Earlier, I published a description of the yoga pose dvipada-pitâm. Here are the photos to accompany that post. Please refer to the description. Please note: keep the chin tucked in, make sure hands and feet are firmly on the floor. Don’t pull the feet in towards the buttocks with your hands. Let the natural flexibility of your leg joints determine the distance between bum and heel.
The Post: published articles
Dear readers,
Please find here the articles I have published in The Post, a fine, free tabloid found on the lovely Costa Blanca. The first three articles, published in the summer of 2013, describe in detail some important fundamental poses in the Viniyoga system of hatha yoga. Here, I have simply copied them inline, without the lovely photos (by my friend Pepe Zaragozí) accompanying the originals.
Apanasana:A powerfully simple pose
Hatha yoga is a very good ally in the struggle against lower back pain (LBP). LBP is one of the main reasons people visit the Doctor’s office. Although in some cases surgery might be the only option, for most people a good program of spinal care and yoga would keep them pain-free and mobile. Stretching, freeing, loosening and unbinding muscles, ligaments and tendons, yoga gently eases aches and pains, realigning our bodies and calming our minds.
Apanasana is a basic yoga pose that is very easy to learn and may help reduce LBP. It is a full spinal and gluteal stretch, a contraction of the abdomen and compression of the abdominal cavity.
Most of us know that weak abdominal muscles and protruding bellies contribute significantly to lower back pain. The internal organs push out the weak abs, rocking the pelvis forward. With the pelvis tipped forward this way, the hip flexors shorten and pull on the lower back, making it curve even more and causing pain.
In the subtle anatomy of yoga, there is a dominant downward running energy and a dominant upward rising energy. Apana is the downward facing energy. It runs from the navel down to the tips of the toes. It governs elimination, reproduction and the rooting, terrestrial facets of life. Apanasana derives its names from the energy apana. It is the posture (asana) that actuates directly on the downward energy current (apana). Combining this gentle movement with the precise breathing technique of lengthening and counting the breath changes the direction of the flow of apana, sending it upwards.
When it flows upwards, apana nourishes our nervous system, giving us vitality, vigour and zest for life.
Observe carefully any limitations you might have including herniated disks or difficulty rising from the floor. If this is the case, you may wish to try practising on your bed. Do not undertake any physical activity without consulting a professional first. But also, don’t worry. This is a very safe pose, reclining, head neutral, feet raised.
Use a yoga mat or folded boiled-wool blanket to cushion your back. Lying face-up on the floor, legs bent, feet flat on the floor, parallel and hip-width apart, heels near the buttocks. Extend the neck and lower the chin to make a double-chin. Keep the neck straight throughout.
Breathe in. Breathing out, lift the feet off the floor, bringing the knees to the chest. Place the palms of the hands on the knees. Breathe in. Breathing out, pull the knees gently in towards the chest. Breathing in, move the knees back and away from the chest. Breathe out and rock the knees back in. Breathe in and rock them away. Repeat. Take note: the movement is small. Don’t straighten the legs on the inhale. The elbows flex and extend, but the knees mostly don’t. Repeat this movement for 6-8 breaths, three times per day and you will almost certainly reduce lower back pain (LBP). Practice 6-8 breaths in apanasana three times per day, for one month. If you wish you keep a diary of your experiment, you may find it informative. I welcome any feedback on your practice. Keep it up!
Dvipada-pitam: The two-legged table.
Strength and alignment is the name of the game to avoid lower back pain (LBP). LBP is all too often cause for a doctor’s visit, but can be managed without drugs or surgery.
Abdominal muscle tone is important to spine health. The rectus abdomus “six pack” at the front contains the internal organs, preventing them from pulling us forward into a permanent sagging arch. The obliques and transverse abdominals complete the famous “core muscles” that stabilize the mid-section of the human body.
Dvipada-pitam, with apanâsana, which we examined last month, represents the culmination of the work of modern yoga master Krishnamacharya. Crucially when practising yoga, we mustn’t lose sight of the objective of yoga: to canalize and control the body’s subtle energy, prana. These two poses help concentrate prana in the body’s core, making it available for higher purposes. Whether one ascribes to this point of view is an entirely personal matter. Yoga grants its benefits to all who practice, regardless of their investment in its philosophical underpinnings.
Variants of dvipada-pitam are found most modern body toning systems, but especially in Pilates. They may use props like balls and rings to increase the intensity of the pose, but the outcome is the same.
With proper alignment, this pose engages the abdominal muscles, the muscles of the dorsal and lumbar spine, the hip flexors, the leg adductors and the feet and ankles. It is a very complete pose. There is compression of the throat and extension of the neck, as well as an inversion, as the heart raises above the brain. Thus, be careful if you suffer from glaucoma or dizziness. Please consult a professional before beginning any exercise program.
Lie on your back, arms at your sides, palms down. Bend the knees and place the feet parallel and hip-width apart on the floor. The heels are near the buttocks, but not touching. Don’t pull the feet nearer – allow your natural knee and hip flexion to determine the foot placement. Stretch the neck directing the chin towards the collarbone. Relax the jaw, placing the tongue on the soft palate. Inhale, lift the buttocks, hips and back up off the floor. Exhale, lower slowly, “one vertebrae at a time”, rocking the pelvis and trying to get whole spine on the floor. Repeat six times. Variants include raising the arms behind the head on the inhale, taking breaths in the static pose, lowering the body whilst leaving the arms behind, moving one arm at a time and varying the separation of the feet. Be very aware of the feet – keep the toes on the floor! Also, if you have a very curved neck, use a prop behind the head.
Twisting and turning – what your car can tell you about your body.
The yoga of daily life is about observing ourselves in our daily actions and deciding if we are fulfilling our true capabilities.
The car, constant in modern life, can tell us many things about our body’s health. We must twist to get into and out of cars. To shoulder-check, we turn the head some 80º. This might be the only time we regularly move our bodies in the “transverse” plane. Our limited daily lives tend to “move” in the forward direction only, progressively limiting our range of motion.
lf you notice that twisting and turning in the car is limited or painful, you will have to make a decision – to live with or without pain. Awareness is the first step – what you choose to do with the information is the interesting part. Do you ignore the pain? Accept it as inevitable? Take a pill? Or, care for your body?
Simple and gentle yoga exercises can help restore range of motion. Note:
Breath and movement are always co-ordinated in hatha yoga. If you have any injuries, consult a professional before attempting new exercises.
Dvipada-pitam means “the two-legged table” in Sanskrit. This pose is prominent in the system of yoga I use, Viniyoga. Lying on the back, with the arms by the sides, palms down, bend the knees and place the feet on the floor , hip-width apart. Breathe in and life the hips and lower back off the floor. Breathe out and slowly lower down, rolling the pelvis. Repeat six times.
Jathara parivritti is the sanskrit name for the lying twist. There are variations in the pose which include changing the position of one or both legs, or using props, or varying the breath. Exhale to lower the legs to the floor and inhale to bring them back to centre. Go down and up, alternating left and right, 6 times on either side , breathing each time you move. In the 6th movement, stay in the pose for 6 breaths, before inhaling to come back to centre.
Apanasana completes the set. Breathing out, lift the feet off the floor, knees to chest. Separate the legs to accommodate the belly. Place palms on the knees. Inhale. Exhaling, pull the knees gently in towards the chest. Inhale, push the knees away from the chest. Exhale, and rock the knees back in. The movement is small. The elbows flex and straighten, but the knees mostly don’t. Don’t straighten the legs on the inhale. Maintain the distance between the knees. Repeat 6 times. Perform this simple sequence twice a day for a week, then take to the open roads, twisting and turning!
El método y la meta
Ayer, tuve el placer de dar una clase en una Jornada de Bienestar y Salud, en Dénia. Habían unos 20 personas. Entre ellos, algunos novatos, y algunos que ya practican hatha yoga.
Es curioso como los que ya practican yoga piden casi siempre clases y posturas avanzadas. De un lado, lo puedo entender, este deseo de reproducir las posturas tipo espaghettis que nos venden en las revistas de yoga. En un momento dado, yo también tenía muchas ganas de hacer el Escorpión. Incluso, me caí de cabeza intentando bajarme las piernas desde sirshasana (el escorpión no se toma desde sirshasana…pero como era bastante neofita y sin profe, bueno…)
Pero luego, encontré el Viniyoga y, estudiando con asiduidad, llegué a entender que las posturas no son el fin de la práctica del yoga. El fin es tranquilizarnos la mente para encontrar la felicidad.
La posturas forman parte de método del yoga. La paz mental es la meta. Importante no confundir el método por la meta.
En Yoga Sutras Libro II, el sábio Patanjali describe el camino del yoga. Consiste en ocho partes, ó miembros. Las primeras cinco – yama, niyama, âsana, pranayâma y pratyahara – son el método. Es la receta para preparar la mente para la medtación. El sabio cierre el segundo libro con pratyahara, el retiro de los sentidos. Parafraseando, Patanjali dice:
Bueno, alumnos, ahora que, a través de nuestros buen comportamientos hacia los demás y hacía nosotros mismos (yama, niyama), a través de la práctica contínua y al largo plazo de las posturas y respiraciones (âsana, pranayama), habeis llegado al momento para sentaros, retirar vuestra atención del entorno (pratyahara) y contemplar.
Patanjali continua en Yoga Sutras Libro III describiendo el camino del yogi. Ahora, abordamos la contemplación meditativa. Dharana, dhyana, samadhi….concentración, meditación, liberación. Estos tres son la meta del yoga, Tambíen forman parte del camino, pero son realmente los frutos de la práctica. Repito: importante no confundir le método por la meta.
¿Y, de estos que te demandan las posturas avanzadas? Bueno, en el contexto de una clase general y grupal, no las vamos a abordar. Y punto. Iguál en una clase avanzada ó MasterClass se podría trabajar equilibrios avanzados. Con la preparación y actitud adecuadas son perfectamente asequibles.
Pero,¿como una profe puede satisfacer a la necesidad de esa gente de profundizar en su práctica? Porque, en su esencia, cuando te piden posturas avanzadas, lo que realmente te estan pidiendo es profundizar en su práctica. “He llegado a tal punto, me encuentro bien, por donde voy ahora?” Puede ser impaciencia (ojo!). Pero, puede ser la sed de él que busque pidiendo limosna. “Por favor, enseñame el camino que me lleva desde la miseria hacía la paz”, te imploran.
El Viniyoga dispone de muchas herramientas para esa gente. Nosotros los viniyoguis abordamos la respiración con una lucidez y coherencia que no se encuentra en otros lineajes (admito que no conzco de primera mano el método Iyengar. Lo aprecio como un método muy sano y coherente. Igual allí también dan a la respiración la importancia que merezca…). Las técnicas respiratorias son nuestras semillas. Vamos plantando semillas en las cabezas de estos yoguis sedientos. De que colores serán sus flores?
Como profes de Viniyoga, sabemos muy bien poner pautas respiratorias a posturas sencillas, dandolas el enfoque mental completo y absorbiente tán característico de una buena práctica de hatha yoga. Pausas (krama), retenciones (kumbhaka), y ritmos. Bandhas (cierres musculares), mudras (apretones), dristi (la mirada) y bhavana (enfoques mentales). Todas estas cosas aportan una dmiensión energética a la práctica, saciando a la más hambriente mente. Cuando las inquietudes mentales se suavizan, entonces, el alumno está prácticando yoga de verdad. Hemos relizado la meta, empleando las herramientas del método.
Sencillo, ¿no?
The guru is in you. Let us yog.
My personal yog: To thine own Self be true
My personal practice has been suffering of late. Time, but also boredom, has kept me off the mat. Granted, I have been practising a lot of yoga of daily life, being aware, present, joyful, honest and patient. Well, most of the time.
Then I read this article, about how to be an inspiring yoga teacher, in which the author says:
When you give yourself permission to abandon the rules, to listen and truly explore and celebrate your body through the shapes and then share what you discover with your students, the movement becomes medicine. My partner and Laughing Lotus co-founder, Jasmine Tarkeshi, always says that to be a good teacher you’ve got to be a soul scientist. You truly must go into a laboratory and investigate your sacred self through your body, every single day.
Heck yeah! I need to remember that sometimes.
The system I know and teach is called Viniyoga. The central tenet of this system is “the yoga adapts to the person, not the person to the yoga”. It is a system that can be considered the peak of Krishnamacharya’s life’s work and investigation. I believe wholeheartedly in that core message and have iron faith in my teacher, Carmen, and my lineage (Krishnamacharya -> TKV Desikachar -> Claude Maréchal -> Christina S. de Ynestrillas -> Carmen Sánchez Segura). And yet, and yet…lately something hadn’t been quite right.
I embarked on the second phase of my teacher training, the “Post-Formation” last autumn. The format was different than the first part (once every two months, a residential weekend away) but the content built solidly on the earlier teachings. Perhaps a bit too solidly…more sutras? more posture analysis? etc…Boredom has always been my bugbear, so I knew I need not heed that little voice inside saying “something new…something new…go and find something new…”
What was putting me off? Boredom, yes. But more than anything, a distinct lack of joy was bringing the whole tone down. I felt the need to knuckle down for the seminars rather than blossom out. In the meantime, I had enjoyed the wonders of Stretch Therapy and the deep relaxation of Yin Yoga.
I began to doubt…was Viniyoga too limited? Are the postural compensations too often, too indulgent, not challenging enough? Why is it that those who practice Viniyoga seem to do so for a very long time without ever developing the stunning and deep flexibility that other lineages develop? Why do my teachers, who evidently know a lot about yoga and have practised for years not seem to smile, not seem joyful (with the exception of Claude) ? The questions rolled round my head and I found no answers.
The second, then the third seminars dragged on. One of the group dropped out. Doubt, head-scratching, the decision to stay.
Then, I read this article and realised something both simple and profound. Having completed the teacher training, having practised solidly since 1999, I had earned the right to innovate, create, both in my personal practice and in my classes. Of course, I had always done this, I know that I am creative when it comes to sequencing, bhavanas, important details. But, still, I limited myself.
I think I will grant myself a little more leeway from now on, find out how Viniyoga adapts to Rachel, not Rachel to Viniyoga.
I still believe that the training I am pursuing is the highest quality teaching I can receive here and now. It is I who needs to transform. OM. May you find your own path, too. The Guru is in you.