The Mandala Of The Trikona Workshop

Instructor Matt Harris states that the focus of this almost 3-hour workshop will be on “triangular-shaped poses.” He has his students begin seated, allowing for a brief pause in meditation before starting the class. Following this, Harris explains that because this is a workshop, it will not consist solely of practice. In fact, for the first 25 minutes or so, Harris offers a combined mini-lecture/discussion, exploring the theme of triangles and the related concept of domes. (During this part of the workshop, Harris is using a white board to illustrate, which obviously is lost on those listening along at home.)Much of this practice has a strong emphasis on the movement on the pelvis, and thus Harris begins the asana work on hands and knees for cat/cow poses. Eventually, he brings the group to their feet for half sun salutations, continuing to concentrate on how the pubic area is affected. Moving into a wide-legged series, Harris starts to draw the attention more to the tripod of the feet. About one hour into the workshop, he asks the participants to move their mats to the wall, where they continue this concentration on the feet.Harris has his students remain at the wall for standing poses. He starts with “open pelvic poses,” the chief example of which is triangle. Harris has the class experiment with moving into this posture in several different ways, and he concludes this series with half moon. The closed pelvic poses center around revolved triangle. Harris then brings the group back to the floor for a sequence of seated poses, including ado muka bharadvajasana, or dying warrior. As the workshop starts winding down, Harris instructs the participants to grab stability balls for some backbending work; this segment culminates in upward bow using the ball.With just under 25 minutes left, Harris leads the class through a finishing sequence. This consists mainly of variations on reclining hand-to-big toe pose, but Harris has the students use a strap looped under their backs to support the leg rather than their hands. The theme of exploring the triangle shape, or tripod, continues even during this work. Harris allows time for a brief relaxation (about 5 minutes) and a few questions before concluding the session. Although the audio format is not the ideal match for an intensive workshop such as this one (not only does the listener miss out on some of the details of the class by not being there, but also the extraneous sounds from Harris’s mic can be somewhat distracting at times), those looking to advance and enrich their yoga training may still find this in-depth class to be worthwhile.