Report on CYTA’s Autumn Training Day Saturday Saturday 27th November 2021
Fifteen people attended this full day event, despite the extremely cold wintry weather. The new venue, Dunham Massey Village Hall, proved popular as it was warm and clean. We enjoyed a packed day of yoga with Clare Tunstall, an Iyengar trained teacher, entitled “Inner Strength”. The focus in the morning was largely on asanas, building and recognising our physical strength. Relaxation was followed by a sociable lunch. In the afternoon some restorative yoga led to preparation for practising a range of breathing and pranayama techniques. This helped us become more aware of our inner organs and of the power of prana to fill our natural inner spaces with energy, helping dispel stress, depression or sadness and instead finding/building our confidence and inner strength.
We started seated, working to sit tall from the space between the sitting bones and lengthening the sides of the trunk. We were encouraged to check that we were not sticking the ribs out but broadening across the chest, with shoulders relaxed back and down from where the seam of our top meets the sleeve. Clare described this lengthening up to the crown of the head from between the sit bones as “unfolding the spine”, noting its importance given that the main nervous system is embedded in the spine. We then relaxed our face and had a moment of quiet. We spent a considerable time warming up our legs in preparation for the stronger standing postures to follow. Blankets, blocks and belts were introduced to support the body to achieve or to help intensify stretches.
Standing asanas included tadasana, trikonasana, hero pose, Warrior 2 and parsvottanasana. We discussed Iyengar’s foot aligment in the postures and the potential to adjust these to suit our needs and those of our students. We were also encouraged by Clare to stretch more with arms raised above our heads to improve lengthening in the upper trunk. We practised this by trying to turn the back of the underarms towards the front of the room for more lift in the trunk and a stronger stretch in the arms. i was certainly aware of the work we did on those areas the following day! We used the block in an interesting way when practising trikonasana sliding it down the buttocks and tail to flatten that area, thereby improving the position of the lower trunk in the lateral stretch. Throughout the class Clare stressed that the lower back belongs to the legs and the middle and upper back areas belong to the arms.
After lunch we practised a few restorative postures, including forward bends and then used blocks and blankets to lift and open the rib/chest area in preparation for pranayama. Supported supta baddha konasana using using block and strap helped us to open between the ribs, to enhance the space for the diaphragm and broaden the chest cavity. As we exhaled we experienced our exhalation deep into the lower abdomen/pelvic region. After resting the legs we spent a little time quietening ourselves and relaxing in savasana, preparing to move onto ujjayi breathing. Ujjayi 1in Iyengar teaching is natural breath observation. We practised this lying down with a block under fixed ribs, noting how long the natural in breath took in relation to the out breath. Ujjayi 2 was introduced, whereby we gradually allowed longer exhalations to develop. We breathed into the ribs and chest cavity, not abdominally. We were encouraged and supported to take our time returning to some normal breaths between until we were comfortable with the practice. Similarly when we practised Ujjayi 3 with longer inhalations than exhalations we did this slowly, returning to normal breaths between when needed. Finally we put Ujjayi 2 and 3 techniques together, again at our own speed, and then observed the effect. In seated pranayama we practised Kumbhaka, the retention breath, and then interrupted exhalations and inhalations. In the latter technique we let the breath out and in gradually, in waves. A short rest and relaxation were followed by a few questions to complete a stimulating, if sometimes demanding, yoga day.
Thank you to Clare for delivering a thoughtful and thorough workshop in such a competent, engaging and supportive way. Thanks to those who were able to make the event on the day and to the CYTA Committee for organising the event.
Teaching tip:
Some of us found Clare’s teaching of pranayama interesting and helpful in understanding and practising the techniques more thoroughly. She put this down to the way she planned and structured that part of the day, with plenty of time and support to practise each technique, allowing each person to access the breathing at a pace comfortable for them, before moving onto the next technique. This progressive learning was supported by much preparatory work she built into the afternoon session plan to get the body and mind ready for pranayama practise. Clare made sure we spent time becoming quiet, settled and relaxed both before and between techniques. We also tuned into our respiratory organs and systems beforehand by using the blocks to broaden the chest cavity and observing the effect. She reminded us of the importance of lying/sitting in a good posture to enable the prana to the fill the natural space of the body. All the above were crucial to Clare’s successful delivery of the teaching and learning.
Author: Judith Lynch