my mat in class, kept me coming back. 

During those first 30 days I both sampled a variety of classes and worked most regularly with 3 teachers whose classes I attended faithfully. Similarities in their training, coupled with impeccable commitment to asana and breathing practices, provided the structure I needed while variations in their personal and teaching styles kept my initial deep dive into classes lively. 

A shift I couldn’t have known to look for showed up about half way through the month.  I was developinga felt understanding of the inner architecture of my body.  The repetition of instructions, metaphors and suggestions had worked their way into the cells of my bones, fascia, tendons and ligaments.  I could feel my pelvis as never before.  Each breath became linked to an expanding sense of inner spaciousness.  I remember the class, standing in Tree Pose, when I knew I was again present in my body, and present as never before.  I’d found my way home in the most elemental way possible for an embodied being.

A fuller life these days, along with the occasional stirring of old injuries, now also shape my growing practice  What remains as an unwavering constant is the foundation laid by the those first 30 days. It continues to grow me as a yoga practitioner.  It supports my ability to meet with kindness what shows up in the present moment even when it is uncomfortable or not what I might prefer.  This is an invaluable gift both on and off the mat, particularly given the times in which we are living. 

To the Nest, its yoga instructors and this community of practitioners - Namaste.

Elenna Rubin-Goodman and her husband Garner McAleer are loyal and beloved members of our Nest Community. You can find them several times a week enjoying a wide variety of classes.

RICHARD ROSEN'S ASANA BREAKDOWN - PARIVRTTA TRIKONASANA

photo cred📷Yoga Bar

PARIVRTTA TRIKONASANA
(par-ee-vrit-tah trik-cone-AHS-anna)
parivrtta = to turn around, revolve
trikona = three angle or triangle

Revolved Triangle Pose

1. Stand in Mountain (tadasana). With an exhale, step or lightly hop your feet 3½ to 4 feet apart. Raise your arms parallel to the floor and reach them actively out to the sides, shoulder blades wide, palms down. Turn your left foot in about 45 degrees to the right and your right foot out to the right 90 degrees. Align the heels, firm your thighs and turn your right thigh outward, so that the center of the right knee cap is in line with the center of the right ankle.

2. With an exhale turn your torso to the right, and square your hip points as much as possible with the front edge of your sticky mat. As you bring the left hip around to the right, resist the head of the left thigh bone back and firmly ground the left heel.

3. With another exhale turn your torso further to the right and lean forward over the front leg. Reach your left hand down, either to the floor (inside or outside the foot) or, if the floor is too far away, onto a block positioned against your inner right foot. Allow the left hip to drop slightly toward the floor, be sure NOT to keep the pelvis parallel to the floor.

4. There’s a tendency in this pose for the front leg hip to swing out to the side and round up toward the shoulder. This causes the torso to “hunch” over the front leg, and unless the spine fully and evenly lengthened, front to back and side to side, a full twist is inhibited. To remedy this, release your right hip back, away from the right shoulder. If you like, you can hook your right thumb in the hip crease, and strongly pull the outer hip toward the back foot.

5. This draw on the outer hip invariably shifts the weight onto the outer edge of the front foot, threatening the stability of the pose. Be sure to press the mound of the big toe firmly into the floor, then from the inner ankle pull up sharply along the inner leg channel deep into the pelvis. From that depth, release any tension you might be feeling in your belly.

6. Beginning students should keep their head in a neutral position, looking straight forward, or turn it to look at the floor. More experienced students can turn the head and gaze up at the top thumb. The chin should dip down toward the top shoulder, if the back of your neck shortens and tenses when you turn your head, it would be best to hold your head neutral. From the center of the back, between the shoulder blades, press the arms away from the torso. Bring most of your weight to bear on the back heel and the front hand.

5. Stay in this pose anywhere from 30 seconds to 1 minute. Exhale, release the twist, and bring your torso back to upright with an inhale. Repeat for the same length of time with the legs reversed, twisting to the left. Be sure not to come out of the pose by shifting forward onto the front leg and foot. It’s much safer to turn the feet parallel to each other, and step or lightly hop your feet together.

- Benefits
Strengthens and stretches the legs
Stretches the hips and spine
Opens the chest to improve breathing
Relieves mild back pain
Stimulates the abdominal organs
Improves sense of balance


- Contraindications: If you have a serious back or spine injury perform this pose only with the supervision of an experienced teacher. Also avoid this pose if you have:
Low blood pressure
Migraine
Diarrhea
Headache
Insomnia

- Modifications & Props: One of the most common problems in this pose is the inability to keep the back heel grounded, which makes the pose very unstable. There are various ways to deal with the back heel. First, of course, you can just accept the situation and work diligently to press through the heel (and open the back leg groin) even though it’s off the floor. Second you can perform the pose with your back heel wedged against a wall, which gives you something to push into. Or finally you can raise the back heel on a lift and, over time, work to gradually lower the lift until the heel stays on the floor.

- Variations: Parivrtta Trikonasana leads into a very interesting variation, not usually described in popular instruction manuals, called Parivrtta Ardha Chandrasana (Revolved Half Moon Pose). Perform the pose (twisting to the right). Then exhale, bend the right knee and reach the left hand forward on the floor (or onto a block) about 12 to 18 inches beyond the right foot (with the hand positioned on the big toe side of the foot). Inhale and straighten the right knee, lifting the left foot off the floor and bringing the leg parallel to the floor. Hold for 30 seconds to a minute, return the left foot to the floor with an exhale, and leave the twist as described in step 5 above. Repeat to the other side.

- Preparatory Asanas:
Baddha Konasana
Prasarita Padottanasana
Siddhasana or Sukhasana
Supta Virasana
Supta Baddha Konasana
Supta Padangustasana
Upavistha Konasana
Uttanasana
Utthita Parsvottanasana
Utthita Parsvakonasana
Utthita Trikonasana
Virabhadrasana II
Virasana
Vrksasana

- Follow-up Asanas: Parivrtta trikonasana is usually sequenced just after, (as a counterpose to) trikonasana. You can also use this pose as a standing preparation for sitting forward bends like Janu Sirsasana and sitting twists like Ardha Matsyendrasana and Marichyasana III.

- Beginners Tip: This pose is slightly easier with a narrower stance. Beginners should also, as suggested in the main description, bring their hand to the inner foot, whether on the floor or a support like a block or folding chair.

- Advanced Tip: When you bring the bottom hand to the outside of the forward leg, be sure to press the forearm firmly against the outer shin. This pressure of arm-against-leg will help your torso rotate more deeply into the pose.

- Partnering: A partner can help you stabilize and align this position and get a better feel for the twist. Perform steps 1 and 2 in the main description above. Have your partner stand behind you and wrap a strap across your front hip crease. Then continue with the rest of the pose. As you move into the twist, the partner will pull firmly on the ends of the strap, dragging the front groin deeper into the pelvis and the outer front hip away from the shoulder. Also he can pull in on the strap to help you keep the front hip tucked in and, with one of his feet, press against and ground your back heel.

Yoga and the Empty Nest

Yoga and the Empty Nest

by Yoko Yoshikawa

I’ve never been a good sleeper. When my husband and I first got together, he was startled; he would wake up and discover I wasn’t in bed.  Instead, I’d be in another room, practicing yoga in the dark. 

When I was in my mid-30s, I worried about not getting enough sleep.  Anxiety would dog me; I’m going to be exhausted tomorrow, how can I get X done?  But I learned that more often than not people get the sleep that they need, eventually. The best thing to do is something calming and quiet if you’re awake at 2 am.  Read something boring by low light.  Don’t get on the laptop.  

Cue yoga asana. I started studying yoga shortly after arriving in the Bay area in the 90s.  If the night is dark and deep and I am wide-awake at 2am, I pad, barefoot, to my yoga mat. For the first five years, I did sequences in the Desikachar tradition, with a strong emphasis on even, easy breathing, lying on the floor. Or restorative poses and pranayama.  Nowadays, I allow myself free rein. I’m not often inclined to do sun salutations but I will invert and do mild chest-opening poses like supta virasana and setubandha. 

These night practices can be quite elaborate and intense; they can go on for as long as two hours. I worried that the practice was keeping me awake.  But then I read that an hour of restorative yoga can be more effective in reducing cortisol levels than an hour-long nap.  

My daughter is now at school in Massachusetts; for the first time in 18-plus years my husband and I are not caring for offspring on a daily basis. I am standing at the threshold of a new life. Yoga in the middle of the night was important while I was actively parenting, in part because I couldn’t wake up early and have the morning to myself; I needed to make breakfast and bag lunches, had to roust her out of bed in time, needed to coordinate the use of the bathroom.  In the afternoons and evenings, I needed to be available for her.  I couldn’t find the time to take regular walks up in the hills; couldn’t attend anyone else’s yoga classes.  

What will happen now? There is something deeply soothing about being the only one awake (except for the cat) and practicing yoga in the dead of night.  A neighbor down the street told me that when their last child left home for college, they slept more. I wonder if I will.