Spring Break

Breathe Vietnam by Michele McCartney-Filgate

We're taking this week off, but we'll resume posting on Monday, May 7. In the meantime, we'd love to hear from you! Let us know your ideas for future posts, topics you'd like us to cover or any questions you may have that we could answer. You can leave comments on this post or send us email (see the Contact Us tab at the top the page).

Friday Q&A: Glasses and Balance

Q: I always wonder if my vari-lens glasses affect my ability to balance.

A: Dear Vari-lens Wearer:

This is a good question! The answer depends a lot on each individual and how strongly you rely on your eyes for balance and alignment. In general, for new students, keeping your glasses on so you can see what is going on with you and also with the demonstrations you might be using to learn new poses can be essential for your progress. But as many more seasoned practitioners have noted, it is often natural to begin to close your eyes at times as you practice and rely on a more internal sense of awareness and balance for many poses. The obvious exceptions are balancing and arm balancing poses, like Tree and Handstand, but I have found myself on occasion closing my eyes in Headstand and Shoulderstand quite successfully.

The good news is that the eyes are only one of several systems that work together to assist in good balance, and the others can pick up the slack when needed. So I'd probably try periods of practice at home without your glasses, when looking at demos is not an issue. Then try it a bit in class and notice how it goes.

—Baxter


A: I don't know what vari lenses are but I do know what progressives are, as I have been a wearer of them for three years. In progressive lenses, the glass is graduated between far, closer and closest distances. And if you try to look through a part of the lens that isn't made to do that task, your vision is blurred. And if you have a slight astigmatism, this can in turn cause you to overwork certain eye muscles, which leads to head aches/eye aches. I don't understand all the ways new lens are now made, but in my own practice I have found that if I take off my glasses then my balance is more impaired than if I leave them on. However, if I take away all my vision by closing my eyes, it makes me work more with my other balance centers (proprioception, pressure sensation) and it actually improves my balance!

Although we use our eyesight to help us balance, we can indeed improve our balance by removing this or other senses from the equation. And I personally find that if my vision is impaired, it is more stressful for my nervous system because I’m trying to correct something that can’t be corrected. As someone who is extremely myopic, if I can't see clearly, I can't hear as well and I can't mentally focus. But if I close my eyes, my nervous system can focus on strengthening the balance sensors that remain. My other senses are clearer. I hear better because I direct my attention more to my hearing. I feel more, and I direct my breath into improving my sensation and relaxing areas that I might tend to overwork if I am using my eyes.

Like Baxter, I recommend that you experiment with glasses on/off. When practicing with your eyes open, try finding a focal point (something to visually focus on that you can see clearly) and use that to assist in balancing.

—Shari

Yoga for Brain Health?

by Nina

Exercise, the latest neuroscience suggests, does more to bolster thinking than thinking does. —New York Times

Just a quick post today to let you know—if you don’t already—about the article in last Sunday’s New York Time’s Magazine called How Exercise Could Lead to a Better Brain.

While most current advice for keeping your mind fit as you age focuses on staying intellectually challenged by learning a new language or even by doing crossword puzzles or special "brain exercises" (why does the thought of that make me feel slightly ill?), there is more and more scientific evidence that continuing to exercise is the most important strategy of all. Are you wondering why? The New York Times article explains that the brain, like all muscles and organs, is a tissue, and that exercise seems to slow or reverse the brain’s physical decay, much as it does with muscles.

Unfortunately we don’t yet know how the exercise provided by a yoga practice fits into this, as so far all tests have been on animals either running or doing other aerobic activities. Here's another quote from the article:

“It’s not clear if the activity has to be endurance exercise,” says the psychologist and neuroscientist Arthur F. Kramer, director of the Beckman Institute at the University of Illinois and a pre-eminent expert on exercise and the brain. A limited number of studies in the past several years have found cognitive benefits among older people who lifted weights for a year and did not otherwise exercise.”

One advantage of yoga for exercise, though, is how versatile it is. There’s strengthening as well as stretching and balancing. By moving with your breath, either in vinyasas or mini vinyasas, you can obtain some of the benefits of aerobic activity. And, who knows, maybe our inverted poses will turn out to have some special benefits for the brain.

Plank Pose, A Strength-Building Asana

Personally I’m looking forward to the day when more is known about the specific types of exercise that benefit the brain because I really want to design some sequences for brain health! But until then, I’d recommend two strategies:

1. Be sure to include strength building and dynamic movement in your yoga practice, along with stretching and relaxation.
2. Challenge your intellect at the same time you are exercising by experimenting with new poses and maybe even memorizing their Sanskrit names.

How to Stretch

by Nina

I’m conducting a little experiment this month. Every day, I’m going to be sitting in Gomukhasana (just the leg position) to stretch my piriformis muscle, a muscle that runs from the back of my hip (my upper buttocks) to my hip joint. I have restricted mobility in my right hip joint, and it was recommended to me by an expert that stretching my piriformis muscle, which appears to be tighter on the right than the left, might help me gain more mobility in my hip. I’m not sure it’s going to work, but to tell you the truth, I like challenges like this one. And in the past, when I’ve focused on increasing my flexibility in a certain area, I’ve had a lot of success. For example, when I was frustrated with my lack of ease in backbends (okay, okay, that’s the nice way of putting it), for about a year, every time I practiced, I did a long passive upper backbend over a blanket roll to open up my chest and upper back. That was very effective, and my backbends soon became much more enjoyable.

I decided to post about this today because I know that some of you who have tight muscles are just resigned to it. Students sometimes sigh and say things like, “My legs are really tight.” But if there is a certain restriction you have that is having a negative effect on your yoga practice and maybe even your physical wellbeing, you can actually use yoga to target that area. For example, people with very tight hamstrings are not only uncomfortable in forward bends, but they may also have ongoing lower back problems because their leg muscles pull on their lower backs. But by stretching their hamstring muscles regularly and holding the stretches from 90 to 120 seconds, these people will not just release more in their yoga practice, they can also permanently lengthen their muscles to find more comfort and health in their everyday lives. Here's a leg stretch you could practice regularly to permanently lengthen your hamstrings.

Reclined Leg Stretch Pose

In general it is recommended that you hold your stretches from 90 to 120 seconds, in order to obtain permanent results. There are several theories about why this is true, some having to do with fascia and others with the muscles themselves. If you’re interested in learning more, there is an excellent article on stretching on the Yoga Journal web site called What Science Can Teach Us About Flexibility. (Baxter says that some of the recommendations in this article are well supported by science, while others are not, so he suggests you read it with a critical eye.)

In order to hold your stretch for longer periods, you need to make sure you are properly aligned and that you are comfortable enough in the pose to relax and breathe. So be sure to use props if you need them! Remember, a long, relaxed stretch is much more effective than a short battle with your tight muscles. Not to mention, much more fun!

So, have I convinced you now that you’re not stuck with being tight? Just follow these three basic guidelines:

1)    Use props to make yourself comfortable in the stretch.
2)    Stay in the stretch 90 to 120 seconds.
3)    Practice the stretch at least three times a week.

Because I’m not comfortable sitting in Gomukhasana flat on the floor, I’m going to be using a folded blanket under my hips so I can relax in the pose. And I’m going to be staying in the pose for two minutes on each side. I’ll let you know in a month how my experiment goes! And if any of you decide to experiment on yourselves, do tell us about it.

Your Feet on My Mind

by Baxter

I just returned from a five-day trip to Jelapa, Mexico, where I spent the vast majority of my walking time barefoot. I explored the beaches, the cobblestone town, and the dusty dirt trails leading inland, and my feet were in heaven. I was amazed at how quickly I acclimated to being barefoot, and delighted in the adaptability of those two pals of mine as they maneuvered over uneven surfaces efficiently and without any complaints. So it has been an interesting transition back to Oakland and to shoes and boots for urban living. Of course, I am fortunate to practice and teach yoga every day, so I get to spend a decent amount of time barefoot, but not out on the paths and trails as I did in Mexico.

Bare Feet by Michele McCartney-Filgate

The day after my return, I presented a workshop on healthy feet. In my preparations for the day, I encountered again and again foot-related problems that were directly attributable to shoes! A few months back we talked about one of those conditions, bunions, which certainly are strongly influenced by the shoes we wear. But I came across others, such as toe deformities, including claw toes and hammer toes, which are often a result of high-heeled shoes, and Morton’s neuroma, a painful swelling of the nerve that goes between your third and fourth metatarsal bones in the midfoot, also worsened by shoes too tight in the box.

In addition to this, I came across some interesting facts about human vs. other animal feet. From the Trail Guide of the Body came a fascinating comparison. Mammals such as cats and dogs are called digitigrades, as they actually walk on their toes or phalanges, whereas hoofed animals like horses, called unguligrades, are actually walking on the tips of their toes all the time. We humble humans are classed plantigrades, meaning we walk on the soles of our feet, although some dancers and rock climbers are known to imitate our other mammalian relatives on occasion!

And I am not certain which source proffered this opinion, but I read that it that plantar fascitis or heel spurs can result from shoe wearing by weakening the intrinsic muscles of the feet (those that arise and insert within the foot) such that the force of our weight is transmitted to the plantar fascia, a thin yet tough sheet of connective tissue that spans the sole of the foot, from the heel bone to the base of the toes. Once asked to take on such a big load, the plantar fascia often protests by becoming inflamed, especially where it attaches to the calcaneus bone, or heel bone, which can eventually lead to the formation of a calcified spur of new bone growing out into the fascia…owww! 

If we step back from all this news about feet gone bad for a moment and consider the primary functions of our feet, I immediately think of two. First, my feet have to provide stability for me to be able to stand upright like when I am in line at the bank. And, second, my feet have to allow for mobility when I am in movement. So, stability and mobility, all delivered in one package, is called a foot. Yoga, via being practiced in bare feet and involving both stationary or static poses as well as dynamic movement between poses, is a great way to help your feet fulfill their dual role.

Some of us tend to have feet that are a bit stiffer, possibly with a higher arch, which are better suited for stability. Others of us tend to have more pliable, mobile feet, which adapt nicely to changing surfaces as we move about and are in motion. And there can be a nice mix of qualities in some feet. But feet that are very loose and mobile can even go to the extreme of having a collapse of the arches, especially the medial arch, which runs along the inside edge of the foot. For these students there is a unique way to practice standing poses that can help strengthen the intrinsic muscles, as well as those arising above the ankle but inserting on the foot called extrinsic muscles. Keeping your heel grounded as well as the ball of your foot, with a focus on the big and little toe side of your feet, try lifting the toes (not the ball!) of each foot off the floor as you explore the standing poses, starting with Mountain pose, and even working your way eventually to Tree Pose and Warrior 3!  If you can do this regularly in your home practice and stay with it for months or longer, you may find that you have re-established your medial arch! Then of course you will need to relearn how to lower your toes without loosing your newfound springy arches. Sounds worth the journey to me.

For Tamasic Depression: Moving with Your Breath

Light in the Mist by Michele McCartney-Filgate

by Nina

Last week in my post Tamasic and Rajasic Depression, I mentioned how moving with your breath can be very helpful for people with tamasic depression (or for all of us on those days when we're just feeling blue). We don’t have scientific evidence to prove this, however, many long-time yogis have experienced the enlivening and uplifting sensations of vinyasas and mini vinyasas. And I'm here to testify to that! Some possible reasons why this works are:

• Moving with you breath engages your mind, providing you with temporary respite from depressing thoughts. Coordinating movements with your breath doesn’t give you time to brood or let your mind wander.
• Consciously breathing as you move improves your breathing in general, which can reduce lethargy and fatigue.
• Exercising in general can actually change your mood, possibly by changing your body chemistry.

You can use a vinyasa or mini vinyasa as a way to start a longer practice or as a mini practice on its own. If you’re too depressed to contemplate a challenging practice, try some simple movements. Just starting to move, however modestly, can sometimes get your energy flowing and may even motivate you to move onto a longer practice.

Practicing a vinyasa with a backbending movement may be the most helpful for depression. For most people, backbends are energizing and uplifting. Patricia Walden, who teaches yoga for depression, says that backbends “let in the light.” In Gary Kraftsow’s sequence for chronic depression in Yoga for Wellness, he includes a mini vinyasa with Bridge pose, a sequence that includes Warrior 1, and second mini vinyasa with Upward-Facing Dog pose, probably for the same reasons.

Today I’m just going to offer up a few ideas for poses you can use to start a practice or to do on their own as mini practices (and, hmmm, now that I look at the list, I realize you could actually do them all, in the order below, as a short sequence). Some of these ideas come from Patricia Walden, some from Gary Kraftsow, and some are my own.

Cat pose: If you can’t even bring yourself to stand up on your yoga mat, whether because you’re depressed, discouraged, or just tired, try starting on hands and knees. Move into your backbend on an inhalation (what some people call Cow pose and what I like to call Purring Cat) and arching your back into Cat pose on an exhalation. Repeat any number of times. Who knows, maybe you’ll feel like going into Doward-Facing Dog pose next or perhaps even standing in Mountain pose on your mat. By the way, you can even do this pose in a chair, as we described in our post Chair Cat Pose, anywhere and in any attire.

Mountain Pose: The easiest standing mini vinyasa is to move in Mountain Pose. Start in Mountain pose, with your arms by your sides. On an inhalation, bring your arms overhead as you bend slightly into a backbend in your upper back. On an exhalation, release back to your starting position, bringing your arms back by your sides. Repeat six times.

Warrior 1: Moving from Warrior 1 stance to full Warrior 1 pose as we illustrated in our post Warrior 1 and Warrior 2 Mini Vinyasas is a more challenging vinyasa. But the fact that it takes more concentration and effort may bring you more powerful results. Repeat six times.

Bridge pose: This is the deepest backbend of the group, which provides the benefits of a good chest opening along with the benefits of moving with your breath. Start by lying on your back with your knees bend, your feet about hips-width apart and your arms by your sides. On an inhalation, press down with your feet as you lift your pelvis off the ground, open your chest, and raise your arms overhead and down toward the floor behind your head. On an exhalation, return to the starting position, dropping your pelvis straight down to the floor as you bring your arms back by your sides. Repeat six times.

I hope that some of you out there will give these a try and let me know how it goes!

Friday Q&A: Bunions, A Can, and A Rubber Band

Q: What happens when you use a can and a rubber band to work with your bunions?

A: Yoga teacher Joanne Mitchell wrote us to let us know what happened after she read Baxter's post New Tricks for Old Dogs: Working with Bunions. With her permission, we're going to share her story with you today. Here is the tale in her own words:

After the February 9 article on bunions, I told my chair yoga class about it and demonstrated the pose with the can and rubber band. One student volunteered to do it for a minimum of 10 minutes a day for a month. Today she reported her results to the class.

She missed only two days out of the month, and some days she did it for 15-20 minutes, but she did it for at least 10 minutes each of the other days. Before she began, she drew an outline of her feet on a piece of cardboard. After her month of faithfully doing this stretch, she redrew the outline. One toe had moved outward about 1/4 of an inch. The other toe has been more stubborn but she says it is now beginning to move out. She can feel a difference in her feet and was pleased to get results after only a month. She intends to keep doing it.

She said the first few days she could feel a stretch down her whole foot and up her lower leg. After a few days that feeling was not noticeable any more. Visitors to her house ask why she keeps a can of black olives and a rubber band on her end table by the TV set, and she explains her toe exercises.

Featured Pose: Chair Seated Forward Bend

by Baxter and Nina

This simple pose is another good antidote to sitting upright in your chair. An excellent hip opener, this forward bend counteracts the tightness of your hips that you develop from sitting with your legs straight in front of you, helping you to maintain mobility in your hip joints. The release in your hips can feel wonderful, and you may also feel a good stretch in your lower back and inner thighs. The pose also helps stretch and wake up your arms as you press them toward the floor.

By changing your relationship to gravity, this pose helps release tension you’re holding in your back, neck, and head. This can be particularly helpful if you’ve spent hours in front of your computer screen or driving, and your neck is stiff or even painful. The partial inversion also stimulates your circulatory system and can re-enliven you if you’re feeling sluggish, stimulates your circulatory system.

Because your knees are bent, this is a very accessible forward bend. If you are unable to enjoy straight leg forward bends, you may find this version pose some of the fabled quieting and soothing qualities that you've heard about but never before been able to experience. Try it sometime for stress or anxiety.

Like the other poses in our full-length office yoga sequence (coming soon!), you can do this pose almost anywhere there is a chair and in almost any attire, though probably not in a tight skirt!

Baxter prescribes this for:

• tight hips
• tension in the spine
• mental sluggishness or fatigue
• weakness in the arms (if you engage the arms)
• substitute for inverted poses for those who can’t do full inversions
• alternative for Standing Forward Bend poses for those who can’t bear weight on their legs
• arthritis (for maintaining joint mobility in the hips)
• anxiety or stress

Instructions: Sit near the front edge of your chair. Separate your feet so your thighbones are 90 degrees apart and position your knees directly over your ankles. Point feet your feet in the same direction as your thighbones, as shown in the photo, and place your hands on your knees. On an inhalation, establish the length of your spine.

On your exhalation, tip from your hips as much as you can to come into the forward fold with a straight back. When you reach your maximum (your pelvis stops moving), carefully allow your spine to round forward and bring your arms down between your legs. You can either push your palms firmly into the floor with your arms straight, lengthening from your pubic bone to your collarbones, or you can press your elbows into your inner thighs to create more widening or lengthening of your inner leg muscles.

Stay in the pose for one to two minutes. Come up on an inhalation, keeping your back relaxed and using your hands on your knees to assist if your lower back feels vulnerable. If you want to use this pose to increase your back strength, you can try coming up with your back straight.

If you have lower back issues or are very stiff in the hips, try a variation of this pose with your elbows on your knees come down about a quarter of the way.

Cautions: This is a relatively safe pose. However, if you have lower back disk disease or pain in your hip joints, approach the pose carefully. And if the pose aggravates your symptoms, come out immediately, and get advice from your teacher about how to get in and out of the pose safely. If you feel excessive pressure in your head, don’t stay in the pose very long.

The Direct Opposite of Taking Life for Granted

Beauty is Everywhere in Vietnam by Michele McCartney-Filgate

"The key to this path, which lies at the root of Buddhism, Taoism, and yoga, and which we also find in the works of people like Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman, and in Native American wisdom, is an appreciation for the present moment and the cultivation of an intimate relationship with it through a continual attending to it with care and discernment. It is the direct opposite of taking life for granted." —Jon Kabat-Zinn, from Wherever You Go There You Are

Tamasic and Rajasic Depression

by Nina

I can’t seem to face up to the facts

I’m tense and nervous and I can’t relax

I can’t sleep ‘cause my bed’s on fire

Don’t touch me I’m a real live wire
—from Psycho Killer by the Talking Heads

At one point in my life, I felt those lyrics from Psycho Killer described me perfectly. If you are suffering from depression or just feeling “depressed,” how exactly would you describe your feelings? Because the type of depression you have—whether it is tamasic or rajasic—will determine how you can use yoga to relieve your depression. The same thing is true if you want to help a student who has depression or is just feeling depressed. You’ll need to question your student about his or her symptoms and feelings, and use your powers of observation, to determine the right approach you should take to help them.

The term “tamasic depression” comes from the Sanskrit term “tamas.” Tamas, one of the gunas, which are the three primordial qualities of matter that make up all of creation, is responsible for inertia. So tamasic depression describes the type of depression where lethargy, fatigue, and hopelessness predominate. People with tamasic depression may have slumped shoulders, collapsed chests, and sunken eyes, and may look as if they are barely breathing. That tamasic feeling of not being able to get out of bed is evoked for me by the Blind Melon song “No Rain.”

And I don't understand why sleep all day

And I start to complain that there's no rain.

And all I can do is read a book to stay awake,

And it rips my life away but it's a great escape.

Escape, escape, escape.

Because of the lethargic aspect, people with tamasic depression need energizing as well as uplifting. Active poses, such as standing poses, backbends, and sequences where you move with your breath are all helpful for tamasic depression. However, people with tamasic depression also suffer from stress, so they may need to include relaxation in their practice. (Yesterday’s post Warrior 1 and Warrior 2 Mini Vinyasas mentioned that the two Warrior mini vinyasas can be helpful for depression, and in that case we were thinking mostly of tamasic depression, where moving in and out of the standing poses with the breath is energizing as well as uplifting.)

The term “rajasic depression” comes from the Sanskrit term “rajas.” Rajas, also one of the three primordial qualities of matter that make up all of creation, is responsible for activity. So rajasic depression describes the type of depression where agitation and anxiety predominate. People with rajasic depression may have stiff bodies and racing minds, with a hardness around their eyes, and may suffer from relentless insomnia. Even in Corpse pose or restorative poses, their eyes may dart and their fingers won't stay still. Some of these people report difficulty in exhaling fully, a symptom often linked to anxiety. That rajasic feeling of not being able to rest is evoked for me by the Talking Heads song “Psycho Killer.”

Because of the agitated aspect, people with rajasic depression need calming and soothing, rather than energizing. So inverted poses, forward bends, passive backbends and restorative poses are helpful for rajasic depression. However, people with rajasic depression may need to release the physical tension in their bodies first before they are ready to relax, so they may need to include some active poses in their practice.

The third guna is satva, which is the primordial quality of matter that is responsible for “being” or “existence,” and which has also been translated to mean balance, order, or purity. This is the quality we’re aiming for in our yoga practice, moving away from being too tamasic or rajasic toward a more satvic state. A person who is primarily “satvic” would be someone who is neither too tamasic or rajasic and is therefore in a more healthy mental state.

But the truth is that even those of us who are mentally healthy feel out of balance some of the time, and we can experience mildly tamasic or rajasic days, even if we don’t have a full-blown tamasic or rajasic depression. So all the techniques I’ll describe in future posts for helping with tamasic or rajasic depression can be beneficial for anyone who is simply, like that kid, Alexander, having a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

Warrior 1 and Warrior 2 Mini Vinyasas

by Baxter and Nina

Last week in his post “Sequencing in the Style of Krishnamacharya, Part 2” Baxter described a Krishnamacharya-style mini vinyasa. Unfortunately at the time we didn’t have—and couldn’t find—a suitable set of photographs we could use to illustrate the pose that he was describing. However, the next time we had one of our little photo sessions, Nina cleverly decided to sneak in a few extras shots to illustrate the Warrior 2 mini vinyasa Baxter wrote about in his post. And Baxter had the idea of including a bonus set of photos to illustrate a second mini vinyasa, Warrior 1. We are now delighted to share the new photos with you, along with instructions for practicing the two mini vinyasas.

Moving in and out of a pose your breath can be very helpful if you’re feeling fatigued or even depressed. Although  it’s not as physical demanding as holding a pose for a long time, this way of practicing can be quite energizing and uplifting. If you have never practiced Warrior 1 or 2 dynamically, give it a try sometime and let us know what you think!

Warrior 2 Vinyasa

Start with your feet four feet apart, adjusted as usual, with your legs straight and your arms relaxed at your sides.

Starting Position

 On an inhalation, lift your arms up parallel with floor and bend your front knee to 90 degrees.

Inhale Position

Then, on your exhalation, lower your arms and straighten your front leg.

Exhale Position

Repeat this cycle five more times on your right side. And after completing six rounds on the right, repeat six round on your left.

Warrior 1 Vinyasa

The Warrior 1 mini vinyasa is very similar to the Warrior 2 mini vinyasa. Start with your feet four feet apart in Warrior 1 stance, with your legs straight and your arms relaxed at your sides.

Start Position

On an inhalation, raise your arms over head and bend your front knee to 90 degrees.

Inhale Position

Then, on your exhalation, lower your arms and straighten your front leg.

Exhale Position

Repeat this cycle five more times on your right side. And after completing six rounds on the right, repeat six round on your left.

Workshops of Interest: Healthy Feet

As part of his healthy living series at Mountain Yoga, in Montclair, California, Baxter Bell will be offering a workshop on Healthy Feet, next Saturday, April 21, from 2:00 to 5:00 pm. This session will focus on the under-appreciated and overused foot and ankle. You'll learn about healthy feet and how to work with troublesome conditions of the foot and ankle. Hope to see some of you there!

For further information, see the Mountain Yoga website.

Friday Q&A: Hip Pain

Q: I was hoping someone could give me some advice for poses that can help reduce the pain of minor hip dysplasia. My left hip regularly becomes inflamed and sore, and I would like to know what stretches can provide pain relief and also strengthening poses to develop the muscles in a way that will cushion my joint.

A: Dysplasia is an inherited condition. You are born with it. It is due to a shallow acetabulum and how then the hip sits inside the pelvis. It might be helpful for you to learn how much internal rotation and external rotation you have in that hip compared to your other, non-symptomatic hip. Once you know your available range of motion, you need to respect this and not try to put your hip into positions that it can't anatomically go into due to structural assymmetries. That said, you then need to look at how you position that hip in standing poses. If you tend to turn the front leg out too much or too little this will affect how the pelvis rolls over the hip. It would be helpful if you ask a teacher to help you analyze how you hold your legs and to try to get that hip into a more mid-range position. Once that hip is in neutral, you can strengthen the muscles around the hip by  holding your poses for up to 90 seconds. Building strength with isometric muscle contractions through the joint will nourish the joint and help keep it healthy.

The down side of this is that in standing poses you are typically in weight bearing positions, which may tend to aggravate the joint too much. If this is the case, you may want to try to recreate the neutral hip position in symmetrical seated positions such as Dandasana or Upavista Konasana. The same principle would apply to stretching muscles that cross both your knee and hip joints. Keep your hip/knee in neutral to avoid aggravating the joint. —Shari

A: In addition to the sound information Shari has shared with you, know that in adults with hip dyplasia, arthritis developing in the hips can also add to the unusual structure of the hip with dysplasia. So if you have not had a recent check up to assess your joint via xrays or MRI, it might be good to consider doing so, so you know the present condition of the joint.  And certainly, respecting the safe range of motion of that hip joint will give you a sense of how you may need to modify your poses, especially weight bearing ones. Another advantage to working one on one with a good teacher is  that you can also learn some poses that will be helpful when your hip is painful, which likely implies some underlying inflammation in the joint. Standing poses would not be a good idea at that time.

I like to teach students to re-create many of the standing poses while lying supine, or on your back, with the soles of your feet pressed against a baseboard, as if it was the floor.  In addition, doing some supported inversions with your legs in the air, such as Vipariti Karani or Chair Shoulderstand, will take most of the weight off your hip joints and potentially allow the inflamed area some rest.  A final suggestion is for the standing version of Mountain Pose. Imagine your pelvis bones lifting off your leg or femur bones as you root down with your leg bones towards your feet.  My students with hip arthritis often report back that this instruction feels very good in the hips.  —Baxter

Featured Pose: Chair Cat Pose

by Baxter and Nina

This seated version of Cat pose is a great way to counteract the tendency to round forward when you sit in front of your computer, laptop, or tablet, or commute in your car. For those who tend to assume a head forward position, this pose returns your head to a healthier alignment over your shoulders. And moving back and forth between arching and rounding your spine strengthens the muscles that support your head in a more even way. For all of us, moving your spine back and forth between flexion (rounded) and extension (arched) helps keep your spine healthy by providing nourishment to the bones and disks.

Because you move rhythmically with your breath in this pose, you take in more oxygen, which has a positive effect on your respiratory system and can help if you get winded easily. In addition, moving with your breath is a stimulating, which may perk you up when you are feeling sluggish and can help you focus your concentration. It’s a good way to kick start your practice when you are feeling fatigued or depressed. After you start gently moving in this pose, you may feel ready for some larger movements.

This pose is perfect for an office or traveling yoga practice because you can do it in any attire, anywhere there is a chair. It’s also a good alternative to Cat pose on the floor for anyone who has problem putting weight on their hands or trouble getting down to and up from the floor.

Baxter prescribes this pose for:

•    general stiffness in neck, upper back and lower back
•    lower back pain
•    head-forward syndrome
•    depression
•    lack of concentration
•    improving breathing, if you get winded easily
•    safe exercise for scoliosis or osteoporosis because it is gentle, though effective
•    alternative to Cat pose on the floor for those with wrist problems

Instructions:  Sit at the front edge of your chair, with your feet about hips-width apart and flat on the floor, and your knees parallel to each other. With your arms relatively straight, rest your hands on your knees or thighs. Lengthen your spine from your sitting bones up through the crown of your head, establishing as much space between the bones of the spine as you can.

As you inhale, lengthen the front of your spine, and lift and turn your breastbone toward the sky. Try to keep your neck and head in line with the curve of your spine.

As you exhale, reverse directions, lengthening the back of your spine, and rounded it slightly into a C shape. Allow your head to come slightly forward to stay in line with the curve of your spine.

Repeat the cycle for six breaths, and then return to the neutral starting position.

Cautions: This is a very safe pose that’s suitable for almost everyone! Naturally if you have a condition that causes pain when you do this pose, you should approach it with carefully, avoiding it entirely if it causing any flare-ups.

Take Back Yoga!

by Nina

This morning I listened to a short piece on NPR this morning about the “Take Back Yoga” campaigned launched by the Hindu American Foundation (see here). According to this report, some American Hindus are saying yoga is about far more than exercise and breathing techniques, and they want recognition that it comes from a deeper philosophy, one, in their view, with Hindu roots. Sheetal Shah, senior director of the foundation, said, "What we’re trying to say is that the holistic practice of yoga goes beyond just a couple of asanas [postures] on a mat. It is a lifestyle, and it’s a philosophy. How do you lead your life in terms of truthfulness? And nonviolence? And purity? The lifestyle aspect of yoga has been lost."

If you’ve read this blog before, you already realize that none of us are in the “yoga is just a couple of asanas on a mat” camp. I’m even willing to bet that the four of us would agree the philosophy and lifestyle aspects of yoga will be more helpful than the asanas for allowing us to age gracefully. So I definitely agree with the Hindu American Foundation that many Americans have serious misconceptions about yoga. However, while we may agree that yoga is not just asanas, agreeing on exactly what it is, is more difficult than you might think.

In recent years I’ve done a lot of reading about yoga history and philosophy. And I’ve been particularly influenced by Georg Feuerstein’s masterful (and somewhat dry, I admit) The Yoga Tradition: Its History, Literature, Philosophy and Practice. One major insight this book brought me was what a minor part hatha yoga played during the history of yoga. Although yoga may be thousands of years old, for most of that time it had nothing at all to do physical postures. But another major insight for me was how little agreement there was during those thousands of years about what yoga was and how to practice it.

Shadows of Leaves by Brad Gibson

Even though yoga originally evolved as part of Hinduism, it was also adopted by the Sikhs, the Jains, and the Buddhists. And the different religions naturally had their own takes on yoga. But even among the Hindus, there were an enormous variety of interpretations, with a large schism developing between those who worshiped Vishnu and those who believed in Shiva. Then there was the dualism vs. non-dualism conflict, not to mention sex is good/bad, the body is good/bad, and you can achieve liberation in this lifetime/no you can’t. They didn’t even agree on how many “branches” of yoga there are! While classical yoga (the yoga of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras) has the well-known eight branches of yoga, other traditions have ten or twelve or even more.

So where does that leave us? There just is no simple answer. While some of you may find a teacher whose particular take on yoga you can adopt, others, like me, are left to piece something together for themselves. If you’re interested, you can start by reading some of the classic yoga texts, such as The Bhagavad Gita and The Yoga Sutras. Maybe you’ll even be willing to take on Georg Feuerstein’s book. Just be skeptical of anyone who claims there is only one right way to think about yoga.

Sequencing in the Style of Krishnamacharya, Part 2

by Baxter

Last week, I introduced a few key concepts for you to consider as you think about trying to design a home practice using T. Krishnamacharya’s approach (see Sequencing in the Style of Krishnamacharya).  Before diving into today’s discussion, you might want to take a few seconds to review that post. As we build our understanding of how to put a practice together, I’d like to share another foundational perspective and also introduce the concept of the “mini-vinyasa.”

In addition to having an eye to a goal for your practice, and understanding which stage of life you are in and what additional work or reflection you need to do as you start your practice, you need to evaluate on any given day whether your overall system in a state of fatigue, depletion or weakness or if you are in relative good health, energized, strong and balanced. Once you have an honest sense of that, you can apply another essential concept to how you will design and approach the yoga today.

Two terms help to clarify the way in which you will practice and even the attitude you will cultivate as you work: brahmana and langhana. Both concepts are very helpful when you are addressing injury or illness, but I find them helpful for everyday practice as well. And although Desikachar first connects these terms to how you breathe as you move between poses, I find the concepts can also be applied more generally.

Brahmana, which can translate as “to expand,” refers to a lengthening of the inhalation, with the possibility of adding a short pause or retention at the end of the inhale. This tends to energize and heat the body, which could be perfect for someone who’s underlying energy is a bit sluggish. Brahmana breathing tends to affect the chest and lungs more and anatomically fits better with back bending poses.

Langhana, which can translate as “to fast” or “to reduce,” refers to extending the length of the exhalation, with a possible pause or hold at the end of the exhale. Langhana practices tend to have a quieting and cooling effect on your system, so could be helpful in anxious or stressful times, as well as when you are generally depleted and need support. Langhana breathing tends to work better for forward bending practices and has a greater effect of the upper and lower belly, so could be good for processes of elimination.

In this system, unlike some others, you start working consciously with your breath with your very first asana sequence, since something called a “mini-vinyasa” is used. Instead of coming into a pose, say Warrior 2, and holding it for one to two minutes, with the mini-vinyasa method, you begin from a starting position, coordinate with your breath as you come into the full pose, and then return to the starting position with the next part of your breath. Typically this cycle is repeated about six rounds. 

As an example, for Warrior 2, you would begin with your feet four feet apart, adjusted as usual, with your arms relaxed to your sides. On an inhalation, you would lift your arms up parallel with floor and bend your front knee to 90 degrees. Then, on your exhalation, you would lower your arms and straighten your front leg. You would then repeat this cycle five more times. And after completing six rounds on the right, you would repeat six round on the left.

To any mini-vinyasa, you could apply the concept of langhana or brahmana.  In our example, since there is a natural expanding quality to the Warrior 2 pose, brahmana works more easily.  So, as you enter the pose, you could take a four second inhalation, pause for one to two seconds in the pose, and then exhale naturally out of the pose. If your breathing gets ragged after only one or two rounds, you may not yet be ready to do this brahmana variation, so go gradually. 

A full sequence or practice would involve a series of mini-vinyasa linked together to move you closer to your goal. To see illustrations of mini-vinyasa, see The Heart of Yoga by TKV Desikachar or Yoga for Wellness by Gary Kraftsow. 

We’ll continue our journey toward understanding sequencing in the style of Krishnamacharya next time in Part 3!

Three Happy Endings: Yoga for Better Sleep

by Nina

My friend Liz has a chronic disease but she takes great care of herself. She eats a healthy diet, and, when she is up to it, takes long walks and yoga classes at her neighborhood yoga studio. Because she has sleep problems, she recently decided to start practicing yoga at home as well, after she comes home at night. “It works!” she told me happily. “I sleep like a baby after doing yoga.” Today I decided to ask her what kind of yoga she does, and she said something very interesting. “It depends on what time I get home.” She went on to explain, “If I get home around 6:00 pm, I’ll do some flow yoga, with poses like Warrior 1, 2, and 3, and Half Moon pose. But If can’t practice until 8:00 or 8:30, that’s counter productive.”

“That makes perfect sense to me,” I said.

“Really?” Liz looked intrigued.

“Yes,” I explained. “Standing poses and vinyasa yoga are stimulating to your nervous system. When you stand up, your blood pressure has to rise to keep the blood pumping up toward your head. So if you do stimulating poses too close to bedtime, it’s going to be hard to go to sleep soon afterward. It’s like drinking a cup of coffee too late in the day.” Then I asked her what kind of poses she does if she can’t practice until 8:00 or 8:30.”

“Legs Up the Wall pose,” she replied. “And Shoulderstand and Plow pose. I also like to do that restorative yoga pose where you lie back on a bolster with your knees apart and the soles of your feet touching.”

“That’s perfect!” I said. “The first three are inverted poses, which automatically trigger the relaxation response. These are exactly the poses that are best to do right before bed to help you to sleep better. And that restorative pose is Supta Baddha Konasana or Reclined Bound Angle Pose, and it’s one of the most soothing and relaxing restorative poses.”

Flowers in the Shade by Brad Gibson

I went on to tell her that this is exactly the way I teach yoga for better sleep. It is important to get exercise during the day, but any vigorous exercise, including yoga, too late in the day can be over stimulating. So if you are having sleep problems, this is something you should consider when you are planning your day. Do your vigorous exercise, including standing poses, flow yoga, and backbends, earlier in the day. And try doing inverted poses, forward bends, or restorative yoga in the evening before bed to see if they help improve your sleep.

There’s no hard and fast rules, however. Liz discovered the best times for herself to practice vigorous versus relaxing yoga by experimenting. And the only way for you to find out the best times for yourself is by going through a similar process. However, I can tell you that if you take a nighttime yoga class and have difficulty sleeping afterward, when you come home, instead of getting right into bed, try practicing your favorite calming pose first and see if that helps.

Liz improving her sleep by practicing yoga at home is just one of the happy endings to this story. The second happy ending is that she made her home yoga practice her own by experimenting, observing, and coming up with her own yoga solutions that suited her particular needs and concerns. That, I told her, is advanced practice.

The third happy ending is that I asked Liz for her permission to write about her today, and she said yes. Thanks, Liz!

Friday Q&A: Squarers Beware!

Triangle Pose (Trikonasana) from Yoga: The Poetry of the Body

Q: Here’s a kind of fussy Iyengar question…and your response need not be Iyengar-based! What about that back-leg hip and leg rotation in Triangle pose? Many years ago I learned that, like the front leg, the back leg has an external rotation in triangle and that the hips should be squared up to face toward the front of the room. But I’ve also had teachers instruct to let the back-leg hip roll forward a bit. Does this represent an evolution in the understanding of the pose? Is there an Iyengar orthodoxy that may not be the best way for all of us to practice? What do you all think? How do you teach or practice triangle?

A: When I read your question, I heard my teacher, Donald Moyer, saying, "Squarers beware!" Yes, there definitely has been an evolution in the understanding of the positioning of the back leg in Triangle pose, as well as other related standing poses (Warrior 2, Extended Side Angle) in the Iyengar world. I asked Baxter to elaborate. —Nina

A: As you adjust your feet, turning your right foot out 90 degrees, and kicking your back heel back about an inch or two, your hips will naturally turn a bit toward the front leg. Let this happen! This position keeps the top back of your sacrum wide and relaxed, unlike what happens when you strongly externally rotate your back thigh bone or try to square your hips with the long edge of your mat.

The old school instructions tend to cause narrowing and bunching of the muscles and soft tissues of the left sacroiliac joint, in our present example, which over time I believe can contribute the sacroiliac joint dysfunction and lower back pain.  So, again, let your hips rotate a bit to the right. Once you tip your hips and spine out over the right leg, simply firm the inner edge of your back leg (adductors) toward the outer edge of your back leg (ileo-tibial band), and you will have a nice strong feeling in your back leg to assist in grounding of your back foot.  Maintain the rightward rotation of your pelvis, even as you rotate your upper belly and chest up toward your top arm. On more occasions than I can count, when I have taught this version of Triangle pose, the old schoolers comment on how much better the pose feels in the pelvis and lower back. See what you think! —Baxter

Featured Pose: Standing Side Stretch

by Baxter and Nina

This simple pose is a wonderful all-over stretch. Like last week’s Upward Bound Hands pose, Standing Side Stretch, also called New Moon or Half Moon pose, is the perfect antidote to working with your arms down by your sides all day. Raising your arms overhead reverses the effect of gravity on your arms and reestablishes the full range of motion of your collar blades and shoulder blades. This pose also lengthens the front of your legs and the backs of your knees, which are typically closed in the sitting position. Side bending brings greater length and opening to the muscles and joints on your side body, and stretches the muscles that run from the shoulder blades to upper arms, from lower back to the arm bones, and all the side waist and side hip muscles.

In addition, by taking your spine into conscious side bending, a movement that occurs rarely in every day living, you are helping to maintain the mobility of your spine, nourishing the joints and disks.

Lengthening the sides of your torso is a good preparation for back bends, forward bends, and twists. It’s also a good way to warm up for standing pose, and for seated poses that involve side bending, such as Revolved One-Legged Forward Bend or Gate pose. This pose takes up very little space and requires no props, which is why we’re including it in our office/travel yoga practice. If standing isn’t possible, you can do the arm position and side bending from a seated position.

Baxter prescribes this for:

• Shoulder stiffness
• General strengthening needed due to weakness or fatigue
• Improving breathing for conditions such as asthma and COPD
• Stabilizing the knee joint (for people with knee injuries)
• A counter-pose for runners, bikers and hikers, who tend to hold a lot of tension in their lateral hips
• Carpal tunnel (because releasing the shoulders can be helpful for the hands)
• Rotator cuff injuries
• Arthritis
• Balance problems (because you are shifting the weight slightly from one foot to another)

Instructions: Start by standing in Mountain Pose, with your feet about hips-width apart (or sit on a chair with your feet flat on the floor). Strengthen your legs, pressing from your hips into your feet. Then, on an inhalation, bring your arms forward and up, with the palms facing each other. Lengthen your spine and lift your collarbones as your lift your shoulder blades. Move your arms toward a vertical position, keeping your head in a neutral position. Once you encounter resistance in your shoulders or upper back, resist the impulse to take your arms further back.

Now, on an exhalation, let your hips shift to the left a few inches as you tip your torso and upper body to the right, making sure you’re not rotating your hips or chest as you do so. As you tip to the side, maintain the parallel relationship between your arms. Also, keep your head evenly positioned between your arms, and in a neutral position, aligned with your spine, your eyes gazing forward.

As you maintain the side bend, press strongly from the hips down into the feet, especially from the left side. Some people have a tendency to collapse the right side of the body as they stretch the left side. So encourage a sense of length on both sides of your torso, even on the concave side. Because your body is dropping to the side and gravity is trying to pull your deeper into the pose, this is pose is muscularly demanding. Therefore, stay in the pose for just six breaths, maximum.

You can do this pose dynamically as a preparation for the Moon Salute by inhaling to one side, exhaling back to center, inhaling to the other side, and then exhaling back to center. Repeat the pattern up to six rounds.

When you are reading to come out of the pose, return to vertical on an exhalation. On your next exhalation, let your arms float back down to your sides. Exhale back to vertical. On the following exhalation, let your arms float back to your sides.

If raising your arms overhead is not possible, you can do a side stretch with your hands on your hips as shown below. While this does not provide the same stretch for your shoulders, you still get the benefit of the torso stretch and spinal side bend. 

Cautions: In general this is a pretty safe pose. However, you should approach the pose cautiously if you have significant arthritic pain in your neck or lower back or a history of osteoporosis, especially in the lower spine. Stop immediately if it fires up your pain. Because your arms are overhead, and you are holding the pose statically, this pose can be challenging for heart conditions or high blood pressure. For those conditions, do the pose dynamically, moving in and out of the pose with your breath.

If your SI joint is unstable, be sure to lift your torso away from your hips as you bend to the side. If you have shoulder problems, you can spread your arms wide or practice with your hands on your hips.

Strength and Aging

by Shari and Nina

I recently wrote a post (see Aging: Terms and Theories) about how little scientists understand about the aging process. However, even if scientists don't understand why we age, medical professionals observe the results of the aging process in our changing bodies. Because strength is such an important factor in our ability to continue to be healthy and independent as we age, I decided to talk with Shari about the relationship between strength and aging. —Nina

Q: Is it true that as we age, we tend to lose strength?

A: How does one define strength? Is it a combination of ease of movement throughout space? Is it how much weight we can lift or push? Is it our mental acuity and belief systems? Is it the capacity for action? Strength is a concept that can be addressed on multiple levels when we discuss the process of aging.

Some people have such indomitable will that they force their bodies to do what they want with utter conviction Some people have the mental strength to take what life throws at them and always put a positive spin on it no matter what the circumstances may be. Some people always appear to be at ease in whatever situation they find themselves. And some people are vital and engaging, and radiate joy.

However, if we talk about it in only muscular skeletal concerns then, yes, there is a change in physical strength as we age. The term “sarcopenia” refers to the degenerative loss of muscle mass and strength that is associated with aging.

Sarcopenia is due to many factors. The composition of our muscle fibers changes from being able to contract quickly and explosively to slower contraction rates. There are also changes in how the information is transmitted through the central nervous system and the “rate of processing information” slows down. There are also changes in our proprioceptive system, that is, in how we sense where our body and its various parts are in space. Our range of motion may change with a decrease in our stamina and our overall flexibility due to system trauma (acute and chronic diseases, decrease in endurance and cardiovascular efficiency). And our genetic predisposition to disease will also affect our overall strength.

Q: Why is it important for us to keep up with strength building as we age?

A: The common adage “use it or loose it” should be our mantra for healthy aging. Our bodies need to keep moving in whatever capacity we can! To continue to move builds strong bones. To continue to move encourages cardiovascular health and respiratory health. To continue to move diminishes depression. To continue to move allows us to maintain our independence. The list of the benefits of movement goes on and on.

But I think attitude is primary in healthy aging. Acceptance is a very yogic principle and we don’t need to give it a fancy Sanskrit name. Graceful acceptance of our changes as ways to embark on new paths is different from mourning what you can’t do, and looking to the past instead of the present is overwhelmingly demoralizing. Positive thinking and acceptance is healthier overall, all while not ignoring any changes. To find equilibrium, we need to progressively continue to “push our limits” while also respecting our limitations.

Q: How can yoga help us maintain strength as we age?

To answer the question on how to maintain strength as we age with yoga I would say commit yourself to a one-pose practice daily. When that is easy and doable because you don’t miss a day, then increase it to two poses, then three poses, and so on. I would say work on something that challenges your balance first and then work on something that challenges your strength. Isometric holds in yoga build strength so do whichever pose you want and time it for 20 seconds to start. Yoga is not on the fast track. It is slow, consistent practice that pays off.

Q: Which are some of your favorite strength building poses and why?

A: My favorite pose right now is Plank pose on your forearms (rather than just on your hands). This version builds core strength and doesn’t hurt your wrists. But my “favorite” strength building pose changes depending on how my body is feeling on any particular day.

For simple leg strengthening, Utkatasana (Chair or Fierce Pose) is a favorite. If the full pose is not accessible to you, you can practice it by learning how to get up off a chair without using your arms. And if that variation isn’t possible, you can learn to sit down without using your arms.

Warrior 2 (Virabhadra 2) is another good leg strengthener. If you can’t do the full pose in the middle of the room, you can start by sitting on a chair. While still seated, position your legs into the Warrior 2 stance, and then slowly lift up off the chair.

Side Plank pose (Vasithasana) done standing up with one hand on the wall builds lateral torso strength as well as arm strength. If you have wrist problems, you can place your entire forearm on the wall, rather than just your hand.

Sequencing in the Style of Krishnamacharya, Part 1

by Baxter

We have spent some time on this blog talking about how BKS Iyengar and his teachers in the US approach the concept of sequencing yoga poses to create a practice. This is of practical value if you want to design and practice Iyengar style yoga on your own at home. It can also give you insight into the class you took last week as you try to understand the framework that your teacher may have used to put the class together.

But there are so many other yoga traditions and sequencing styles! Today, I'm going to begin exploring how to design a sequence in the tradition of Krishnamacharya. For those unfamiliar with T Krishnamacharya, he is sometimes considered a kind of godfather of modern Hatha Yoga practice.  And although he never traveled to the US to teach in his lifetime, many of his students who became advanced teachers have, most notably his son and grandson, TKV and Kaustub Desikachar.  Some of us in the US know this style of yoga as viniyoga, but this is a name that Gary Kraftsow, one of Krishnamacharya’s American students, coined.  TKV Desikachar prefers to say that they teach yoga in the tradition of Krishnamacharya, and that calling it “yoga” is sufficient without other branding.

Trunk and Branches by Brad Gibson

Two foundational concepts will assist us in looking at this way of sequencing: first, a yoga practice has goals, overriding ones and personal, individual ones, and second, the yoga practice you do today has to take into account all the personal variables of your life as it is today. This makes attending public classes a challenge from this system’s perspective. They consider it essential that you have do a good amount of svadyaya, or self-study, before or as you begin to practice to get very clear on where you are starting from and where you would like to go.

In addition, there are three stages of life that will help to determine the kind of practice you will do, and an analogy to the tree is used.  Regardless of which stage you are at, this system uses the Yoga Sutra concepts of sthira and sukha as underlying qualities you will be cultivating in your practice.  Sthira can be thought of as firm and steady, and sukha as gentleness. So you will be balancing these two different aspects no matter what yoga tools you employ in your sequence (for example, a practice that incorporates asana, pranayama and mantra).

Using this as the foundation of developing a practice, you put into action via something called vinyasa krama.  Desikachar defines the term as follows: 

Krama is the step, nyasa means “to place,” and the prefix vi- translates as “in a special way.” 

So you have to have a correct direction in order to have success with your practice.

Then there is the decision on what part of the “tree” you are.  When you are young, you are like the twig on a tree, young, flexible, yang in nature, strong.  Designing a practice for this group of people is known as “Svsti Krama,” and would resemble what in the west is knows as power flow or Ashtanga in the Pattabi Jois style.  For those of us after about 25 years of age, we are looked upon as more like the branch of the tree, a bit less flexible, a bit more differentiated in personality, thinking and body. These are the students who need to study their individual characteristics prior to jumping full bore into practice. This style of practice is termed “Raksana Krama.” Finally, for those with illness of any kind, the practice requires greater care in designing and the style is called “Cikitsa Krama,” cikitsa meaning “therapy.”

No matter which group or age category you personally fall into, Desikachar suggests that you start out where you are, taking a gradual and intelligent course in your practice, looking towards a certain goal. Then you choose the steps and tools to lead you towards your goal. Next time, we’ll start to get into the practical nuts and bolts of how to make that happen.

Stuck in a Rut?

by Nina

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I get stuck in a rut with my yoga practice. I have a few different sequences that I’ve developed for myself, and I tend to fall back on them again and again. Then I start to get a little bored. So lately I’ve been making a conscious effort to change things up a bit. Of course it would be a lot of work to write a completely new sequence for myself every day. So instead I’ve been focusing on spicing up my typical sequences. It’s kind of like deciding to remodel a room in your house by making just a few changes, such as buying new curtains or throw pillows, rearranging the pictures, or even just by adding a vase of fresh flowers. Sometimes a small change can make everything else look different.

Front Yard in Austin by Nina Zolotow

 Here are a few tips for “remodeling” your home practice:

1. Add a new pose to your sequence, one that you never practiced at home before or haven’t practiced in a long time. I’m pretty good about working my way through the various standing poses on a regular basis, but I always forget about Dancer’s pose for some reason. Welcome back, Dancer's pose!

2. Replace a stretch you typically do one way with another pose that stretches the same area. For example, to stretch the fronts of my thighs of my thighs the other day, I tried replacing my Reclined Hero Pose with Frog pose. I hadn’t done that in years!

3. Subtract a pose you always do just to see what happens. Do you always practice Downward-Facing Dog or Triangle pose? What would happen if you skipped them? Would your other poses feel different?

4. Start working on a pose you think you “can’t” do. For example, maybe you think you can’t do arm balances, but even taking the shape of a pose like Crow without lifting your feet off the ground is doing a form of the pose. Maybe you can even lift one foot off for a second or two. Keep it light and playful, and you might find this adds a new element of fun to your practice. 

5. Face down a pose that you dislike. On a day when you feel up to it, try doing that pose that you really dislike (you know which one I mean) just briefly. Whew! Sometimes it can be exhilarating to take on something you’ve been avoiding (kind of like finally cleaning out your closet).

Readers, do you have any other tips for spicing up a sequence? Let us know in the comment section!