Gulnaaz Workshop in Vancouver

heading back to dallas after some amazing natural beauty of planet earth and an incredible workshop with Gulnaaz.

What strikes me is her love of Guruji and the tremendous responsibility she and all the wonderful teachers who have studied with Guruji feel to present his teachings to us, she was constantly saying 'am i clear' , 'do you understand', we must teach the new students from the beginning so when the teacher says sirsasana they don't get a room of people saying 'i dont do', 'i cant do', we all have issues. I have a pain here it goes away and shows up there, i travel around my body, its all right here, the issue is not do i have an issue it is how do i work to resolve that issue. what does it teach me of how i was working where there was weakness.

do you understand, have any concept of Guruji's practice before the picture in LOY or his practice after that picture, you like to say 'sthira sukham asanam' you like it on t-shirts, it is nice, but Guruji lived sthira sukham asanam

she taught with no props, none all weekend, the room cleared of props, when you reach for a prop you must know why, even our hands, moving our legs into janu sirsasana without our hands for placing the leg with motion several times. yesterday she said triang mukha ekapadasana and smiled and said yes i see you thinking now what do i do, ok get a blanket or what you need to find balance. all weekend emphasizing the eyes forward not wandering sides of the neck relaxed, head centered....an amazing workshop

 Gulnaaz Dashti

 I am in Vancouver for Gulnaaz, she is amazing, a force of nature, joyful smiling yet a force is there, her instructions full of depth. 

Last night she taught how to protect the neck in Sirsasana, Guruji called the neck a bridge, the neck the bridge between the torso and brain, between the heart and the mind, beginning with Tadasana, a very long Tadasana, 'chin back, outer shoulders back, elbows straight, you are bored you are getting tired... are you playacting at Tadasana, if there is dhyana you know that Tadasana is not boring' one of her main instructions was for the eyes to look straight ahead and not waver if she walks by, if a fly flies by, maintain the eyes looking straight ahead, she said if you place the head in sirsasana and the eyes look to the side the neck is affected, you go up with that misalignment it does not have to be a large move of the head to the side, this was amazingly difficult, I am not sure how long we were in Tadasana, but that instruction alone, to not let the eyes wander ...  

Adho Mukha Svanasana - releasing the neck while lifting the side torso

 In ardha sirsasana and urdhva prasarita eka padasana sirsasana, these you move through you don't take time and see, we took time to see lots and lots of time to see :) as if there is a nail near the dorsal move it in move away from the nail, you are waiting for the words go up or come down, either will do, both easier 

Prasarita Padottanasana with the emphasis on Prasarita, groin work in Upavistha Konasana 10x urdhva hastasana hands forward to floor, 10th time stop crawl forward again 10x starting where the hands crawled and baddha konasana 5x then back to upavistha konasana 10x, then Prasarita Padottanasana again, you don't mind wide legs in Upavistha Konasana yet you don't want to do in Prasarita Padottanasana, spread the buttocks to the side from the midline lift from the arch to the groin, outer heel press down

'i was nice today, be ready to work tomorrow'  - headed to day 2