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Yoga – Standing Forward Bend …

  • April 15, 2009 at 10:19 am

Legs Up The Wall

The StarWell this pose doesn’t necessarily have a name … or not that I know of … can’t say I’ve seen it in books …

But its an incredible tool for revitalizing at the end of a busy work-day … that time between the day and the evening … just before you eat … when you feel the need of something and if you don’t STOP and take a breathe … you can so easily take yourself into a completely different direction to the one you wanted …

A Tricky Time of Day

This is the time when we need to take a moment and re-charge the batteries. So to the process:

  • Start by lying on your back
  • Have your bottom right next to a skirting board in the room
  • Which means the legs have no place to go, but up the wall
  • The legs can fall apart as far as is comfortable, as they rest against the wall
  • Its important for the bottom to be snugly up against the wall with as little space between them, to create a right angle
  • The feet need to be flat out, away from the wall, meaning they should not just slump but instead be themselves at a right angle
  • The arms fall to the side and can relax out from the sides of the body, as feels comfortable
  • Close the eyes and relax
  • Rest there for as long as feels comfortable
  • This provides a great rejuvenation

Perpendicular Creatures

The benefits are manifold, in the main because the legs carry so much of the body’s debris.  As we are perpendicular creatures, spending most of our time either standing upright or sitting down, gravity takes it toll and rubbish collects and sinks into the leg and ankle area.  This pose provides an ‘antidote’ to gravity and allows waste, etc, to galvanize and make its way back up the body.

Iyengar

Gary Carter (my teacher on an Anatomy and Physiology course for Yoga Teachers) stated that Iyengar once said that the diaphragm was another muscle, but he wouldn’t want the west to know it because they would use it as such.  Wat he meant was that

  • The west overuse and abuse the muscular system
  • That the diaphragm has a connection with the leg muscles
  • That the breathe can be used to make that connection
  • Then a realignment can be made to re-balance the imbalance that gravity causes
  • In other words if we just go about life and don’t re-adjust this then the waste materials will continue to collect in the calves and ankes in particular
  • Realignment is imjportant and that broad calves indicate a lack of movement which indicates a dis-function in the system

And Relax

Once the Rejuvenation is complete, you can get on with the rest of the day …  Have you got any other suggestions along similar lines?  Do get in touch and share … would love to hear from your ideas.

Jane

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Yoga – Down Face Dog …

  • April 7, 2009 at 6:36 pm

Yoga Pose

The most well known posture in Yoga is probably the Down Face Dog (DFD) … It usually sits in the centre of a Yoga class … the group will have warmed up to it because it stretches everything.  Once completed, and most sessions will include it like an ‘old favorite’, is followed by the more advanced poses such as the shoulder and headstands that often headline a class.

Because it stretches everything, care is key.  Its so easy to go into the DFD wrongly.  Just getting into the pose from the usual position of being on all-fours, on the mat and of course there are other ways, such as the forward bend, is where an awareness starts.  Often people just lift from the lower to mid-back region to take the arms and legs into full stretch.  The best way to protect the lower back is to push back into a semi-squat taking the legs up that way.

The Posture

Once in the pose its important to become aware of the lower back, and bring it in line with the flat of the rest of the back, rather than a common tendency to over-extend or invert.   The neck should not drop too heavily but instead align with the rest of the spine, while simultaneously opening the chest and keeping the shoulders as far away from the ears as possible.

The Feet

The pose comes from the feet and legs and its more useful to keep the feet flat, with a shorter reach between the feet and hands than it is to stretch the body out and have the heels not touch the ground.  The benefits of the ’shorter dog’ far outweigh the alternative, as the grounding through the legs and feet will over time enable a wider stretch between the feet and hands than does wobbling and not being grounded at all when the heels sit mid-air.  And if nothing else its more encouraging for the participant.

Be careful not to stay for too long in pose, in a competitive way, but similarly stay for a little longer than you think you can.   And relax!

Jane

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