Viparita Karani

I didn’t think this pose had a name but found the The Inverted Lake Pose which most closely resembles the aim here. And generally practising yoga It’s wonderful for aiding revitalization at the end of a busy day, especially that time just after dusk that breaks up the day from the evening.

It allows a pause, a breathe, a punctuation before preparing dinner or getting on with your night-time activities, perfectly separating the two.

The bodies energy changes and for some it can be a challenging time of day, especially where over-imbibing in alcohol or eating habits have become somewhat of a ritual. Stepping out of your life for a few moments is one of a number of strategies that help break these all too common patterns.

Recharging Your Batteries

Here is the process:

• Start by lying on your back
• Have your bum right next to a skirting board in the room
• Therefore 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
• It’s 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

Perpendicular Creatures

The benefits are manifold, in the main because the legs carry so much of the body’s debris.  Because 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 areas.  This pose provides an antidote to gravity and allows waste and such to galvanize and make it’s way back up the body, to disseminate more naturally.

Iyengar

Gary Carter, on his course Anatomy and Physiology course for Yoga Teachers, stated that Iyengar once said the the diaphragm is another muscle, but don’t let the west know it, as he feared the west would abuse the information and over-use or abuse it as they have with other muscles, through fitness regimes. What he meant was that:

• The west overuse and abuse the muscular system
• The diaphragm has a connection with the leg muscles
• The breathe can be used to make that connection
• A realignment can be made to address the imbalance that gravity causes
• And if we just go about life without adjusting it, then waste materials will continue to collect in the calves and ankles (in particular)
• That broad calves indicate a lack of movement and a dis-function within the system

And Relax

Once your rejuvenation is complete, you can get on with the rest of the day. Maybe you similar or alternative suggestions along similar lines. 

A Healthy Heart

Today we’re going to look at the myths of exercise where the information is largely based on a report I found in the New Scientist recently. This report draws together the threads of information that scientists have been gathering from their studies and surveys over the last 30-yrs in the form of how much exercise we require on a daily basis and whether overweight people need to apply extra caution when they begin an exercise regime.

Fitness and Health # 1/10

1. General overall
2. What counts as exercise?
3. How much and how often?
4. How do I know if I’m getting fit?
5. Is pumping iron really necessary?
6. Jogging can kill you – myth!
7. Is getting fit easier for some people?
8. You can’t be fat and fit – myth!
9. You need to push fluids – myth!
10. What if I get injured?

An Introduction To Health And Fitness

Such a lot of mixed information has filtered through over recent decades and some of us may feel stuck because of the contradictions and confusion around the risk-factors, what’s really safe, alongside who and what we should listen to.

So what are the myths and legends that surround exercise and what’s best for you?  Are your age, gender, weight and fitness levels a deciding factor on where you begin to tackle it?

How little can you get away with … in order to tick the exercise box, so you get on with everything else in your life with more ease?

A Sports Psychology View

The American Tango

Simon Marshall a specialist Sports Psychologist at the San Diego State University in California confirms that the experts in his field have been a bit inept in distilling correct and appropriate information to the public at large.

He goes on to state that it;s either due to the lack of clear information or just plain laziness but not nearly enough of us exercise to keep healthy.  A survey carried out in the UK recently showed that only about a third of adults are making the effort in meeting the minimum requirements for physical activity.

Although it’s generally accepted that exercise is beneficial, it’s only in recent history that we’ve come to recognize the positive contribution it makes in respect of optimum health.

We’ll look into this a bit further in #2 next time, and find out what the actual requirements are for helping you reach a standard and/or maintain fitness levels, especially as one ages.

Aerobic Or Anaerobic That Is The Question

Bouncing Like A Kid

Personally I think it’s mostly a question of finding one or two forms of exercise that floats your boat and that’s all there is to it. If you can find one of each all the better, an aerobic (soft and gentle form) and an anaerobic (heart pumping form) all the better, as then you’ll be hitting all the spots.

I personally noticed how unfit I was becoming when I recently had an accident, so moving even less than usual it became very noticeable when I started to move again, as the body was just seizing up. This acts as a strong reminder of the mortality of all of us.

I also have an elderly mum and she serves to remind me that I’d better get a riddle on if I’m not going to wind up doubled over a walking frame and the likes when I get older (much older I hear you jest). But seriously, the body is designed to move and when we consider how much manual work would have ensured we did move far more than we do now it’s apparent that there’s a need to integrate it into our lives.

The Trampoline

So why shouldn’t it be fun? There’s something so childlike about the trampoline and I’m currently having my garden redesigned and that’s on the list to be included. They are fun, bouncy and get everything bouncing around, which it transpires the body loves, and I for one need no further excuse. Did I say you might want a bit of privacy from the neighbours, especially while you earning your Trampoline Wings lol!

My choice is this Garden and Homes 12ft Outdoor Garden Trampoline, without a surrounding net, because it’s use will be for kids of any age who like to take risks as think that’s part of the joy.

I can’t wait to get mine and it’s on special offer at the moment.

Foot Bones

Today I want to talk about the starting point … the Foot … to stand on our own two feet something I heard as a child but it didn’t really sink in!

Mountain Pose

With regards to Yoga we are talking about doing that on every level … as being in Tadasana (Mountain Pose) for example enables us to have a moment of calm … and re-engage with what it might have felt like to walk for the first time.

A memory that will be long gone for most everyone and what’s the purpose … It’s about taking things for granted and often poor habit has formed unbeknown to us.

Yoga generally brings us back into the physical body so we can check it out and see how we’re doing! And start to work on any adjustments that may be required.

Grounding

Here is something really great to try and I wouldn’t think it has a Yoga pose name as I think its roots may well lie in the field of massage. I learned this with two teachers on separate occasions Gary Carter in Brighton and Chris Yorke at Rhodes Minnis in Kent.

1. You start this by standing in Tadasana and just allow yourself to come into an awareness of the body, especially the legs and feet
2. Once you have gained this sense you can sit on the ground
3. There isn’t a correct side to start with whatever works for you but for the sake of description I shall begin with the right foot

The Method

Feel The Difference

1. Take the right foot into the left hand by cradling the leg
2. Take the fingers and intertwine them between the toes as though you were intertwining your fingers with each other only this is a toes of the right foot with the fingers of the left hand
3. Gently bend the fingers back towards the toes so the toes go back as far as they comfortably will. Close the eyes if you like – I find it aids relaxation – and hold for as long as feels comfortable
4. Now take the fingers and toes the other way and the same again
5. Turn the foot and hand in a clockwise rotation for around 5-10 turns as slowly as you can, the slower you turn them the deeper it works and the nicer it feels
6. Then turn them anti-clockwise (similarly)
7. Now stand back into Tadasana – can you feel the difference
8. Do the same thing all over again on the other side

I would love to hear from anyone who tries this to see what your experience of how working with the foot like this works for you.

You can place it wherever the mood takes you and begin your reduced work-out.  In the meantime your friends and colleagues are gathering their gym-kit’s together and stressing about the inflated charges for a membership they are tied into even when they are unable to take full advantage.

The Whole Body Vibration Therapy Machine

The machine is known as a Whole Body Vibration Therapy Machine because you get a full body workout with so little impact, in either time or energy, which makes it very 21st century.

The idea that exercise can be so easy, and beneficial takes a little getting your head around, but if we can learn to embrace the concept by believing that it does what it says on the tin, then perhaps we can find better motivation to get fitter, quicker and sustain it for longer.

Myth Busting

After all it goes against everything we’ve been taught about keeping fit, like how hard it can be to burn off calories and the ever-groaning no pain – no gain. strapline that we got lumbered with during the latter part of the last century. But maybe the links between exercise being such hard work and maintaining good health aren’t as related as we thought.

This new information may seem contrary and wrong but this could be the missing link that begins to increase your vitality and stamina without having to pound the treadmill day after day, unless you enjoy it of course. I’m just one of the many that is a little allergic to the burn.

Whole Body Vibration Therapy Machine

This technology works and this machine has all the qualities we’ve come to expect of these great vibrating platforms and this one has a great transport-ability factor.

The Product Features:

• 2 x 5-speed settings
• 15-minute accumulative timer
• Lift weights
• Hold various stretch positions
• Whole-body vibration therapy machine for working core muscles and improving health

More Features:

• A remote LED controller
• A pair of strap handles
• Consists of a 35 x 8 x 14-inch (W x H x D) vibrating platform on which you can stand, sit, or lean

This Great Device Helps To:

• Builds bone density and muscle mass
• Massage sore muscles
• Decrease joint pain
• Obesity
• Osteoporosis

Increasing:

• Flexibility
• Posture

Product Description:

Exercises several core muscles at the same time and improve your overall physical health. The ‘Osci Stadium’ which automatically engages the muscle groups in your abdomen, back, legs, waist, and rear, by employing the same technology used by strength-athletes over the last four decades to improve big-meet performance.

The device works by oscillating in several directions while you sit, lift weights, or stretch on the vibrating platform. As the machine moves, your body’s core adjusts to the movements, helping activate your neglected muscles, boost your balance, and improve your physical health.

Why Is This Technology So Effective

Researchers have found that rapid, whole-body vibration builds bone density and muscle mass, loosens and massages sore muscles, improves circulation, and can decrease chronic joint pain. Best of all, it’s completely low impact, so you can build strength without compromising your joints.

Check out Vibrating Platform technology Health Mark VF81003 Osci Stadium Whole Body Vibration Therapy Machine at Amazon where its on Special Offer at $368.34. I’m going to order mine when I get back from America, and looking forward to sharing the learning.

Iyengar's Pose Of A Child

There seem to be different names for the yoga pose Balasana, often known as The Pose Of A Child and an Iyengar Yoga Class I began in 2001 did it somewhat differently.

Their Pose Of A Child was the one where you take your arms to the side and towards the back of you where your hands are somewhere by the sides of your ankles (as shown to the right).

The Pose Of A Child

However when I started practicing the Scaravelli method with some wonderful Heart Of Yoga teachers like James Jewell and Erica Rasmussen, who both taught locally (at the time) I much preferred their version, as it felt far more comfortable.

And this style of yoga seems to resonate more with what the body wants more than it having to try and adhere to something that feels alien.

Below is a picture of the Scaravelli influence and as it happens she was taught yoga by Iyengar himself at the mountain lodge she and her husband occupied during the summer months in the 1940′s, where Iyengar and people like the brilliant violinist Yehudi Menuhin were among their guests.

Scaravelli's Pose Of A Child

In Vanda Scaravelli’s book Awakening The Spine you can read her learnings from that experience and how she took his information and adapted it into a kinder system that I feel integrates more with the body.

From experience, although I’m not a teacher, this pose usually follows the more strenuous Down Face Dog and acts as more of a pause, or punctuation and feels wonderful at that juncture.

These two poses are often repeated a few times, depending on the teacher, but they always fall in the same order.

The Instructions

1. If you look at the picture above
2. You are stretching forwards from the same point as in Tadasana, the lower back to middle
3. The upper part is going forwards, culminating in the arms being outstretched on the ground
4. The lower part is sitting back on the heels as much as possible
5. Neither should compensate for the other
6. If one of them has to yield it should be the upper body as the emphasis tips towards being on the heels
7. If the imbalance is too great and the bottom is too far from the heels then the arms/hands should rest on a block rather than reach beyond their capability
8. Alternatively you can rest your head on a block
9. You should feel balance and take your attention into the two-way stretch>
10. Explore it and find out what that is telling you
11. Be easy with it

Then you’re ready to do another Down Face Dog.

Down Face Dog

When I carried this out under the instruction of the Iyengar teacher I mentioned above, she would come along to each student who wasn’t able to get their buttocks onto their heels (me included) and sit on your base of the spine (facing away from you) to draw the lower back and buttocks away from the torso.

It provided a good stretch, but in hindsight it might just say more about the western Iyengar approach than it does about my limitations in the pose (and here speaks the voice of injury).

What have your experiences of the Pose of a Child been like?

Let’s get 2010 off with a bang … Its time to get down to some deep and meaningful … exercise that is … and for my money there is nothing better than a good session of Yoga … especially the not too fearsome variety … It need not be strenuous to be effective … a great learning for us all!  And one that took me quite a while to realise … in life as it is in Yoga lol!

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!

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

An Ancient Art of the Orient

I just saw this tweeted round by @yogaweb … so thank you … Take a look and see what you think!  Although the word Beginner is used here … for me – 8-yrs on into my practice – I’ve come full circle and feel more strongly than ever that being a beginner with yoga is all you ever need.  The stronger poses can lead you into all sorts of ‘trouble’ with a capital T as far as being more prone to injury goes …  If you’ve any questions about getting into yoga and where to property start … drop me a line … And if you’d like to see some recommndations on here … let me know that too

Here’s the piece – enjoy!

Beginners yoga, as the name suggests, is part of the ancient art of the Orient, specially set aside for the beginners or those who are just being introduced to the science. Yoga is both an art as well as a science. Today, there are practitioners who make available yoga regimes to meet just about any particular requirement. Getting introduced to the art and science is not difficult at all. There are a number of online as well as offline resources that make the art of yoga accessible 24×7. Offline, you could access any of the dedicated real time yoga centers that allow you to not only learn the art, but also research and practice the holistic fitness approach at the same time, for as long as you want.

There are a number of online resources too that offer you forums to learn the exercises and are headed by the best names in the industry. These resources offer you access to a number of support forums like arenas to get your yoga equipment in place, in house diet and supplement suggestions and even sites to research and learn more about the art. You can now be a part of the Beginners yoga program when and as you wish. Every time you sign on not only do you gain access and interactive rostrums to people who are beginners just like you but also the experts who address collective and individual concerns!

The Beginners yoga forums educate you on the history and significance of the science and give you a range of exercises to choose from. As a beginner, if you are part of the online experience, you get to learn the techniques via great state of the art graphics and download options. Offline of course, you get to learn the art from direct interaction with a real time yoga master. When choosing to be a part of the Beginners yoga schedule, it is very important to be choosy about the teacher or master.

The choice of the right techniques and the right execution of the exercises play a vital role in the incorporation of the art long term. As a beginner, you should essentially look for a number of options and make a well informed choice and even investigate into the techniques offered and their proven track record via referrals. There are as many forums as there are enthusiasts and you are at all times within easy reach of these!

I recently attended a workshop (2 of 2 on the Breathe) (a few months back now) with  Pete Blackaby http://www.peteblackaby.co.uk at Cora Kemball-Cook’s lovely yoga studios in Canterbury, Kent (I’m also a member of Cora’s regular Health and Healing group).

Pete’s style of teaching casts away a veil of what other teachers shirk away from (yet seem undeveloped in their opinion of) regarding the mystical element of Yoga.  And like him I live in a western post-industrialized country and because of this I like Pete for not only addressing these issues but telling it the way he feels it.

He talks about his current discoveries and makes clear that he hasn’t all the answers (as most teachers might).  He invites an opinion from the group and intertwines it organically into his organized program.   This difference demonstrates his authenticity and his views mostly coincide with my own.

I began practicing Yoga 8-yrs ago and have taken quite a journey where I began as a very flexible person, but within 3-mths I experienced what led to long-term injury.

Choosing a Yoga Style and Class

My Yoga classes started as a freebie where I worked, and I was excited as I’d been introduced to Yoga in my early twenties and due to (what I felt) was a rather dull Yoga teacher I fell away from it.  My newer teacher came from the Iyengar school, she was tough, relentless and fell neatly into my North of England background where ‘nothing worthwhile comes easy’ so what did I know, then?  She pressed limbs and sat on lower backs to manipulate us into postures I was ‘proud’ to be capable of and continued in this vein in my own usually irregular practice.

However the injury occurred in a Gym as at that stage I was overlapping fitness styles to become healthy.  I was using a Down Face Dog pose as a warm-up exercise (I knew no better) and collapsed in a heap on the mat with a lower-back pain as ice-packs were quickly applied.  I had difficulty in walking for the ensuing months and required an adapted chair at work.  When I finally saw a Physiotherapist (due to ignorance in not pressing for assistance earlier) I was advised that flexible people [like me - and it was 'official' as I was given a 'bendy fingers/thumbs test - the further back you can bend them the more flexible you are, apparently and there's a gauge] are more likely to fall into injury but take longer to recover due to less sensitivity because they have further ‘reach’ before the senses kick-in.  A big learning or was it?  And adversely this indicates that the stiffer you are the safer you are in exercise, because you reach and protect your resistance point sooner.

Injuries happen so Easily

I recovered within 3-mths and regained almost full flexibility in no-time.  But 18-mths down the line I experienced similar but deeper injuries that I’m still recovering from as these continued to escalate with poor balance and lots of falling over!  So why have I not turned my back on Yoga and told it ‘where to go’?

The simple explanation is that I got such great benefit from it and whenever I recover and get back ‘there’ I feel it again.  Initially I experienced such a deep change as I began to ‘calm down’ as one of Harry Enfield’s characters might say.  The inner change was a huge shift for me.

Returning to Health

But due to lack of Yoga and other exercise I have declined into a stiff pole, hankering for the flexibility I took for granted and I appreciate that I can return to it provided I ‘change my ways’ and begin a more conscious-minded practice.  And this is what Pete Blackaby promotes.  His style is not for the ‘work-out’ fanatic, but instead is about taking the route of ‘intention’ (as with all change-processes I believe) and reaching your own resistance point which is where the exploration and learning begins.  For me it will take quite a while (I’m resisting numbers here – after all I wouldn’t want to hem myself in now would I – but I have set some goals!).

He’s based in Brighton (on the south coast) as are so many Yoga teachers in the UK, and Pete trained as an Osteopath and knows his stuff.  This man walks the walk and talks the talk … and I like his style of teaching and will continue to attend his classes where others have left me stranded …

Check out Pete’s classes and courses and if you’re not UK based then you’ll just have to visit these shores or look out for his book ‘How Yoga Works’ (the working and probably final title) which I believe is due out towards the end of this year.

Jane

The Breathe

I recently attended a workshop (2 of 2 on the Breathe) with Pete Blackaby http://www.peteblackaby.co.uk at Cora Kemball-Cook’s lovely yoga studios in Canterbury, Kent (I attend Cora’s monthly Health and Healing group).

Pete’s style of teaching casts away a veil of what other teachers shirk away from (yet seem undeveloped in their opinion of) regarding the mystical element of Yoga.  And like him I live in a western post-industrialized country and because of this I like Pete for not only addressing these issues but telling it the way he feels it.

He talks about his current discoveries and makes clear that he hasn’t all the answers (as most teachers might).  He invites an opinion from the group and intertwines it organically into his organized program.   This difference demonstrates his authenticity and his views mostly coincide with my own.

I began practicing Yoga 8-yrs ago and have taken quite a journey where I began as a very flexible person, but within 3-mths I experienced what led to long-term injury.

Choosing a Yoga Style and Class

My Yoga classes started as a freebie where I worked, and I was excited as I’d been introduced to Yoga in my early twenties and due to (what I felt) was a rather dull Yoga teacher I fell away from it.  My newer teacher came from the Iyengar school, she was tough, relentless and fell neatly into my North of England background where ‘nothing worthwhile comes easy’ so what did I know, then?  She pressed limbs and sat on lower backs to manipulate us into postures I was ‘proud’ to be capable of and continued in this vein in my own usually irregular practice.

However the injury occurred in a Gym as at that stage I was overlapping fitness styles to become healthy.  I was using a Down Face Dog pose as a warm-up exercise (I knew no better) and collapsed in a heap on the mat with a lower-back pain as ice-packs were quickly applied.  I had difficulty in walking for the ensuing months and required an adapted chair at work.  When I finally saw a Physiotherapist (due to ignorance in not pressing for assistance earlier) I was advised that flexible people [like me - and it was 'official' as I was given a 'bendy fingers/thumbs test - the further back you can bend them the more flexible you are, apparently and there's a gauge] are more likely to fall into injury but take longer to recover due to less sensitivity because they have further ‘reach’ before the senses kick-in.  A big learning or was it?  And adversely this indicates that the stiffer you are the safer you are in exercise, because you reach and protect your resistance point sooner.

Injuries happen so Easily

I recovered within 3-mths and regained almost full flexibility in no-time.  But 18-mths down the line I experienced similar but deeper injuries that I’m still recovering from as these continued to escalate with poor balance and lots of falling over!  So why have I not turned my back on Yoga and told it ‘where to go’?

The simple explanation is that I got such great benefit from it and whenever I recover and get back ‘there’ I feel it again.  Initially I experienced such a deep change as I began to ‘calm down’ as one of Harry Enfield’s characters might say.  The inner change was a huge shift for me.

Returning to Health

But due to lack of Yoga and other exercise I have declined into a stiff pole, hankering for the flexibility I took for granted and I appreciate that I can return to it provided I ‘change my ways’ and begin a more conscious-minded practice.  And this is what Pete Blackaby promotes.  His style is not for the ‘work-out’ fanatic, but instead is about taking the route of ‘intention’ (as with all change-processes I believe) and reaching your own resistance point which is where the exploration and learning begins.  For me it will take quite a while (I’m resisting numbers here – after all I wouldn’t want to hem myself in now would I – but I have set some goals!).

He’s based in Brighton (on the south coast) as are so many Yoga teachers in the UK, and Pete trained as an Osteopath and knows his stuff.  This man walks the walk and talks the talk … and I like his style of teaching and will continue to attend his classes where others have left me stranded …

Check out Pete’s classes and courses and if you’re not UK based then you’ll just have to visit these shores or look out for his book ’How Yoga Works’ (the working and probably final title) which I believe is due out towards the end of this year.

Jane

Strangely, one morning a few months ago I fell … was it because I’d mentioned it in the previous days posts (as a fleeting reference!) and so awoke something in my bodies history … but what was remarkable was the automatic and quite different response I had …

Is it ‘All in the Mind’

I literally bounced up from the floor … it was bizarre … It felt like a cross between one of those contact rolling-body experiences you see where one person makes body contact and rolls over the other with intuitive speed and agility. And also like a fast-forward/backward film clip!

Light as a Feather

And as I fell I was light and laughed my head off … a great and very different reaction to any I had in the past … I’m impressed with the difference and happily using it as a gauge to measure how far I’ve traveled in recent times.

Good times … as that west-country comedian would say! I was so happy with that and the wonderful day followed in its wake.

So let me ask you, what have your experiences been with gravity lately?

The Four Points Of The Foot

1. The first point is just below the big toe (underneath)
2. The second point is just underneath the little toe
3. The third point is at the broadest point of the heel just before it starts to reduce its shape at the back
4. The fourth point is the opposite side of the heel adjacent to the third point

The Importance Of The Foot

If these four points are felt and worked towards then the natural curvature on the inner and (to a lesser extent) the outer foot, along the sides.  This ensures we can be grounded without being flat footed, as our yogic intention is to be light of foot and body.

Making A Stand

The tibia bone in the front of the leg is the only straight bone in the whole body, 206 bones in all. And although it joins the foot at the ankle there is a mish-mash of cartilage (as where all bones appear to meet) that prevents the bones touching. None of the bones in the body directly touch, as substances that oils the wheels, such as blood, synovial fluids and connective tissue construct a junction to each bone-to-bone meeting point.

Best Foot Forward

The foot plays an important starting point in Yoga and the correct standing and grounding of it shouldn’t be overlooked, as all other postures tend to derive from an awareness of the feet.

If you haven’t already have a go at the exercise I talked about some weeks ago. That easily demonstrates the differrence between grounded and non-grounded feet and for me if I’ve some paperwork to clear, it’ll be one of the poses I start the day with … and works every time in helping focus.

If you’re a Yoga fan … the chances are that you have attended a class or watched a DVD where the teacher was influenced by Vanda Scaravelli. She was born in Florence in 1908 into an artistic and intellectual background and died only a few years ago, in her ’90′s with her extraordinary flexibility in tact, due to her lifelong yoga practice.

She learned Yoga, during the 1940′s when BKS Iyengar visited her mountain lodge, alongside other notables of the day like Yehudi Menuhin. She claimed in her book Awakening the Spine that she only began to learn properly when the guests left and she was able to develop her personal practice. And this observation illustrates the underlying philosophy of her yoga teaching.

The Tree Body

She likens the human body … upright where most other creatures are not … to a tree where the waist area approximately equates to that of a tree where it separates the trunk from the branches.

If you were to stand upright in Mountain Pose (Tadasana) you would get a sense of this. You simply place your feet hip-width apart and gently root your feet into the ground. In her book Scaravelli describes this foundation of all good yoga practice thus …

“In Tadasana the body is perfectly still. Standing on the back of the heels your weight slowing sinks down. If you stand long enough, the lower part of the body, from the waist to the heels, gravitates, you will discover that the upper part of the body becomes, light, free and straight. This starting position can correct and adjust spinal problems such as scoliosis and arthritis.

To do the pose correctly stand on the back of the heels with the spine straight, knees extended and chin in. The weight must be distributed equally on both legs,

This is the most important pose. Do it correctly and all the others will follow.”

Give it a Go

if you look at this child you can see how much he’s stretching his arms upwards and away from his feet. The act of stretching takes us wholly away from grounding (the act of calm and focus).  He’s laughing and excited about life, and our aim is to have that joy, but from our centre (not control).  One method for achieving this is Yoga and the starting point of Mountain Pose (Tadasana) provides that start, as stated earlier. We often don’t realize how ungrounded we are as we go about life, mostly in habit, existing in our dreamlike conscious-state, carrying out most actions on automatic pilot.

If you like a challenge, which stillness is for most of us, then have a go at this and who knows what you might find.  This pose will start to inform you as to how much you can release and highlight the areas that may just require your attention.

And one aspect is our physical sense, as anyone who’s had a massage knows we carry most of our tension in the shoulder and neck areas, and likewise just how good it feels to free up those knots.

This is a simple and very effective pose … give it a try …

Jane

BKS Iyengar

If you’re a Yoga fan … the chances are that you have attended a class or watched a DVD where the teacher was influenced by Vanda Scaravelli. She was born in Florence in 1908 into an artistic and intellectual background and died only a few years ago, in her ’90′s with her extraordinary flexibility in tact, due to her lifelong yoga practice.

She learned Yoga, during the 1940′s when BKS Iyengar visited her mountain lodge, alongside other notables of the day like Yehudi Menuhin. She claimed in her book Awakening the Spine that she only began to learn properly when the guests left and she was able to develop her personal practice. And this observation illustrates the underlying philosophy of her yoga teaching.

The Tree Body

She likens the human body … upright where most other creatures are not … to a tree where the waist area approximately equates to that of a tree where it separates the trunk from the branches.

If you were to stand upright in Mountain Pose (Tadasana) you would get a sense of this. You simply place your feet hip-width apart and gently root your feet into the ground. In her book Scaravelli describes this foundation of all good yoga practice thus …

“In Tadasana the body is perfectly still. Standing on the back of the heels your weight slowing sinks down. If you stand long enough, the lower part of the body, from the waist to the heels, gravitates, you will discover that the upper part of the body becomes, light, free and straight. This starting position can correct and adjust spinal problems such as scoliosis and arthritis.

To do the pose correctly stand on the back of the heels with the spine straight, knees extended and chin in. The weight must be distributed equally on both legs,

This is the most important pose. Do it correctly and all the others will follow.” 

Give it a Go

if you look at this child you can see how much he’s stretching his arms upwards and away from his feet. The act of stretching takes us wholly away from grounding (the act of calm and focus).  He’s laughing and excited about life, and our aim is to have that joy, but from our centre (not control).  One method for achieving this is Yoga and the starting point of Mountain Pose (Tadasana) provides that start, as stated earlier. We often don’t realize how ungrounded we are as we go about life, mostly in habit, existing in our dreamlike conscious-state, carrying out most actions on automatic pilot.

If you like a challenge, which stillness is for most of us, then have a go at this and who knows what you might find.  This pose will start to inform you as to how much you can release and highlight the areas that may just require your attention.

And one aspect is our physical sense, as anyone who’s had a massage knows we carry most of our tension in the shoulder and neck areas, and likewise just how good it feels to free up those knots.

This is a simple and very effective pose … give it a try …

Jane

Have you heard about the Plate or similar … Its a form of exercising that is fairly new, amazingly quick and simple, over-riding the need for a gym membership (if that tickles your fancy) it certainly does mine.

It was recommended to me around 18-mths ago by the bio-energy healer Seka Nikolic (who featured in one of Paul McKenna’s TV programs) when I visited her for a course of treatment. And her thinking falls in line with many great Yoga teachers that adhere to the ‘less is more’ philosophy by stopping at the point of your resistance in every pose …

The story goes that this piece of kit was developed by the Russian space program when cosmonauts, at zero gravity, experienced loss of muscle tone and with prolonged stays in space it sometimes led to loss in bone density.

Hence the vibrational exercise equipment was born and now its in common usage. Over the last year most gyms in the UK have installed at least one of these machines … Some of us may be a little sceptical and still believe in the adage ‘no pain no gain’ after all how can 10-mins of standing or stretching (on a vibrating platform) possibly hold the equivalent benefit to an hour’s workout?

About The Gym – You Decide

Such thinking may be ‘so last century’ and perhaps has more to do with the psychological benefit we gain from pounding a treadmill, believing that this punishment somehow compensates for all our poor social habits especially where eating and drinking are concerned. Instead lets celebrate the arrival of such a wonder because of the overall effect in return for so little effort.

The price of these machines (as used by Madonna) varies greatly and the top of the range are priced in the region of $12K although they are currently advertised at $231 and from all accounts there isn’t a deal of difference …

The Moon Landings

My dad (sadly was no longer around by the late 60′s when the moon-landings took place) would amuse us with his ‘strange’ enthusiasm for a future where our nutritional intake would be in tablet form (as depicted by astronauts) as he wasn’t much of a food fan …

He would have loved the thinking behind this machine and in the words of Neil Armstrong; “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. Indeed these machines rock if you catch my drift …

Jane