Hello all.
This page is meant to be exactly what it says: notes on practice. Here, I’ll summarize and sometimes elaborate on what we covered in the Monday evening class, Yoga - A Complete Practice. This is intended to help those of you wanting to revisit or continue what we practiced in class. As always, reach out to me directly if you have more questions or want clarification.
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JANUARY 19, 2026 - The Sound of the Practice
This week’s class focused on sound as one of the foundational elements of yoga, particularly as a generative force as we begin or return to our practices. Sound, in Hindu/yogic metaphysics, might be equated to our scientific understanding of energy/atomic theory. Sound is vibration is energy. As creatures capable of creating sound, believe yoga practitioners, this implies our own possibility to create and generate new possibilities and realities for ourselves.
We began by practicing ujjayi pranayama (trans. “rising/upwards breath control”). This breath forms the basis of movement practice. It’s lightly energizing yet also soothing for the nervous system thanks to the addition of a soft, whispering sound (like an ocean wave or fogging up a mirror). From there, we began our movement, or asana (trans. “posture). In asana, we explored:
Seated warm-ups with the four spinal movements: flexion (bending forward), extension (bending backwards), side flexion (side bending), and rotation (twisting).
Some of the basic postures of asana practice: cat/cow, cobra pose (with fingertip variation), downward- facing dog, forward fold, half forward fold, lunging poses (side bending and twisting variations), and bridges.
We focused on balancing and thigh stretches, starting with a balance exercise on blocks and working towards balancing thigh stretches with straps (at the wall).
We cooled down with hip stretches and twists lying down.
We practiced pranayama for about ten minutes, continuing to practice ujjayi breath with the intention of refining the sound of the breath, making it quiet and audible only to our immediate neighbors. We also worked on equalizing the duration of the breath, inhale and exhale. Then savasana. About ten minutes. :)
See you on the mat!