SERPENT POSE
sarpāsana
sarpa = creeping, crawling, stealing along; a female snake
Serpent Pose is a variation on Locust (shalabhasana, see Light on Yoga, #25)
1. Lie on your belly, and lay your arms alongside your torso, palms up. Turn your thighs so your little toes are on the floor. When you do this, your tail bone (coccyx) will pop up toward the ceiling.
2. Inhale, swing your arms behind your torso and interlock your fingers, lay your thumbs on your sacrum. Then with another inhale, stretch your arms straight back and slide your thumbs along the coccyx, pressing it down toward the floor and back toward your heels.
3. Keep the little toes on the floor and the coccyx lengthened toward the heels. With an inhale, raise your arms a few inches away from your back torso and lift your head and upper torso off the floor. Keep your legs on the floor for the first time through.
4. To begin, continue to look down at the floor, keeping the back of the neck long. Hold for 30 seconds to a minute, release with an exhale. Rest for a few breaths.
5. For the second time, inhale, stretch and lift the clasped hands, lift the torso and head, and raise the legs off the floor. In the 17th century Gheranda Samhita (Gheranda’s Compendium), for the instructions on Locust (2.39), we’re told to lift the feet “one vitasti,” which is the measure of the span between the outstretched tips of the thumb and little finger, or the distance from the wrist to the tip of the middle finger, about 9 inches. Hold again for 30 seconds to a minute, then release with an exhale.
6. Repeat with the hands in the reversed clasp. Then push back into Child’s Pose (bālāsana). Sit on your heels and stretch your arms forward. Rest for 30 seconds to a minute.
Yoga Magic
by Kim Lally
In yoga, like life for many of us, we find our way onto our mat in a quest to find an enlightening moment, a moment of clarity, of all knowing. Of contentment, bliss, synergy.
When it happens, it’s kinda like hitting the jackpot on a slot machine. Line up the right pieces, and the bells ring and the coins flow. These moments are elusive, but limitless. Unprescribed, but predictable. I have no idea about slot machines, but in yoga, it happens for me when the stuck layers start to unstick. When layer by layer, the heart is unearthed to reveal the soul.
In a hot sweaty Bikram class long ago, the first time I felt this was in Rabbit pose. Of all places. With the top of my head on the mat, the sweat dripping from my chin into my eyes. My sweaty palms reaching for my just-as-sweaty heels and slipping. Then the tears started.
Somehow, I found my way to those ‘fiery gates of hell’ as a friend called that Berkeley studio. A yoga seed had been planted, probably by my friend Jane who completed an amazing 1000 hours (!) of training at Piedmont Yoga School and taught yoga to a group of friends in my attic. A few years later, in the midst of being a perplexed parent of a challenging teenager, I was on my mat in Bikram. I never expected what happened next.
At that moment in rabbit pose, with tears flowing that no one would notice (after all, everyone was dripping sweat), I knew that I could finally stop. Stop the pretending. Right then. Stop feigning that life was cupcakes and unicorns. Stop saying yes when I desperately wanted to say no. Stop smiling when I needed to scream.
But what I didn’t know was how to start. Start allowing myself to really be me. To give my always smiling self permission to be angry and grouchy, quiet and withdrawn. To pause and find my words. To proudly claim my power.
Right then I was hooked. I needed to be here, on this mat, 90 minutes of moving my body and breathing deeply into each cell of my being. Focusing my mind on my practice, opening and strengthening and softening and accepting … physically, emotionally, spiritually...all at the same time.
A few years of Bikram and then hot sweaty vinyasa transformed this adrenalin-fueled runner into a weekly yoga practitioner. But it wasn’t enough. I wanted more. Definitely not more sweat. Just more... something…..
I found a yoga studio on Piedmont Avenue that became a sanctuary. It was bright and airy and had cheerful staff and incredible teachers. One Saturday morning, I wedged my mat into a packed class and a mite-sized strawberry blonde instructor led us in a practice that transformed everything. It was a chiropractor for my body, a therapist for my thoughts, a pillow for my weary head, loving arms to soften my tired and fearful heart. It was Annie Carpenter’s SmartFLOW. In this class, my body worked, my mind paused, my heart was held and I cried in savasana. Every. Single. Time.
I’m a terrible fighter. I’d rather give in than argue. I can never find the words in the heat of a confrontation. My mind goes blank. Dead space. Static buzz. But in yoga, my pause became my words. My breath filled the pause. My prana - life force, energy - coursed through my cells and my soul. As my breath worked through me, the words came. My power seeped in during that pause, that space.
‘Y’all Breathin?’
Each time Annie says this, I think ‘she just caught me!’ But, (shocking), it’s not just about me. It‘s all of us. When it gets hard, we stop breathing. In the transition from revolved triangle to revolved half moon .. I definitely stop breathing. Just like in the heat of an argument. The life force, the balance, the power - it stops, paralyzed, stuck and wobbling.
This breathing thing, it turns out, is important. Like other innate body functions - our heart that beats or our stomachs that churn - lungs just breathe. But unlike the stomach or the heart (thankfully), our mind can overrule the lungs. Like when things get tough…. And we don’t even realize we are holding our breath. Until we do. There’s a microsecond of pause. Realization. And breathe again. In that pause is the moment of change.
It’s the moment the magic starts. The chance we get to listen to that voice inside. To deeply look within and see our heart revealed. That’s when Richard asks “who’s the breather?” Who are we right now? Today? In this moment? Who do you see?
A bundle of nerves, I committed to a 200 hour Teacher Training with Annie. I was nowhere near as practiced as the other yogis. They pressed into a handstand on command. Those 22 days were hard. It wasn’t just my practice that got stripped to its core. Every wall I built around my heart, every blanket I cloaked over my soul - Annie held space for all of this to fall away. Layer by layer. And then rebuild. Set a solid foundation and stack the pieces on top to both fit together but make space. Whether in Triangle pose or in my own heart. Seeing where I need to do the work and where I need to soften a little. My jaw, my face, maybe the corners of my mouth. :)
And now I find myself the steward of that beautiful yoga studio. How did I get here? How do I stay? In those moments when I’m questioning the next steps, either with my family, my life or my yoga studio, I find myself on my mat, often in SmartFLOW, and next comes just what I needed. Exactly what had to open and soften, strengthen and align, so that my breath could calm my mind to allow my soul to reveal my truth.
And that is magic.
RICHARD ROSEN'S ASANA BREAKDOWN - MALASANA
MALASANA
(ma-LAHS-anna)
mala = wreath, garland, rosary. The Sanskrit spelling of this “mala” has two long a’s, and shouldn’t be confused with the spelling that has two short a’s. “Mala,” with two short a’s, means “dirt, dust, impurity.” This pose is named for the way the arms are “wreathed” around the squatting legs.
Garland Pose
B. K. S. Iyengar teaches two versions of Malasana. The first, Malasana I, is a difficult pose for all but the most advanced students. The version described below is closer to what he calls Malasana II, and is suitable for experienced beginning students.
1. Stand in Tadasana with your feet hip width and parallel to each other. Bend your knees and lower down into a full squat, with your buttocks close to or sitting on your heels. If it’s not possible for you to comfortably squat with both heels on the floor, or to squat for more than a few seconds without feeling pain in the legs and hips, raise your heels on a sand bag or a firm, thickly-folded blanket.
2. Open your knees wider than your hips and, exhaling, lean your torso between your thighs. Release your inner groins deep into your pelvis and lengthen the sides of your torso. Bend and widen your elbows, and lay your hands on the floor so they’re wider than your feet. Squeeze your inner thighs against the sides of your torso, and work your shins into your armpits. Press your armpits back against the shins to further lengthen the sides of the torso. Take a few breaths.
3. Then on an exhale round your back and release your head close to or onto the floor in front of your feet. With an another exhale, slide your hands back along the floor, reach around to outside of the ankles and grip your heels or the backs of your ankles. Stretch the entire back of your torso and neck, compressing but not hardening your belly and front throat.
4. Stay for 30 seconds to a minute. With each inhale, expand your back torso; with each exhale, release the inner groins and deepen the pose. Finally let go of your feet, lift the head and torso with an inhale, and with a last inhale stand back into Tadasana.
Benefits
Stretches the ankles, calves, thighs, groins, and back spine
Strengthens the muscles of the fronts of the legs
Stimulates the abdominal organs
Contraindications
Students with serious ankle, knee, or low back injuries should avoid this pose.
Modifications & Props
Many beginners will have a difficult time gripping the heels with their hands. Before you squat in preparation for this position, lay a strap on the floor just behind your heels. When you’re ready to take the hands back, reach for the strap. Walk your hands along the strap and closely to the heels as possible. Then pull the strap firmly forward against your heels.
Variations
As mentioned, Malasana I is a more challenging variation of Malasana II, as described here. For Malasana I, perform steps 1 and 2 as described above. Then with an exhale, instead of reaching for your heels, sweep your hands around behind your back and use one hand to clasp the fingers or wrist of the other. Come out of the pose as described above.
Preparatory Asanas
Baddha Konasana
Marichyasana III
Prasarita Padottanasana
Supta Virasana
Supta Baddha Konasana
Supta Padangustasana
Upavistha Konasana
Virasana
Vrkshasana
Advanced Tip
Advanced students can challenge themselves further in this pose by squatting with their inner feet touching.
Partnering
A partner can help you get a feel for lengthening the torso, as described in step 2 in the main description above. Have your partner squat (or sit or kneel) in front of you as you perform step 2. Reach your arms toward your partner and have her grasp your forearms. As you sink your inner groins back heavily into your pelvis, your partner should draw your arms and torso forward. Feel the sides of your torso lengthen along the inner thighs. After a minute or so, have your partner release your arms. Then complete the pose.
Staff Spotlight: Christie Pitko
Nest Staff Spotlight is our way to show appreciation to our teachers and to help our community connect. This week on Nest Staff Spotlight we learn a little more about Christie Pitko. Christie is one of our newer teachers at Nest, but has been a long time substitute teacher and student. She has completed over 600 hours of teacher trainings including Advanced SmartFlow, SUP, prenatal and reiki. Read more to learn about Christie!
Tell us about yourself. Anything you want the Nest Community to know.
I’m so grateful to be a part of this community and to share what my teachers have shared with me! Yoga and meditation have shaped my life in profound ways. I love teaching others, and looking forward to meeting more and more members of Nest.
How do you want people to remember you?
As a kind, yet strong person.
What style of yoga do you teach? Why did you choose this method or style?
Vinyasa. My vinyasa classes have a very strong SmartFlow influence. SmartFlow has made me stronger, more aware, and I feel that I can stay with this method for many years to come.
What is your least favorite yoga pose? Favorite yoga pose?
Least favorite is Salamba Sarvangasana (Shoulder stand) without the chair, bolster, and blanket. Favorite is a tie between Virabhadrasana I (Warrior I), Uttitha Trikonasana (Triangle), and Ardha Chandrasana (Half Moon)
What does your perfect breakfast look like?
Coffee (preferably a mocha) and a freshly baked croissant.
What would you like the community to know about your classes, teaching style or you?
Hosting yoga retreats is one my passions. I do the planning, the admin, and the teaching for these trips. I host 4-6 each year in California, Costa Rica, and Mexico. I love to connect with students on a much deeper level, as well as bond with them in a beautiful location. In 2020 I will be leading my 20th retreat!
Do you have any family or friend traditions you look forward to every year?
Any time I get to travel with friends to a new location.
What is your favorite book/movie/tv show/podcast?
I read “Big Magic” by Elizabeth Gilbert when I feel like I need a push. Really, I love anything by her.
How did you find yoga?
I discovered yoga in my early 20s as a strong workout. Later, when I lived in Las Vegas, I found a really special studio that opened my eyes to what yoga really was. Though that studio closed years ago, the impression it left on me was huge.
Fast forward to now, nearly 20 years later and I am growing so very much as both a practitioner and instructor thanks to my teachers Annie Carpenter and Richard Rosen.
Christie teaches Gentle Yoga every Monday at 8:45 am and Alignment Flow every Sunday at 6:00 pm. You can also catch Christie subbing a variety of classes at Nest!
Keep It Moving
Keep It Moving
by Bonnie Steinbock
I recently saw an interview on public TV with my favorite choreographer, Twyla Tharp, whose new book is Keep It Moving: Lessons for the Rest of Your Life. I love Tharp’s sharp and sassy personality – she reminds me of our own Annie Carpenter, who started as a modern dancer with the Martha Graham company.
My favorite part of the Tharp interview was her response to a critic who had called her “the greatest female choreographer.” “Oh, please!” she said. “Why not compare me to other short choreographers? Compare me to the best choreographers, not the best female choreographers.”
I started modern dance when I was eleven. My first teacher was Jane Dudley, one of the original Martha Graham dancers. I continued to dance in college. During graduate school in philosophy at UC Berkeley, I took classes at Shawl-Anderson. It was there that I branched out to ballet.
In the 50s and early 60s, ballet and modern dance were kept strictly apart. That began to change in the late 60s. Twyla Tharp was one of the first modern dancers to incorporate ballet training in her company, and to choreograph for dancers like Mikhail Baryshnikov.
I knew people who did yoga in graduate school, but they tended to be spiritual types interested in Indian philosophy. That wasn’t me. I’m more of a narrow-minded rationalist. However, at age 50, I decided it might be time to try a kind of exercise that was easier on my joints.
My first venture into yoga was with Ashtanga. I loved how challenging it was. When an Ashtanga teacher once said, reprovingly, “Yoga is not about the circus tricks,” I thought, “I’m all about the circus tricks.”
Well, at age 72, I can no longer do the all circus tricks I once did, but yoga continues to be an important part of my life. I hope to be doing it in my nineties. My practice will change as I age, but, as Tharp says, there’s no reason to stop doing what you love. Keep it moving.