marichi d

UPDATE: an alternate version of this post will be added to the blog in the near future

i was doing the pose described in the yoga forum entry pasted below...the pose is called marichyasana d and I treat like an outhouse in Ohio in the 1980s...you get in there do what you have to do and get out...but today was completely different? why? because I was so with the breath that all movement was like union of peanut butter and jelly? hell no! i wish...it was different in that I was in no rush to leave because my gazing point was the cutest 8 month baby I had ever seen, hanging out next to her mom who was practicing yoga. the baby sat there with perfect posture...spine so strait, while the homosexual in front of her tied himself up like a pretzel in some abstract attempt to be a whole lot more like her...sitting there fully aware and present...enjoying her mother and occasionally spontaneously giggling...giggling for no particular reason...just giggling because she could and because being happy is always an option. I didn't know 8 month babies are such good yoga teachers...but i think this is the secret the new parents are all hiding from me...that your baby is your guru and your student at the very same time. how fucking cool is that?

one person's take on marichi d is below and here

Hahaha...you're first mistake was even attempting such foolishness!

Okay, let's assume for the moment that you're body can actually do the pose with or without buttering your hips and duct taping your arm to your knee....

Let's say the left foot is in half lotus and the right foot knee is pointing to the sky. Now pull your right sit bone back and move your right foot a little more to the right. That should widen your base. Now the fun. Sit up tall as you inhale and twist to the right as you exhale. Use your right hand to pull the belly flesh out of the way (if you have a little extra like me). Lean to the right to get your left armpit to the outside of your right knee. Put the right hand back down for support.

Okay here is a good trick: EXTERNALLY ROTATE your left arm first as you press the triceps into the outside of the knee. Then INTERNALLY ROTATE the arm to bring the hand down towards your left hip. Now look over your right shoulder stretch your right arm really far out and EXTERNALLY ROTATE the right arm as far as possible before INTERNALLY ROTATING it to meet the left hand. Left hand grabs right wrist and you try to straighten the right arm.

Okay as for balance remember how you moved your right sit bone back and your foot out to the right more. That should give you a wider base. The right knee should lean in towards the center of the body as the bind tightens. Glue the right foot down and try to pull the heel closer to the sit bone. Now the stability comes from your uddiyana bandha. You keep the navel pulled into the spine and let the breath fill up the kidneys and lengthen your tailbone down towards the floor like an anchor.

Besides all that, it's just practice. The more you do it, the calmer you get in the pose and you find the stillness that you need.