Interesting Questions

In class, we have been working on opening the shoulders in preparation for Shoulder Stand.   One of the postures we have been doing is clasping the hands behind the back and lifting them up while keeping the heads of the arm bones back and the thoracic spine moving deeply into the body.

One of the questions that came up was  whether you should work on getting the heels of the hands together in this position.  The answer is that “it depends”. (My favorite response!) This question also tells me what my students are considering the important part of the pose.  Remember that we always want to move from the big joints first; the hips and shoulders.  If we don’t, then we place too much leverage and pressure on the spine.  In this example, it’s not what the hands are doing that is important.  It’s what the shoulders are doing.

Take a look at these two photos of me with my hands clasped behind my back:

In the first one, the heads of my arm bones are wrapping forward, my chest is sunken in and my upper back is hunched.

In the second one, the heads of my arm bones are staying back, my thoracic spine is moving into my body opening my chest.

In this pose, the important action is that of opening the chest and stretching the Anterior Deltoid, the front of the shoulder, Pectoralis Minor, the front of the chest, and the Biceps.  It is much better for the student with tightness or restriction in the shoulders to take the hands further apart by maybe holding onto a belt so that they can get the chest open and the heads of the arm bones back.  Only after that is achieved can the student begin to work their hands closer and closer together until the palms finally touch.

Bound Triangle - Part 2: Your shoulders are part of your back, not your neck

“Perfection in an asana is achieved when the effort to perform it becomes effortless and the infinite being within is reached.”Just when you thought your Triangle Pose was looking pretty good here comes Bound Triangle; which is Triangle on steroids.  As one of my philosophy teachers used to say:  “In an ever expanding universe, there is always more.”Four Stages to Bound Triangle

1. Elongating the Torso

2. Shoulders are part of you back, not part of your neck.

3. Lengthening the Hamstrings

4. Binding – When the Effort becomes Effortless

Remember that Tadasana is the blueprint for every posture.  So, in every pose, lengthen through your spine, lift the collar bones and draw your shoulder blades towards the spine and down towards your waist.  If you are used to standing with your shoulders rounded forward, this may feel a little like you are doing a Standing Bridge Pose.We can feel this by using a belt as a shoulder harness to stretch the shoulders back.  It looks like this:We will use some variations of Triangle, Side Angle and Half Moon with the top arm behind the back holding on to a belt that help to turn the chest up. The belt helps us to feel what it is like to get the shoulders in the same vertical plane with the chest facing sideways rather than the floor.