You've just experienced the bandhas. True, there's far more practice, finesse and exploration to do, but it would be disappointing if 7,000 years of investigating the human body were completely revealed in a 30 second exercise. This is, of course, just the beginning. In May's Yinyasative classes, we'll be using three different breathing techniques to connect to, engage and release and explore the usefulness of the bandhas. While pelvic floor connection and engagement does indeed have the benefits showcased on "The View," you now also see some of the more mundane, but at least as practically applicable benefits of exploring this connection. We'll then take that sense of connection and apply it in a variety of postures to create experience and strength in the "true core." Join us to be guided through a selection of some of these postures and techniques in every class (we'll get through this and more in the workshop on the 16th, with modifications available for all levels). Check out the small group class schedule and scroll down to register for your first free class!
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I get it. You're falling in love with yoga and you want to make sure you have everything you're going to need, and maybe a few shiny things to spare. Truth is, though, there's not much gear to get set up. One of the many beauties of yoga. Most folks practice with a mat and though even this is optional, you'll probably want one. If you come to OMA to practice with me, you may use a borrowed mat and block, but having your own for ongoing practice is advisable and usually quite affordable. They are portable ways to create a special space and get your attention focused on yoga. Learning to practice sans mat is equally useful as having the option to use one. You'll discover a whole new level of core engagement and realize how much the mat really does. As you become more connected and stronger you'll discover exactly how to provide the same stability for yourself. Sometimes you'll find yourself without a mat, though, when you really want to break into a Down Dog or Cobra. Maybe you forgot to stash your mat in the trunk, which you realize on the way to class or it's in a suitcase that gets behind. You just don't always have a mat when you need to have some yoga. Blocks are also optional, but make for a much more aligned seated posture for the grand majority of people. Blankets do just as well as blocks if you prefer them. The idea is to elevate your sitting bones - the bony projections on the bottom of your pelvis - so they are able to point straight down instead of forward due to tight hamstrings, inner thighs or even just bony anatomy. You always want your knees lower than your hips in seated postures. Cushions, bolsters, eye pillows and blankets are helpful for optimal sitting position, feeling muscular engagement in poses, assisting with balance and setting up restorative and meditative postures. Straps are useful for connecting hands behind the back, for connecting hands to feet in balance postures while maintaining healthy alignment and also some restorative postures. You may not always have Mom around to be your bolster in restorative backbends: :-) So here are some options to get you started. I'm not affiliated with any of these companies, but they are companies I source my own gear through. REI has great mats you can get your hands on, if there's one in your area. They carry my personal fave (though it's the spendiest, too): Manduka Pro and Prolite. This is the mat I've practiced on for 11 years. There've been others along the way, but I always come back for comfort, no-nonsense surface, a little cushion and unparalleled durability. (The lifetime guarantee is no joke.) It's adjustable shoulder strapped carrying case with a little zip pocket is a welcome bonus, especially when hiking. The best deals that I've found are on YogaDirect where I buy supplies for teaching and you can buy just one of anything. Start with little things and remember its about how you feel and what you can feel, how you live in your body. What are your favorite sources and props? How do you use them? Leave a comment below and be entered into a drawing for a Half Hour Private Yoga Lesson at the end of August! "We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled; the trick is knowing how to tip ourselves over an let the beautiful stuff out." ~Ray Bradbury
Imagine an hour long vacation that fills your well with fresh, new, clear energy. That's restorative yoga class. Someone today remarked that yoga would never be the same without someone supporting them completely in every pose, taking them on a renewing meditation journey and even a little release in final supported twist. When and how do you include restorative yoga in your life? Comment below and share your experience and favorite modifications! Sometimes I create a class and figure out later why it works. That's what happened this week.
When I'm planning classes for the week and feeling uninspired, I just show up on the mat. I realized this week that sometimes inspiration is the tiniest kernel. I was looking for something that built on the last month's classes, that connected students directly to their own experience... and I was over thinking it. I finally just got on the mat figuring at least I needed to cheer myself up. I was craving twists. This class is mostly what my body did. I rearranged a few things on the basis of realizations I had while practicing. This is my favorite way to plan classes: not plan. One of the deep themes I've been studying - in bodies, in my experience, in books, blogs, watching people in class and at the gym - is "head forward posture." E-pi-dem-ic. Epidemic in our culture. And connected to so much suffering - from neck and back pain to headaches, belly disruption, even depression. The posture is so natural given our computer and screen focused activities, but the knock on effects in the body, when they go unopposed, are devastating. The posterior chain or the superficial back line is key to our ability to moving from the core and postural balance. Without strength and connection to these structures, our body has to hold up from the front rather than support from behind and inside. Learning to revolve from the deep belly up while creating a stable foundation from the pelvis down is a great way to build connection and sensation into the deep core and back body. Try it, see what you feel. Share it in the comments below! Restorative Yoga classes are a special treat that I recommend everyone indulge at least once a week - whether you provide this experience for yourself at home or you allow me to guide you. Restorative practice includes a gentle "warm up" - Moon Salutations, here - and then long rests (not holds) in completely supported asana, sometimes with guided meditation. In the diagram above, the rectangular paddle looking things are blankets placed strategically to support the body for maximum release of muscular effort - you shouldn't even feel as if you have to hold your arms up. Covering the eyes is an added way to trigger the relaxation response and deeper sense withdrawal, or pratyahara. While there isn't a wide variation in poses used for Restorative practice, you'll find you don't miss the variety once you sink into the experience. Your body will bring the novelty - where you feel tightness and release, how the body melts from week to week - and guided meditations will guide your monkey mind into releasing it's grippy little paws for the hour. Leave a comment below about your Restorative Yoga practice this week and be entered into a drawing to receive a guided recording of this class. Yin class this week starts with the feet: Ankle Stretch and Toe Squat. Yin yoga targets the fascia and connective tissue, so is done "cold" without a warm up and without ujjayi breath. We stay with postures for 2-5 minutes, making the sensation the object of meditation, much like you might make the breath the focal point of seated meditation.
Starting with the feet can be intense because they receive so little attention in everyday life - negative attention, even, in heels and constricting shoes! But this is also where many fascial lines are anchored and similarly many of the meridians these poses also impact. Beginning with the feet is both very focusing and a way to knock on the body's doors and request admittance to release more deeply. By applying intelligent pressure and stress to the fascia in the feet, we're opening up the entire system by which we interact with the ground, balance and move through the world. this will create effects, particularly over weeks of practice, in the joints and balance in the rest of the body. No pose impacts a single meridian or fascial line, and even one meridian or line has knock on effects on the others. These poses will create systemic changes, though the focus of many poses in this class are the Stomach and Urinary Bladder meridians. The Stomach meridian has to do, not surprisingly, with nourishment and balancing the differing substances we take into our bodies and lives. the Urinary Bladder meridian impacts balance of the fight-or-flight and rest-and-relax systems known as the autonomic nervous system, making it's balance crucial in healthy handling of everyday as well as extraordinary stress. Add a Yin Yoga practice to your week and see the transformative effects in your active asana practice as well as your ability to settle in seated meditation as well as move through your world with ease and grace. Leave a comment below about your Yin practice this week and be entered into a drawing for a recording of this practice! Sensing and mindfully releasing and activating the bandhas is key to balance on and off the mat: the bandhas define your center and create your stable core. Once you're established in your center, you can choose to move out, around or even upend yourself and you'll feel solid and oriented, because you can feel and return to center from any position.
The bandhas coincide with the three structural diaphragms of the body: the pelvic, respiratory and vocal diaphragms, or the pelvic floor, breathing diaphragm and vocal "cords." Learning how to activate and relax these areas is key for modulating - not controlling - the breath. Allowing the movements to synchronize is helpful for freeing holding patterns, the breath and allowing yourself to move as a unified whole. Often in yoga classes we focus on how to engage these areas - pelvic floor, respiratory diaphragm and vocal cords in mula bandha, udiyana bandha and jalandara bandha respectively, as well as ujayyi breathing - without focusing on how to also mindfully release. The point of the bandhas is not to always engage but to mindfully engage, making intelligent choices about how we're most supported in various activities. Activation of the bandhas supports the spine through complex movements and meters the breath. Release allows stress relief and activation of the relaxation response. Learn how to choose your state of mind through physical engagement: do yoga! Leave a comment about how the bandhas help you do what you do and be entered into a drawing to receive a recording of this week's class! |
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