108 surya namaskar with surya yoga
since april till now, i have done thrice 108 surya namaskar. my very first round was on the last day of my ttc in April, followed everfit open day in June.
yesterday was my third, in August. we were invited by Jo, from SuryaYoga to lead the 108 surya namaskar session, in conjunction with Surya Yoga 10th Anniversary Open Day.
#1 : the invitation card
elaine & i and together with nicholas, three of us led the class. i was very nervous as i was the one who did all the talking in front. it felt like assessment time. butterflies in the stomach. whatever that i have learnt during my ttc came back to my mind. intention of the class. any injuries. any questions.
in order not to confuse ourselves with the counting, i did the talking and elaine did the counting. i suggested to use sticker to indicate every 10th set that we have completed.
#2 : mat sticked with hearts (sticker)
before the session started, i explained briefly about why 108 surya namaskar. i have made notes and placed it in front of mine for reference. while reading "eat pray love" i got to know 108 is auspicious. it's a perfect 3 digits multiple of 3 when add up become 9, which is 3 threes. and from yogajournal. it's a distance of the sun & moon from the earth (108 times their respective diameter).
before we start, we sat down for awhile, to concentrate on our breathing, to get the mind ready for the class. i was still very nervous! CALM..stay calm, i told myself.
#3 : in meditative poise. (according to Jo, more wanted to join in, but space was limited)
let's start!
tadasana
inhale - urdhva hastasana
exhale - uttanasana
inhale - urdhva uttanasana
(hold breathe) - step/jump back to santolasana (plank)
exhale - chaturanga
inhale - urdhva mukha svanasana
exhale - adho mukha svanasana
(hold breathe) - step/jump to front
inhale - urdhva uttanasana
exhale - uttanasana
inhale - urdhva hastasana
exhale - tadasana
i tried to keep all our breathing synchronised, so throughout the class, i gave the instruction to inhale and exhale. i kept quiet in between, and only started again when some of them were a bit too fast. nicholas thought i was out of breath when i kept quiet. haha. and i also monitored how many stickers have been removed from the mat. when we have completed 54 sets, i announced once. and we continued. i removed the clock on the wall, so that the students only concentrated in practising, and not how long more to go. 5 mins? 15mins?
when i saw elaine removed the last sticker, 8 more sets to go! some students were resting, and i "invited" them to join us to complete the remaining 8 sets. all of us were together again. i read in the book, the 109th bead of malas we are meant to pause and thank your teachers. so, we did one more extra, to thank all our teachers in life.
#4 : completed!!
after the final set, we stood still to feel the effect of the 108 surya namaskar. all were red-faced, sweaty! i made some notes earlier (reference from online), and i read to them.
"sun salutations is to pay respect & surrender to the universe. to let go physically - the mind flows as you move inside the practise. you have done a wide range of movement. ~forward bend ~ back bend ~ being still ~ lengthen the spine ~ grounded the feet ~ strengthen the upper body ~ stretched the hamstring ~ expanded the lungs. remember, yoga does not wear you out, instead a good yoga practise will create more energy" (am writing this here, in case i lost my notebook)
and we continued with shitali breathing to cool ourselves down. i was happy that the session was smooth flowing. and happy to see the students happy faces!
"may this practise brings clarity to your mind, and love to your heart" - namaste -
in the afternoon, there was a session on positive thinking talk. sister celia from raja yoga came over. i have not seen her for many years, and she still remembered me. why i said so? it's because she asked whether i have changed my job. i was very stress when i met her that time and i cried when i had eye contact with her. the tears just flowed and i cried and cried in front of her. paiseh! good to see her again, so radiant!
#5 : sister celia from raja yoga.
wishing surya yoga, more 10 years to come!
yesterday was my third, in August. we were invited by Jo, from SuryaYoga to lead the 108 surya namaskar session, in conjunction with Surya Yoga 10th Anniversary Open Day.
#1 : the invitation card
elaine & i and together with nicholas, three of us led the class. i was very nervous as i was the one who did all the talking in front. it felt like assessment time. butterflies in the stomach. whatever that i have learnt during my ttc came back to my mind. intention of the class. any injuries. any questions.
in order not to confuse ourselves with the counting, i did the talking and elaine did the counting. i suggested to use sticker to indicate every 10th set that we have completed.
#2 : mat sticked with hearts (sticker)
before the session started, i explained briefly about why 108 surya namaskar. i have made notes and placed it in front of mine for reference. while reading "eat pray love" i got to know 108 is auspicious. it's a perfect 3 digits multiple of 3 when add up become 9, which is 3 threes. and from yogajournal. it's a distance of the sun & moon from the earth (108 times their respective diameter).
before we start, we sat down for awhile, to concentrate on our breathing, to get the mind ready for the class. i was still very nervous! CALM..stay calm, i told myself.
#3 : in meditative poise. (according to Jo, more wanted to join in, but space was limited)
let's start!
tadasana
inhale - urdhva hastasana
exhale - uttanasana
inhale - urdhva uttanasana
(hold breathe) - step/jump back to santolasana (plank)
exhale - chaturanga
inhale - urdhva mukha svanasana
exhale - adho mukha svanasana
(hold breathe) - step/jump to front
inhale - urdhva uttanasana
exhale - uttanasana
inhale - urdhva hastasana
exhale - tadasana
i tried to keep all our breathing synchronised, so throughout the class, i gave the instruction to inhale and exhale. i kept quiet in between, and only started again when some of them were a bit too fast. nicholas thought i was out of breath when i kept quiet. haha. and i also monitored how many stickers have been removed from the mat. when we have completed 54 sets, i announced once. and we continued. i removed the clock on the wall, so that the students only concentrated in practising, and not how long more to go. 5 mins? 15mins?
when i saw elaine removed the last sticker, 8 more sets to go! some students were resting, and i "invited" them to join us to complete the remaining 8 sets. all of us were together again. i read in the book, the 109th bead of malas we are meant to pause and thank your teachers. so, we did one more extra, to thank all our teachers in life.
#4 : completed!!
after the final set, we stood still to feel the effect of the 108 surya namaskar. all were red-faced, sweaty! i made some notes earlier (reference from online), and i read to them.
"sun salutations is to pay respect & surrender to the universe. to let go physically - the mind flows as you move inside the practise. you have done a wide range of movement. ~forward bend ~ back bend ~ being still ~ lengthen the spine ~ grounded the feet ~ strengthen the upper body ~ stretched the hamstring ~ expanded the lungs. remember, yoga does not wear you out, instead a good yoga practise will create more energy" (am writing this here, in case i lost my notebook)
and we continued with shitali breathing to cool ourselves down. i was happy that the session was smooth flowing. and happy to see the students happy faces!
"may this practise brings clarity to your mind, and love to your heart" - namaste -
in the afternoon, there was a session on positive thinking talk. sister celia from raja yoga came over. i have not seen her for many years, and she still remembered me. why i said so? it's because she asked whether i have changed my job. i was very stress when i met her that time and i cried when i had eye contact with her. the tears just flowed and i cried and cried in front of her. paiseh! good to see her again, so radiant!
#5 : sister celia from raja yoga.
wishing surya yoga, more 10 years to come!
Comments