Shoulder Stand is a favourite asana for many people and may be included in one’s daily practice as a “reward” for all the hard work done earlier in the vinyasa…

In this asana, the body is inverted and supported by the shoulders and arms. All that is required is the rotation of the scapulae (shoulder blades) over the head of the humerus (upper arm bone) to allow the torso to move between the arms. That’s basically it. Yet, anyone who tries to do Sarvangasana knows that it just does not work that way. There are muscles, tendons, ligaments and fascia that have shortened and tightened around the shoulder joints and in the rest of the body. There are also injuries, misalignments and emotional blocks that prevent this simple movement. We need to restore the harmony.

So, the challenge of asana is to work with these obstacles as they are presented, in order to express the body/mind essence of Sarvangasana. How one approaches the removal of the obstacles in order to gain freedom of movement, can demonstrate how an individual approaches challenges present in their daily living.

Shoulder Stand, for many, is also seen as an easy place “to hang out”, a place to relax and regard life in general, i.e. “what are the kids doing at home?”; “should I invest on the stock market?”; “what’s for dinner?” And, with this “monkey mind”, we may execute what looks like a decent pose, yet it will obviously not penetrate the blocks and what can and needs to change.

The lower abdomen is considered the “seat of sickness”. Above the lower abdomen lies agni (fire) which burns bodily, emotional and spiritual impurities. In our standing, upright position, the fire is above and the impurities below. When one is inverted, this is reversed and gravity automatically moves this “dirt” downwards towards the fire. Correct, mindful breathing is instrumental in this reversal process, because it can burn impurities and remove them from the body more effectively.

Because of the position of the neck and head, the gaze is directed towards the heart. Sarvangasana is referred to as the “mother of asanas”. As a mother nurtures, Sarvangasana nurtures by allowing one to look into the heart and encourages the heart centre to open. This opening reminds one to approach the challenges, the edges of pain and fear, to see one’s limitations with love and compassion, and to understand that by facing oneself, the edges soften and move, both physically and mentally.

The neck is the lowest part of the torso. Much of the time it acts as a filter for the abundant flow of energy between the mind and the body. This causes it to be extremely subject to tension and stiffness. (i.e.). “Pains in the neck” are self created and can arise through the lack of flexibility in seeing other points of view. The position of the head and neck in this posture is a symbol for the surrender of our will. As the physical pressure is released from this neck lock, the body comes back into balance. It is said that as the ego lets go of its weight that, in its self-importance, it has imagined, the burden is removed.

Sarvangasana is associated with the fifth chakra, Visuddha, the Throat Chakra and symbol of purification. The throat chakra is the centre of sound, vibration and self-expression. It is the realm of consciousness that controls, creates, transmits and receives communication, both within ourselves and between each other. It is here that the synthesising of old ideas into something new takes place.

As much pleasure as this asana brings, one cannot stand forever one one’s shoulders. As you come down from Salamba Sarvangasana, Swami Rhada suggests the focus should be “what burdens can I put down”; “what burdens are no longer mine?”, so that you may walk lighter on the path of self-knowledge and self development.

Step By Step:

• Fold up a blanket and place it towards the top of your mat.
• Lie on your back.Lift your legs up slowly towards the ceiling, bringing your hands to the base of your back to support the lower back and spine.
• Lift your pelvis and bring your feet behind down behind your head (Plow pose). Your legs should be as straight as possible and your torso should be perpendicular to the floor.
• With your hands pressing into your lower back lift your knees into the air.
• Lift your legs into the air.
• Gaze at your chest, being careful not to move your head from side to side.
• You can hold the pose for 2 minutes up to half an hour.

Counter Pose:
Matyasana (Fish Pose)

By Arleen Francois

Reversed Bound Side Angle Pose (Other names: Intense Extended Warrior)

A highly grounding and energising pose, Baddha Parivrtta Parsvakonasana, is excellent for assisting digestive function…

This is a revolving latural angle posture where the abdominal organs are contracted. The blood circulates well around the abdominal organs and the spinal column, and they are thus rejuvenated. Although suitable for all levels of practitioners, this is an advanced pose and there are various modifications one can employ in order to maximise the benefits of the asana and vary the challenge according to one’s ability.

Benefits: The asana wrings out the internal organs, assiting the removal waste matter from the colon without strain. It also stretches the mid-back, opens the shoulder joint and strengthens the legs.

Basic Alignment: Start this pose in a forward lunge with the back knee on the floor and the elbow crossing the knee. If you can reach your hand down towards the floor go ahead. If you are still feeling comfortable wrap one arm under the leg and one behind the back (a strap can be used here) and try to bind the arms. Once the arms are bound, straighten the back knee and roll the chest open.

Alternatives: Remove the bind, take less of a twist and instead bring the hand to the big toe side of the foot keeping the hips level.

Step by step:

1. Stand in Tadasana. With an exhalation, step or lightly jump your feet wide apart. Rest your hands on your hips. Turn your right foot out to the right 90 degrees and turn your left foot in slightly to the right. Align the right heel with the left heel. Firm your thighs and turn your right thigh outward, so that the center of the kneecap is in line with the center of the right ankle.

2. Exhale and turn your torso to the right until you’re facing directly out over the right leg; as you do this, lift your left heel off the floor and spin on the ball of the foot until the inner left foot is parallel to the inner right foot. Then exhale again and bend your right knee. If possible, bring the right thigh parallel to the floor. Keep your left leg active by pressing the thigh up toward the ceiling and extending strongly through the left heel. At the same time, resist the lift of the left thigh by pressing the tailbone toward the pubis.

3. With another exhale turn further to the right and lean the torso down, placing the left hand on the floor inside the right foot. Dig your right thumb into the right hip crease and push the thighbone down toward the floor. Firm the shoulder blades into the back ribs and lean the torso back slightly, away from the inner thigh. Stay in this position for a few breaths.

4. If this position seems challenging enough, stay for the recommended time. If you want to go further, take the left arm through the legs around the back of the waist to open the shoulder and chest. Then take the right arm behind the back and, if possible, clasp the hands together. Do not bend forward. Go as far as your body will allow. If you are unable to clasp the hands then visualise them clasping and hold for a while, or use a strap to assist the bind.

Stay for 30 seconds to one minute. Inhale to come up, exhale to release the twist. Reverse the feet and repeat for the same length of time to the left. Then return to Tadasana.

By Hayley Alexander

What is the core?

The core is a buzz word that is often used in physical therapy, fitness or Pilates training that is said to improve day to day posture, encourage pain-free posture, prevent injury and enhance physical fitness.

The key focus of developing the core is to develop a girdle of strength, (often referred to in Pilates as the “powerhouse”) between the ribs and the pelvis by co-contracting  the deep abdominal muscle called the Transversus Abdominus, the muscle of the Pelvic Floor, the diaphragm and the deep postural muscles of the spine to develop a strong trunk to hold us upright.

However the core goes beyond physical training, it is less efficient when worked in isolation and is much more efficient when integrating mind, body and spirit.  An efficiently working core is about a balance between flexibility and control in both mind and body.  When teaching movement I noticed that clients moved better the more self aware they were or the more self aware they became and that everyone’s level of awareness was different.  There seemed to be a strong relationship between the mind and body and the one influenced the other which meant that how we think, feel and behave influences our movement and changing the way we think can change the way we move or changing the way we move can change the way we think.

My Personal Journey to the Core
In my earlier days of teaching Pilates it was the Transversus Abdominis, the deepest abdominal muscle that was given a great deal of attention and it was this muscle that we began to focus on by using language like “zip and hollow”,  “engage the transversus”, “pull the navel to spine” and “close the ribs to the pelvis”, not realising that by focusing on the front of the body and using language associated with effort and strength I was actually tightening, shortening and weakening my spine. I was focusing on the outer rather than the inner being and began to feel tight and tense in my neck and shoulders by overworking and over cueing the core.

The turning point for me happened through my training with Polestar Pilates UK in 2005 who encouraged the practice of Somatic movement principles like Feldenkrais and the Trager Method.  Somatic meaning the whole person – mind body and spirit.  Moshe Feldenkrais one of the Somatic movement masters developed his Awareness Through Movement method based on his experience and practice of Jujitsu and it seems that most other Somatic movement pioneers based their principles around similar eastern martial arts practices.

Yoga refers to, Chakras and Bhandhas, unblocking to allow energy to flow in the mind and body. In other Eastern philosophies it’s about balancing yin and yang, or learning to harness and direct Chi; it’s about quietening the mind and being present in the moment. It’s about being and becoming rather than doing and achieving.  All these principles are based on awareness and a higher consciousness.  The awareness is heightened when the mind, body and spirit are interconnected.

So although eastern practitioners of movement may not refer to the “core” the way we know it, they were masters at identifying where and how it worked.

How do we experience it?
Body Sensing BQ is a method of experiencing the core with “effortless effort” by tapping into the body’s own intelligence or BQ using Tom Myers Anatomy Train’s effective communication techniques and movement inspired by yoga, Pilates, Feldenkrais and the Franklin Method.  Tom Myers is a soft tissue expert who developed an ingenious and very clever way of looking at anatomy by looking at how “everything connects to everything”. Similar to the Chinese meridian lines but describing instead the myofacial lines (muscle and fascia), the “glue” that holds us together.

He explains how the elasticity of the muscle and tissue or facia creates a structure that suspends our skeleton and when in balance this structure moves easily and efficiently.  The best way to describe it is like sheets of muscle layered on top of each going from the outermost to the innermost layer. It’s Tom Myers’ use of yoga postures to describe the meridian lines and his interpretation of the “core” that completely transformed the way I looked at the body: Instead of an isolated group of muscles of the trunk, the core becomes a 3 dimensional structure occupying space within the deepest layer of the body, from the arches of the feet to the tongue and from the “heart centre” to the fingers. What was even more significant is how little muscle strength is required for core control.  The effort is in the awareness of aligning and organising the body so that it moves with ease and efficiency.  It becomes “core control” versus “core strength”.  It becomes a body that is flexible and strong versus tight and weak.

It’s about aligning the body so that the top half seamlessly connects to the bottom half, connecting the rib cage to the pelvis.  The thorocolumbar junction, (the heart centre where the rib cage ends and the lower spine continues) is where the diaphragm, the solar plexus, adrenal gland, psoas (muscle that joins the spine to the thigh bone) blend and connect. It’s where breathing meets walking, emotion, feeling, sensing and digestion.  It’s where we often block the spine and channel of communication.  The “core” lies at the heart of this junction influencing the state of our mind, our emotions, our physical and spiritual being through the condition of our “breath” or “prana” or “chi”.

So what about the core and yoga?
Yoga is about integrating mind, body and spirit, to develop awareness and greater consciousness and is a great example of the core in training.  Meditation, breath awareness, centering, grounding, emotional awareness, energetic sensation,  awareness of our relationship with the earth and gravity are all vital for core health. Often people who end up with an injury whilst “doing” yoga are not aware of their intelligent body and their core connection, they lose the spinal alignment that connects the top half to the bottom half or like people who “do” Pilates often tense up and forget to “let go”. The more you let go both physically and mentally the better control you have.

“Natural Whole Body Breathing” allows the diaphragm to move through its full range massaging the internal organs and facilitating movement with rhythm and flow. In natural breath, the whole body expands in its entirety -  front back and sides from deep down in the abdominals. There is freedom of movement with no holding in.  The trunk in natural breath contracts automatically when the diaphragm deflates upwards allowing the abdominals to sink back. We see this in breath patterns in yoga. A backbend is facilitated with an inhalation that expands the entire spine and ribs opening up the vulnerable front line creating space in the joints of the hip, lengthening the abdominals and opening up the heart centre and throat whilst maintaining length through the back line or spine.  The forward bend works well on an exhale. On a releasing breath to decompress and open the veterbrae of the spine.

Here are a few guidelines to work the core efficiently in yoga:

1. Pay attention to the breath and work with its intelligence.  Feel how the body “wants” to breathe when you go backward, forward and sideways.
2. Maintain length through the entire length of the spine with every posture from the back of the head to the tailbone – become more aware of feeling and sensing this from the back of the body rather than the front
3. Become aware of the core of the shoulder girdle and pelvis using the natural bone rhythms in the body. When the arm bone spirals outward the collar bone widens and the shoulder blade slides down and wraps around the rib cage.  Try this in downward facing dog. The rhythm of the thigh bones work similarly for widening and opening up the hips in standing postures.
4. Set your bodies intention – how would you like it to move before you move
5. Be aware and present to the sensations in your body, if a movement feels uncomfortable or awkward acknowledge and change it to feel better.

By Yasmin Lambat

For more information on Body Sensing, contact Yasmin Lambat on 076 848 3778, email yasmin@purezest.com or visit www.bodysensing.co.za

Utthita Hasta Padangustasana

Utthita Hasta Padangustasana

‘Extended Hand-to-Big-Toe posture’

This asymmetrical standing posture plays with the subtle intertwining of strength, flexibility and balance. It also reaches deep into the pelvic floor to tug at our very core. Ability in this posture is the result of building the strength to support the body’s extension, the flexibility to extend where strength cannot reach, and balance to allow both to happen within the same space. Here we deconstruct this posture so you can build it into your practice.

Benefits: This asana builds strength from the toes to the finger tips, but especially in the legs, pelvic floor and lower back; it increases flexibility in the leg and promotes balance and equanimity.

Contraindications: There are no contraindications for this posture, however, tight hamstrings will limit full realization of the posture and any shoulder injury may prevent full extension.

How to do this posture:

Before attempting this posture it is best to warm up with a few simple, standing asanas. Trikonasana, Utthita Parsvakonasana, Prasarita Padottanasana and Parsvottanasana will help lengthen the hamstrings and warm the body for this asana.

Due to the complex and complete involvement of the abdominal muscles in supporting this asana as well as the bracing action of the arm, breathing capacity while learning this posture can be limited. Keep the breath calm and even to fuel this posture and remain light.

1. Stand in Tadasana. Feel gravity’s pull on the spine through the soles of your feet. As you ground through your feet lift mula bandha, then uddiyana bandha, reversing the natural flow of apana vayu. This lifting will assist you throughout the posture.

2. Place the left hand on the left hip and, taking the body’s weight into the left leg, bend the right knee and bring the right big toe into the first two fingers of the right hand. Ground strongly through the left leg, imagining the leg imbedded in concrete up to the thigh. Are your hips level? Are your hips square? If not, bring your hips into alignment.

Advanced practitioners: When lifting the right leg, bring the big toe to the fingers without bending the right leg at the knee.

3. Once hips are level to the floor and square, inhale and straighten the right leg. Be aware of the lower back and do not straighten the leg beyond the point at which the natural position of the spine is compromised. The left leg and torso should feel as though they are still in Tadasana. As the hips should still be level and square, explore the shoulder girdle and bring it into alignment as with the hips; shoulders should be level to the ground and square front to back. Now reach through the soles of both feet, imagining the left leg extending below the level of the floor and the right foot reaching out in front of you. Resist the pull on the first two fingers of the right hand by pressing the right big toe forward and up. Maintain the posture for five or more breaths.

Alternatives: beginners with tight hamstrings may hold the knee in this posture while maintaining an upright posture, this focuses on balance and core strength. The practitioner may also choose to hold the right heel with both hands if flexibility is available in the hamstrings, but strength is lacking.

Advanced practitioners: Once hips and shoulders are square, bring the chin or nose to the shin or knee keeping the torso in line with the lifted leg. Ensure that both legs remain straight, shoulders stay relaxed, and hips are level as the chin reaches for the toes. This advanced position requires a strong awareness of mula and uddiyana bandhas and a clever equilibrium between strength, flexibility, and balance.

4. To take the posture further, return to the posture described in #3 with hips and shoulders square and soles of the feet extending. Inhale. On the exhale, bring the extended leg and arm out to the right side as the head turns to the left. Hips and shoulders remain level and square. Soles of the feet continue to extend either into the floor below or the air above. Hold the posture for five or more breaths, and then inhale the leg back to centre.

Alternatives: beginners may continue to hold the knee while bringing the leg to the side. This will encourage flexibility in the hip joint while building strength in the core, hip flexors and upper body.

5. To really challenge yourself, release the big toe and bring the right hand to the right hip. Check that the lower back has not rounded. With hands on hips, let the right leg float in front of you as if buoyed by the breath. With every inhale float the leg higher, with every exhale ground through the sole of the left foot. This position goes deep within the core, activating hip flexors, psoas and pelvic floor, building the strength and equanimity to carry you through any other standing posture. Hold this posture for five or more breaths and then exhale the leg down to resume Tadasana.

In many cases the practitioner will find that this posture is easier to perform on one side as opposed to the other. Or that it may be more challenging to perform the posture with the leg in front, but easier with the same leg to the side. Increased awareness of these natural imbalances within the body is one of the many benefits of this posture, while also providing a means for correcting any imbalance by bringing both sides back into harmony with one another.

The greatest advance in this posture will come when strength and flexibility harmonise. This can be felt when the leg rises to the chest rather than the chest dropping to meet the leg in position #3. Once the hamstring is long enough for the leg to be raised with less involvement from the upper body, balance and breathing become easier as the leg and arm are held more closely to the body’s centre of gravity.

Self Adjustment

When self adjusting, the practitioner must identify the key source of their trouble in this posture: is it strength, flexibility, or balance? The practitioner can than remove the greatest source of strain within the posture in the following ways:

Lack of strength, usually in the hip flexors, psoas, and pelvic floor: use a prop, such as a chair, table or the back of a couch to rest the leg on as you lift on each inhale. Strength in the arm to assist in lifting the leg will come with time.

Lack of flexibility, usually due to short hamstrings or injury in the hamstrings, can also be the result of tight hips: use a strap to increase the distance between the foot and the hand, this can allow the hips and shoulders to level until the hamstrings gain length.

Lack of balance: when doing the posture with the right leg lifted turn the left side to a wall and stand in Tadasana with the left palm flat against the wall and the arm straight. Take the posture with the palm against the wall for support.

Adjustment

Remember that adjustments should only be performed by an experienced practitioner:

1. The adjuster takes position in front, and to the practitioner’s left. Once the practitioner has lifted the right leg into position described in #3 the adjuster can take the heel (not the Achilles tendon) in the left hand, and either place the right hand on the shoulder or the waist of the practitioner, depending on the practitioner’s height relative to the adjuster.
2. The adjuster should let the practitioner lift the leg higher while encouraging the foot upward with the left hand. The right hand can either ensure the natural curve of the lower back is maintained, or can encourage the practitioner’s left leg to remain straight by pressing down gently on the left shoulder. This shoulder press only works if the practitioner has a good range of motion in the hamstrings and is lifting the leg up rather than bending forward to place the torso on the right leg.
3. For the side posture, allow the practitioner to take the weight of the leg and move the leg to the side themselves. Once the leg is in position hold the heel as with #2 with the left hand and place the right hand close to the crease between the leg and the hip. Press down gently with the left hand and encourage inward spiralling of the leg. Range of motion is usually better in this position and the leg can be lifted higher as long as the practitioner maintains integrity of the hips and shoulders.
4. Allow the practitioner to bring the leg back to centre, if they are willing the leg can be held still while the practitioner brings the chin to the shin.

By Sarah Yates

Sarah Yates opened Ekam Yoga Studio in March 2010. Ekam Yoga offers traditional led and Mysore-style/self-practice Ashtanga Vinyasa classes taught in the method established by the late Sri K. Pattabhi Jois of Mysore, India. Find out more at www.ekamyoga.co.za

Crescent Moon Pose (Anjaneyasana) is an energizing pose that opens and stretches the sides of the body and works to surrender into the heart, opening and releasing the Heart Chakra (Anahata).

Benefits: A great pose to start a number of backbends with, the Crescent Moon works on legs, back, arms, shoulders, building both strength and stamina. It opens the hips and chest especially, and improves overall balance, coordination and concentration.

Steps:

1. Mountain Pose (Tadasana)

2. Lift your arms to shoulder level at your sides and turn your arms to face the ceiling. Inhale and lift your arms above the head together, bringing your hands together. Shoulders are relaxed and back your upper arms should be close to your ears.

3. Inhale and press the soles of the feet in the floor as you extend up through the fingertips and point the crown of your head upward and look straight ahead.

4. Remain in this pose from 15 to 30 seconds.

5. Perform the steps 1 to 4 for the other side.

6. Release the pose by exhaling while bringing the arms down to the sides.

Precatutions: Lower back

Guided Relaxation in Corpse Pose

Make sure that you are comfortable on your back and that your head, neck and shoulders are comfortable and relaxed and that you are in a warm place with no draught.

Now close your eyes. Your arms are at your side with the palms turned slightly up and your feet slightly parted.

Practise the full yoga abdominal breath, slowing down the rate of your breathing, which is about five heartbeats to each inhalation and five to each exhalation. This will help you relax further. Slowing down the heart and rythm of the whole body, you pacify the nervous system.

Try to detach your mind and send it as far away as you can from your normal life and surroundings, leaving behind all your worries, work and responsibilities, and enter your own special quiet space.

Try to think that nothing matters, that you have completely let go, that your body is grwoing heavier and heavier, that your limbs are leaden.

Then, when you are ready, take your attention down to your toes, wriggle them becoming aware of your toes and then the soles of your feet and relax them. Now, slowly curl your toes up as far as you can, feel the tension in your foot.  Hold it. Now, slowly, slowly let go. Feel the relaxation flowing into your toes and just feel this, flowing.

Now your calves. Tense your calves as hard as you can. Tense them and hold it for a few moments. Now, gradually relax the calves, just relax them, relax them and feel the difference. Move slowly to the knees and feel them relaxing. Now the thighs. Stretch your thighs out in front of you as far as you can. Stretch them and feel the muscles tense. Now, gradually relax the thighs. Feel warmth flowing into your thighs.

Now your abdomen. Tense the abdominal muscles as hard as youcan. Now, tense them even further. Hold the tension. Concentrate your mind on the tension and then gradually relax the abdomen. Relax it even more.

Now, the chest. Tighten the chest muscles. Press them together as hard as you can and hold for a few moments. Now gradually relax the chest muscles. Relax them, feel them relaxing, a little further and a little further.

Feel this relaxation spreading through your whole body. Through your arms, head, face, tongue, jaw, newck, chest, abdomen, thighs, calves.

Now the neck. Tense the neck. Feel the neck tensing, bulging. Tense it further and hold for a few moments and then gradually begin to relax the neck. Fell the release.

Now tense your jaw. Tense it as much as you can and hold it for a few moments. Gradually relax the jaw and feel the difference. Feel the warmth spreading.

Now the tongue. Push your tongue as hard as you can against your teeth. Gradually relax it. Feel the difference.

Scrunch the nose and tense the nose, holding it crinkles for a few moments and then relaxing it. Release and let go. Feel the relaxation spreading, flowing through your whole body.

Now your eyes. Shut your eyes as tight as you can. Tense them and when you have reached your peak, let go, relax them and feel your eyes sink into the head.

Gently lift the eyebrows and drop them, feeling the forehead relax. Fell your face relax and your cheeks relax, letting go as if the skin was melting off your body.

Now become aware of your whole body. Scan the body, relaxing again through each part in turn – feet, calves, thighs, pelvis, buttocks, abdomen, arms, chest, back, neck, face and feel the free flow of energy through the body. The body is relaxed, open and whole.

Now, gently coming out the asana, gently massage your fingertips with your thumbs, move your head from side to side. Stretch your arms above your head, taking in a deep breath. Bend your knees towards your chest and gently rock from side to side, rolling onto your right side and coming back slowly to a sitting postion.

By Gilda Berzen

Salambhasana – Locust Pose

A form of a gentle back bend, or spinal stretch, Locust Pose uses the strength of the upper and middle back to lift the weight of the legs as high as possible from a starting position face down on the floor.

STEP 1: Lie on your stomach with your arms alongside your body, palms facing up. Your forehead rests on the floor.

STEP 2: Gently lift your head.

STEP 3: Lift your head, upper torso, and arms.

STEP 4: Lift your legs. Keep your arms parallel to the floor. You will be resting on your abdomen and lower ribs. Stay on this position for about a minute.

Benefits

• Firms buttocks and hips
• Increases spinal strength, flexibility and circulation
• Improves flexibility and tone of spinal muscles
• Helps relieve and prevent backache
• Helps cure or relieve lumbago, rheumatism, arthritis and menstrual problems
• Improves sluggish digestion
• Increases abdominal pressure and regulates intestinal function
• Strengthens the abdominal wall
• Helps correct bad posture
• Improves function of liver and spleen
• Strengthens shoulder, arm and back muscles
• Compresses and opens spine
• Relieves cervical spondylosis and back pain
• Encourages concentration and perseverance

Practise Points

Make sure both hands and feet’s are above ground when you do this position.
For beginners one should just lift the legs and concentrate on it and then start working on lifting both hands and the feet.
Make sure one is not bearing the weight of body on hands or shoulder. It has to be distributed on the abdomen.
People suffering with headache, spinal injuries, and neck injuries should either avoid doing this position or try it with some proper instruction with your teacher.

There are asanas that bring strength and balance to our bodies, and the mind as well. In the standing postures we learn to balance and equalise the weight of the body, so that we do not throw the weight of the body sideways, nor forward, nor backward, but find our centre and the world from there.

Tadasana ithe first basic standing posture. When we stand correctly the body feels light and therefore, the mind becomes alert and the internal organs function correctly.

Technique
Standing firm and as erect as a mountain, with the big toes touching, heels in line with the toes. Distribute your weight evenly over your feet. Your feet are the base of the mountain. Lift the toes and spread them, and then place them onto the floor and relax them. Lift your inner ankles and feel the lightness as your draw yourself upward. Then draw your mind inward and upward.

Pull the knee caps upwards. Control the buttocks by gently rolling the buttocks towards each other. Roll the hip bones forward towards each other and gently cradle the abdomen within. Extend the spine, raise the sternum and work the navel towards the spine, so that the back is not hollowed at the waist. Keep the neck erect, and do not tilt the head forward or backward and look ahead.

Keep the arms alongside the body, fingers towards the floor, and palms toward the body. Keep the shoulders long and soft. Work the shoulder points away from the ears. Stand in this posture and breathe. Feel the balance extend upwards and feel the lightness. Experience Mountain Pose.

By Jess Dobie

The Swan/One-Legged King Pigeon Pose
Eka Pada Rajakapotasana

Kapotasana opens the pelvic region and releases the sacrum. This is stimulating for the first and second chakra, which rule the earth element and the water element in the body respectively. Depending on the variation, pigeon pose deeply stretches the hip, lower back, knee, hip flexor, and quadricep.

Technique

• Sit on the floor, with the legs straight in front.
• Bend the right knee and place the right foot on the floor so that the right heel touches the left groin.
• Take the left leg back straight behind. The front of the left thigh, knee and shin touching the floor.
• Push the chest forward, stretch the neck and thro the head back. as far as possible and find balance.

The Swan

The Swan
Is of gilded caridge
Its movements carry water
Bear
Me upon Hands
Backwards through my being
Where seated, head bowed
I confound
On minute’s breath
The embers of my days
Returning
I’ll bow down
Enlightened Server
Of the earth

Vrksa = a tree

The Tree is full of symbolic meaning. Looking at a tree we are aware of alignment, uprightness and strength. There is BALANCE between the spread of the branches and the root system that expands in width and depth. The trunk is the thought of God that hears us; the branches represent the spirit that passes outwards to the physical world; the twigs are the deires that carry us to the environment that is suited to our wellbeing; and the leaves are our individual lives.

Holding the breath and hardening the diaphragm are usual strategies used to create “steadiness”. This “pulling in” however isolates us instead of expanding from the centre.

Technique:

1. Stand in Tadasana

2. Bend the right knee and place the right heel at the root of the left thigh, toes towards the floor.

3. Balance on the left leg, join the palms and raise the arms straight over the head.

4. Breathe deeply. Release arms and leg and repeat on the other side.

Benefits: Vrksasana brings a sense of balance and poise as well as tones the leg muscles.

The Tree – Thoughts and Meditations:

I am the tree
I stand the shadow to myself
I am the sapling
tender and meangingful
Leaves come
I grow upwards
My arms encircle the sun
I embrace the sky
I hold the sky, shrunk to a breath
In the palm of my hand