CRAIG VILLANI SEMINAR
I have to begin by saying this seminar was absolutely incredible. Craig was full of energy for the entire day, sharing his most memorable experiences from his career, having had the opportunity to work alongside Bikram Choudury himself, Bikram’s wife Rajashree and another influential role model in his life Emmy. His sense of humor never fell short for a second and the energy in the room was cohesively entertained.
Craig began by sharing his own yoga journey experience that lead him to where he is today. Afterwards, he continued on to explain each posture in depth but in a different way then we are used to our instructors in class breaking down the Asanas. He taught us the therapeutic benefits, key importance of executing the set-up, then he would show us, have us ask questions and even sometimes have someone demonstrate from the class. I found this tactic of teaching to be extremely beneficial as not everyone consumes information in the same way. As a group the class would perform the posture once Craig had showed us the proper form.
Four major key points Craig stressed to the class were:
- Maintain a connection to awareness
- Create greater understanding and connection to your breath
- Move fluidly and gracefully
- Be mindful and present
We began with Pranyama breathing together as a united group. I will share my notes on each posture as I go along.
Pranyama; meaning potential energy. Pranyama should energize you for the rest of your practice. Remember to relax your shoulders by tightening your hips and stomach. The stronger your base the easier it will be to relax the upper portion of your body. Craig used the analogy of a huge oak tree in the wind, visualizing the trunk and deep root system holding the tree strong and firm this way the branches can move freely and blow but will never move from the base. In doing so your lungs will open more freely.
Craig tends to do this thing where he will have someone demonstrate the posture and then while they are in it he is energetically asking questions about body placement, breath, distribution of weight, head placement, why you do the things you do etc. It is quite amusing to watch.
Yoga Jujitsu: Focus your mind on different areas of your body to direct tension and movement in your body. Where your eyes go your mind goes. Trust that your eyes will take you where you want to go.
INHALE- imagine saying: “SO” EXHALE- Imagine saying: “HA”
When you have reached your maximum whilst inhaling during pranyama deep breathing “HOLD IT” actually serves as the purpose to create hydraulic pressure by simultaneously sucking in even more. Continuos breath like a vacuum never stopping while pranyama
*Keep fingers connected at all times and the thumb on the outside slightly touching your throat.
Half Moon; In Half Moon it is truly all about the set up. Planting your feet firmly and slightly pushing the hips forward you want to be as strong as a tree trunk to simultaneously support your upper body. Always use the furthest point from your body to guide you (ex: in half moon your fingertips should guide you along the ceiling)
Your breath (your life force) allows you to be present (remember time does not exist in yoga you are living in the present)
Do nothing with your shoulders in half moon. Never create un-needed tension on the body by pressing shoulders down or up.
Biceps must touch ears and you will be linear. Do not have arms behind the ears, this is wrong. It is much easier to go from strength to flexibility rather than flexibility to strength
Backward Bend; Focus on where you want to generate compression by setting a point in the back of the spine and breathing up and creating the arch to follow. Do not just fall into the posture, this requires no strength and the muscle memory will never gain the strength to actually engage and hold the muscles.
Forward Bend; Stretching your upper body (ribs) over your femurs in set up will create more flexibility and enable your spine to have an example of which to keep the spine straighter. Remember to pull your heels when forward bending, pulling equals stretching and if you are simply hanging out in this posture you will never improve it.
Awkward/Eagle Pose; Counter balance hips and fingertips whilst doing awkward pose. Furthest point is the fingertips-if you execute stretching the fingertips to their furthest point there will be no need to adjust the shoulders.
(Now that I have been practicing this way-keeping the spherical compression in mind and in check, I seriously never need to adjust my arms any more. Simply stretch out as far as you can and meet your hands in the middle. It works every single time)
Creating one big thigh and one big knee while maintaining control will ultimately be what dictates your strength coming down and back up in the posture. (Knees together heels elevated slightly)
Craig says: “YOGA is all about identifying your edge and exploring it.”
Standing Head to Knee; Tighten the thigh as hard as you can. Once the knee is locked you support the bones and cartilage between the knee bones (3 important bones) by slightly separating the bone. Ankle knee and hip all aligned evenly distribute weight
FOCUS ON KEEPING WRISTS STRAIGHT. Having the thumb included in the grip is not detrimental. While kicking the foot out, as it is the furthest point from the body at this point try to find peace in stretching the toes toward you as this will stretch the Achilles Tendon thus making your elbows much easier to reach below the calf muscles “Falling forward”-Finding your “Edge.” Do not be afraid to fall out of this posture regardless of how long you have been practicing for, you will never improve your practice if you never take chances and push yourself to the next level. Try kicking your balancing leg out more, if you have never tried touching your forehead to your knee TRY! It is only yoga.
Standing Bow; Focusing on keeping the body down enables the most therapeutic qualities of the posture to take place. Steel tiger palm-was a trick Craig showed us to make a clenched grip with your hand including the thumb in your hand grip to ensure you will be able to kick out as much as you can without losing your contact with the ankle. Circulatory irrigation is the most important therapeutic quality.
Kick first to charge the bow. The bow is traced from the foot to the hand.
The only way out is through-exploring your edge is teaching you balance and allowing you to find out how far you can go.
Balancing Stick; (spherical compression) -reaching your furthest point out
hinging on the hips only. Do not worry too much about the hip alignment until second after becoming straight to floor. Eyes direct movement of the spine(use your eyes in this posture without moving your head)
Balancing stick focuses mainly on the central nervous system.
Breathing is the most important thing about maintaining the posture. Once you stop breathing the brain goes into red alert-muscles will cramp more easily and you will be unable to withstand the time in this posture if you are not sustaining your life force.
Separate Leg Standing Stretch; See your ankles roughly lining up with your wrists.
Step gently, arms move immediately (FLUID MOVEMENT) stretch out (spherical compression) the more you stretch the lighter your arms will sustain.
Bring the chin up to help keep the spine straight. Try to touch the hairline of the forehead to the floor.
“Meditate on your breath-only think Inhale and exhale. If you can master this for an entire 90 minutes you are advanced and that is exactly where you want to be.”
Triangle; Be sure to come out of the posture systematically. Both hips forward in set up, once you touch the toes remember to keep hip forward. Keep stretching up continuously. Actively stretch. Hips need to be low enough.
(Mat is roughly 2.5 feet -just to use as a guideline)
“It is normal to be more balanced on one side then the other, the key is to practice your weaker side on your own time to strengthen it.”
“Ask yourself questions during your practice about where your body is in comparison to where it is suppose to be”. “Be Fearless, never Reckless.”
“When you feel that you will pass out or you begin to get dizzy, stop and take 3 DEEP BREATHS and SLOW your breath. Try not to bend over or lean forward as this will only make it harder for your heart to regulate the blood moving throughout your body. Take a knee on the mat and just focus on calming your breath.”
Rabbit; The only key thing to focus on here is sucking in belly button to spine forehead to belly button. Only look at your belly button while curling your back and your chin to your neck. Rabbit Spine is what you want to create!
Stay accountable and honorable to yourself in your practice. When it comes down to it, no one is you, no one is standing on that mat you are on looking in the mirror at you, no one wants your problems as you wouldn't want anyone else's. If you need to stop and take care of yourself that is your decision and you should never feel bad or guilty for that. You are the only one who knows how you feel.
Another interesting take on the practice that Craig likes to do is imagine himself breathing in a beautiful place with the wind blowing in his hair to focus on maintaining that breath especially during balancing stick. Do what you must but remember remember to always breathe. Your breath is your life force as it is the roots/trunk of the tree, if you are unable to consistently breathe normal and slow flow blow in and out you will not be able to sustain the posture you are in, period.
I am so grateful I had the opportunity to be at this seminar and explore another perspective on my practice and on my own awareness. If anyone is thinking of taking that next step to improve their practice, or wants to try Bikram Hot Yoga for the first time, I eagerly and strongly recommend you do. It could be one of the best, life changing decisions you have ever made for yourself. Namaste.
Break down of the seminar:
10:00am-1:50pm-Classroom seminar 1:50pm-2:35pm-break 2:35pm-5:15pm-Classroom Seminar 5:25pm-7:45pm-Hot Class
