Aadil, day 2

We had two asana sessions today, well, more like one and a half. The first session began at 9:30 this morning. As is his wont, Aadil began with a lecture. Much of it covered ground that he went over last night. He focused especially on the importance of dharma, one's life purpose and mission. Dharma is the reason why we're on the earth; it's what brings us joy in life. To be successful, we each need to figure out what our dharma is. Aadil had us do an exercise to try to get in touch with our dharma. We sat in Baddha Konasana, with our gaze fixed a few inches in front of our legs and let our minds range over our dharma and the things that bring us joy.

Aadil encouraged us to treat today's practice as a time to explore and discover more about ourselves. That is what yoga is all about. It's not learning how to do a pose perfectly because fulfillment of purpose is far more important than a perfect pose. LIfe should be a joyous exploration of the spirit and yoga helps us learn about creating more joy in our lives. We only get serious when the ego gets involved.

We focused on standing poses and twists in the asana practice. Here are the poses we did this morning:

Morning series
Surya Namaskar
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Trikonasana
Parsvakonasana
Parvritta Trikonasana
Ardha Chandrasana - we did this in the center of the room and with one foot up the wall for support. Aadil used the wall to demonstrate how the thigh bone needs to sit in the socket for proper alignment.
Adho Mukha Svanasana
Marichiasana I
Ardha Bada Padmasana
Bharadvajasana I & II
The final twist we did is one I don't know the name for. You begin with the right leg in virasana and the left in a loose badakonasa, then twist to the left and slowly work your way around so that the right eye is in line with the right foot and the right ear is on the floor. Of course, it's impossible for me to get anywhere near the final pose but it's a very intense stretch. As Aadil says, it gives an ample opportunity for exploration and discovery.
Supta Padangusthasana
Savasana

I felt completely wrung out after the practice. Aadil had us hold them for quite a long time. My muscles will be feeling this practice for awhile.

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