At long last I’ve finished the last part of my notes on Richard Freeman’s Immersion. This, of course, is not everything that we talked about in class. I just shared some that particularly stood out to me and those that I kind of understood more of.
On Breath
1. The Ganesh belly principle. When doing pranayama, we should always have a lose and free belly like that of Ganesh, the Elephant God, but with the lower abs and pc muscles toned. I always imagine the upper torso as a balloon. The opening at which you blow in air into the balloon is like your PC muscles. When you blow air into the balloon, or when you inhale, you have to close the opening to prevent air, or energy, from escaping, so the balloon or your belly can expand freely.
2. Sitting bones. Not only does grounding your sitting bones firmly on the ground when sitting helps keep your spine erect, it also helps relax the psoas muscles, which in turn helps lift your lower back, your kidneys, and your diaphragm. This creates a clear path for your prana to flow through.
3. Pingala vs Ida. These are the two opposing nadis, or subtle channels, in our body. Ida is the left channel (or your left nostril), which is associated with coolness, femininity, and the moon. In Richard’s words, when your Ida nadi is stronger (or when your left nostril is more open), it is like when you have one too many beers–kind of lazy, dazed, scatter-minded. The opposing nadi, the Pingala nadi, is the sun channel associated with masculinity and heat. When the pingala nadi is dominating, it is like you having an expresso shot–you’re clear-minded and focused.
4. Meditate on the breath. Richard always said to meditate on the inhale when you exhale, and meditate on the exhale when you inhale. I was overcome by the wisdom of this phrase, because this is the stepping stone to meditation. You’d want each of your inhales and exhales to be perfect, efficient, calming in order to achieve a quiet mind.
Click here for Part I.
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!
