ENJOYING A SIMPLE PRACTICE BY ANDE BEACHLEY

The practice of Yoga, while it works to mature the mind, can also reveal the mind as a young, persistent child. Just like the other day, when I saw a mother walk out of the store. She prompted her young son to follow alongside of her, and he confidently demanded to know, “Why?”. Our curious minds create endless questions in attempt to figure out the practice.

For some of us, it is “how?”: How do I do that crazy pretzel pose? How will I ever find balance on one foot? How can I watch my breath without changing it? And how will I know if I’m doing any of this correctly?

There’s also the clever question of “Why?”: Why practice yoga at all? Why practice these specific poses? Why practice with a teacher? Why point my toe vs. flex my foot? Why inhale for up dog, exhale for down dog? In case I haven’t already, you could easily drive yourself (or someone else) crazy with the endlessness of why.

Lately, I’ve been attempting to let go of 99% of the “why” questions, and instead, focus on one, intrinsic “why” that drives and sustains my practice. While uncomfortable at times, I become more inspired to learn from the practice when I let go of the questions and enjoy the time that I have to move, and to breathe! In my experience, we do not really need the answers to most of our questions. We do not need to complicate our practice.

Rather, our practice and our presence intensifies when our efforts become direct, focused, and clear. Challenge yourself to commit to one motivation for your practice; a motivation that is personal, passionate, and sustainable (avoid numerical goals or reward-based motivations). Seek out an idea that inspires you on a deeper level; it may be the desire to learn something new, or to get out of your comfort zone, or to create an honest connection with yourself. Avoid elaborating; pick one thing, and return to it as many times as you need to. Make it a mantra as you practice, as you do the dishes, as you drive home from work. When we invest our energy into a single-pointed focus, (this is also known as Dharana, the sixth limb of yoga), we discover how much we can love the work that we are given.

About Ande Beachley

Ande is a 500hr RYT with training in Vinyasa, Ashtanga, and SmartFLOW Yoga. Her emphasis in teaching is centered around a steady breath, which motivates controlled movement and cultivates a resilient mind. Her training in SmartFLOW Yoga invites mindfulness into her practice, and her love for the tradition of Ashtanga Yoga keeps her rooted in the breath. She believes that yoga should always be healing, but that doesn’t mean it will be effortless! She loves to explore the ways each student can be strengthened individually, yet ultimately give and receive support for each member of the community. Her teaching style is inspired by intelligent movement techniques and an intuitive alignment process (i.e. every body is different, and this creates a great opportunity for exploration and self-study).

Ande recently moved to the Bay Area from Chattanooga, TN, where she was immersed in both yoga and climbing. She loves to (mindfully) challenge her comfort zone and encourage others to do the same! Her degree in Philosophy inspires a thoughtfulness in all areas of her life, aspiring to seek out truth, ask more questions, and help uncover the great potential that resides in every being.

RICHARD ROSEN’S ASANA BREAKDOWN NO. 3: URDHVA MUKHA SHVANĀSANA

URDHVA MUKHA SHVANĀSANA
(erd-vah moo-kah shvun-AHS-uh-nuh) 

urdhva mukha = face upward (urdhva = upward; mukha = face)
śhvana = dog (SPELLING/PRONUNCIATION NOTES: 1) There are three sibilants in Sanskrit. The simple “s” is pronounced exactly like the Roman “s”; say “so.” The second sibilant is called a palatal “s,” it’s marked with what the French call an “accent acute,” it looks like this (ś) and is pronounced like the “sh” in shave. The third sibilant is called a retroflex “s,” it’s marked with an underdot, it looks like this (ş) and is pronounced much like the palatal “s” except that the tip of the tongue is turned back in the mouth (hence it’s retroflexed) and flicked off the roof. 

2) In Sanskrit, when a “v” follows a consonant it’s often pronounced as a “w.” The best known example of this is the word “swami,” which when properly transliterated from Sanskrit to the Roman alphabet is actually spelled “svami.” When the early English visitors to India heard this word pronounced, they naturally spelled it with a “w” replacing the “v.” “Shvana” then sounds something like “shwana.”

Upward Facing Dog Pose 

1. Lie face down on your mat, with your hands pressed to the floor beside your waist, fingers pointing forward. Your elbows will then be approximately at a right angle, with your forearms perpendicular to the floor, upper arms about parallel. Press the tops of your feet to the floor as well. As with all back bends, rotate your thighs inwardly (that is, medially); in this position, such rotation will bring the little toes to the floor. Make sure they stay “pinned” there as you move into and hold the pose. 

2. Along with bringing the little toes to the floor, the inward thigh rotation will push your tail bone out of the pelvis and so slightly over-arch your lower back. Moving into any back bend with this “duck tail” will overly compress the lower back. Do this repeatedly and the risk of injury increases considerably. you’ll practice of back bends (or any kind of pose for that matter) with this deep compression drastically increases the risk of injury. 

3. To counter the “duck tail,” clasp your hands (that is, inter-lace the fingers) behind your back and press your thumbs on the sacrum. Then slowly slide your thumbs down across the tail bone and imagine that it’s lengthening along the backs of the legs toward the heels. Repeat this thumb-slide a few times until you have a clear sense of how to re-create the movement without using your hands. Then return your palms to the floor. 

4. When you move into the pose, your hands and arms should do two things. First, obviously, your hands must press firmly against the floor, the greatest pressure focused on the bases of the index fingers, NOT the bases of the palms. Second, your hands should “scrub” backward away from the front of your mat (“scrub” means to press the hands in a certain direction without physically moving them). Imagine you’re trying to push your mat toward whatever’s behind you. Generally speaking many beginning students lift into Upward Dog by pushing their torso up and back, jamming the lower back. The “scrubbing” of the hands should help the torso lift up and slightly forward, avoiding the deep compression of the lower back. 

5. Lengthen your arms (that is, straighten the elbows) as much as you can, firming the muscles at the backs of the upper arms (triceps) against their bones. Be sure your shoulders are pulled down away from your ears.

6. The thighs firm as you lift the torso and the entire length of the front legs lift slightly off the floor. Press the tops of your feet to the floor, applying the greatest pressure on the area just above your toes. Then imagine that a partner is pulling your heels away from the backs of your legs. This action of the heels away from the backs of the legs ideally triggers the shoulder blades (scapulas) to move oppositely and press against your back torso. 

7. To repeat, the torso should move up and forward into the full pose. Try to keep the front ribs tucked down and into the torso and lead the upward lift with the top of the sternum (manubrium, the “handle”). 

8. Beginning students should look straight ahead. More experienced students who can release their shoulders and firm the shoulder blades against their back can bring their head slightly back, as long as they don’t compress the back of the neck.

9. As with all backbends, lift into the pose with an inhalation. Urdhva Mukha Shvanasana is one of the positions in the Sun Salutation sequence. You can also practice this pose by itself, holding anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute, breathing softly through the nose, and come down on an exhale. 

Benefits.
As with all modern poses, the claims made for Upward Dog’s benefits should be seasoned with a grain of salt. That’s because they’re largely anecdotal, and have no “scientific” support (especially since Light on Yoga was published in 1966, before any broad based medical testing of benefit claims). Mr Iyengar writes that this pose “rejuvenates” and “strengthens” the spine, which we can readily accept IF the pose is performed safely. He also says it’s “good for persons with lumbago, sciatica … and slipped or prolapsed discs of the spine,” and that it “cures backaches.” All this may be true to some extent, depending on the seriousness of the injury, but with any of these conditions you SHOULD ONLY BE PRACTICING UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF AN EXPERIENCED TEACHER. He also credits the chest expansion encouraged by the pose with making the lungs elastic (which we can assume improves breathing). He concludes that the blood flow in the pelvis keeps that area “healthy” (Light on Yoga, 85). 

Contraindications.
As noted above, avoid this pose unsupervised with any serious back, neck, or spinal problem or injury. Students with wrist problems should, depending on the seriousness of the problem, either support their hands on a pair of blocks or a chair. See the Beginner’s Tip below. 

Beginner’s Tip.
Beginning students who find it difficult to release the shoulders down away from the ears or straighten their elbows fully should support each hand on a yoga block. If the blocks don’t help, then the pose can be practiced with the hands grasping the sides of a chair seat.

THE ABSOLUTE NECESSITY OF DOING NOTHING BY JUDITH HANSON LASATER

We are just too busy, too occupied, too distracted, too over-scheduled.  We try so many strategies: new calendars, to-do lists, New Year’s resolutions, and endless promises to ourselves to do less.  But we don’t.  So do these three things instead.

1.  First, commit to practicing a 20 minute-long relaxation once a day. Lie down, set a timer, cover your eyes and totally disconnect from the world.

This simple practice has proven benefits, chief among them reducing all the effects of stress in the body. This includes lowering blood pressure, improving immune function, positively effecting fertility, and reducing and sometimes even alleviating tension headaches.

Letting go deeply for 20 minutes, especially in the afternoon when sleepiness and dullness overtakes the mind, is surprisingly rejuvenating and can improve mood and creativity. Many workplaces are now incorporating “nap spaces” as they find it really improves productivity.

Additionally, regular practitioners of a relaxation practice (Savasana) report a generalized feeling of less reactivity to stressful situations at work and at home, and a gradually increasing “background” calmness in general in their lives

2.  Secondly, do not look at your phone during meals. Put it in another room and turn it off. Leave you phone in the car when you go to yoga class, to visit a friend, to go food shopping. Find times when you can be “off the electronic leash”. Build up to having a whole day of rest without looking at your phone.

3.  Finally, look through your calendar every Sunday and see what you can take off for the following week.

How much of the “things we have to do” are really just not that important?  Can we give ourselves the gift of spaciousness by not scheduling so many things a day?  Most of what we “have to do” can be done at a slower pace without pushing ourselves. Very few things are truly urgent.  These three simple commitments will help you start finding more space and silence and ease in your life.  You will have more time to create and reflect and this will be healing and energizing at the same time.

The greatest luxury in an over-scheduled life is simply unfilled time.  Learn to do nothing. Lie on your couch and look out the window.  No music, no cell phone, no talking, nothing.  We all crave more space and the cooling balm of uncluttered time.  Invite emptiness into your life whenever and wherever you can.   Soak in the silence and stillness to be found somewhere in your day.  This practice is anything but a waste of time. It feeds the soul and nourishes our life.

Written by Judith Hanson Lasater, Ph.D., PT

Judith Hanson Lasater, Ph.D., Physical Therapist, has been teaching yoga since 1971.  She trains students and teachers throughout the United States as well as abroad, is one of the founders of Yoga Journal magazine, and is president of the California Yoga Teachers Association. She has written nine books.

judithyoga@mac.com

www.judithhansonlasater.com

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EXCERPT FROM PELVIC LIBERATION BY LESLIE HOWARD

Mula Bandha

In the yoga world, there is a parallel to Kegels, and this concept is often conveyed in an equally murky way. It’s called mula bandha.

The history of mula bandha is a checkered one. Sri K. Patthabi Jois, an Indian yogi credited with introducing ashtanga vinyasa yoga to the western world, claimed that he possessed an ancient, sacred document called the Yoga Korunta. This document allegedly contained the entire series of asanas (postures) and bandhas (locks) of ashtanga vinyasa yoga, including a full description of the mechanics and purpose of mula bandha. When pressed to produce the text, Jois, claimed the only existing copy had been eaten by ants. He passed away in 2009.

Fortunately, other yoga texts mention mula bandha and have not fallen prey to voracious insects. In chapter three, verse 61 of the Hatha Yoga Pradikipa, a 15th century yoga text instructs the student to “press the heel against the perineum and contract it firmly.” But there are no details about the specific muscles that are to be engaged in this description. It’s the same with other texts that mention mula bandha. In short, there is no Mula Bandha for Dummies.

Misconceptions

If you’ve been to a yoga class, particularly one in the ashtanga vinyasa style, you have probably heard the instruction to lift or engage mulabandha. That instruction might be followed by a mention of the perineum or the descriptive instruction to “lift the space between the genitals and the anus.” But sometimes the instructions are imprecise and don’t explain how to perform this action effectively. As a result, some students may translate mula bandha to simply mean “squeeze your ass.”

This is unfortunate and hardly conducive to “awakening the goddess” in us. Even worse, it can render mulabandha a source of physical and emotional harm. It’s like clenching your jaw; if you habitually grind your teeth at night, your dentist wouldn’t tell you to engage your jaw muscles more. Instead, she’d likely suggest wearing an apparatus to relax the jaw and to soften that general area. If you already hold tension in the pelvic region, then creating more tension through Kegeling or mula bandha is inappropriate, and possibly cause pain. It comes as no surprise to me that I encounter a lot of yoginis with hypertonic pelvic floor muscles.

One general misconception that drives Kegeling and mula bandha is that becoming loose “down there” is inevitable, either post-birthing or because of time and age. Subsequently, we are told that we need to do something to combat this laxity. But as we learned earlier, a pelvis that holds too much tension can be as much of a problem as one that is too loose. Recognizing these misconceptions, and the potential harm they can cause, requires an understanding of body mechanics and energetics. From there, we can develop a yoga asana practice that accommodates and adapts to our diverse bodies.

Written by Leslie Howard 

Leslie Howard is an Oakland-based yoga teacher, specializing in all things pelvic. She leads workshops and trainings nationally and is writing a book about the female pelvis. Her own struggles with healing her hips and pelvis led her to intense study of the anatomy, physiology, cultural messaging, history and energetics of this rich place. Her teaching is informed by over 3000 hours of yoga study with senior Iyengar yoga teachers, notably Manouso Manos and Patricia Walden. She considers Ramanand Patel her most important influence and mentor. She is a regular presenter for Yoga Journal conferences and has online education offered at yogauonlline.com. She designed two successful studies for University of California, SF on yoga for incontinence with Judith Lasater and another study on her own for Yoga for Pelvic Pain. 
To learn more about Leslie, visit: www.lesliehowardyoga.com