Astanga

I was perusing Mark Darby's DVD this morning, trying to find that neat clip of Karandavasana (to show my students), and I noticed that the DVD has a 30 minute short-form on it. Today was the perfect day for a shorter practice and I'm always up for a good short form, so I gave it a try.

If you can get past Darby's sometimes bizarre mispronunciations of the Sanskrit names (this is a niggling little thing that keeps me from wholeheartedly recommending this DVD to my students), it's a good DVD. I like the beginner modifications that he includes, which are demo'ed by the Nicole Bordeleau. The cues are precise and timely. I enjoy the slow pace and the long holds.

The short form is 42 minutes including a long Savasana at the end. It opens with 3 Surya Namaskara A, 2 Surya Namaskara B then continues with many of the standing poses and a handful of the seated. Padmasana is the only pose included from the closing sequence, but this is fine by me. If I'm doing a short practice, I'm usually not keen to do a lot of closing. And I liked the emphasis on standing poses. I was able to work up a sweat, which isn't always the case when I'm practising Swenson's short form.

I'm literally on the cusp of my Lady's Holiday so it felt good to move into a less intense practice. I'll likely be doing restorative for the next couple of days.