Nataraja & The Ring of Fire

Hi. My name is Ashley. Welcome to your practice. For our time together today, you'll wanna grab a chair. A couple blocks, a couple blankets, and a strap. We're gonna start out today in a supported heart opener over two blocks. So taking your first block, set it tall, this is gonna support your head, and your second block, medium height.

And this will go right against your shoulder blades. So that as you lie back, you're looking to find that place where the first block feels flat against your shoulders and your shoulders then can feel flat against your back. Initially, any position in the legs that feels best on your lower back, so that might look like keeping the knees bent, feet on the ground if the back is a bit tender, or you can stretch your legs out like you might for Shavasana. Close the eyes or if you prefer, find a point to softly focus on and breathe into the resistance of the block that's against your upper back. Exhale out across your chest and through the length of your arms.

And as we settle into this pathway of the breath, Maybe use a moment or two to set an intention for your practice. Once you have that gathered, from this place of support, if you'd like, you can join me in an opening home. Nice full breath in. Blink your eyes open if you've closed them. If you have your legs stretched out long, spin your inner thighs down and flex your feet.

Walk your legs toward each other until they're about the distance of your front hip points. And with that rotation of the legs, spin only as far as you need to go to get your knees and your toes pointing straight up. My friends that feel better with knees bent feet on the ground. Same thing. Feed hip distance apart. Parallel feet and legs to each other.

Scoop the pit of your abdomen in and lengthen through your lower back as though you could stretch your tailbone to touch your heels. Reach hands straight up to the sky interlace your fingers and then flip your palm skyward. Inhale, take your arms overhead. Draw your front ribs down and in as you add to the lift and expanse through your chest. And exhale palms right back up to the sky.

Switch the interlace of your fingers opposite thumb on top. And once again, flip your palms straighten your arms. Check-in with the legs. Notice if they got locks. Come back to neutral and press the ball of your big toe a little more forward. Inhale reach your arms as close to the line of your ears as you can find while maintaining the draw of your front ribs down and into your body.

Take a generous breath this time into your side ribs, and as you exhale, bring your palms back up to the sky. Separate your hands. And if you haven't already, bend your knees, place the base of your feet on the ground about the distance of your front hip points. Take the block that's underneath your head and now turn it to the same height as the block that's against your shoulder blades. So your head releases back a bit further.

And if this feels a little too far, you can always split the difference by putting a blanket on the block. Alright. Spin inner thighs forward and down so that knees stay pointing straight up, and then hollow the pit of your abdomen. Drive down through your heels and lift your hips. Like bridge posts.

And slowly set it back down. If you felt any pressure or discomfort through the front of your knees, walk the feet a little further forward, and then flow with your breath in and out twice more. So today we're going to get to know Natarajah, which is one of the forms of Shiva. This is Shiva in his King dancer form. After your second round, one more time, take the block that's underneath your head and turn it flat. So we're getting deeper and deeper into the extension through the thoracic spine, the upper back.

If the back will allow straighten through your legs, flex through your feet, reach your hands up to the sky. Rotate your upper arms until palms face each other and separate your hands shoulder distance apart or touch wider if you carry more tension for the shoulders or chest. Inhale reach your arms overhead. And you may notice at some point that the arms wanna roll out, keep spinning them toward your face like you're trying to hide your armpits. Press down through the back of your heels.

Drag your heels toward your bum. Maybe you lift the bum lengthening it towards your heels and set it right back down. So it's like bridge pose, but with your legs long. Do that again. Press down to the back of the heels. Drag heels to bum, bum to heels.

The button may hover just to whisper off the earth and set it right back down. Bring your hands back up to the sky. Lower your arms by your sides. Rebend your knees placing base of the feet on the ground and now take your fingertips to the back of your head, elbows wide. Breathe out, lift your head, lift your shoulders like an elevated crunch.

And then put your hands down. Draw your navel down and try to sit yourself straight up. And if that's not happening today, roll to your side, give yourself more support. Find your way to your hands and your knees. You can set your blocks off to the side for now. And plant your hands right underneath your shoulders, your knees right underneath your hips.

Lift through your heart center and see if you can feel the imprint of the block against the upper back. X, how push the earth away, smooth your bum toward the back of your knees. And do this a couple times. Let yourself be more interested in the back than in the upper back less through the lower back. So Notarajah in his dance or form is often pictured with wild dreadlocked hair.

A bunch of cobras round his neck like necklaces, come back to a neutral spine, and he's dancing within a ring of fire. Go ahead if the Johnny Cash came to your brain, just let it roll. If you don't know what I'm talking about, go find Johnny Cash ring of fire. It's very important. And I'll glide forward, lift your chest, exh, hug your toes, lift your knees, take hips up and back, and walk your hands right back to your feet.

Once you're there, slide hands up your shins high enough so that you get a little wake up through the muscles of the spine as you reach your chest forward, and then take your hands to your hips, broaden your collarbones, press down, and with a length in spine. Stantal. Take a walk to the top of your mat, ta da, mountain pose. Roll inner thighs back, lengthen tailbone down, and now press down inhale. Sweep your arms up and overhead for order of a hastasana. Acts, how fold into self, feel free to bend the knees if you're feeling strain through your back.

Inhale to fingertips or hands lightly on your shins, stretch your heart forward. Keep your heart forward, bend knees enough to get your hands to the earth or your props. Step back with your right foot, put back knee down, pat it if it's tender. Grab your strap and take it nice and wide between your hands. Draw right chin forward, left heel back until your front hip points are a little more parallel to the wall in front of you.

Keep the draw of your bum down, reach your arms straight back. And notice if your ribs puffed out. If the answer is yes, absorb your ribs. So again, the focus of about the shoulders and the chest. Lower your arms all the way down.

Press down in how bring your arms back up. Do it again. Inhale reach up. Xhale absorb your ribs as you stretch your arms back. And inhale back up.

X, how in front of you, we have one more of these with a little add on. Inhale once again lift, exhale take your arms behind you and pause. Shift your hips forward. Tuck your back toes under, lift your back knee. Absorb your ribs and reach your arms straightforward, long in line with your ears.

Exhow set your strap down. And then step yourself back to a plank pose top of a pushup. Glide forward, use knees if you'd like the added support, lure all the way to meet the mat. Press your toes back once you're there, lift your heart, low cobra, And exhale, set it right back down. Tuck your toes under, walks them in, inhale to plank or hands and knees for the added support, exhale hips up and back downward facing dog.

Inhale, lift right leg, open your hip this time, put a bend in your knee. Push the earth away, elongate your spine, restrate in your leg, and roll your hip down. Exhale step foot forward between your hands, put your back knee down, pat it if it's tender. Uncurl your toes, grab your strap, take it with you. Drag right heel back, left hand forward.

Absorb your ribs as you lower your arms just halfway. This time try to rip your strap in half. If you do it, I'll find you a prize. I don't know what it is, but it's gonna be good. Lower all the way down.

Press down in, how reach it back up, and exhale in front of you. Do this twice more flowing at your own pace. So the ring of fire that Nadar Raja dances in is symbolic of the cycle of Samsara. This is the cycle of birth, life, death, rebirth. This last time as you find the arms behind you pause there.

Shift your hips forward. If you feel steady doing so, tuck your back toes under, lift your back knee. Read your arms forward long in line with your ears. And exhale set your strap down. Hop back foot up to meet your front foot, thighs back as you reach your chest forward, and exhale fold in half.

Press down, inhale, rise up, reach up, maybe look up and exhale to your heart. Inhale again, lift, exhale fold. Inhale lengthen. Bend your knees. Plant your hands.

Step back with your left foot. Put your back knee down. Grab a block. Take your block with you to the top of the thigh and again, find the draw of the back leg forward. The front heel back.

Take your block wide between the hands and hug through the pinky edge of your hands to get a firm and draw in of the outer arms. Keep the draw of your bum down as you shift your hips forward, lift your heart, your hands, your block, Bend your elbows and take the block to the base of your skull, lean your head back against the block to help move your shoulder blades up and in towards your chest. Try to feel the imprint of the block against your upper back from the top of class. Inhale, hands to the sky, maybe you invite your gaze to follow, exhale hips forward, place your block down. Tuck your back toes under, lift your knee. So stab it to your plank, glide it forward, use knees if you'd like the support, lower halfway.

You can either greet the earth for cobra or roll through to your upward facing dog, exhaling back to downward facing dog. Inhale lift, left leg, open your hip, put a bend in your knee. Inhale, restrate in the leg, roll the hip down, step, left foot forward, Put your back knee down, uncurl your toes. Grab your block once again, level your hips, reach your hand forward. Hug through the pinky edge of the hand, lift your heart, lift your hands.

Draw bum down as you shift your hips forward, bend your elbows, take block to the base of your skull. As the hips come forward, lift your heart, lean head back against the block. If your elbows have wandered, wrap them in. And then trying to hold on to the shape you've created through your spine, reach your blocks to the sky. If you can do so without wrinkling the back of your neck, lift your gaze.

Exhale, block down, tuck back toes under, lift your knee, hop back foot up to meet your front, inhale, elongate, exhale and fold. Inhale rise up, reach up, maybe look up. And exhale hands to your heart. So in one of his hands, and he has many, notarraja holds a drum and a talon. And every beat of the drum, a new life, a new life, a new life. Right? If you're right at the top of the mat, take a step back. So you've got about a foot and a half of room.

Bring your hands to your heart center, sit heavy to your heels, bend your knees as you circle arms overhead for utkatasana. Lift your heels coming onto the balls of the feet and sit your bum towards the heels. Take your hand straight forward, laying from the top of your thigh forward, take knees to the earth, bring your torso upright, and then come take a seat back on your heels. Take hands down. Bring left hand to your left heel.

Slice at a diagonal in front of you with your right arm. Bring the hips forward. Circle over head, lift your heart. X, I'll retrace the path with the hand, sit it back. Take right hand to right heel, slice at a diagonal in front of you, bring the hips forward, bum down, open your heart, And, exhale, sit it back. Nice.

Uncurl your toes. If you're off of your mat, we do a very graceful, little shimmy back, and then step it to your plank take the vinyasa your body needs in this moment. That might look like following my lead straight to down dog, perhaps it's Chaturanga updog, down dog, or child's pose. What do you need? Inhale, lift your right leg. Again, open your hip, put a bend in your knee.

Rest straighten through the leg, roll the hip down. Keep the leg long, glide forward, plank. Bend the knee again, hug, navel in, and then roll to the pinky edge of your left foot, put your right toesies down. Lift your hips, smooth bum away from the waist as you offer your heart to the front of the space, and then sit your butt down facing the back short end of your mat. Take right hand down behind you sweep your left arm up, and as you exhale twist, left elbow to the outside of your right thigh for variation of Mauricio.

Inhale, left arm back up, left hand down facing the front short end of your mat, press down, return briefly to your wild thing, look down, brief vashi, and then full plank. Shift it up and back downward facing dog. So each lifetime, each era is just as short as the beat of a drum. Though for us as humans, it's everything this lifetime. Inhale lift your left leg.

Open your hip, put a bend in your knee. Even here, can you absorb your ribs? Re straighten the leg, roll the hip down, keep your leg long, glide forward. Bend me to a right angle, navel in, sat left foot down behind you, lift your hips, open your heart, and then set your butt down facing the back short end of your mat. Put left hand down behind you, sweep your right arm up, exhale twist to the left. Breathe length up through your spine, exhale unwind, inhale, take it up, exhale right hand down.

Route down come back through your wild thing. Maybe a brief stack in Vashi Sasana, then return to your plank. Press it up and back downward facing dog. And if this down dog doesn't feel like a place of rest, give yourself permission to take child's pose. When your breath feels a little more even, inhale hide it to be to, exhale deep bend to the knees, look to your hands, step, or hop your feet up to meet them.

Inhale elongate, ex, Helen fold. Said heavy to your heels, bend your knees, utkatasana, press down, stand tall. Lower arms by your sides. So at this point, you might be feeling a little bit of the warmth like you're standing in that ring of fire. And for many of us well, grab your chair.

For many of us, the fire, the heat that is comfort that arises stems from our attachment. To life, to our bodies, to all aspects of our being that are in many ways temporary. So take one of your blocks and set it on the seat of the chair, medium height, And your second block, you'll take, and set it medium height underneath your bum. You may change the height of both of these blocks just depending on the proportions of your body. So I'm fairly short torso, which is why I often give myself a little bit more height to sit on to begin.

And we're looking for that place. Maybe I'm growing. Maybe this practice is making me taller. You're looking for the place where when you sit, The bottom tips of your shoulder blades are meeting at the front edge of the chair. Right? From there, adjust the placement of the block so that as you lie back, your head is meeting the block just like you did at the top of our practice.

And then reach both arms up, grab the upper back of your chair. And if you're working with a chair where you're like Ashley, that back is really far away, instead of grabbing the chair, you can grab a second block. Hold it at a right angle similar to the work that we did in our crescent lunge. Right? Alright. I'm going to keep my right hand in place here. I lift my hips And I'm gonna use my left hand to slide that block out of the way, not too far because I'll wanna have it back a little bit later on. Right?

Once the block is gone, I sit in. And the bum won't make it to the earth, but this is just to increase the extension in the upper back. Right? Press into your feet, smooth your bum away from your waist, lengthen, and then do it again. Sit in. Finding that open space of the heart. Well, one more time, inhale lift and lengthen.

Sometimes the chair wants to come with you, exhale, sit in. Alright. Take whichever hand is closest to your block. Slide it back underneath your bum to give yourself a place to sit, just like we did at the top of class, fingertips to back of head, lift your head and shoulders, draw your naval back, as you sit up. Move block out of the way. We're actually gonna put a block on either side of the mat like so, so not out of the way too far.

And then take one of your blankets and take it across the seat of the chair. If you have a chair that's got padding on it already, you can skip this step. This is mostly if you've got metal or wood, something that might be aggressive against the top of your foot. And then take one of your blankets and fold it in half the funny way, and then in half again. So we're looking to create a little square of sorts. Alright?

And then with your strap, if you have a chair that will allow. You're gonna loop your strap. I like to do a little crisscross just to assure it's there. And I bring the ins over the side so that they're in reaching distance. Okay. Is that enough setup for now? Well, not a red jaw is still busy hitting his drum.

Alright. Take your left foot onto the seat of the chair. Your left knee onto the blanket. You can lessen the fold or increase the fold to meet a height where the top of your foot can cleanly rest on the chair. Now with your hands on your blocks, you may notice how the low back wants to dip, so saucy. Bring the pit of your abdomen and smooth your bum down.

Walk your hands and our blocks away from your right leg, and then step your right foot forward, reframe your foot. You may get here and say, enough, Ashley, and stay. If the body says alright, walk yourself up. Draw the right hip back, the left hip forward until your hip points face forward. You may stay here.

You might find your strap, bring it over the top of your shoulders. Smooth bum down and take the hips a little forward. Wrap outer arms toward your face and walk your hands down the strap as you press the bottom tip of the shoulder blades up and in towards your chest. So huge opening through the front of the thigh, the front of the hip, we work to keep length in the back as we expand the heart. Rest straighten your arms, take your hair with you, and then set the straps down for a moment, set your hands to your blocks.

And once again, bring hands to the left, slide your right foot back, your left shin forward, and we'll move blank it over to the second side. So I mentioned these cobras around Nadaraja's neck. And most of us would be very frightened to have a snake in our vicinity, yet, you know, the king of venomous snakes hanging out as a necklace. Place the top of your foot on the seat of the chair. This time, right knee to your blanket and then start with a scoop of the abdomen in the tip of the tailbone down.

You may stay here. If you feel you have a little further to safely move into, walk your hands over to the right this time, bring your left foot forward, reframe your front foot. Okay. Alrighty here. You can probably see how saucy my left hip is. It's wander. Draw your left hip back.

Pin it in. Scoop your abdomen in and walk yourself upright. Oh, my guscious. Grab the strap. I failed to mention this on the first side, but same thing if you don't have a chair that you can loop in this way, you can grab one of your blocks, hold it overhead here.

Right? Otherwise, you could stay here like a backpack. Move your bum down. Maybe you reach the arms up and wrap them towards your face. Walk your hands down your strap Take the hips a little forward as you lean your upper back up or sorry, your heart back, your upper back up and in toward your chest. And in how bring it back upright, separate your hands.

Place them down, walk hands inside your front foot. Bring left knee back. Back knee forward, and maybe take a beat here in Vadrasana. So the poison in the cobra is symbolic of Avidia. Avidia is ignorance, and it's the root of all the obstacles we face.

And practice on and beyond our mat. Not our jaw isn't afraid of the poison because he holds the antidote, which is knowledge. And this is symbolized by a flame he holds in one of his other hands, beating the drum, holding the fire. Dancing in a ring of it. Alright. Set your blocks to the side.

Make your way up to standing whatever way feels most supportive for your body. We'll keep our strap nearby, but you can set your chair off to the side for now. Don't send it away too far. We'll use it again in a bit. Alright.

Sure. Grab your strap, step on the strap with your right foot, and then crisscross. Step left foot through. Mhmm. And now bend the knee, and just like we did with the chair, like a backpack.

Put the ends of the strap over your shoulder. You may stay here. As though the foot is resting on the top of the chair, you might bring your abdomen in, kick your foot back. Reach your arms up and start to walk your hands down the strap. So sometimes in the shape, we hinge forward. For today, give a little bend to your standing like me. Try to draw your bum down and use the kick of the foot back as you walk your arms down.

Press bottom tip of the shoulder blades up and in towards your chest, lift your heart. This lifetime or the next or a 100 from now, we might grab ahold of the foot. That might be your story today. I'm saving it for next lifetime. Right?

Slowly, let the foot go like a pulley system, and all the way down. Step back with your left foot, unpress cross, and we give lefty a try. So another piece of this, not our jaw is not only playing the drums, holding on to fire and circled his neck with cobras, but he's also dancing on what appears to be a small baby. More on that to come crisscross. Step right foot through.

Scoop abdomen in as you bend your knee, squeezing heel toward bum, bring the ends of the strap up over your shoulders. You can stay here. Working actively to coil your abdomen in as you send your foot a bit back. If you're adding on from this place, arms up. Little bend to your standing leg knee, grip both sides of the straps with the hands, kick foot back.

And for every bit that the foot goes back, draw the abdomen in, lift your heart, Oh, imagine yourself balancing on what we find out is not actually a baby, but a tiny demon, a little dwarf sized demon. And then slowly, let it down. For yourself. Uncrisscross. Okay.

Set your strap to the side. Grab your chair once again. See to the chair facing the front end of your mat. Come take a seat in the chair, bring a block, and a blanket with you. Take your block narrow between your upper inner thighs and come far forward enough in your seat so that your feet can firmly plant all four corners on the mat.

Naval back, sweep your arms up, And as you exhale twist to the right. Depending on the chair that you're working with, you might rest your forearm on the upper back of the chair, lift your chest, revolve. If that's not a thing today, put your right hand on the side of the chair instead. If the twist is feeling a little aggressive, left hand to left knee to open the space a touch more. So while the poison in the cobra, in the venom is symbolic of the poisonous nature of ignorance.

That little tiny demon that Natarajah is dancing upon is actually Avidya itself ignorance. Exhale unwind, press down inhale arms forward and up. Xhale twist to the left. And again, forearm can rest on the back of the chair, side of the chair, if you're feeling a little too much churning through the midsection, open the space. With every inhale lengthen, with every exhale revolve.

So in balancing upon and dancing upon this little demon, Natarajah is symbolically rising above the ignorance. Okay? Which, if we can do so ourselves, would save us so much drama in our lives, freeze us from the ego that follows, the attachment that follows that. The sometimes aversion or hatred that comes up and the culmination of all of these, which is fear. Xhale unwind.

Remove the block, set it to the side. And now grab your blanket and take the folded end of your blanket right up to your hip crease. So sneak it underneath the belly, right into the fold at the front of the hip and the thigh. Press down with your hands, lift your heart. And as you exhale, fold over the resistance of the blanket. Now if the resistance feels too great, unfolded a notch, Some of us who might be like, I don't need anything there.

Let me just fold my abdomen in. Do it. If you're on the opposite end of the spectrum and you're not getting any resistance, fold it again. As mentioned earlier, I'm fairly short torsoed. So when I fold in, my forearms rest right at the front of the knees, I can fold here.

If you're extending beyond that point and you prefer you can take hands to the earth or to props. Wherever you are, breathe into the resistance of the blanket and use that resistance to help flood and expand your back, balancing all the back bending. So this attachment to life, to physical form, to the temporary, is what keeps us stuck in the cycle of Samsara, of birth, life, death, rebirth. And if we don't believe in a cycle of many lifetimes, We can think about that as the habitual patterns we fall into through a singular lifetime. Reach your chest forward.

Press into your thighs, bring yourself up. Take your blanket. Set it over the seat of your chair, giving a little bit of extra cushioning here. Alright. I'm gonna have my second blanket nearby and reaching distance. Just in case I discover I'd like it.

And as we come to lie back, take your calves to rest on the seat of the chair, back of the knees right near the front edge of the chair. If your head feels like it's falling back uncomfortably far or your chin is shutting up, you can put a folded blanket under the back of the head. If you're craving a little added grounding after all the big back bending, you might take a folded blanket, over your abdomen in the front of your hips to anchor you. Walk shoulders under your chest, adding to the lift of your heart, and then spill your arms by your sides. So to look at the image of Shiva in his dancer form in Natarajah, is a reminder again to rise above the ignorance to continue seeking the light of knowledge to help clear a bit of the poisonous nature of ignorance.

And in those moments, when we find ourselves attaching to all the temporary aspects of this moment, of this body, of this job, of this lifetime, Can we step back and look at the larger picture? To think of each of those moments like the beat of a drum, The next one, the next one, the next one, the next one. And so to attach our worth too much importance to any one moment, leads us back to suffering. When what we're trying to do is rise above and dance a little more through life. If you're enjoying the stillness here, after all the dancing.

Honor it as long as you'd like. Otherwise, remembering change is inevitable. Offer a little movement to your fingers, to your toes, finding the next beat of the drum, maybe sweep your arms overhead. As you exhale, bend knees a little closer to your chest, roll to your side. Being mindful of the chair, press the floor away, bringing yourself up to seated.

Bring your hands together at heart center, lift your chest, we bow our chins and gratitude. Thank you for sharing your practice. Till next time.