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| Awakening and Yoga | ||||||||
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center for Arlington, MA 02474
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Beginning Course 4th Practice Themes: Mammalian Flexion and Extension Spinal Curves Growing a Tail
Our second trinity builds upon the foundation of the first with mindfulness, attention to the breath and the balance of weight and lightness as the constants in all postures. Now we will explore the basic mammalian movement, forward flexion and backward extension. From dogs cats and squirrels to porpoises and whales, mammmals use the power of this action to move through the world. In hatha yoga we find this in forward bending and back bending poses and we see how nature has created the spinal curves to facilitate movement even as we stand. The human species are included in the larger category of vertebrates, the creatures with backbones. We have a bony protection for our spinal cord, the vital link between our brain and the rest of the body, and we carry this around with us wherever we go. Thus the spine plays a huge role in movement. As a matter of fact, when the fish invented vertebrae, they did not need to use limbs for movement. They move their tails from side to side to propel themselves through the water. Our limbs began as fins to help steer and these gradually emerged as limb buds and, when the amphibians crawled out onto shore, fully functional weight bearing limbs. First, lets get a visual sense of the spine. In photo 1 we see the spine as a whole. We have a head and tail at the ends, and, in between, 3 distinct regions shaped by curves. Starting from the tail and moving up we first find the lower or lumbar/sacral spine. These bones are large and strong, but the soft tissues structures are very vulnerable to stress and kinesiologically poor movements and thus the source of much pain and suffering. Next come the thoracic vertebrae which, because of the extra support the ribs, are relatively stable, but can easily become rigid. Finally the cervical or neck vertebrae connect the chest with the skull. These have the most movement possibilities and, because of misuse as in the lumbar region, are often the source of pain and discomfort Now lets examine the curves more closely. The middle or thoracic curve moves out away form the interior of the body. It is the core of the primary or (it looks just like the letter 'C') "C"curve) that is the shape of the spine in utero. Inside this very stable curve sits the well protected heart and lungs as well as the kidneys, liver, pancreas and spleen. Above and below, in the human upright posture, the lumbar and cervical curves both bend into the body. They are called secondary curves as they are learned in postural development and they provide flexibility to allow powerful movements of the body and elasticity to maintain strength. The cervical curve begins whena baby first starts to look around at the world and learns to move the head. When the toddler begins to stand and walk, the lumbar curve will arise for balance and strenght. Feel your own spinal curves. Trace the 's' like shape they create. We will be exploring these in every pose we practice.
Skiers Tadasana Begin in the "skiers tadasana" introduced at the end of the last lesson. Standing with you feet hip distance apart, relax your knees just enough to allow your weight to drop into your feet, and if possible to drop through the floor and down into the earth. Imagine there are living energetic roots extending down from your body, through the bones of your feet, deep into the earth. With your feet well planted, or splatted, as my friend Caryn would say, let the rest of your body relax. You will feel a sense of movement around the ankle bones, as if there were ball bearings (talus bones) and lubrication (synovial fluid) in your ankles. Your feet remain stable while the rest of the body is free to subtly micromove to sustain balance. In the Intermediate course we will look more deeply at the nature of these subtle movements, but for know just feel the sense of stability and relaxation that flows through time. No need to contract or hold on for support or balance. The body self corrects automatically when it is relaxed and feels the contact of the ground. This is the key for a tightrope walker. The extra quality they bring is heightened focus, but balance is fundamentally relaxation and grounding. Now notice that when you are balanced your knees come slightly forward of center and your hips move slightly backward. The legs are mimicing the spinal curves, the knees being the secondary curve, like the lumbar and cervical, and the hips being the primary curve. Energetically, these links appear all through the postures. Prasarita Padottanasana and Double Action Now step your feet quite a bit wider apart and we will a variation of tadasana. Keeping the feet planted and the ankles free, let there be more weight on the inner edges of the feet, without collapsing the arches. If you were skiing or ice skating, you would be on your inner edges. This is because of the angle of the legs is now diagonal to the ground and this defines the primary line of energy of movement. Now find your hip joints, where the thigh bones join the pelvis, and from here recreate the feeling of sitting into your feet and relaxing the whole body, a wide leg tadasana. Notice how this feels different from when the feet were closer together. The wider base usually offers a bit more stability. Now lets add movement. Begin to move your hips backward, as if you are sticking out your butt or elongating your tail bone, while at the same time slightly bending the knees, keeping the weight in the feet. As your hips go back you will start to tilt forward. If you stay relaxed and strong in your feet, the spine will stay relaxed and you can lengthen it forward in the opposite direction of your hips. Let your arms hang down until they reach the floor. Keep the felt sense of weight in the feet and avoid tightening the knees to stabilize or move the body. When you reach the floor, slowly reverse direction to come up again. Repeat like an effortless pendulum until the movement is easy and the balance remains undisturbed. Uttanasana Now bring your feet hip width apart. Relax into the skiiers pose. begin to extend your tail and hips backward and up along an arc, and release your torso forward and down allowing your hands or finger tips to touch the floor. Going down is easier than coming back. Most beginners will somehow contract the spine to pull themselves up. Because poor posture and body mechanics can lead to disc issues in the lower spine, students are often taught to come up with 'a straight back'. This is another of the insidious half truths of the yoga world. While it is true that the psoas muscle may inappropriately contract to help bend forward, creating tight erector muscles to counteract the tight psoas just perpetuates the constrictions. The key to coming up safely is to stay in the legs and use the tail to help find the bottom of the sitting bones. The tail swings around, the pelvis comes under, the torso lengthens from the inside and the spine is safe. Bending the knees in the skiers pose is the key. Other forward bending poses Seated forward bending poses are ammong the most difficult and will be covered in the intermediate section. Parvottanasa involves pelvic rotation and will be coverd in section 6. Dog pose will be covered in section 8.
Remember our first asana mantra "Not the Knees!"All students, especially beginners have to be aware of the unfortunate tendency to use the knees inappropriately. Let the knees be elastic, receptive and supported by the feet. Relaxing the knees is not to be confused with collapsing into the knees. In that case, the feet are not connecting to ground and the weight of the body sinks into the knee joints. We do not want to go there! Feet, ankles, knees and hips work as a single intelligence to help move the body while releasing unnecessary tension in the spinal column.
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photo 1 skier tadasana
photo 2 tuck/forwd fold
photo 3 knee focus
photo 4 wall tadasana photo 5 feet close up photo 6 dual action in prasarita padottanasana |
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