a center for
personal and planetary
awakening

Mystic River Yoga
214 Crosby St.

Arlington, MA 02474

781 643-0117
info@MysticRiverYoga.com

Introduction

12 Principles of Awakening

Spiritual Foundation

Scientific Foundation

Embodying the Practice

Collective Awakening

                      Beginning Course

                       5th Practice Theme:

               Lateral Flexion and Extension

                                     or

                             Fish Body

    Starting in skiers tadasana, find the balance of weight and lightness as a current of energy flowing through you. Relax into ground and feel/sense/see the space around you. Feel alive and present. In the previous lesson, we examined the act of bending forward and coming back up right and discoverd that if the legs stay engaged and alive, the pelvis moves though space and the body feel safe as it moves up and down. No unnecessary tension arises and the movements are effortless. Now we will explore a different pelvic action: lateral flexion and extension.

   Mammals primary movements come from what is known as sagital flexion and extension, or what in yoga is called forward and backward bending. Our ancestors, the reptiles, amphibians and fish use a different action. They move sideways, or what we will call lateral flexion and extension or the fish body move. The primary pose here is trikonasana, the triangle pose.

                                        Trikonasana

  As previousy noted, all the structures of the feet are involved in providing a stable base. Here we begin with a wide stance, 3- 4 ft apart, or about the length of your legs, so you create a triangle with the two feet and the base of the spine as the three corners. Because side bending of the spine is much more natural than in the pelvis, the yogis adapted the triangle by turning one foot 90 degrees out (the front foot) and one 60 degrees in (the back foot). See photo.

Now imagine your tail is long like a fish, extending to the floor betweenn your legs. Keeping your legs relatively straight, as best you can swing the tip of your tail toward and beyond the back leg and let the pelvis follow along an arc, when you get to the end of the movement, pause and return back to the beginning, like the swinging of a pendulum. Repeat again several times and then change sides.

               Parsvakonasana and Virabhadrasana II

The next posture is a continuation of the trikonasana action with an additional piece. As you swing the tail and let the pelvis follow, allow the front knee to bend, moving on a straight line toward the front foot. To protect the inner structures of the knee, the knee should never extend beyond the ankle and should not wobble or veer inward. See photo. At the end of the movement pause and reverse, moving as smoothly and slowly as possible. Repeat the action several times and then change sides.

    This brings us back to our first asana mantra which is "Not the Knees!"As mentioned before we all have an unfortunate tendency to use the knees inappropriately. Let the knees be receptive and supported by the feet.

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The Science Cells and Tissues Neuronantomy Fluid Systems   The Practice: Practice Themes for Beginners Practice Themes for Intermediates Practice Themes for advanded students Essays on Teaching

photo 1 skier tadasana

photo 2 Wide stance

photo 3 feet for trikonasana

photo 4

photo 5

photo 6