Blog #14: Standing Separate Leg Stretching Pose

Dear Yogis: 

                                      

     Lower back feels like it's killing you?  Sciatica gnawing at you day and night? Then Standing Separate Leg Posture might be the posture for you to give you some temporary and possibly permanent relief. But why you might ask? 

Tips:

     

     Let's take a deeper look into this posture. First take a BIG step to the right. Remember the wider the step, the easier the stretch. Arms parallel to the floor, shoulder height. Hinge from the hips with a straight spine and look forward at yourself in the mirror, chin forward, until you can't see yourself any longer. Try to reach your hands to the outsides of the ankles or  feet, and with all 5 fingers in your grip pull yourself further down. If this feels too difficult, painful, or knees are bending, back off and simply place your hands between your legs, shoulder width distance, and work at safely stretching your hamstrings, someday you'll get there. IF YOUR KNEES ARE LOCKED, engage your quadriceps, allowing your hamstrings to stretch. Roll the body weight into the toes.  Now, PULL,and STRETCH your forhead to the floor, elbows may bend to your shins, if your forehead easily touches you can move your feet closer. BREATHE deeply and keep the SPINE STRAIGHT. Don't be afraid to take a peak in the side mirror to see your alignment. When coming out of the posture, keep the core and arms strong, chin forward and spine straight. Feet together, stand tall and breathe. 

Benefits: 

 -This posture improves the flexibility, muscle tone, and increase the circulation to your calves, thighs, pelvis, hips and ankles. 

- Increases the flexibility of the last 5 vertebra of the lower spine.

- Grounds the Central Nervous System.

- Helps increase several bodily systems such as; brain, adrenal, reproductive and internal abdominal functioning.

-Good for helping bowel movements and bloat.

-Helps to raise the mood and decrease anxiety 

Below is a tutorial video of how to get into this posture:) 

http://youtu.be/7YM1gfvQs9U

    

     

     Remember you have your whole life to get into the "full expression of any posture", but that is never the goal. This is your yoga, your body and no one can ever tell you what is going to be 100% right for you. We teachers are only hear to guide you. Remember, you are your best teacher:) 

Om to the dome,

The little Yogagal 

Blog #13 Posture Series: Balancing Stick/Tuladandasana

Balancing Stick
/Tuladandasana

                                                     





Balancing Stick Posture

Dear Yogis:

   "This posture is designed to make you feel like you are having a heart attack, so you don't have a real one outside the hot room".  Let's be honest, this is one of the most one of the most arduous yet uplifting postures of the Bikram series.

    It is very beneficial to all of your internal organs, while helping to tone the entire muscle system of your body. In keeping your body parallel to the floor, it  helps to work you cardiovascular system. Lastly, this posture requires simultaneous focus and emptiness of the mind. 

Tips:

       Like in all the postures, remember to Breathe, Breathe, Breathe. Your breath is your best friend in and out of the hot room. It's important to note that your body will respond to your breath and read it as either stressed or relaxed. Even if you are stressed about the class in your mind,  try controlling your breath with the count of 6 on the inhale and 6 on the exhale and it will be tricked into thinking you are relaxed. It is particularly important to breathe in the posture because it intensely works your entire cardiovascular system. 

       In the beginning, when setting up in the posture, stretch your chest as you step into the posture.  Suck in your stomach and point your toes from the moment your directed foot leaves the mat. Pointing your toes is not just for looks. It helps to continue not only make your body feel lighter, but also keeps you grounded  and balanced. Squeeze your triceps against your ears and focus your gaze straight ahead in the mirror. When you hear that clap from the teacher, try to see it not as a threatening sound, but a friendly reminder to come into the posture. Come down like a flat board, all at once. Smile at yourself, as this will help you to feel less stressed and begin to enjoy the posture. :) And most importantly, if your panicking in this posture, remember, nothing lasts forever, this posture is over before you know it,  and you will get out of this posture in just a few blinks of an eye! 

Listed Below is a video link if you'd like to see the whole posture step by step. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBs2OgHv2YM
                                                                                                                          

                                                                                                          Keep, keepin' on, 

                                                                                                         The Little YogaGal

Blog #12/Posture Series Standing Bow Pose/Dandayamana-Dhanurasana

          Think of a standing archery bow. You are the bow. You are the asana…As you begin Standing Bow Pose or Dandayamana-Dhanurasana, start to focus on the balance of the body and the mind. Start from your feet, trying to keep the pressure on your big toe and extend the focus to your quadriceps. When your ankle bone is in your hand, kick into your hand before you even begin to lower your chest to the floor. When you see your kicking foot over the center of your head, continue to focus on the balance between kicking your foot upwards towards the ceiling and stretching your arm towards the mirror.

Allow your hips to be tilted upwards towards the sky. Maintain a soft gaze at one point in the mirror, perhaps in the center of your eyes or one point somewhere on your tensionless face that you feel most comfortable for you.  Also, don’t forget one of the most important factors to flowing and glowing in this posture is to breath into each motion of the pose and have fun....It's just yoga:)

 

Benefits:

-Standing Bow moves all the blood from one side of the body to the other, then back again.

-It develops balance, increases the size and elasticity of the rib cage, and firms the abdominal wall and upper thighs.

-It improves the flexibility and strength of the lower spine.

-Standing Bow builds patience, determination and concentration.

Posture Series #11: Standing Head To Knee / Dandayamana Janushirasana.

Posture Series #11: Standing Head To Knee / Dandayamana Janushirasana.

Get ready… Get set… Lock your knee!? Got that key? Cuz’ it’s time to lock that knee!J Nothing like a little holiday rhyme to get you in the Bikram yoga spirit and thinkin’ about what often seems like one of the most difficult physical and mental asanas within the Bikram yoga series. However, this is quite the contrary, this pose is attainable and it all starts with properly locking the knees.

If you’ve taken a few Bikram classes, then you may be familiar with the fact that we repeatedly hear a handful of vital messages to help us along with our practice and “Lock the knee”, is one of them.  As of late, I truly discovered the importance of locking the knee. In these blogs, I think it is beneficial to discuss not only the benefits of the asanas, but preventative tips as well. So, what does all this locking the knee business mean? To properly lock your knee, it is important to know how your knees organically align, then adjust the posture from there.



Picture A



Picture B

For example, I’ve been practicing for about two years now and never knew that both of my knees naturally hyper-extend. In discovering this information, I was able to appropriately adjust the strength in which I was flexing my quadriceps and put more weight towards the front of my feet and on the inside of my toes. By making this modification, I’ve helped myself to prevent future injuries in my knee joints, potentially invasive surgery, and ultimately a more enjoyable practice.

           Take a look At picture B to the side and note the dotted line. The leg on the left is hyper-extended and the left to the right is properly aligned. Please look at picture A for a posture reference. Next time you are in the hot room, take a look at your knees in the side mirror and fine-tune your knees to what feels best for you. If you continually hyper-extend your knees, it can cause pain and possible permanent damage. Remember, one of the 8 limbs of yoga is ahimsa, or nonviolence to others and to oneself. Try to practice to the point of discomfort, but not pain.

For those with hyper-extended knees; whether it is in the first part of the posture or in final expression, try to move the weight forward into the front of your foot and big toe. It is often common for people with hyper-extended knees to naturally put their weight on the inside of the foot and heel. This can cause the quadriceps and the back of the leg to sustain the pose as oppose to the core. The core refers to the muscles that make up 360 degrees of your belly, hip flexors, and your lower back. To reiterate, putting the added pressure on the quadriceps and back of the leg could also lead to future chronic pain and injuries. Try to balance the distribution of your weight throughout your whole body.  Now that we’ve gotten the “lock the knee” concerns out of the way, listed below are benefits that this posture can offer.

Physical Benefits:

• Builds strength through the body
• Improves flexibility of sciatic nerve
• Strengthens tendons
• Prevents wear and tear of knee cartilage though strengthening of soft tissues around the knee
• Helps clear and prevent problems with digestion, including flatulence
• Helps to develop balance
• Helps maintain sugar levels through compression of the pancreas
• Improves blood circulation throughout the body
• Tones abdominal muscles and thighs
• Improves your sex life through the massage of your reproductive organs
• Helps to decrease varicose veins by exercising the long vein (great saphenous vein) running from the leg to the heart

Energetic Benefits

• Challenge of the posture helps to build patience, determination allowing light-heartedness
• Concentration required unifies the mind and body
• Final expression of the pose involves both control and release, allowing you to let go of old patterns
• Helps to improve confidence and self-worth
• Helps to calm and clear the mind

For any of the 26 postures in the hot room, let go of the need to achieve and win the race. You have the rest of your life to master each posture. Standing head to knee involves patience; one step of the pose must be complete before the next. When engaging in standing head to knee, remember, “You can mess with the Gods, but you can’t mess with your knees” - Bikram Choudhury.





Blog #10 / Posture Series Eagle Pose:Garurasana

Co-Written By: Carla Schils & the little YogaGal                                                                                       Dear Yogis

     It’s the pose that makes me feel very nautical thinking about my legs and feet as ropes wrapping around one another. It’s the pose that serves me a slice of humility pie every time I realize my mind has wondered and I am not being present. It’s the pose that that got me to recognize the influence I have on my breath and within my heart beat. 

     Eagle Pose, otherwise known as Garuarasana is designed to emulate a eagle silently sitting on the earth. As the pose begins it’s important to practice being present with the environment and the words of the instructor.  When exiting from the last posture feeling innately awkward and entering into an asayana that can encourage more openness, remember to continue to access the breath to help lighten the thoughts and body in any discomfort. If you feel intense pain, stop and take a step back, there is no rush.  

     Swing the arms down wrap the hands around each other and press the palms together. The thumbs should face the nose and the elbows drag down towards the floor. As the shoulders open up, this will become easier. Try not to lead the pose with the pull from the upper body and hands. Instead, attempt to relax the shoulders and attempt to make them level. This extension from the inner shoulder blades will strengthen not only the core, but also the central nervous system as well.

     Now it is time to involve the lower half of the body. Bend the knees deeply enough so that the right leg can lift high up and over the relevant leg. The deeper one sits, the higher one can raise the appropriated leg to wrap around the other leg. Then wrap the feet around the ankles to eventually see all ten toes in the mirror. A modification of this pose is to simple point the big toe towards the desired direction.  Remember to concentrate on one steady focal point to maintain balance. If you cannot yet see all ten toes, it’s okay, drop those expectations, because in the hot room it’s not about how much you’ve achieved. From here, bend the knees more to lower the hips and sit deeper. Arch the upper body back from here, lifting the shoulders and leaning back. At this point try to keep the elbows and wrists drawing down towards the knees.

     Last but not least is the continuation of the attention to details. Observe the hips and square the hips to the front, moving the relevant knee and elbow towards the opposite side. The purpose of this is to line the elbows directly above the knees, so the wrists, elbows, knees and ankle joints all stack in one line through the center line of the body.

    Benefits of this pose:

• Enhances lymphatic and blood circulation, immunity and the central nervous system and

• Stretches and strengthens the 14 joints of the skeletal system

• Brings fresh blood into the reproductive organs and kidneys

•  Improves balance and metal focus

Blog 9 / Posture Series: Awkward Pose: Utkatasana

Co-Written by: Carla Schils & the little YogaGal

Utkatasana : Awkward Pose

Dear Yogis: 
“Sit, sit down into the imaginary chair and stick your butt towards the wall, suck your stomach in tight until you can see your rib cage”……can we say awkward? This is exactly what this pose is, awkward.  Utkatasana, otherwise known in Bikram Yoga as “Awkward” pose is the third posture of the 26 Bikram Yoga series. Though it may look rather simplistic, this posture is called “Awkward” for a reason. Like most of the series, this pose will require an immense amount of mental concentration, physical stability/balance, and muscle and mind coordination.

Much like the Half-moon and Hands-to-feet pose, the “Awkward” posture will help warm up your entire body in preparation for the upcoming series. This is a posture that focuses primarily on the development of the thighs and torso. In particular, the following muscle groups are worked: the quadriceps, the calves, the abdominal muscles, the spinal erectors, and the front and rear deltoids. Additionally, this pose gets more demanding with each of the 3 stages in the Utkatasana sequence.

The purpose and benefits of this posture are to help to continue to warm up the body inside and outside of the hot room by creating joint and muscle flexibility. This posture also helps to encourage vast blood circulation to all areas of the body. Some other medical benefits of this posture include decreasing symptoms of rheumatism and arthritis in the legs and correcting slipped discs and other lower-spine problems.

Tips On How To Perform The Awkward Pose:

Stand tall with both your feet next to each other, then move the right foot far enough for a 6-inch gap to occur between your knees, (this is equal to the length of your two fists). Extend your arms in front of you, and make sure they are not relaxed – keep them flexed and straight at the elbows. Bring your arms down so you can see your shoulders. This will help to keep your shoulders loose, as we already tense our shoulders up enough in our day.  Additionally, this will keep them low and reduce stress on the joints.

Keep your fingers closed. Keep them as close together as possible. Slowly lower your hips so that your thighs become parallel to the floor, and hold the position. Go back up to straight position; only make sure to stand on your toes this time. Keep standing tall on your toes for a few seconds and then repeat the whole procedure above by bringing your hips down to where your thighs become parallel with the surface beneath you. Go back up to straight position again, and this time instead of putting the entire weight of your body on your toes, simply lift your heals off the ground just a little bit as if you were trying to add just one inch to your height, and repeat the awkward pose, only this time going down with your buttocks as low as you can until they almost touch the back of your heels. Remember that this is is the third, final, and most demanding iteration of this posture, but it has an end point and will not go on forever.

Some food for thought, each time you come up each part of the “Awkward” pose sequence, remember to keep your back straight. Try not to lean too far forward with your chest or to far backward into the heels. This might feel more difficult, but remember if you practice the proper form early on, you can avoid unnecessary injury, you will strengthen your core even more and you will continue to challenge mind and bodyJ And lastly….remember to breath normally through your nose. You’ll be tempted to breathe faster than usual as this posture gets the circulation moving, try to keep a normal respiration pace and revel in the awkwardness that this position can bring.

Breath on,

Carla Schils & the little YogaGal