Podcast #131 - Who are you? Identity and Yoga

The theme of the class is based around the Jivamukti Focus of the Month which can be read in full here: https://jivamuktiyoga.com/fotm/god-in-drag/

The class is focused on leg work, primarily hamstring and psoas work to prepare for Hanumanasana
The poem is called “Electrons” by Assef Al-Jundi

Please follow me on all my socials: @yogastickler

TRANSCRIPT:
00:00
Hello and welcome to Jivamukti yoga with Jessica Stickler. I'm Jessica I'm sure you know what I'm gonna say next if you are enjoying the podcast and would like to make a contribution to the podcast which as of forever has been ad free and free to you so if you'd like to make a contribution you can go to my website yogastickler.com / donate - now,

00:25
Or if you just go to the main page, it's on the upper right hand corner to click the link if you would like to sort of set up an ongoing donation you could go to my Patreon which is also @yogastickler and you could set up a monthly contribution not only for the podcasts but for a whole host of other videos and content that I'll be putting up regularly. I've already started so there's already some new content up there. And I'll be continuing to post to my Patreon so if it's the kind of thing where you do my podcast regularly and you'd like to set up, you know, a five dollar a month donation or or whatever you like to contribute to the podcast that we don't have to think about it every time that you turn on one of the podcasts and then and then you get a whole bunch of other extra videos and stuff and as the Patreon grows.

01:29
I'll add live Q and A's and other fun things so. I that's to options and then if you feel that you're not in a position to make a donation or you just don't want to that's also okay with me. I'm totally fine with that and I totally understand um, but I'm wondering if in lieu of a donation you would donate some. Of your time and effort by writing a quick review of the podcast on whichever platform you're using Apple, Spotify, stitcher if you could just throw some stars up there and throw a hooray for this podcast up there that would be marvelous the more reviews. I get the more people can find the podcast etc etc etc, so thank you as always for your practice and for your continued support. And I just sending all my love to all of you out there and without further ado, here's your practice for this month.

02:51
Okay, so at we're gonna go ahead and get started right away and downward facing dog, so go ahead and come forward up to your hands and knees and press right back into it. So just to sort of set up our contemplation today I want to read a poem. Don't worry, I won’t keep you in downward dog the whole poem. The poem is called ‘electrons’.

03:30
“atoms within your body spin. What seems solid knees knows hair moves swiftly. Particles orbit each other dart, like meteors through vast spaces. Air around you made of same. You take from it and you give drawing in atoms and molecules to form your ever-changing image.” So walk your feet forward towards your hands. And fold forward over your legs.

04:11
You know, even as I read that part, maybe you can kind of like imagine. That the body is mostly space even though we. As a. Reform and it's mostly movement, even though we've experienced it as more. Constant, right? I mean, we experience it as movement too, but not on that level, right?

04:41
And you know that line about sort of exchanging particles with the error or something like that is also kind of a fascinating idea like even as your hands and feet touch the floor your hands and feet actually aren't even fully touching the floor, right? There's space between. What we call the surface of your hand and the surface of the floor, right?

05:07
And it's just electrons like pushing against one another in that vast space.

05:18
“Your lips move your tongue speaks your name. You take it on faith that your words will make sense. It's my constant inner battle actually huh meaning flows out effortlessly. Electrons skip like rocks on water between your solid body and your electromagnetic thoughts. You look through window listen to voices from within and without dazzled by what you perceive you wonder about causes and effects. When a wave of love takes you by surprise your eyes, well up with tears.” So separate the feet and come down into a deep squatting position hands together at the center of the chest.

06:14
I love that we start the poem as spinning electrons and we end the poem as a bundle of spinning electrons that.
And how how utterly magical is that bring the hands to the floor raise the hips up and fold forward over the legs. Heel to the feet all the way together bring your hands onto your waist and lift all the way upright to a standing position. So the the yoga practice is in a lot of ways very concerned with the question of. Identity with the question of who am I really right and this poem kind of I think gets us there in a feeling way rather than an explanation way that that we're something both sort of physical and metaphysical and that we're something sort of beyond the the things we usually attribute to sort of personality like the circumstantial parts of ourselves where we were born who we were raised by our individual experiences that there's, Something sort of more like deeper and more universal about our true nature.

07:46
So let's OM together.

08:24
Arms alongside the body exhale of full breath out. Inhale reach the arms up overhead palms of hands press together look upwards towards the hands. Exhale fold forward hands to the floor beside the feet. Inhale halfway lift to prepare. Exhale hop or step back to chaturanga lower halfway down. Inhale upward facing dog.

08:54
Exhale downward facing dog inhale. Exhale one. inhale. Exhale two. inhale. Exhale three. Inhale. Exhale four. inhale. Exhale five bend the knees and look forward inhale hopper step feet to hands. Exhale fold forward inhale stand up reach the arms of overhead hands press together, exhale release the arms again inhale reach up.

09:43
Exhale fold forward. Inhale halfway lift. Exhale hop or step back. Inhale upward facing dog, exhale downward facing dog breathing in. breathe out. Inhale. Exhale two. Inhale. Exhale three. Inhale. Exhale four. inhale. Exhale soften the knees look forward inhale hover step feet to hands. Exhale fold forward. inhale stand up reach the arms of overhead and exhale release arms.

10:41
One more time just like that, inhale reach up. Exhale fold forward. Inhale halfway lift. Exhale hop or step back. Inhale upward dog. Exhale downward dog. inhale. Exhale one. inhale. Exhale to knees. Exhale.

11:21
Exhale forward. Inhale. Exhale bend the knees inhale hopper step feet to hands. Exhale folding forwards inhale stand up reach the arms up. Exhale release the arms now as you inhale hook your thumbs in front of you reach the arms forward enough arch the back exhale bend the knees, swing the arms behind the back, interlace hands together. Inhale hands to the floor step the right foot back to lung exhale downward facing dog. Inhale forward into plank. Exhale lower chaturanga inhale upward facing dog, pull the chest forward. Exhale downward facing. Inhale forwarding to plank exhale lower the knees chest and. Inhale slide forward into cobra ground exhale to toes sit back towards the feet and then extend the legs downward dog. Inhale right foot steps forward. Exhale left foot next to the right foot fold forward. Inhale bend knees, so thumbs reach up arch back straight and legs. Exhale bed knees swing arms behind lace the hands together folding forward. Inhale hands down step the left foot back. Exhale downward facing dog.

13:03
Inhale forward into plank exhale chatturanga inhale upward facing dog, exhale downward facing dog. Inhale forward into plank. Exhale lower the knees chest and chin to the floor. Inhaling slide forward into cobra, exhale tuck the toes move the seat back to the feet and then extend the legs downward dog. Inhale step the left foot forward exhale right foot next to left foot fold forward inhale bend knees hook thumbs reach up arch back straight and legs at the top exhale stand up and release the arms now deeply bend the knees and reach the arms overhead for chair, utkatasana.

13:57
Exhale, hands to the floor folding forward. Inhale halfway lengthen. Exhale hop or step back, shut the mouth. Inhale upward facing dog. Exhale downward facing dog inhale step the right foot forward, turn the back seal down reach up where you're one. Exhale hands to the floor step back and lower chatturanga.

14:31
Inhale upward facing dog. Exhale downward facing dog inhale step the left foot forward, reach up your dress, no one. Exhale hands to the floor step back and lower. Inhale upward face. Exhale downward facing one more time each side inhale right foot forward warrior one. Exhale hands to the floor step back lower chatturanga. Inhale upward dog. Exhale downward dog inhale step the left foot forward, reach up your jaw smell one. So it exhale hands to the floor step back, except. Inhale upward dog exhale downward dog breed in him. Exhale one inhale. Exhale two inhale. Exhale three. Inhale. Exhale fourth. Inhale. Exhale bend the knees and look forward inhale hover step feet to him.

15:57
Exhale fold forward inhale deeply bend the knees reach the arms up food, catastina. Exhale stand up and release the arms. Good now separate the feet, maybe five six inches apart hands on your waist. Inhale lift up the chest and arch back. Exhale fold forward reach down and grab hold of the big toes with the peace sign fingers now listen carefully, bend your knees quite deeply and lay your belly on your thighs and then try to lift your head and chest look forward. Good then as best as you can keep your belly towards your thighs start to straighten your legs to fold forward and let the head go down good even if the belly separates from the thighs a little bit at the very end that's okay, but just kind of getting into it that way. And then try to lift your shoulders up away from your ears, so the upper back is engaged. In anyhow lift your head and just look forward slide the positive hands underneath the soles of the feet, and let's do this same thing again so bend both knees deeply try to get the belly onto the thighs and then pull up on your feet. To try to reach the tip of the chin forwards you're like stretching the front side of the body and then as you exhale keep your belly towards your thighs as long as possible as you straighten the legs to hold for head goes all the way down shoulders lift up away from here and then if you have enough room to move deeper, you might bend the elbows out to the sides. With an inhale look forward, good exhale hands on your waist. Inhale lift all the way upright to a standing position, exhale feet and legs together arms alongside the body. Inhale bend the knees reach the arms up with condos. Exhale hands to the floor folding forward, uttanasa. Inhale head and just lift exhale hop or step back checked it under. Inhale upward facing dog. Exhale downward facing dog with an inhale step the right foot between the hands but. The back foot. And reach your arms.

19:00
Now bring your hands onto your hips. Feel the front part of your. Snap that's it or your front part of your pelvic. Now soften the back knee a little tiny bit and then see if with your hands you could almost scoop up the front of the waist, so you're like scooping the tips of the pelvis upwards and you're even lifting the belly button up so that instead of sort of tilting forward the pelvic bowl is more upright now see if you could maintain that even as you straighten the back leg, so there's gonna be a little bit of resistance as you start to straighten that leg but try to keep the,

19:43
Pump now keep all of that. As you inhale, straighten the leg. Exhale bend the right knee but keep a lot of your attention on straightening that back leg, sometimes it wants to soften a little bit keep that back leg nice and straight inhale straight and extend. Exhale bend the front knee.

20:07
Good inhale straighten. Exhale to bed. Good inhaling street now as you exhale bend both knees and gently touch the left knee down, but don't put a lot of weight in it. Good and then inhale lift all the way up straighten both legs. Exhale bend both knees, touch the back knee down last one inhale extend.

20:40
Exhale bend and this time leave your left knee there, you can walk the right foot a little bit. Now. Mind. About that pelvic tilt sort of lift. The front of the pelvis and even the belly button. Then move your hips forward and down into a crescent lens. At the same time rolling your shoulders up and back lifting your Foot, yeah, optional you can reach the arms up overhead. Breathing.

21:22
Good now lift the torso all the way up, great. Let keep the left arm lifting up right arm down alongside the body good reach up through the left arm and then take a side bend so reaching all the way over as if to touch the right side of the room you're in the right fingertips now towards the floor, even if they're not on the floor yet or perhaps even a block that's a great idea. Inhale reach all the way up exhale hands on. Tuck your back toes under. Inhale step right into a place exhale general. Inhale upward dog. Exhale downward facing dog. Inhale step the left foot between the hands don't change the back foot reach the arms up high line. So bring your hands on to your waist and then soften the back knee to give yourself a little bit of space to sort of tilt the front of the pelvis more upwards so lift those two little tips of the front of the pelvis up lift the belly button up and try to keep that as upward as you possibly can even as you restrain the back leg. Good now, keep everything happening. You know extend the front leg. Good exhale bend. inhale extend. Exhale then. Inhale extend. Exhale to bend. Good inhale extend both legs now this time then both knees and just gently tap the right knee down. Inhale straighten both legs lift all the way up.Exhale bend both knees, gently tap down. Inhale lift all the way up. Good exhale, touch the right knee down this time, stay there good the left foot a little bit more forward and keeping your hands on your pelvic strip to see if you can again sort of pick up the front of the pelvis and keep the front of the abdomen strong, so you're getting a little support.

23:59
Now send it forwarded down for crescent lunge and again optional tooth reach the arms up or you you could keep your hands on your hips. Good lift the arms all the way up right now, keep the right arm up and bring the left arm down alongside the body and. Bend towards the right side, side bending. Inhale, reached the arms all the way up. I have steel hands to the floor tuck the right toes under inhale step right into a plank.

Exhale, chatturanga. inhale upward facing. exhale downward facing. Inhale step the right foot between the hands and don't change the back foot keep your feet exactly where they are despite they're being a temptation to move your back foot forward start to straighten the right leg and let your head hang down. Let's do that a couple more times inhale bend the right knee look forward. Exhale straight and right leg and fold one more inhale to bend. Exhale extend now stay there and breathe and keep the back foot where it is, we'll move it in in a second but for this variation keep the feet long on the longer side. So keep pulling the right hip crease up and back and imagine you want to stamp the right foot double hard down into the floor, so it's like you're pushing your right foot forward and down away from you.

26:17
Right, now soften the right knee a little bit and step the back foot in just enough that you can get the heel down and then straighten the right leg. And fold forward. Good still moving the right hip crease up and back pressing both heels down strongly now. So now we're gonna do a little funky variation so bend the right knee. Keep your left hand where it is, whether it's touching the floor or perhaps the block so left hand stays there, reach your right arm around behind your right knee and grab your left, maybe upper arm.

27:07
Right hand no, no so behind the knee that's it exactly so now you're gonna push the right knee back against the right arm almost as if you want to straighten the right leg now in this position the leg might not fully straighten and that's perfectly okay, that's you know, no worries on that but it's that action of. Pushing the knee against some resistance, right? bend to the right knee both hands down step into a plank post. Exhale, chatturanga. Inhale, upward dog. Exhale, downward dog. Okay inhale step the left foot forward, don't change the back foot. Good exhale straighten the left leg to fold let the head go down, two more times inhale.

28:19
Exhale, straighten the leg fold. Inhale then the knee look forward. Exhale straighten the legend fold forward now stay keep the feet where they are for this first variation push your left foot forward and down into the floor hard, so you're just really jazzing up that front leg. Inhale then the left knee a little bit and then move the back foot a little bit closer in so you can anchor the heel. Start to straighten the left leg and fold forward for like regular traditional. Okay now soften the left knee. Keep the right hand where it is. Left arm behind the left knee and hold on to. Be the right upper arm or if you can't quite reach you could hold the elbow resources for and then try to push the back of the left knee against. The arm again creating that little bit of resistance to sort of. Fire up the muscles of the of the left leg. Good so keep pushing against the resistance of the arm. Bend the left knee hands to the floor and then step all the way back plank pose exhale chatturanga. Inhale upward dog. Exhale downward dog.

30:29
Inhale step the right foot between the hands don't change the back foot. Is that kind of class today. The arms all the way up highlight. Again, it's like a lunge extravaganza. Okay. Now, keep the hips in the legs the same. Start to turn your upper body to the right and open the arms out into a T-shape so shoulder height. That's it. Were you able to maintain the legs the way you think you were like is the back leg still straight is the right knee still bending over the right ankle. That's it. And then find the abdominal muscles, that would help you. To even deeper even without the use of your hands. Okay, now we can use the hands. So go ahead and reach down and grab your opposite legs. So the front hand grabs the front leg the backyard grabs the back and then use the torque of your hands to pull yourself deeper into. Now challenge yourself to maintain that deeper twist, could you keep it there even as you reach the arms out to the right and left side again. All right. Inhale reach the arm. Ascend. Exhale hands to the floor. Touch the left knee down to the. Lift your torso up lift your left arm up. We're going to twist again and we're going to move into a closed twist now. So cross your left upper arm all the way across your right leg for standing spinal. Hands pressed together. Tuck the left toes under and left leg knee away from the floor standing spinal. So one thing that I found is for years. I was just relying on my arms to leverage this twist. See if you could instead find some of the abdominal strengths that we found in that open twist that annoying open twist so that you're abdominals are also involved here not just relying on the hands. Okay, bring the hands to the floor frame, your front foot. Lift your left leg all the way up to the ceiling. Standing splits. Fold forward.

33:00
Don't worry, you're just a bundle of electrons. Why worry? Just kidding. But you know, sometimes it doesn't help. It can help to. The orient to. You know, a different perspective of self, right? Okay, so let's do we're gonna kind of do a similar variation here bend the right knee reach the left arm behind the right knee and see if you could grab the right upper arm with. You might have to move your left hand back a little bit like if it's too far for. And then. Push your right knee against your arm whether or not it's dreams. Right so that you're just. That muscular effort in your leg. Yeah, no one said it was gonna be easy.

34:06
Okay both hands to the floor step back into a low lunge. Exhale downward dog. Okay step the left foot forward reach the arms overhead high lunge. So see hey carefully tension to try to keep the legs really really steady as you twist to the left side, so sometimes the left knee wants to drift back in order to help you twist don't let that happen see that it's over the knee sometimes the right knee wants to bend a little bit to help you twist so see that that's all straight now and then use your abdominal muscles to help you twist. And go ahead reach down and incorporate the help of the hands, so pulling yourself deeper into the into your twist. Good and then see if you could summon the effort to keep you there in that new twist, you just made as you reach the arms out to. Put and then reach the arms up high lunge. Exhale hands to the floor. Inhale lift the right leg up exhale hold forward standing splits, take a few breaths here in regular old standing splits.

35:48
Good and then soften the left knee reach the right arm around behind see if you could catch like part of the upper arm or or even the even the lower arm if necessary and then push your left knee back against. To the floor step back downward facing dog.

36:29
Okay rest the knees down. We're gonna do inversions next so it if you want to like move to a wall or if you need to get some props ready or anything like that, take a moment. So we'll practice for five minutes total but but you have some choices either you could like work on your headstand for the full five minutes or if you want to start with like a little handstand practice a little forearm stand practice, you could start there and then finish out your time whatever time you have left in your head stand.

37:49
It might be just realized like it might be kind of freaky to think about identity in this way because we because we're so sort of attached to the individual like personality part of our identity right and. And so sometimes. Kind of making you know, going into an abstraction could feel a bit scary, but for me it feels comforting. I know that's kind of strange but like. You know, whenever I'm having a hard time one of one of the things that cause me down is to like, Think about. The cosmos and like and literally think about Carl Sagan telling me that there's like billions of universes billions of galaxies out there because then like when I, And I'm and I think about. Like so many planets and galaxies and like what do all those other sons and stars care about my little like problem today? Doesn't feel quite quite so devastating when I sort of zoom out on it or as the poem did kind of zooming in in a way and kind of looking at it from a inner galactic perspective. But also, you know one thing I was thinking after after I read it was that you know. Like the science doesn't take the magic out of the universe if anything like the more. We learn about how the universe is put together kind of the more magical it is and. I don't see a need to really seek out like. Magic sort of outside of that because I'm still just so blown away by galaxies and electrons and all the all the magic that is around us, right? (If my little brother were in class right now, he'd say “nerd alert.”)

40:32
Okay start to uh, start to make your way down out of it. But that there's something sort of freeing about being a bundle of electrons that can feel an experience love and there's also something very connecting about it like. You know, however it is that we perceive other people they're all there's also billions of people billions of clusters of electrons out there who are all experiencing love and grief and surprise and pain and laughter and all of the things that are bundle of electrons can experience it's fascinating.

41:32
Okay come back into a downward-facing dog. Inhale come forward into a plank. Exhale lower knees chest chin to the floor. Inhale side forward into cobra. Exhale release down onto the abdomen. Bring the arms alongside the body palms of hands facing up to the ceiling. Inhale lift up head chest and legs. Shalabhasana. Good exhale, release on down.
To the bend both knees. Reach back and hold of the ankle. Inhale lift on up and chest knees, dhanurasana. Exhale released on down.

43:18
Place the hands either side of the chest inhale lift forward and up into upward facing dog. Exhale go back downward facing down. Bring your knees to the floor stand up on your knees hands on your waist, curl the toes under lift the chest. (ustrasana) Hands on your hips and do that same pelvic tilt try to lift up the front of the pelvis belly button lifts in then lift your chest squeeze your elbows towards each other start to arch back good and then see if you can reach back and touch your heels or your. Good and again still trying to sort of lift up the front of the hips front of the abdomen so belly button is lifting tips tips of the pelvis are lifted. But it hands on your waist lift upgrades and then step your right foot forward out in front of you.

44:36
Scoot your right foot a little bit more forward and move the hips forward and down just like we did for crescent lunge in the in the beginning. And as good you're right foot a little bit more forward. And then move your hips forward and down.
And then scoot your right foot a little bit more forward. And then move your hips forward and down now you could continue this process just kind of lengthening your crescent lunge a little bit at a time or we did a lot of hamstring work today, you could slide that right leg forward into Hanumanasana.Or anywhere in between. It all counts from the perspective of your electrons.

45:54
Okay step back to standing on your knees, so you know work your. Way back to get upright again
Good step the left foot forward. Scoot the left foot forward. That's it. Move your hips forward and down.
Again, scoop. The left foot can even go past your knee. And then move the hips forward and down. Good. So again, you can keep. Kind of moving your foot a little bit more after a few breaths. You can slide the left leg through for Hanuman.
Okay step all the way back. Press into downward facing dog.

47:37
That lift high up onto the balls of the feet bend the knees look past your hands hop all the way through to sit down. And lay down on your back. Feet on the floor. Lift the hips up interlace the hands behind the back into one face.
Separate the hands release the back down to the floor. Now, you could of course repeat half wheel or set up your hands and feet for full wheel, urdva dhanurasana. So with an inhale go ahead lift all the way up.
chin to the chest release down.

49:09
Second time place to hands please. Inhale lift up.

49:42
The last one place the hands in the feet. In the heel lift on up.

50:08
Good chin to the chest and release down. And then go ahead and hug the knees into the chest.

50:31
Bring the knees over to the left side of the body, as you look to the right arms out into a teeth.

51:16
And bring the knees all the way up to the center and then go the other way.

51:58
Bring the knees up to the center and then come on up to a seated position. Straighten the legs forward out in front of you. And fold forward positive motion.

53:19
To all the way up right to a seated position bend the left knee into the chest open the left knee to the side and fold forward. John you sure some.

54:09
Lift all the way uprights, which the legs.

54:55
Lift all the way up right straighten both legs forward out in front of you bend both knees, open the knees out to the sides those. Together and fold forward baddhakonasana.

55:24
All the way up right and then. Keep the shape of the legs the same but lay down on the back.

55:38
Now you can either stay here or you could come up into shoulder stand (salamba sarvangasana).

56:13
“Atoms within your body spin. What seems solid knees knows hair moves swiftly. Particles or to orbit each other dart like meteors through vast spaces. Air around you made of same you take from it and you give. Drawing an atoms and molecules to form your ever-changing image. Your lips move your tongue speaks your name, you take it on faith that your word.Meaning flows out effortlessly. Electrons skip like rocks on water between your solid body and your electro.
Magnet window. Within and with. Dazzled by what you personally. About causes and effects. When a wave of love takes you by surprise your eyes, well up with tears.”

57:47
So to come into plow pose.

58:05
And then slowly start to roll out of it.

58:17
If you were practicing shoulders stems come into fish, masteyasana.

58:45
Chin to the chest released down and set up. For savasana.