Join Clara for a rhythmic vinyasa practice inspired by her teacher, Shiva Rea’s Prana Flow. Prostration Namaskars start your class with a moving meditation to open the heart and side body as you breathe. The sequence is peppered with fluid and rhythmic motions for you to ride a vinyasa wave to Shavasana, a corpse pose. There is no peak pose for this class; the invitation is to soften your gaze and expand your awareness as you dance with breath.
Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5QjZndx8GAPtpXTFzG30ng?si=MTFtNyarSuG8RpmCBLLZ0w
Style: Slow Flow
Duration: 70-mins
Level: open
Props: 1 block, 1 blanket
Focus: A Prana Vinyasa Yoga class as inspired by Shiva Rea’s Prana Flow.
Location: Lila Familia Production Studio, Vancouver, BC
Opening Meditation
Come to a seat of your choice and close your eyes. Take a couple of deep breaths to ground and arrive in the here and the now.
Your meditation opens with a reading from The Spandakarika, an ancient text of Tantra as translated by Daniel Odier:
“…[the idea of tantra]…is to find the absolute, right there within the every day–not to wait for fleeting revelations and so-called altered states of consciousness. Wonder occurs when we succeed in tasting the nectar of the loving relationship that we develop with each thing or person or object that is before us at this very moment. This is what changes life completely because otherwise, we are always in search of something more. And when we obtain it, we are still unsatisfied. We then seek something even more spectacular, and this is how we end up being continually unhappy.
This does not mean, of course, that we must be satisfied with something that absolutely does not suit us. We must not confuse lifeless resignation with this ideal. If we can communicate completely with all the ordinary aspects of life, we are great mystics. The details then become much less important, as wonder, constant joy, and the sacred tremor are maintained by continued contact with the every day, which ceases to be ordinary at the moment we really taste it.”
The idea of Tantra is to embrace the present by accepting where you are in each moment. This passage asks us to examine all the ways to discover the absolute, the Divine, in the mundane tasks we experience and must do every day.
Tantra embodies all of the body’s sensations to fully experience the moment; unlike the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali through Pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses), Tantra asks us to revel in all that we feel to greet and awaken the Divine within.
For this meditation, sit in or lie down as we explore the senses.
Questions for you to consider:
May we taste the nectar of this moment through the senses.
Opening Flow
10-15 breath to move as you like, options:
Come to Uttanasana (forward fold) at the back of your mat for Prostration Namaskars.
2x Prostration Namaskars
Tadasana (mountain pose) with hands at heart
Uttanasana (forward fold) for 2-3 breaths
Ardha Uttanasana (half lift)
Uttanasana (forward fold)
Phalakasana (plank pose) for 2-3 breaths
Prostration pose
Bhujangasana (cobra pose) OR Urdhva Mukha Shvanasana (upward dog)
Balasana (child’s pose) OR Adho mukha svanasana (down dog)
Come to Uttanasana (forward fold) at the back of your mat
Repeat this cycle; after the second cycle, stay in child’s pose or down dog.
Wave 1
Adho mukha svanasana (down dog)
Eka pada adho mukha svanasana (3-legged downward dog)
Anjaneyasana (low lunge) variation
Ashta Chandrasana (high lunge) variation with the 4-parts of lunge from Prana Flow:
Phalakasana (plank pose) for 2-3 breaths
Chatarunga
Bhujangasana (cobra pose) OR Urdhva Mukha Shvanasana (upward dog)
Adho mukha svanasana (down dog)
Repeat the same cycle on the other leg.
Wave 2
Adho mukha svanasana (down dog)
Eka pada adho mukha svanasana (3-legged downward dog)
Virabhadrasana || (warrior 2) variation flowing with Durga’s Sword:
Trikonasana (triangle pose) variation floating with arms at heart:
Utkata konasana (goddess pose) variation from Prana Flow:
Prasarita Padottanasana (wide-legged standing forward fold) variation
8-breath to stay in a wide-legged fold OR Sirsasana A if you have an inversion practice.
Take your hands back to the top of your mat.
Eka pada adho mukha svanasana (3-legged downward dog)
Patita Tarasana (fallen triangle)
Phalakasana (plank pose) for 2-3 breaths
Chatarunga
Bhujangasana (cobra pose) OR Urdhva Mukha Shvanasana (upward dog)
Adho mukha svanasana (down dog)
Repeat the same cycle on the other leg.
Floor Series
Ustrasana (camel pose)
Dhanurasana (bow pose) OR Shalabhasana (locust pose)
Come to tabletop pose for cat/cows OR child’s pose for a few breaths.
Eka Pada Rajakapotasana (pigeon pose) variation
Baddha Konasana (seated bound angle pose) swirls
Savasana or seated meditation to close.