Humanity Flow

This week's theme was humanity flow.  Yoga is more than alignment and the outer shape of the pose.  The yoga is how we feel once we're in the pose.  Through yoga we connect with our humanity and then we can share our humanity with those around us.  Our hearts connect.  I think that's a big part of the healing and joy of the practice, and what makes it so powerful, intimate and connecting.  You get to come back to your heart again and again.  

So, we focused on heart opening poses this week:  backbends.  But not a practice of building toward a few bigger backbends at the end of practice.  We focused throughout on cobra, locust, sphinx and eventually supta virasana with yogis exploring a closing backbend of their choice.  

Aligned shoulders are a big part of feeling good in backbends.  Shoulders can be tricky & vulnerable.  In a vinyasa flow class, students commonly strengthen the pushing muscles on the front of the shoulders more through poses like plank, chataranga, and up dog.  Often what is needed is to strengthen the complementary pulling muscles inside the scapula (shoulder/wing bones on your back).  When we get injured, often a common component of an injury is doing too much of one thing and not enough of another.  

I had students focus on strengthening the pulling muscles on their upper back; the muscles between the scapula & the spine.  In our flows, we warmed up with locust, sphinx and variations of cobra instead of up dog.   While there is nothing wrong with up dog, for this practice I wanted to offer students tools to warm up and strengthen their pulling muscles.  When students learn better technique there is less risk and they get stronger faster.  

Another pose that helped deepen this learning was warrior 2.  We did warrior 2 with are arms overhead and light fists with our hands.  Then I asked students to feel like they were doing a pull-up, and very slowly pull their elbows down and out until they reached shoulder height.  I encouraged students to try and keep the activation of their inner shoulder muscles as they straightened their arms parallel to the floor.  To round out our practice, we had fun with some core work, balancing and twisting and going upside down in handstand.  Namaste, Lynn

Longer holds

The image above is one my teachers, Kathryn Budig, reminding us to be playful (hint, hint .... next week's theme!)

This past week we incorporated longer holds into our asana practice.  With lots of vinyasa, and a nice variety of twists and balancing poses, we sprinkled in about 6 longer holds ( 1 minute each ).    

When we can give ourselves time and space to just be in a pose, and we can resist the urge to get out of the pose, then we can start to see our mental and physical states transform.  We might enter the pose fragile, noisy, distracted .... and we can end the pose quiet in the mind and free in the body.  My teacher, Darren Rhodes, calls this "shape shift to state shift".   So with these shapes, your breath, your focus & intentions ... you can shift your state to be who you want to be and how you want to be today.   

We opened with ujjayi breath, then a minute of dog to plank followed by 2 minutes of half salutations.  Onto surya namaskar, a playful kick up to handstand, and then deep into our longer holds.  I'm pretty sure everyone would agree that the highlight of class was the minute hold in boat pose!  Class concluded with pigeon, camel and students could pick their finishing posture then onward to a deep, integrating savasana to experience letting go as a beautiful counter to the strong asana practice. Namaste, Lynn

"You lack nothing" Earth flow

Class this week was a deep, strong Earth flow.   We focused on getting into the legs, feet, hips ... into that grounded strength.  The theme:  "you lack nothing" reminds us that we can always show up, learn, try, grow, but we don't need improving.  

Yoga is a state where nothing is missing.  The real work of yoga is to create a deeper place of ease inside.  In class we experienced both letting go and feeling grounded & supported.  So we could feel that this day lacks nothing, this moment lacks nothing, this pose lacks nothing.  

Students were encouraged to be themselves, not a perfected or improved upon version of themselves.   They were invited to call on their strength and acceptance. We started with breath and students thought about what they wanted to create with their practice as they set an intention.  We warmed the body with surya namaskar followed by strong standing poses including humble Warrior 1 and humble Warrior 2.  Core work and crow occupied the middle of class.  Onward to parvottanasana and revolved triangle.  Once students felt grounded in their strength, we twisted and opened any stuck places students might be harboring feeling of insecurity, inadequacy, unworthiness.  Then we moved into balancing poses and backbends.  Throughout, the contemplation was "how can I experience letting go while equally tapping into the experience of feeling supported and grounded?"  This Earth flow touches on concept of the first Chakra, the root chakra, muladhara, which include a sense of safety, security, belonging and home.  When balanced, you feel stability in your life.

I bow to the place in you where the entire universe dwells; I bow to the place in you that is love, light, peace and truth;  when you are in that place in you & I am in that place in me ... we are one.  Namaste, Lynn

Freedom

Class this week focused on freedom in the side body.  Familiar poses with an emphasis on opening, stretching and finding space in the side body.  The muscles between the ribs are the intercostal muscles.  When they are tight, its hard to take a deep, nourishing breath.  And a deep, nourishing breath is life.  Opening the side body helps everything :)

As we open the side seams of the body it naturally creates some opening in the front of the hips and possibly deeper into the psoas muscles.  Opening laterally into the rib cage also can bring freedom to the quadratus lumborum, a muscle in the back below the lowest rib and above the hip.  It is a tight spot for many of us on our backs.  Students often find this work creates access to deeper twists, forward bends & backbends.    

We opened with deep breathing.  I guided students to put their palms on their ribs and feel the breath in the their hands and ribs.  Then I had them put their right hand on their heart and their left hand on their right hand.  I asked them to observe when they inhale how the belly lowers, the ribs expand laterally and the sternum lifts. This deep, abdominal breathing is very calming for the nervous system.  When we are fearful or anxious, we tend to only breath into our chest.  

Poses included cresent lunge with a side bend, lunge twist with arm over top ear, core work, tree with a side bend, strong leg work in the warrior poses, parsva konasana with the top hand flexed like it was pushing into an imaginary wall, handstand to stretch the side body & ribs to get longer, Goddess pose with arms overhead into side bends, and a partner upavista konasana again opening deeply into the muscles along the side waist.  

Thank you for your feedback and for joining me for practice this week.  Namaste, Lynn

Myths and metaphors behind the Warrior poses

Class this week focused on myth and metaphor.  Many poses you've practiced in yoga are named after sages, animals and warriors.  .  Learning more about the history and symbolism behind the poses can infuse your practice with new inspiration.

There are many stories, myths and philosophy connected with yoga and yoga poses.  In this class we looked at Shiva in the form of the warrior.  Shiva is considered the Lord of the Yogis.  He is seen as the ideal mix of renunciant and householder.  Shiva became upset with the father of the person he was in love with.  Warrior 1, 2 and 3 represent Shiva when he went to defend his beloved.  

Warrior 1 is Shiva taking form out of the ground as he emerged with a sword above his head.  In Warrior 2 the arms represent when Shiva pulls his bow & arrow... the directionality and drishti you need when pulling a bow & arrow.  Warrior 3 is when Shiva really took target in defense of his loved one. 

The metaphor behind it is to have something you're devoted to ... whether its your practice, a person, a job, a pet or even a feeling inside of you when you practice of pure devotion, intention, commitment.  

Then anytime you have challenge:  the metaphor of these poses is that when you take them you gain strength; you're given energy. When you need strength and perhaps feel depleted, these 3 poses taken together in a sequence can help you gain that energy.  

The alignment with the Shiva poses:

* equanimity side to side; centerline work  

* Shiva was very focused and fearless, yet he did his actions with great love, with great yearning.  We repeated the warrior poses a few times throughout the practice.  I encouraged students to practice with a sense of becoming a "warrior in all adversity".  We took on the challenge, and stepped into the magic and mystery of it all.  

Om shanti, shanti, shanti,  Lynn