Free 5 Minute Practice

Before I practice suriya namaskar I 'warm up' my spine, legs and wrists with an active spinal movement sequence that incorporates dynamic balance.

When people start my classes, this opening sequence appears, by far, to present the biggest challenges.  It includes heel raises, one legged balancing, and active spinal movement--often all at once!

I took this 5 minute video at my last retreat in Talalla, Sri Lanka.  You can hear the beautiful birds in the background and see the luscious coconut grove in which we have our twice daily practice!

The video is mainly intended for my students who want a visual refresher of what to do or for interested students who might come to class.  I don't recommend learning from the internet.

After watching the video take a look at some of my practice tips.

Below I have jotted down a few thoughts for some of the movements/actions throughout the sequence.  I say these commonly in class. They are not all of the instructions.  I have tried to clarify a few points were I see students sometimes struggle.

Arms forward and up

When taking the arms overhead, push the armpits forward and up.

When practicing all of the heel raises, lean forward until the toes start to grip naturally, look at the floor to help with balance, then raise the heels.  Keep gripping with the toes.

Knee bends

When bending the knees, I push my knees forward and hips forward.  My hips don't really go anywhere and what you will see is that they lower straight down.

When knees are bending I try to keep firm behind my knees--as though you were trying to perhaps squeeze something behind them.  But don't squeeze too hard!  Remember, feel active but not tense. 

I keep the toes gripping.

Shoulders roll in

When you roll the shoulders in, press armpits lightly down.  I try to press wrists forwards and elbows back.

When you roll shoulders in it is easy to droop the top of the spine.  Be careful it does not sag.   Keep upper back lifted so you do not shorten the front of your body.

Shoulders roll out

When shoulders roll out there can be a tendency to press the ribs forward.  Look carefully in the video and you see I try to lift but not push out in the upper back.

Side bending

When you bend sideways, try to lengthen the one side without squashing the opposite side.  In the video you will see I initiate this movement by raising one elbow without dropping the other.

Twist

When you twist there is a tendency for the hip/pelvis you are turning towards to move backwards.  Try to press that hip forward so the pelvis remains pointing to the front.

Standing balance leg forward

The raised thigh rolls out.  That means your knee seems to roll away from the centre line of your body.  Be careful not to hike your raise leg pelvis up, which commonly happens when people focus on getting their leg high.  It is not how high it is that counts.

Leg to side

Again, thigh rolls out.  It is difficult to get the leg this high so keep it closer to the floor if necessary.  The leg is to the side and slightly to the front.  People who focus on getting their leg too high often have the leg too far to the front but it needs to be more to the side than the front.

Leg behind fold forward

In this posture I push my shin into my hand and pull with my hand.  The raised thigh is rolling in.  That means the knee feels like it is looking more down to the floor.

Leg straight forward fold

Here I am careful not to be too archy in my lower back.  I don't want to feel tension in my lower back.  My raised thigh is rolling in.

Balancing twist

The raised thigh is rolling out.


Additional thoughts
As always, stretch less, tense less, think less, and breathe less.  Try your best without being attached to an outcome.  The outcome people often become attached to in these postures (from my observations) is taking their legs too high.

Better the legs are straight rather than high.  This might mean that you keep toe tip on the floor.  That is an important modification I did not show in this video.  That is, you do not need to raise the toe off the floor at all.  You can keep toe tip down, do the arm and spinal movements, and then just straighten the leg when that time comes.

Relax your tongue and breathe naturally.  This will help you feel calm in these challenging movements.

This is the opening sequence in my current outdoor Canberra yoga classes.  Join us and have some fun if you like!

Much metta,
Samantha

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

Is it wrong to take your shoulders towards your ears in when taking arms overhead?

Me in natarajasana where I need to move my armpits forwards and upwards so I don't squash my back.  [photo from Canberra Yoga Space].

Is it wrong to take your shoulders upwards as though to your ears? 

Do you know you have muscles put on your body to do precisely that?  Has your body been designed incorrectly?

It is not wrong to take your shoulders upwards towards your ears.  Ordinary life requires it, especially when reaching overheard. 

Go find a shelf that is beyond your reach and try to reach for something that is on it.  Barring any shoulder/neck issues you will no doubt automatically take your shoulder forward and upward.  If you looked to the side you could probably smell your armpit it is so high.

If you have young kids then take them to a playground and watch them swing and hang from bars.  You will see that when they hang their shoulders are right up beside their ears (and they will probably bring their knees to their chest with ease, something that most adults cannot do!). 

The movement of shoulders towards ears is a natural movement that will happen in overhead reaching, often with a little side bend if you are doing it one-armed.

So I have to ask myself why am I being told in some yoga classes I attend to take my shoulders away from my ears when they are overhead?

[And I have to ask myself why did I sometimes say this to students when I was a new teacher?  Certainly not because my senior teachers had ever told me to.]

Here are some reasons I have come up with.

·      People think that a lot of us already have tension around the upper shoulders and next and hold our shoulders in a little shrug so as a yoga teacher we should tell them to counter this by keeping them down away from the ears.

·      People think it squashes the neck to take the shoulders to the ears in overhead movements.

·      People want to strengthen muscles around the shoulder blades, especially when they give the instruction to pull the shoulder blades down and together. 

There could be other reasons as well and it would be great to hear from people about this.

Here is why I am not comfortable with those three reasons as being sufficient explanation or justification for teachers to give the instruction to move the shoulders away from the ears in overhead reaching. 

Overhead reaching includes poses like adho mukha svanasana (downward dog), adho mukha vrksasana (handstand), urdhva hasta tadasana (standing with arms overhead), utkatasana (fierce or chair pose), urdhva dhanurasana (back arch from the floor), and virabadhrasana 1 (warrior 1).  There are many more, including most of the advanced backbends where you reach and catch a toe behind your head, as well as inversions like pincha mayurasana and headstand.

First, it is true that many of us hold subconscious tension around the upper shoulders and hold them in a little shrug.  But we generally hold them in a little shrug, not a big one, and the shoulder never gets the chance to go all the way up.  It is important to encourage people to take their joints through their full natural range of movement.

Also, sometimes people who hold persistent slightly shrugged shoulders might not be aware they are doing so.  Sometimes activating the muscles with consciousness and taking them all the way up can alert them can help them become aware of this and learn to notice when there is slight tension and then learn to try to relax.

Importantly, as I discuss later, if they are going to take their arms overhead for advanced postures they need to take learn to move their shoulders towards their ears when it is required or they will squash their spine.

Second, it is true that it can squash the neck if you take your arms overhead and lift shoulders to ears.  However, that is often because people are trying to take their arms overhead and then behind their ears or level with their ears.  Most western people are way too stiff to be able to do this correctly. 

Instead, if you take the arms overhead and push the armpits forward and up you should find any neck squashing tendencies are countered. 

Allow people to keep their arms in front of their ears and encourage them to push their armpits in the direction they are facing. 

If anyone still feels any neck squashing then you could instruct them to take the arms lower so they are in front of the face (but still pushing armpits forward). 

Third, I believe this is probably an instruction that is not helpful in yoga with overhead reaching positions.  The reason is I have seen it given mostly in positions where the spine is upright and also extended (going towards a backbend). 

In a backbend you want to use your arms to help you create length in the spine, not compression. 

The instruction to move the shoulders down and together will create compression in the spine.

The instruction to move the armpits and shoulders up and forwards will create length in the spine. 

To tell people to bring the shoulders down in poses like utktasana or virabadhrasana 1, where the lower back is already more likely to be squashed (though with careful practice it will not be), will place most people at risk of further squashing their spines. 

It is not until you start to move into more advanced postures that you realize the real importance of being able to take shoulders up and forwards.  Drop-backs, backbends from the floor and advanced backbends that involve reaching arms overhead to hold onto a foot that is also circling behind and up (like a full natarajasana or kapotasana) all require you to take the armpits towards the ears. 

Ask any practitioner who is in those poses to do otherwise and they will instinctively tell you no way as it will shorten the back body, which they are trying to lengthen. 

My view is that we are trying to help people free their spines, not squash them.  So let’s give them instructions that will help them in that regard.  While you may not be teaching your students these advanced backbends, poses like vira 1 and utktasana are preparatory poses for those positions and if you do not give appropriate instructions in those poses they will never get to the more advanced versions.

If you want to help them build strength around the shoulder blades through actions of drawing them back and down there are other postures more suitable.

These include poses that require interlacing behind the back, or the floor backbends that do not involve taking the arms overhead such as up dog or the simple forms of dhanurasana where you hold the ankles (but not the full dhanurasana which has you take the arm forward and overhead to reach the toe), or simple bridge poses with arms interlaced behind the back. 

It might be a more useful cue for your students to watch they do not flare their lower ribs forward as they take their arms overhead. Stiff people will often use spinal extension to get their arms fully overhead by pushing the ribs forward to compensate for lack of movement in the shoulders.  This can again squash the lower back and it is perhaps more useful for them to not take the arms so high so the spine is not masking the work. 

I want to finish by being clear that I am talking about taking shoulders to ears in overhead reaching positions.  Also, I want to be clear that I do not think it is wrong to take shoulders away from the ears (depression).  That is also a natural movement of the body. 

However, I wanted to inspire some thought about considering the consequences of what you instruct and whether your instruction is contradicting another instruction you are giving, or whether you really mean to be giving that instruction for that particular pose.  I see this frequently when teachers tell me to lengthen my spine in vira 1 and then come and tell me to pull my shoulders down and back. 

For me, the best instruction to give is to tell people to activate their armpits when taking the arms overhead so the armpits press in the direction they are facing.  In an overhead position this is forward and upward.  I learned this from Simon and Bianca at Yoga Synergy.  

This simple instruction can be applied to positions where the arms are not overhead, such as plank, where again you can just instruct people to push the armpits in the direction they are facing (in that case down towards the floor and towards the hips).  If I take my arms behind my back I can press my armpits down and towards one another.  You can learn more about this and other tips to enhance your yoga practice via the Yoga Synergy online anatomy course. 

While about to post this, I also found another article that explains some of these ideas from an anatomical perspective written by Dr Roger Cole.  You can link to it here.

Also, last year I also wrote a post about taking the shoulders away from the ears!  There, I focussed on addressing the tension that gives some of us chronic tension and causes that habitual half-shrug look about us in our day to day life (I rather, perhaps unthinkingly called it rugby neck, mainly based on the look of the shrugging shoulders not necessarily what is happening at the shoulders).  My aim was to get people to use some tricks outside of yoga (e.g., at their desks) to catch that creep, or to provide them with a useful tool to counteract the tension.  However, in that post I clearly stated there are occasions where you want or need to take them up--especially in overhead positions.  I promised to write more on that but it has taken me time.  This article is the article I should have written a while ago on that matter!