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How Yoga Works
By Debbie Grossblatt
I
would like to share my experiences with you from a past teacher training
intensive at the Kripalu Center
in Lenox, Massachusetts. Valerie Kit
Love, an occupational therapist and a very experienced Kripalu yoga
teacher, was the instructor for the four-day workshop called "The
Anatomy of Movement" (i.e., the biomechanics of yoga). We were
fortunate to have two additional teachers, one a trained physical
therapist and the other a chiropractor (both were experienced yogis). So
you can imagine that there was much discussion about joints, bones and
muscles and how they work to facilitate movement in practicing yoga. We
learned that the safety of the student comes first and that striving to
perform picture perfect postures as seen in books and on videotapes by
STAR yogis and yoginis is not what yoga is about. Valerie told us many
times, “When in doubt about the safety of a certain posture for a
student, just don’t do it.”
We
learned how important it is for a teacher to understand traditional
biomechanical placement and the actions that encourage proper postural
alignment and the necessity to transmit this information during a class. Valerie
indicated that many teachers may be teaching without providing a basic
understanding of why and how postures work and because of this students
are doing the postures without an awareness of what is actually happening
to improve their physical well being.
Over
the past decade I have tried to determine what is it about yoga that makes
it so good for so many people. Valerie provided me with a very sensible
answer. She explained that as we move our muscles over a period of time,
little adhesions form. Yoga acts as a self-Rolfing technique allowing the
fibers of the muscles to slide pass each other ultimately improving the
glide of tight fibers so that they become free and open allowing
oxygen-carrying blood to penetrate and nourish the cells. This could be
one of the most important therapeutic benefits of yoga that students can
experience as they practice the postures.
In
my five years of teaching classes, numerous students have asked me about
how to release a tight low back and how to get those “tight muscle
fibers” to stretch and open. Luckily a number of us asked this same
question. Valerie replied that the root of this problem could be very
tight gluteus maximus muscles, a.k.a. as the buttocks, and that Westerners
have this problem because we hold our hips rigid when we walk. She
recommended practicing the child and pigeon postures to help release the
gluteus maximus and increase flexibility of the low back. Since child’s
is very simple to perform and the pigeon is not, I will provide a
description of how to do the child’s. First, kneel on the mat on your
shins. Then stretch the upper body forward and rest the forehead on the
mat. Place the arms on the floor along side your head with the palms down.
Relax and breathe deeply through the nostrils. Turn your face to one side
and rest on your cheek if you like. Hold for at least 30 seconds and rise
up and repeat. Do this least three times lengthening the time until you
can hold the posture about one minute. To reap the benefits of this
posture you must practice it on a regular basis until you can feel the
release of the tight areas of the low back.
Valerie
also stressed synchronizing the breath with each posture to ensure
sufficient oxygen flow and increased energy (prana) to the body. So next
time you do an asana/posture - think about your breath, inhale deeply
through your nostrils expanding your diaphragm and exhale twice as long
when releasing the posture. Take a few seconds and notice how you feel.
Create awareness for yourself every time you do an asana and notice where
you feel the stretch and the creation of inner space and peace. This is
the essence of yoga therapy for all to enjoy.
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