Lolasana

Lolasana - Pendant Poser

When teaching, allot 30 seconds to demo Lolasana, and 1 minute to get your students into the pose.

Little practice sequence to learn Lolasana

1. Utkatasana - compact the legs and lengthen the torso away from the hips
2. Garudasana - utilize the hamstrings to further compact the legs.  
3. Prasarita Padottanasana -
1. first with a concave spine, straighten the arms. 
2. Press the roots of each finger (and thumb!) down as you draw your triceps to the back corners of your armpits.    
4. Prasarita Padottanasana - 
1. bend your elbows and bring your hands in line with your feet.  
2. Press your hands down and draw your elbows towards each other to take your shoulders towards your hips.  
3. Lift your waist, especially the sides of your waist, to round the spine.  
5. Adho Mukha Svanasana - press your hands down to firm your arms and lengthen your side body
6. Dandasana - press your hands down into the floor, just as you did in Prasarita Padottanasana
7. Ardha Navasana - draw the entire abdomen toward your back-body as you compress your hips and legs into mid-line.
8. Lolasana!

Instructions for getting into Lolasana:

1. Sit in Dandasana
2. Cross your legs into siddhasana I
3. Press your hands down into the floor/blocks as your draw your triceps up to straighten your arms.  Work your arms like in Dandasana.
4. Exhale, continue to press down (like in Dandasana) as you draw your side waist up to lift your trunk off the floor.  
5. Draw your tailbone in and your abdomen to your back-body to round your back.
6. Lift your legs up.  Firm and compact your lower legs into your upper legs to left the legs.
7. Point your toes straight back to further compact your legs.

In a nut-shell:

1. Straighten your arms
2. Lift your trunk
3. Engage your core
4. lift your legs

Pandava Bros- Nakula

Each of the brothers symbolizes something.  Nakula, twin brother of Sahadeva, symbolizes Svadhistana, the second chakra.  Nakula and Sahadeva were born to Madri using Kunti's mantra to invoke the Asvins.  Madri is Pandu's second wife.  Kunti is Pandu's first wife.  Both were directly affected by the terrible curse on Pandu that prevented him from having children.  In the perfect work-around, Kunti had a magical mantra to invoke one god (not two, not many) and bear children from the seed of the god.  Kunti shared the magical mantra with Madri who then called down the Ashvins, the two divine horsemen who symbolize sunrise and sunset (somewhat analogous to Pollux and Castor).  Madri had twins, one of whom is Nakula.

Nakula symbolizes the 2nd Chakra, Svadhistana.  The root word "sva" means own, of self, and "adhistana" is a base, or self control.  Nakula is the brother who has self control.

Some factoids about Nakula and Svadhistana:

• Svadhistana is situated in the lower abdomen.
• Svadhistana is associated with the genitals, water element, sound, touch, taste, form, and the hands.
• Nakula is not associated with the sense of smell (although chakra below is associated with smell.  Each progressive chackra loses one of the bindings of sense perception.)
• The bija mantra for Svadhistana is "vam" or "fvam".
• The positive qualities of an in balance Svadhistana chackra, symbolized by the Pandava brother Nakula are control over the senses and self control.  He is rooted in control moore than calmness.  Nakula has taken the task of trining the horses during the incognito period, a task that requires control and skill.  
• Training horses requires more skill than caring for cows.  Horses, like our senses, tend to run wild and plunge into activity.  
• The term in Gyan yoga for self control and steadiness of the senses is "dama".
• The negative qualities of Svadhistana out of balance, symbolized by the Kaurava brother Duhshasana, is anger and hot-headedness, credulity, and disdain.
• The Kaurava brother Jayadratha represents fear of death, and is also a counterpoint to Nakula.  Fear is always intermngled with anger; they stay together in the most subtle and intricate ways and are never without the other.
• Svadhistana has six petals
• bam - credulity
• bham - insensitivity
• mam - neglect, disdain
• yam - suspicion
• ram - destructiveness
• lam - cruelty