It has been a dreadfully long time since I updated this. I have been working on all sorts of things - including the incorporation of Pilates into both my practice and teaching and considering training as a Pilates teacher as well as a yoga teacher. But for now I thought it was time I put some of the postures I have been writing about together in another sequence.
Once again we'll begin lying down; knees bent, feet on the floor with the heels in line with the sit bones. Place one hand on the chest and one hand on the lower belly and observe the breath and the movement of the breath under the hands for a few moments until the breath has become steady soft and even. You can then hug the knees to the chest and rock on the back in any way that feels good for you. Finish up the centreing part of the practice with any sort of supine twist that is approriate for you. Then come onto the right hand side and come to sitting back on the heels towards the back of the mat.
Time for the surya namaska variation from my post dated 20 January 2009. Take 3-5 rounds, moving slowly with the rhythm of the breath. Finish sitting back on the heels and take a couple of conscious breaths before coming to standing.
Virabhdrasana 1 - use the practice from my post dated 13 January 2009 and repeat 3-5 times on each side.
Parsvokonasana modification - from my post dated 1 April 2009. Repeat 5 times to each side slowly with the rhythm of the breath and then hold for five breaths. Remember that this is the peak of the practice -- the central pose we have been working towards so take it slowly with inner awareness.
Padottanasana variation - from my post dated 6 May 2009.
Step back to standing towards the back of the mat in tadasana, taking a few conscious breaths before coming down to kneeling.
One more round of modified surya namaska - holding the downward dog for five breaths.
Come into savasana for a few moments
Finish the practice with some gentle pranayama. I advise 6 rounds of alternate nostril breathing with a 1:1 ratio.
I will write more on pranayama very very soon :-)
Showing posts with label The Practice of Yoga. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Practice of Yoga. Show all posts
Monday, 29 June 2009
Wednesday, 29 August 2007
Asana and Hierarchy
By practicing yoga, we are not working towards some mythical day when suddenly the scoliosis is gone and the spine is perfectly straight, but instead towards a feeling of ease with our bodies. A revolution within the body occurs as we focus on remediation rather than cure. We must begin to release the muscles that have become so tight and painful over years of making so much effort to stand up straight, and use the extension of the exhalation to open the body and bring new life to the spine.
When it comes to asana practice there may well be need for modification in some of the postures for a student with scoliosis to get the most out of yoga. However, it is important to remember that a modified posture is no less beneficial than practicing the full posture. Too much emphasis is often placed on achieving the "perfect" asana at all costs, with no thought to the fact that all our bodies are different and what may be good for one person may be nigh on impossible for another. The asana practice itself is merely one of the eight limbs of Patanjali's yoga and a stepping stone to achieving Samadhi, it is not so much the posture itself as the mindset behind the posture, getting into the posture and leaving the posture (all of which aspects including Samadhi will be examined later in this blog). It is therefore important to remember not to regard yoga asana with any sense of hierarchy. Just as a very flexible, strong student should not look down upon those unable to do full posture, a student with postural or skeletal difficulties should not feel inferior in any way in the presence of those to whom asana practice comes easily.
It does not matter what kind of shape your body is in when you start your practice. Just having a body - being alive - is sufficient qualification for doing yoga.
-- Total Yoga - Tara Fraser (Duncan Baird Publishing 2001 - p.28)
Asana practice is one step of yoga; it is just as important to cultivate stillness, compassion and deep yogic breathing (which I will discuss further at a later stage). It is also important to release the temptation of rushing ahead into a posture we are not ready for, but instead to listen to our bodies and work within our own personal limitations and capabilities.
...if we are to be complete human beings we must incorporate allaspects of ourselves, and do so step by step
-- The Heart of Yoga - TKV Desikachar (Inner Traditions International 1999 - p.7)
When it comes to asana practice there may well be need for modification in some of the postures for a student with scoliosis to get the most out of yoga. However, it is important to remember that a modified posture is no less beneficial than practicing the full posture. Too much emphasis is often placed on achieving the "perfect" asana at all costs, with no thought to the fact that all our bodies are different and what may be good for one person may be nigh on impossible for another. The asana practice itself is merely one of the eight limbs of Patanjali's yoga and a stepping stone to achieving Samadhi, it is not so much the posture itself as the mindset behind the posture, getting into the posture and leaving the posture (all of which aspects including Samadhi will be examined later in this blog). It is therefore important to remember not to regard yoga asana with any sense of hierarchy. Just as a very flexible, strong student should not look down upon those unable to do full posture, a student with postural or skeletal difficulties should not feel inferior in any way in the presence of those to whom asana practice comes easily.
It does not matter what kind of shape your body is in when you start your practice. Just having a body - being alive - is sufficient qualification for doing yoga.
-- Total Yoga - Tara Fraser (Duncan Baird Publishing 2001 - p.28)
Asana practice is one step of yoga; it is just as important to cultivate stillness, compassion and deep yogic breathing (which I will discuss further at a later stage). It is also important to release the temptation of rushing ahead into a posture we are not ready for, but instead to listen to our bodies and work within our own personal limitations and capabilities.
...if we are to be complete human beings we must incorporate allaspects of ourselves, and do so step by step
-- The Heart of Yoga - TKV Desikachar (Inner Traditions International 1999 - p.7)
Friday, 24 August 2007
Scaravelli, Tadasana and the breath
One of the most influential books I have read about yoga and the spine is Veda Scravelli's Awakening the Spine. Her most powerful metaphor is likening the human back to the trunk of a tree. A tree grows in two opposite directions - the roots are pulled deeply down to the centre of the earth whilst the trunk grows up towards the sky, elongating and spreading into branches. The deeper the roots grow, the stronger and taller the tree.
Likewise the spine moves from the waist up into the air and down into the earth.
If the spine is not straight, however, there is a feeling of not being grounded. Scoliosis sufferers often complain of a feeling of not being balanced. Whilst the spine is growing in two opposite directions from the waist it is not in a direct way. Scoliosis sufferers commonly simultaneously suffer from conditions such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. From a physical perspective this is not suprising as their chest capacity is limited. However from a more metaphysical point of view we can liken the spine to a fibre optic cable, such as that used for an internet network; to work correctly the fibre optic needs a clear line of sight, the energy it carries cannot move around corners. In the same way the path of energy that travels up the scoliatic spine finds limitations in its movement. By working on a feeling of lengthening and elongating we can help the energy within us to flow more freely.
As we grow older our skeleton becomes more rigid and heavy, and so if a skeletal problem is not diagnosed until adulthood (as with my scoliosis), there is very little chance of being able to fix the problem with bracing and surgery. Instead we have to re-educate the spine and release tense muscles. Chiropractors and massage therapists can help with this re-education, but so can the concept of breath and movement that is yoga. it is extremely important therfore for scoliosis sufferers to practice a feeling of lengthening and elongating their spines.
A simple asana for practicing symmetrical alignment is Tadasana or mountain pose. Stand with the feet hip distance apart, rotating the thighs slightly away from each other, lifting the arches of the feet whilst making sure the big toe joint remains firmly on the floor. A good way of grounding the feet in Tadasana is to think about three points on each foot, the big toe joint, the little toe and the heel, drawing down into the floor. Then draw the navel gently in towards the spine, make sure the shoulders are back and down and the shoulderblades are flat. It is important to take some time to come into the posture correctly.
Now notice if you are leaning to one side, if there is more weight on one foot than the other. If there is try to evenly distribute the weight between the two feet. Using a mirror or a partner notice and observe whether the shoulders and hips are at even height. Spend some time now trying to re-align your "plumbline", evening up the shoulders and aligning the head over the pelvis. At first this re-alignment may feel crooked! This is because you are starting to break na habitual stance.
As you learn to realign the "plumbline" of your body you are realigning bones, muscle and tissue. This will help you gradually learn to relax in a standing posture instead of gripping or overworking to remain upright. You may find that you are gripping on to the floor with your toes rathern than allowing your feet to be soft. Lift the toes, place them gently on to the floor without gripping and realign yourself again.
Bring your awareness to your breath with each exhalation feel that the spine is stretching and elongating. Some yoga students with scoliosis find that visualising the breath travelling up and down the spine helps.
...yoga encourages us to focus our minds and be aware of the internal flow of energy."
-- Total Yoga - Tara Fraser - Duncan Baird Publishing 2001 (p.13)
There is no better way to practice this awareness than watching the path of the breath within our bodies.
Likewise the spine moves from the waist up into the air and down into the earth.
If the spine is not straight, however, there is a feeling of not being grounded. Scoliosis sufferers often complain of a feeling of not being balanced. Whilst the spine is growing in two opposite directions from the waist it is not in a direct way. Scoliosis sufferers commonly simultaneously suffer from conditions such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. From a physical perspective this is not suprising as their chest capacity is limited. However from a more metaphysical point of view we can liken the spine to a fibre optic cable, such as that used for an internet network; to work correctly the fibre optic needs a clear line of sight, the energy it carries cannot move around corners. In the same way the path of energy that travels up the scoliatic spine finds limitations in its movement. By working on a feeling of lengthening and elongating we can help the energy within us to flow more freely.
As we grow older our skeleton becomes more rigid and heavy, and so if a skeletal problem is not diagnosed until adulthood (as with my scoliosis), there is very little chance of being able to fix the problem with bracing and surgery. Instead we have to re-educate the spine and release tense muscles. Chiropractors and massage therapists can help with this re-education, but so can the concept of breath and movement that is yoga. it is extremely important therfore for scoliosis sufferers to practice a feeling of lengthening and elongating their spines.
A simple asana for practicing symmetrical alignment is Tadasana or mountain pose. Stand with the feet hip distance apart, rotating the thighs slightly away from each other, lifting the arches of the feet whilst making sure the big toe joint remains firmly on the floor. A good way of grounding the feet in Tadasana is to think about three points on each foot, the big toe joint, the little toe and the heel, drawing down into the floor. Then draw the navel gently in towards the spine, make sure the shoulders are back and down and the shoulderblades are flat. It is important to take some time to come into the posture correctly.
Now notice if you are leaning to one side, if there is more weight on one foot than the other. If there is try to evenly distribute the weight between the two feet. Using a mirror or a partner notice and observe whether the shoulders and hips are at even height. Spend some time now trying to re-align your "plumbline", evening up the shoulders and aligning the head over the pelvis. At first this re-alignment may feel crooked! This is because you are starting to break na habitual stance.
As you learn to realign the "plumbline" of your body you are realigning bones, muscle and tissue. This will help you gradually learn to relax in a standing posture instead of gripping or overworking to remain upright. You may find that you are gripping on to the floor with your toes rathern than allowing your feet to be soft. Lift the toes, place them gently on to the floor without gripping and realign yourself again.
Bring your awareness to your breath with each exhalation feel that the spine is stretching and elongating. Some yoga students with scoliosis find that visualising the breath travelling up and down the spine helps.
...yoga encourages us to focus our minds and be aware of the internal flow of energy."
-- Total Yoga - Tara Fraser - Duncan Baird Publishing 2001 (p.13)
There is no better way to practice this awareness than watching the path of the breath within our bodies.
Thursday, 23 August 2007
The Practice Begins
As I began in earnest to practice yoga asana again I noticed a lot of tightness in my upper back, neck and shoulder girlde that had not been there as a teenager. It was amazing to me how quickly and easily we can allow our bodies to fall into disrepair and neglect. Just a few short years seemed to have set me back a lifetime. I hadn't put on weight, I still swam and walked everywhere but a lack of full body movement exercise combined with sitting at a desk all day had exacerbated the tightness and immobility that the curvature of my spine caused.
I decided to consult a chiropractor, recommended to me by a yoga teacher, and my scoliosis was officially diagnosed for the first time. The subsequent Xray and chiropractic report can be seen in the first post of this blog. On seeing the evidence and, to my mind, severity of the Xray and hearing the report I was initally in shock. But luckily my years of yoga practice had done more than help my scoliosis physically. The philosophical and inward reflecting nature of yoga had helped me to understand that we are all here for a reason, we are all different and we have to love the bodies that we are given.
I will go into the concepts of letting go of our material nature and emotion at a later date, but for now suffice to say that my yoga practice helped me to come to terms with my spine and I soon began an intensive course of physical therapy to compliment my asana practice and to help reverse the muscle develompent which had occurred as a result of my scoliosis causing pain numbness and tightness. As my neck and shoulders started to release, I began to release a lot of emotion. I had been holding that tension in my back neck and shoulders for years. Because that is the part of me that is "made wrong" it's where all the negative emotions had gone and I finally started to let stuff go. I rode the wave of these emotions for weeks and veered from crying to giggling uncontrolably often!
And so I began to explore and heal my body with yoga, a course of action which led to yoga teacher training and beginning to teach yoga to others.
I have come to love my Xray. It still takes my breath away but for quite different reasons. It is something I can't change. It makes me unique. It reminds me of the uniqueness and indivicuality of all the bodies in the universe. It reminds me that our physical bodies are temporary. This is the body I've been given and I must love it for it houses my Spirit. Crooked spine and all. It's also made me more aware in my yoga practice and what my body was created to do. I can translate my own weaknesses into those of my students too and really try and understand their bodies, their areas of tension and weakness. In many ways, my spine is a blessing.
Yoga practice teaches us and gives us the tools to let go.
Developing this ability to let go builds inner strength and helps relieve suffering.
-- Yoga Therapies - Jessie Chapman - Ulysses Press 2003 (p.11)
I decided to consult a chiropractor, recommended to me by a yoga teacher, and my scoliosis was officially diagnosed for the first time. The subsequent Xray and chiropractic report can be seen in the first post of this blog. On seeing the evidence and, to my mind, severity of the Xray and hearing the report I was initally in shock. But luckily my years of yoga practice had done more than help my scoliosis physically. The philosophical and inward reflecting nature of yoga had helped me to understand that we are all here for a reason, we are all different and we have to love the bodies that we are given.
I will go into the concepts of letting go of our material nature and emotion at a later date, but for now suffice to say that my yoga practice helped me to come to terms with my spine and I soon began an intensive course of physical therapy to compliment my asana practice and to help reverse the muscle develompent which had occurred as a result of my scoliosis causing pain numbness and tightness. As my neck and shoulders started to release, I began to release a lot of emotion. I had been holding that tension in my back neck and shoulders for years. Because that is the part of me that is "made wrong" it's where all the negative emotions had gone and I finally started to let stuff go. I rode the wave of these emotions for weeks and veered from crying to giggling uncontrolably often!
And so I began to explore and heal my body with yoga, a course of action which led to yoga teacher training and beginning to teach yoga to others.
I have come to love my Xray. It still takes my breath away but for quite different reasons. It is something I can't change. It makes me unique. It reminds me of the uniqueness and indivicuality of all the bodies in the universe. It reminds me that our physical bodies are temporary. This is the body I've been given and I must love it for it houses my Spirit. Crooked spine and all. It's also made me more aware in my yoga practice and what my body was created to do. I can translate my own weaknesses into those of my students too and really try and understand their bodies, their areas of tension and weakness. In many ways, my spine is a blessing.
Yoga practice teaches us and gives us the tools to let go.
Developing this ability to let go builds inner strength and helps relieve suffering.
-- Yoga Therapies - Jessie Chapman - Ulysses Press 2003 (p.11)
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