Last week, I had the honor to attend Richard Freeman’s 6-day immersion and 2-day workshop. I’ve taken a few workshops with him before, but have never been able to spend an entire week with him. He stands tall, and has a demeanor of a wise man. His smiling eyes always seem to say that he has secrets about some magical yogi powers.
In the mornings, he led the class 3 hours each day on asanas based on the Ashtanga vinyasa system, moving slowly from one pose to the next. The first day, we only got through to Janu Sirsasana A. Yes, that was how long we maintained in each pose. My legs were badly cramping up when we finally came out of Prasarita Paddotanasana A,B,C,and D. The last few days he even took us through some of the Intermediate series postures. My back has never, never felt so good in all those backbends! The trick is…coccyx in and forward, pubic bone in and back (more will be described below). We even tried Pincha Mayurasana, and it was my first time ever to come up by myself, with a wall behind me of course and my feet resting on it, of course.
Afternoons were spent on breathing exercises and pranayama, chanting, meditation, and philosophy. His take on philosophy allowed me to absorb 50% of what he said (I don’t think I can fully 100% understand philosphy), since he often used metaphors and comparisons to real life and physical experiences.
For the next few posts, I have attempted to capture the highlights of the immersion. It is long, so I am breaking it down to 3 parts. Part I is on asana, Part II is on breath, and Part III is on Philosophy & Others. Enjoy!
