Class Observation Apr 6th from Tish

Hi Everyone,

Melonie asked me to post this week's class focus, but I've been unable to get on the blog...

The alignment principle is shoulder loop - pretty predictable since we've been working our way up from the feet. She's been stressing "side bodies long" and "head of the arm bones back"  to wrap the shoulder blades on the upper back while keeping the tops of the shoulders soft. The shoulders may lift, but that is in response to lengthening the torso. The result of course is opening of the heart and throat, which lends a beautiful aesthetic quality to the poses. (The aesthetics I realize are not the purpose, but rather a by-product of proper alignment. Still to my former dancer sensibilities, it's lovely to see classmates opening up in new ways and to feel it internally...)

We used props in several different wasy to explore the principle. One that was very effective for me was wrapping a strap around the back of the neck, under the arms from the front to criss-cross across the upper back, and then fasten in front. We went from plank to chataranga to cobra and then reversed, all the while trying to keep the straps loose across the front of the shoulders. Of course we had to work like crazy to keep the head of the armbones back to do this, and the pressure of the strap provided immedidate feedback. Another, simpler, technique was rolling a blanket and placing it lengthwise under the spine as we laid on our backs. There we gently wrapped the shoulder blades onto the blanket, which provided the experience of staying soft through the action. 

The philisophical focus was tapas, generating heat to create transformation. Melonie used the metaphor of the "frozen tundra" of the upper back so many of us know well. The heat created by the intense work helped to melt the area of the back of the heart and in doing so create an opening in the front. 

Hope this is helpful if you weren't able to attend this week. Tish