Somewhere around five hundred years before the birth of Christ, Prince Siddhartha Gautama left the abundant luxuries of his father's palace. At his birth, it had been foretold that he would either become a great king or a great sage. His father wanted to insure the former, so he banished any examples of suffering - age, sickness, death - or spiritual teachings from the palace. Even so, over the years the young prince caught sight of four things that gave him pause: a weak old man, a sick man, a corpse and a serene renunciate. In this way he began to realize the true nature of the world. He became determined to seek out the cause and the solution to the fundamental problem of existence and so began his quest to end the cycles of suffering.

This notion of release from misery was not a new idea, even then. From time immemorial, women and men have had an inkling of hope that there might be a way to end the turbulence of daily life. We cannot possibly know for how many thousands of years we humans have appealed to imagined higher beings that we hope have some sway over our world, our lives, our destinies, and to whom we might petition for our salvation.

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I had my wisdom teeth out on Friday, so I won't be practicing much for a few days yet, but in my stir-crazy frame of mind, I thought I would have a go at working out the last sequence, for big backbends. Here goes...

Adho Mukha Shvanasana
Adho Mukha Vrkshasana

Shirshasana I
Shirshasana II
Shirshasana III
Baddha Hasta Shirshasana
Mukta Hasta Shirshasana

Supta Virasana
Paryankasana
Pincha Mayurasana
Sayanasana

Urdhva Dhanurasana
Urdhva Dhanurasana - drop-back from Tadasana
Viparita Chakrasana

Kapotasana

Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana
Dwi Pada Viprita Dandasana - drop-back from Shirshasana
Dwi Pada Viprita Dandasana - hop-up from Shirshasana

Eka Pada Viparita Dandasana
Mandalasana

Vrischikasana I to chair
Vrischikasana I
Vrischikasana I - hop-ups from chair

Vrischikasana II
Vrischikasana II - drop-backs and hop-ups

Salamba Sarvangasana I
Setu Bandha Sarvangasana - drop-backs/hop-ups

Ardha Halasana
Pashchimottanasana

Shavasana