How to Use Active Spinal Movements For Parsvakonasana

Parsvakonasna: A forward bending, side bending, twisting, backbend

If I could only give one instruction in class it would be something like, find lift in your postures.  Find lightness.

Okay, that's two, but that's what guides me through my self-practice reflection whenever I encounter and practice moving and postures.

That said, I encourage students to be mindful that they are not collapsing in their postures.

People who are very flexible often collapse out of habit, especially if they have not developed strength to balance their flexibility.

People who are stiffer might do it to try and get deeper into an image of a pose they think they should be in, often with some strain.

I have little slips and sinks and collapses that I still need to think of myself!  It is an ongoing work.

In standing poses there is always the possibility of sinking into the hips.  In arm balancing poses there is the possibility of sinking into the shoulders.  In backbends it tends to be sinking into the lower back.

In this post I look at a way to try parsvakonasana without sinking into the front hip.

I describe the key actions that give strength and stability to this pose and which help develop mobility.

I pay particular attention to some key spinal actions that will help you develop a strong and mobile core.

I have included two videos.  One has more slow and detailed visual instructions.  The other highlights the difference between lifting and sinking in the front hip.

I have also included step-by-step visual and written instructions, breaking down the pose into key leg, spinal, and upper body actions.

As with all my posts, I really write these for my students to practice outside of class.  If you are not a student of mine I encourage you to come to class or find a suitably qualified teacher who can help you better understand the feeling of these actions in your body!

Perhaps watch the key actions video first.  Then review the step-by-step instructions.  Then watch the difference between sinking and lifting.

Key actions video
This video shows me using my mime skills to show you how to come into the posture.

Perhaps the highlight of this video comes around 1 minute 50 seconds when a little boy (not in the screen shot) says 'I need to do a poo'.  A conversation ensues between the family members and the boy, discussing where he can do a poo, and culminates with dad's joking comment, 'well, you can't do a poo in the lake'.  As you can see, that brought a big smile to my face!

Key actions step-by-step instructions
Parsvakonasana, spinally speaking, is essentially a forward bending, side bending, twisting, backbend.  Is that what you are doing when you practice?  I deconstruct it below.

1. Sitting bones down, top of pelvis back, lengthens lower back and unsquashes front of groin.

2. Spinal forward bend.  This means firming the tummy in a way you can still breathe into it.  I do this by keeping top of pelvis back, leaning forward, and trying to move my hips forward without them actually moving.  I lean forward without letting my butt stick up and start to take my leg back.

3. Toe down then heel down.

4. Check sitting bones down and top of pelvis back.

5. Check front thigh is rolling out.  You could do this by thinking of how to roll it out.  You could do it by turning your front heel out slightly so outer foot points straight ahead then try gripping the heel back in without moving it. 

6. Check back thigh is rolling in.  You can allow your back pelvis to also come in if that helps.  In fact, these actions should help unsquash your lower back.  I have outer back foot lifting towards outer ankle.  

7. Stretch the ground with your feet.  That means pushing the front foot down and forward and the back foot down and backward. 

8. Lower ribs move back to middle back to help bring softness to your middle and upper back.  

9.  Spinal side bending.  That means you try and move the front of bottom pelvis forward and up towards bottom side front rib. In the picture you see me drawing those two points together.  Make sure the lower ribs stay back and don't pop out. 

10. Take top arm overhead.  Push armpits forward and up as though trying to bring your underarms towards your nose.  Outer armpit is rolling towards your face.  This enhances the side bend.

11. Turn from your navel level of spine towards the top pelvis.  Try not to move your top pelvis or move anything else.  This is just a spinal twist. Many people move the whole pelvis here but you want to make this a spinal movement. 

12.  Keep turning your spine progressively towards the sky.  In the photo I show turning the chest.  Again, try to keep this a spinal movement.  Also, watch that the lower ribs do not jut out. 

13. You can put your bottom arm wherever it goes without changing the preceding actions.  Here is the point where many people might just collapse in their front hip in an effort to reach the ground.  But in this photo you can see that I have kept the front hip exactly as it was in the preceding photo.  I come to the ground with my arm because I enhance the spinal side bend.  Wherever that bottom arm ends up, you don't sink into it either.  I am just lightly pressing my hand into the ground and mainly doing an action of moving that armpit towards the hips to enhance the spinal side bend. 

14. From there I add the last action.  This is a lengthening of the front of the spine.  I touched my upper chest in the photo (although the action comes from the navel).  I get a little lift which sort of feels like a little back bend in my upper back.  From there my head comes into place.  Many people will not feel comfortable with their head in this position.  It is better that you find your own comfortable position for your head and neck.  My head position is throat forward, chin up, combined with a little twist where move the top ear away from the top shoulder slightly.  I cannot show or explain this well here so I just suggest you move your head and neck gently and find your own comfortable spot. 

15. Here I stay firm but calm.  My tummy is firm but I can feel the movement of the breath there.  I am content and at peace.  I feel like I am doing something and I am getting warm from this posture.  It is about 10 degrees celcius in this photo yet I don't feel cold even in this crop top because I had been practicing for a little while and using active movements in such a way that I tensed less, stretched less and just enjoyed moving.  This is self-evident when you can see me laugh and smile as I hear the jokes of the people around me.  

Difference between sinking and lifting
In this video you can see me first coming into the posture so that I do not sink into the front hip.  In the second version I just sink into the front hip.

In the second way I do not do spinal side bending.  It is more just hip flexion.  Because of this I feel very passive.  I am not getting warmth and I am not moving energy through my spine effectively.

Ultimately how you come into postures is your choice.

Be happy and content.  Practice safely, mindfully, and peacefully.  When you practice like this people want to be around you.  You inspire movement in others.  As I was filming these sequences today I had at least 4 strangers come up to me, including two children who just wanted to do tricks with me (handstands and arm balances), all wanting to talk about what I was doing and how it just made them feel good.  I am certainly not the most elegant, strongest, most flexible person.  But I really enjoy doing what I do.   Happy with where I am.  When that happens I do believe you can have a powerful influence on helping others towards finding their own inner happiness too.

This is the type of thing I teach in classes, workshops, and retreats in Canberra, Sri Lanka, and Bali.  Hope to see you somewhere soon!


www.yogacafecanberra.blogspot.com
www.yogacafelk.blogspot.com
www.artofliferetreats.com

How To Unsquash The Front Of Hips And Lengthen Lower Back In Yoga

In this post I show videos and step by step instructions on how to help unsquash the front of hips and lengthen lower back.  They are great tips for people who spend a lot of time sitting, which is most of us in general.

Key Instructions
I have a limited repertoire of what I consider some basic instructions.

No matter what sequence I teach these instructions repeat themselves over and over.

They repeat themselves over and over in single class.

Sometimes I wonder why people keep coming back since I do say the same thing over and over again!

I like to think that it is perhaps my wit and good humour that brings people back.

But I am pretty sure it is because while these instructions sound simple, they are actually tricky to apply, to apply consistently, and to apply in different orientations to gravity.

One of those instructions is "sitting bones down, top of pelvis back, lengthen lower back."

For people who have tight lower backs, and even people who do not, this instruction feels amazing on the lower back.

However, I could also say, "sitting bones down, top of pelvis back, unsquash front of hips."

You see, depending where you focus, or perhaps where you feel more tightness, the same instruction can help in two places.

Most people live a lot of their lives squashing the front of hips.  Well, those that sit for most of the day do.

So this instruction is a great way to help unsquash.

It is particularly useful to apply in forward bending postures.

I keep the front of groin open (unsquashed) when I practice forward bending postures.

It is the opposite of what many people practice--either deliberately or incidentally.

It means you work on spinal forward bending then hip flexion rather than just hip flexion, which often happens.

Some Thoughts Before You Watch And Practice
For me yoga is a spinal movement practice.  In order to maintain the health of your spine you need to learn how to move it, and move it safely. Unsquashing is key.  Being able to create firmness in they tummy in a way you can still feel the movement of the breath there while mobilising the spine are also key.

In the videos I chose a modified chandra namaskar to show the differences between squashing and unsquashing.  One video shows me showing what squashing looks like versus unsquashing.  The other video just shows a smooth unsquashing practice.

I have also taken still shots so you can compare the two side by side.

Perhaps watch unsquashing versus squashing first.  Then look at the still shots.  Then watch the unsquashing so you are left with a clear impression of unsquashing.

When watching these videos please consider that I mainly post things for my own students who come to me and whom I can watch carefully.  Practicing from videos is a not the best, especially if you have pre-existing issues.

Also note that in the videos below I create firmness in my tummy in a way I can still breathe into it.  I have written about this a lot before so please refer to those posts.  Whenever I bend forward from the spine I create firmness first.  I am trying to have core stability with mobility.  Much of what I show will not work if you suck your tummy in tightly (using muscles of forced exhalation) because this will stiffen the spine.

Squashing Versus Unsquashing: The Video
This video shows me trying to highlight squashing versus unsquashing in the same poses.

Squashing Versus Unsquashing: The Still Shots
Below I show the shot of being squashed on the left and unsquashed on the right.

In the squashed shots I performed the actions of moving the top of my pelvis towards the front of thigh and pushing my sit bones up into the air.

In the unsquashed shots I performed the actions of moving my sitting bones down and top of pelvis back.

You can see I put my hand to the place that I am concentrating on.  One finger is at top of front of pelvis and the other on the thigh bone.

In most shots you can see the 'air' in the unsquashed variation.  You can also see that my lower back lengthens or is less 'archy'.

In all forward bends I try to firm my tummy in a way I can still breathe.  I also feel that I am pushing both hips forward without actually moving them.

             

 

 

  

 

Unsquashing: The Movie

Here I show the whole sequence with just the unsquashing version.

The End

That's it from me today.  

Happy and safe practicing.  This is the type of thing I teach in classes, workshops, and my retreats in Canberra, Sri Lanka, and Bali.  If you are around I would love to teach you. 

Much metta,

Samantha

www.yogacafecanberra.blogspot.com

www.yogacafelk.blogspot.com

www.artofliferetreats.com

Some key actions of handstand without putting weight on your hands

Even though handstands and arm balances feature in most of my sequences, not all of us can do a handstand.  Sometimes, for whatever reason, we might not be able to put our hands on the ground either.

But all of us can learn some of the key actions of a handstand without putting our hands on the ground.  

In this post I share a video and some instructions about some of the key actions that you can cultivate so you are still working towards similar 'anatomic' actions.  

You could take this option when it gets to an arm balance section of the class and still be doing amazing energy moving work.  

Have a look at the video to see the movement in action, then take a look at how I have tried to deconstruct the steps. 

Soft Tummy

One of the keys here is to be able to have a soft tummy.  If you cannot relax your tummy then you very likely may not create the correct firmness in the tummy when the time comes to do so.

Digging fingers into soft tummy to show it is soft

This is trickier than you might think.  Most people find it really difficult to relax tummy muscles.  It can be for many reasons.  One of the key ones I have come across is the perception that we should be sucking our tummy in and walking around with sucked in tummies as much as we can.  

Be aware that if you cannot relax your tummy muscles, you are putting fairly constant pressure on the contents of your abdomen, including your bowels and reproductive organs.  This can impact on the functioning of the digestive and reproductive systems.  

Anyway, just a thought.  

So, step one is to relax your tummy completely.  In the photo and video I try to show this by digging my fingers deep into my tummy so you can see it is not hard. 

Lengthen lower back

In general I start many postures by moving my sitting bones down, top of pelvis back in order to lengthen my lower back.  

I took my arms overhead in the photo/video so you could see what I am doing.  It is also a nice thing to do to enhance the length of the back of spine.  

I am not doing this action by tensing my tummy.  There is a little lower abdominal internal activation but generally the tummy is very soft still.  In the video I dig my fingers back in my tummy to show this.  

Push hips/sitting bones forward without moving legs forward

This is tricky.  You try to push your hips/sitting bones forward without moving the legs forward. 

If the legs go forward you don't get the firmness in your tummy.

If the legs remain as much as possible where they are then the tummy goes firm.  

In the video you can see that I push my fingers into my tummy after this and they cannot go in.  It is firm.  I try to show this below as well.  

My tummy is firm in a way that I can still breathe freely and feel as though the movement of the breath could go there.  

If you watch my arm balance videos where my abdomen is exposed you can sort of see that my breath is still going into my abdomen area (looks like I have gills!).

This is not sucking in tummy.  If you slow the video down where I push hips forward you can see that  I am not sucking up.  

Push armpits down and forward

Push the armpits down and forward.  

In the video I show how this firms the front and back of the armpits.  

My tummy is still firm.  

The movements I do in the video are really exaggerated and jerky.  I was trying to emphasise what I was doing.  If I did my own practice these actions would be much more subtle.

Alternate firming of armpits and tummy

Because I have been practicing these activations for a while, I can do them as shown.  I showed this way more for the video so you could see what I am doing.  

If you are learning this, most people will find getting armpits and tummy firm easier if they try putting the arms on the thighs as shown in the picture below.

If I was in a class, I would be encouraging people to use this method as pushing the hands against the thighs helps prevent them from coming forward when you push the hips forward.  Also, it is easier to get some armpit activation for many people if the hands have something to press down against.  

In class I usually do the demonstration as shown in this photo and get people to feel what is going on.  

Stay or take these activations to the ground

These two activations are key components (but not the only ones) of many postures (?most) where you are weight bearing through the arms.  

If you don't want to or cannot put weight through your arms for some reason then you could be doing this and really feel like you are doing something.  You could do it from kneeling if you want as well.

If you can, you could try to take these activations to the ground for plank, kneeling plank, bakasana, or even a handstand.  

But remember, your life will not be any better just because you can do a handstand!

It will probably be better if you can learn to relax your tummy completely then learn to activate it when you need however!

Don't do anything that hurts.  Be alert to over practicing and how you feel the next few days whenever you introduce new practices.  Have fun.  Laugh.  Smile.

Happy and safe practicing.

Backbends Two Ways

I have written about armpits many times before.  There are more things to talk about with regards to actions at the shoulder joints but the armpits are so key and I have focussed on them in our course.

One of the key things to appreciate is that how you use your armpits, depending on shoulder position, can impact on the spine.  If you take your arms overhead, I take armpits forward and up and NOT down and back.

In an overhead position armpits forward and up will help create length in the spine.

If you take them down and back while arms are overhead, or even down, you get a shortening feeling around your sides and back.

To come into more difficult postures where the arms are overhead you need to free up your armpits so the spine can move freely.

Some backbends happen with the arms below shoulder height, like ustrasana or bhujangasana for instance.  In those types of positions, because arms are not overhead, I take armpits down and back.  The video below shows how I can do backbends with armpits down and back, as I would in backbends like bhujangasana, or forward and up, such as I would in urdhva dhanurasana.

In the video I also show how you can actually come into a pose like urdhva dhanurasana with armpits either towards ears or with armpits towards hips.  I do this to illustrate a point that it can be done, not necessarily that it should be done.

As I show, because I have a fairly fluid spine it does not create difficulty for me to come into an overhead backbend like urdhva dhanurasana with armpits down.  But it does not feel as good as it could either.

The thing is most people (either coming to yoga or not) tend to be stiff in their spine in general, and move most from their lower back.

Doing urdhva dhanurasana with the armpits to the hips (downs and back) can reinforce the shortening many people already experience.

So, in my classes I encourage armpits to ears to generate the length in the spine.

Again, because I am fairly mobile around my armpit area, especially when I take them overhead, I can easily come up into a full backbend with armpits to ears.

People who are tighter around the armpits will find that they cannot come up so easily and I suggest you only come up to the point where you feel at ease in your spine.  This might mean the shoulders barely come off the floor and you just lift a little, as I also show in the video.

These are not things to practice without the guidance of an experienced practitioner so I encourage you to go to one.  I would encourage you to feel in your own body what is going on and if you come out of a backbend with a sore lower back to question what has gone on to create that as it should not be squashing.

In our classes this week we also looked at some of the basic movements at the shoulder joint--shoulders rolling in and shoulders rolling out.  We looked at how these movements can cause associated movements in the upper back (thoracic spine).  We looked at how these associated movements can be over-ridden if we call attention to them.

For instance, rolling the shoulders in tends to cause the upper spine to round as though bending forward.  We can try to lift the chest softly to help bring the spine back to upright.

When rolling the shoulders out it tends to cause the upper spine to arch as though back bending but that we can also over-ride this if we are conscious of it by softly drawing the lower ribs in.

Understanding these associated movements will help you learn to move your spine independently of shoulders for better and more active spinal movement.  I will post more about this later.  The armpits are a lot to think about already!

I had to laugh at myself when I re-watched the video.  I am not sure how my voice turned into a David Attenbourough-esque commentary.  Perhaps it is because I feel so wonderfully passionate and when that happens and you try to explain something it does something funny to your voice.  Well, to mine anyway,  Also to my eyebrows!

We will practice these actions in my classes, workshops, and retreats in Canberra, Colombo, and Bali.   I'd love to have you along.

Great work all.  Happy and safe practicing.

Much metta,
Samantha