Check out my blog: It’s an archive of poses, transitions, flows, and quips that I’ve picked up attending yoga classes and workshops with a number of different teachers. Every now and then I’ll use my academic knowledge and resources to write a post about what science has to say about yoga. My goal is to share clear, concise ideas with other teachers and committed yogis. I try to keep my explanations pretty quick to leave the exploration up to you! Visit my blog >>
Author Archives: Barbie
Is Yoga The Only Path?
I recently watched Shakti Mhi’s video, The Search for Self-Realization. In it, she talks about yoga as means of clarifying your perception of reality. However, she makes it clear that yoga is not the only means:
If you want to experience, you have to allow all possibilities to be here. It’s only when I don’t ask, and I don’t assume, and I don’t have hope… and I have nothing. This is the only time all possibilities will unfold themselves. So any form of practice can be dangerous. This is why you have to tell people, “Practice yoga, don’t hold onto it. Practice Tai Chi, don’t get addicted to it.” Because it’s a form. All forms are limited. If you practice yoga and you think realization will come only from yoga, you miss realization that could maybe happen on the toilet. Plop. “I got it!”
It’s easy to get so attached to our yoga practice that you look down upon people who don’t do yoga or even just practice a different style of yoga than we do. Shakti’s message is a good reminder that yoga is not the only path to enlightenment, contentment, and a healthy body. Next time the temptation to “yogavangelize” becomes overwhelming, try seeking to understand non-yogis instead; maybe ask, “What do you do that make you feel most in touch with yourself? Most connected to your purpose?”
Half Hero Upward-Facing Bow Variation
If you’re comfortable in upward facing bow (also known as wheel or urdhva dhanurasana) and half supine hero pose, (ardha supta virasana) why not combine them?
Begin in half supine hero. If you cannot get onto your back comfortably in reclined half hero, keep working with other comfortable modifications on half hero rather than going on to the variation described below.
Half Hero
Bend your extended leg so the sole of the foot in on the floor and the heel is underneath the knee (most people can graze the heel with the hand in this position).
Half Hero with Bent Knee
Place the hands palms-down above the shoulders on the mat, fingertips pointed toward the shoulders. Breathe.
Half Hero Preparing to Life to Upward Facing Bow
On an inhale use the strength of you arms and legs to lift up and place the crown of your head on the mat. The sole of one foot should be on the floor, and the top of the other should be on the floor. Take your exhale to readjust the hands and feet so that the thighs are hips-width apart with the knees and feet pointed straight toward the front (or back) of your mat, and so that the hands are shoulder width apart with fingers pointed toward the front of your mat.
On your next inhale push into the hands and feet to lift all the way up into upward facing bow. Keep the thighs parallel, pressing into the big toe of the foot. To avoid letting the elbows wing out to the sides, draw them toward one another. As you lengthen into your arms and legs, send the tail bone toward the front of your mat and the chest toward the back of your mat to maintain length in your low back. Breathe.
Upward Facing Bow Half Hero Variation
To release, on an exhale, tuck the chin and bend into the knees and elbow to lower back into reclined half hero under control. Then, repeat on the second side.
Dancing Cat
Dancing cat is a great way to strengthen low back muscles without hyper-extending the spine, which can be uncomfortable for many people. Start on all fours. As you inhale, extend your left leg behind you.
Inhale entend the leg out behind.
As you exhale, draw the knee toward the nose and the nose toward the knee underneath the body. Round the spine as if finding cat pose to fire up the abdominals.
Bring the knee in toward the nose and the nose in toward the knee.
As you inhale, extend chest bone forward and the left leg back, noticing how your low back muscles contract.
Repeat this three to eight times, then switch sides.
Yoga For Cyclists
I recently taught a Yoga For Cyclists workshop at Mission Cliffs, and I wanted to put some suggestions out there for those of who couldn’t make it, and a refresher out there for those of you who did!
Cyclists tend to have short, tight chest muscles and tense, but overstretched, upper and lower back muscles from continually hunching over their handle bars (for more details on this, see my recent blog post on getting to the root of upper back tension). To stretch the chest muscles and give the upper back muscles a chance to relax, try this prone shoulder opening twist. To strengthen upper and lower back muscles, try locust pose.
Cyclists can develop tight hips, which may contribute to lower back soreness. To stretch tight hip flexors, quads, and hamstrings, consider moving through the following sequence on both sides, holding each of poses for at least thirty seconds:
- Low lunge (stretches the hip flexors)
- Bend into the back knee to come into a quad stretch.
- Release the back leg and straighten into the front knee for half splits (see Refining Your Hamstring Stretches for more details on getting the most out of this pose).
Half splits.
To stretch the outer hip muscles try pigeon pose or thread the needle. It is important to stretch the outer hip muscles as these muscle can contribute to tension in the IT band (a long strap of connective tissue running from your hip to below your knee), which can cause problems in both the hip and the knee.
It is also important to maintain strong core muscles to have healthy form while cycling. As mentioned above, locust will help strengthen your low back. Holding plank pose will strengthen all the core muscles at once.
I hope that gives you some stuff to try at home for now. I will be offering the Yoga For Cyclists workshop again soon at Mission Cliffs, so keep your eyes out for it!