Cleansing, as I mentioned before, can take on a lot of shapes and can happen in a lot of different ways. One of those ways is just good, old-fashioned moving and sweating. Sweat is a super awesome, easy to access detox process that our bodies perform all the damn time – I would argue that almost nothing feels better than getting in a good sweat, getting your heart pumping and feeling freaking alive. (Yes, I am dramatic in all facets of my life, including how I talk about sweat.) So when I am cleansing, I like to move. Which makes me sweat. And the added benefit to linking movement with the breath (aka, the essence of vinyasa yoga) is that when your practice becomes a moving meditation, you drop out of your head, get out of your story and become completely absorbed in your body and breath. Everything else melts away, which lets your brain get a little detox from the constant chatter going on in there, too. When that moving meditation involves a challenging pose (which in my world is the dreaded Vashistasana B)…well, bonus points!!
This flow is designed, as Kath’s was the other day, to be done one time through holding each pose for 5-8 breaths (depending on breath pace) and then two or three times more, one breath, one movement. I like to warm up with a couple low lunges and a few Surya A’s (sun salutations) to get my blood pumping and build some heat before flowing into this sequence. Close with a gentle heart opener and a twist before savasana. Ahhh…and this is why I practice 🙂
Vashistasana B Flow
1.) Viravadrasana I
I’ve explained my obsession with this pose before, but it is absolutely one of my favorite grounding poses, especially in a sequence that has some tricky transitions. From downward dog, step the right foot forward, set the back foot at 45 degrees, root the outer border of the back foot and inhale to stand, stacking the shoulders over the hips and lifting the arms overhead. Make sure the front knee is tracking directly over the front ankle, and keep lengthening the tail down, lifting the back ribs off the back body. (It’s a super subtle movement.) Breathe 🙂
2.) Modified Parsvatonasana
From Vira I, use your inhale to straighten the front leg an gently pivot to the ball of the back foot as you exhale. Clasp the hands behind you, take a breath in to open the heart, then slowly fold forward drawing the hips back evenly and tacking the naval to the spine. Try to release the back heel toward the earth, getting length in the achilles. (This can definitely make things a little wobbly, so move slowly.)
3.) Vashistasana B
Here’s where it starts to get good – the mack daddy, as I like to call it. Release both hands to the earth, inside the front foot. That front knee will most likely have to bend a little to get your hands down (unless you have incredibly long hamstrings). Let the knee bend, then plant the left hand firmly on the ground, plugging the shoulder onto the back body as you do. Hook the first two fingers of your right hand around your right big toe. Keep your gaze down as you transition (makes you a lot less likely to fall on your bum), and slowly pivot to the outer border of your back foot. Simultaneously lift your front foot off the ground, drawing the knee in toward the chest to engage core support. Then it’s all in the leg extension! Keep your tail rooting toward the back of your mat, and the outer edge of that back foot grounding firmly. Your right hip keeps wrapping back and down as you straighten that right leg. Voila! (And if you fall on your bum, try it again. And again. And again. I fell like a zillion times over several years learning this pose. It’s physics – and it’s all in utilizing the core. And y’all wonder why I waste so much time on core work in class ;))
4.) Trikonasana
Slowly move out of Vashi B by gazing down, re-bending the lifted leg, pivoting to the ball of the back foot and stepping the lifted leg down at the front of the mat. Your right hand will come to your shin bone as you draw your right hip back, lift the left arm and open the heart.
5.) Reverse Warrior
From triangle, gaze down, bend the front knee and use your inhale to tip all the way back to a reverse warrior. The left arm slides down the left leg, right arm reaches up. This is one of my favorite poses to unwind – there is so much space through the front line, and it feels so indulgent to open up like that. Enjoy for a few breaths, then windmill the hands to the earth, framing the front foot, and take a vinyasa. Repeat on the second side, and then take the flow again as many times as you need to feel refreshed and get out of your headspace.
The most important part of this whole process is to let go of your ego and engage your sense of play. I have hated (yes, definitely hate is not too strong of a word here) Vashistasana B since I started doing yoga, and the most fun I have with poses I don’t like is getting creative with transitions in and out of said poses. I have to give a lot of gratitude and credit to Stephanie Snyder, one of the most beautiful Vinyasa instructors I have come across, for inspiring this flow. So unroll that mat, take a deep breath and have some FUN.
Love in Motion 