Patricia Sequence courtesy of Karen Phillips

My friend, Karen Phillips, up in Dallas recently went to a week long Patricia Walden retreat. She was kind enough to share sequences and notes. Here's a day four backbending sequence with a few notes. Thought we'd work on it this friday. See you there.

amv
ams
ams - again, head supported
urdhva hastasana,
baddha unguliasna, urdhva namaskar (hands together) – 3 important steps for urdhva namaskar - inner armpit open, press the hands, lift from the elbow to the wrist
ams
uttanasnaa
utkatasana - 3x with urdhva namaskar hands
then started using motion:
utkatasana => vira 1 => ams => uttanasana => urvha hasatasana
ams - hands/feet together
ams => chataranga
uttanasana => jump to chataranga then come back to ams - the band between ribs and pelvis must lift to come back to ams from chataranga, what do you do when your car is out of gas??? PUSH
vira 3 => urdhva prasritta eka padasana
urdhva prasritta eka padasana - keep head looking up as long as possible, lift leg to the max, when you've done all you can do then lower the head
uttanasana - feet together
sirsasana - variations: virasana in sirsasana keep buttocks relaxed in this, it's easier to get the knee to ceiling when buttocks relaxed, back up, the move feet hip width then parvrittaikapada, scissor legs, bend front leg, dont take the knee too far down, rotate thigh restraighte, both sides, then bend back leg take heel down toward floor not too close to buttocks , rotate thigh in, leaving heel where it is (foot heavy earth element) straighten leg
am vrksasana
pincha mayurasana - palms facing block 2x, then can do palm down
sit on chair - curve spine touch wall, stand up, motion - do 5x
urdhva dhanurasana - 3x, then go up to top of head and really work ribs there, should be on top of head longer than in full pose
dwi pada vipritta dandasana from urdhva dhanurasana, raise heels, lift from scapula, bend arms, heels to floor, shins back, place hands, lift back ribs, toes off floor,
dhanurasana to find movement between shoulderblades
dwi pada vipritta dandasana - again and again with 4 fold blanket under head for more length in armpits
ustrasana - 4 things in order: upper spine, cervical spine, sacrum in, lumbar spine lifts
urdhva namaskar belted, lifted behind neck - curve back touch wall, up
tadasana drop back to wall - find rhythm, if you can do in middle of room, do
cool down:
ams - abdomen up to broaden lumbar
virasana - twist
bharadvajasana - not as good a twist because you are letting lumbar spread, keep lumbar stiff, abdomen should move away from twist now
prasritta padottanasana - very short
lay on side with torso down on bolster, knees bent
supta swastikasana - knees on bolster, knees belted, not feet, just knees