Gormaukasna is known as the head of a cow face.  The arms are the horns, the space between the knees is the mouth and the feet are the ears!  Make sense?! 
It is a pose that I hold a certain fondness for not only because of its bodily benefits - which are huge - a powerful hip and shoulder opener!  But also because of this resemblance to the face of a cow.  During my travels in India I grew to love the sight of the sacred cows roaming the streets, standing in the middle of the streets whilst traffic whirled around them, horns huge and often painted, with an unshakable calmness amongst the constant chaos.  If we can learn to practice that awareness, as the cows do, to observe the madness that is going on all around us - either on or off the mat, and stay centered in our own sacred space, holding our ground and embodying our truth then we are in  yoga.

In the improvers classes in July we have been focusing on Ardha Chandrasana or Half moon posture as it translates from Sanskrit.  The Sanskrit word chandra refers to the brilliance of the moon. In a pose like Ardha Chandrasana, the extension of your torso in one direction and the uplifted leg in the other draws a line that represents the flat edge of a half moon, while the energy in your extended arms and standing leg radiate out like beams in the night sky.
We have been playing with the balance element in this posture that comes from strong roots through the feet.  As those of you that come to my classes will know, I put a lot of emphasis on Tadasana as I know that feeling of stability and uplift that is accessed in this pose will lend insight in to every standing pose.  I like to remember that it is always a process of balance throughout the practice, that there is no one point that we are trying to reach but paying attention to the continual unfolding of movements along the way to learn more about our bodies and ourselves.  
We have also been opening the hips and gently encouraging the hamstrings to relax.  In this way the lifted leg is able to extend towards 90 degree and this makes for a long spine, which means that the chest is free to stay parallel to the wall and this in turn encourages open shoulders, with one hand rooted in to the ground and the other extending upwards.   Therefore in all directions the limbs of the body are extending like rays of the moon and there can be a feeling a great expansion within the posture.  
The benefit of Ardha Chanrandrasana are:-

• Helps with some kinds of lower back pain
• Strengthens back, legs, hips, and abdomen
• Increases flexibility of spinal muscles and shoulders
• Eases premenstrual tension
• Increases balance, co-ordination and concentration

This has been a very fitting time to practice Ardha Chandrana as we have been experiencing the third big bright super moon of three in 2013 recently, with the full moon falling on July 22nd - 23rd.  

I am running beginners and improvers classes at the beautiful 14 Alva Street.  Each month we will have a special peak posture that we are going to be focusing on and finding new ways to explore and experiment with.  This means that throughout the month we will be looking at the areas of the body that we need to work on in terms of flexibility and strength to see how we can access the posture.  Spending a whole month focusing on one posture seems like a lot but there is a huge amount to learn in each yoga posture and in this way students can build up a bank of knowledge on it and see themselves progress as the month goes on.  Of course there will be different postures that we will be practicing in the lead up to our peak posture every week and lots of room to try new things.  This way we also get the chance to explore deeper in to things as well as broader and see what can be discovered afresh about the peak focus postures.  This quote says a lot to me about how I feel about working on yoga asana.  However, the top of the mountain (perfect posture) is not the goal in yoga and maybe it does not even exist, just your own expression right now!“Mountains should be climbed with as little effort as possible and without desire. The reality of your own nature should determine the speed. If you become restless, speed up. If you become winded, slow down. You climb the mountain in an equilibrium between restlessness and exhaustion.” 
― Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values
I hope to share some of the monthly focuses in this blog.  Please check back and see!

I have bare feet a lot of the time.  For yoga, of course, but also just to walk around the house.  As a treat to myself I will take my shoes as I walk on Portobello beach or through the Edinburgh meadows grass.  I love that feel of the physical ground beneath my feel.  It is somehow nourishing and feels childlike, carefree and connected.  There is a whole barefoot movement out there:- http://www.barefooters.org/index.html and lots of evidence and theories of why it is so good for you, but mainly I just love the feel of it.
All this exposure means my feet need some tlc.  So here is how to look after your feet with homemade polish which is chemical free, really cheap and so good for you!  
1 - Fill an old jam jar 1/3 full of sugar or salt.  This will be the abrasive which will get rid of the dead skin leaving your feet super smooth.  You can experiment with adding different size crystals from rock salt to caster sugar depending of how you prefer the texture.
2 - Pour over oil (could be olive or almond or sunflower or whatever you prefer, I am currently using rapeseed) to just over the sugar/salt line.  Oiling your feet is really nourishing for the skin and soothing for the mind, as there are many nerve endings in the feet.  It is an age old ayuredic practice.  This link will give you more info on this and what oil is the best one for your to use depending on your dosha (constituency).
http://www.ayurvedichealing.com/blog/2011/05/11/benefits-abhyanga-oil-massage
3 - Add your favorite essential oil, perhaps tea tree or lavender, so that your feet will smell nice as well as being beautiful too.
4 - Use the scrub in the shower, massaging it in to your feet a few times a week.
Let me know how you get on!

I love chocolate and all things baked!  I have been vegan for about 7 years now.  The two have resulted in many interesting experiments in the kitchen.  I have had many many disasters and a fair few triumphant and spectacular successes.  This one goes in the later category:-

I have just come back from Australia where I had my first solo art exhibition.http://kristinahanson.weebly.com/

I have been in training for the Brighton Marathon since before Christmas and it is coming up in six weeks time now. Tomorrow will be my first time attempting 20K!  I will then be able to gauge a little better what 42K might feel like.  I have been inspired by the book 'What I talk about when I talk about running' by  Haruki Murakami, one of my favorite writers.  This book is about his life as a writer and as a long distance runner and how the two go together.  In it Murakami talks a lot about the mental attitude of a long distance runner and how it is similar to the one needed to write novels.  The ability to carry on, moving through what you need to get through, with no goal in sight, or so far off it is best not to think of it.  I could not help comparing this to yoga and the attitude that yogis try to cultivate of non attachment, trying to stay within the moment and work not for your rewards.  Its true that there is a main goal in the marathon for me of getting to the end, but if I fix my mind on this from the start it would be easy to give up as it seems so far away.  Better I think to try enjoy the journey, or try to live it moment by moment, whatever it may bring.  Today on my way training run home from work I stopped a heron in the water of Leith, one of my favorite moments of the day!The charity that I am running for is Greenpeace and I need as many sponsors as possible to help me raise lots of money for their awe inspiring campaigns.  Please sponsor me at www.bmycharity.com/Kristina.  Thank you!

I have been doing loads of interesting things in India so far, learning to cook curries, trekking in the mountains, and of course doing lots of yoga.  There are so many things to learn here it is hard to know where to start!
I was asking after a meditation class at the Sivananda center the other day and was told there was none on.  The monk talking to me told me that I would be welcome to go and meditate on my own in one of the temples, that I did not need any instructions or a group.  In this sacred place all I had to do was sit and listen to my inner voice for guidance.  The sitting and listening is all that is required, to be present.  It was a beautiful reminder to me and I am thankful for the lesson.

I have been staying in Santosh Puri Ashram, India for the past few days.  I felt held in this sacred place and would recommend it to anyone wanting to have authentic teaching in a family environment.  The yoga practice in the morning was simple and at first try a childlike approach but in time I really got in to the spirit of things.  We were encouraged in each posture to be the animal, be the cat, be the eagle, be the camel, letting each form emerge from the infinite in to the finite and then return, in this way confronting death, rebirth, any the many forms of the formless.  Each posture was accompanied by the noise of the animal!  There was much giggling had out of class about this but once I allowed myself to get past feeling really silly, I got in to it.  I felt this approach got close to how the yogis of old thought up the postures, being inspired to take the forms of animals.  Why don't you try it out (in your personal practice!) and let your imagination run free and wild.