18
Asana Garbha Pindasana Valerie Wilson Trower To the casual observer of a Ashtanga vinyasa Mysore class it looks as though few can master this Garbha Pindasana (womb embryo pose). Yet appearances are deceptive: those who can get into the pose try to do it without water; those that can practice without water, are attempting to practice without rolling the legs of their yoga pants up; and so on. This article considers the pose from a woman’s point of view, as many women find the pose particularly challenging. Start by trying as hard as you can to achieve the previous pose Supta Kurmasana, the bound turtle pose: this will generate enough sweat to make Garbha Pinadasana easier. After the vinyasa, roll your yoga pants up to the thighs and exhaling, fold your legs in to lotus (padmasana), left ankle on top. Lift each sit-bone alternatively, and move it closer to the centre of the body: this deepens the lotus and allows the feet to sit higher on the thigh/hipbone. Next, check both arms and the back of your hands are slippery with sweat, if the room is cool add a little extra water. Try not to drown the floor - it makes it slippery for instructors and other students. Remember to wet the back of your upper arms and the back of your hands. Lift both knees, and holding your right ankle with your left hand, draw your left foot up towards your armpit, this should open a gap in to which you can insert the fingers of your right hand. Don’t make a fist with your fingers, but tuck your thumb in so that you streamline your hand. Aim to push your arm through beyond the elbow. This takes a little practise and initially a bruise on bone of the right elbow is a common result. It is an indication of the addictiveness of a Mysore class that we continue to practice despite the bruise - which eventually disappears. Bend your right arm to keep your knee close to your chest and lift your left knee higher, inserting the left hand through the gap above your right foot, making sure you push your arm beyond your elbow. Initially, this will produce a bruise on the left elbow, but again, it will disappear. Try to bring both hands towards your face, this helps your legs to stay close to your body and makes the pose steadier. This is hard for beginners but eventually practise will pay off. This makes it easier to bend your elbows, and reach your fingers towards each side of your face. It is at this point I think we see evidence of Shri Pattabhi Jois’s sense of humour: beginners will just be able to reach their fingertips to their mouths. Those with a little more practice can reach their fingers level with their eyes. And those who have been practising for a while, will manage to cup their thumbs under their jaw, and their fingers over or behind their ears. The three stages resemble the monkeys that speak no evil, see no evil, and hear no evil, and everyone, no matter how practised, looks silly in this pose. The drishti, the focus of attention, is the nose. Count five breaths, then move your fingertips to the crown of your head without relaxing the pose, and exhaling role backwards on the left side of your spine. Inhaling, roll up on the right side of your spine, exhale roll back on the left, etc., each time altering the angle at which you role so that in eight breaths you roll around in a clockwise circle. David Swenson warns us not to roll on the spine and to check the space around us first. It is common for beginners to get stuck when they lose momentum at this point. It is a kindness to others to rock them using both hands on their knees so that they regain momentum, and also to roll them back on to their backs when they fall sideways like a stuck bug. After a few weeks they will be able to right themselves. On the ninth inhalation spread your fingers, straighten your elbows, and roll up to balance on your hands, legs still in lotus off VALERIE “SPEAKS NO EVIL” AMY “HEARS NO EVIL” IN GARBHA PINDASANA 19