Basic Practice: Spiraling the Legs and Torso (Standing Poses)
The practice begins with seated poses to wake up the ankles, feet and knees. It follows with reclined poses to stretch out the backs of the legs and to open the hips in outward rotation. After that come lateral standing poses, in which the theme of the day, the spirals in the legs and torso, can be optimally employed. It ends with restorative poses to settle and center the system.
Advanced Practice: Balance the Pubic Bone and the Sacrum and Create Space inside the Pelvis (Forward Bends)
Today we will begin our practice with sun salutations and arm balances to integrate the torso and the limbs. After that we have Head Stand and Shoulder Stand with variations that emphasis the relationship between the torso and the legs at the hip and that open up the backs of the legs, buttocks and lower back in preparation for seated forward bends. We focus on some of the single-leg seated forward bends and Pashchimottanasana (Intense West Stretch Pose) before finishing off with a brief Shalabhasana ())Locust Pose) to reintegrate the back.
Intermediate Practice: Widen the Pelvic Fans
The Greater Trochanter and the Muscles of the Pelvic Fans
The greater trochanter is the bony part of the thigh bone that is very close to the surface of the body at the outer hip/outer thigh area. It is a protrusion of bone into which many muscles of the pelvis insert. They alla range in a fan-like shape attaching to the pelvis and sacrum.
In this practice we are going to build on the freedom of the back we began to explore in our last practice by including the pelvic fans in our thinking:
- Soften and widen your pelvic fans inwards towards the pelvis.
- Allow you two pelvic halves to move inwards towards the sacrum in the back and the pubic symphysis in the front, supporting the spine and creating a separation between the legs and the pelvis.
- Soften and widen across the two levels of the serratus posterior (the inferior and the superior) muscles.
- Allow the pubic symphysis and the xiphoid process to soften towards the navel.
Intermediate Practice: Twisting in Four Parts
In this sequence, continue to consider the arm and shoulder work and the abdominal organization from the past few practices.
In addition, as you work with the twists, apply the following directions for the groins and sacrum:
- Widen and draw back the outer groin/hip crease. Adjust the sacrum so that the skin covering it flows towards your head.
- In twists, widen the trailing outer groin (the left groin when twisting to the right, the right groin when twisting to the left) as you draw the leading outer groin back.
Intermediate Practice: The Shoulder Girdle and the Core
In this practice, we continue with our theme of working with the arms and shoulders as we have done in our previous practice.
The arms and shoulders:
- Reach the forearms and upper arms away from each other.
- Draw the biceps up towards the shoulder.
- Empty out (soften and widen) the “eyes of the chest,” the space around the collarbones and upper pectorals.
- Turn the bottom tip of the shoulder blade forward and into the ribcage.
- Firm the outer edge of the shoulder blade forward and into the side body, creating a seamless bridge of support between the arms and the trunk.
- Broaden the shoulder joint away from each other.
- When bringing the arm up alongside the ear, look for an even see-sawing action. The upper arm comes back as the bottom tip of the shoulder blade moves forward around the fulcrum of the shoulder joint. This scapulohumeral rhythm, as it is called, is much more important than getting the arms as far back as you can.
Intermediate Practice: Pelvic Halves 7 (Balancing in Inversions)
In this practice we will be focusing on using the pelvis to work on balancing in inversions. Here is a recap of the points we’ve been working with in this series:
- Contour the hip bones around and in towards each other, condensing the front of the abdominal wall.
- Expand the inner surface of the pelvis outwards to support the body.
- When twisting, keep the hip bone of the side you are twisting towards contouring in as much as the other one.
- Allow the two pelvic halves to be separate from the tail and the sacrum and move them onto the legs.
- As you contour the hip bones in towards each other, also connect the sitting bones forward. Depending on the pose, this might mean connecting the front of the sitting bone towards the heel (standing poses), or towards the knee (seated poses).
- Connecting the sitting bones forward does not mean tucking under. To make this clear in your body, keep the tail moving back freely away from the sitting bones so that it can remain connected to the sacrum and to the head.
While practicing the inversions, consider the following points:
- Move the pelvic halves evenly up under the legs to support them. Some of us will tend to lift the sitting bones more than the hip bones and some of us will lift the hip bones more. Find a sense of the front and the back of each pelvic half moving evenly up so that the front and back of the sacrum can be evenly wide and the tail as a whole can be directed straight up towards the ceiling without being pulled backwards or forwards.
- Keep the abdomen and the lower back evenly soft and wide to both support the pelvis and be free enough to adapt to the shifting needs of the balance poses.
If you are able to organize the pelvis and abdomen well, you might experience a spontaneous and soft cinching in of the waist and widening of the lower back and abdominal wall as the spine is able to organize itself most effectively. (more…)
Intermediate Practice: Pelvic Halves 6 (Core and Standing Poses)
In this sequence, we will use the support of the pelvic half moving up under the leg to make poses with one leg raised a little more accessible. In addition to the regular points we have been working with, which I’m sure are fairly well established by now, work with the opposition of the two pelvic haves. One pelvic half is moving down to create stability while the other moves up under the leg to create lift and support. And, of course, keep the tail separate from the sitting bones and connecting through the spine towards the head in order to maintain a sense of the midline/core channel. (more…)
Intermediate Practice: Pelvic Halves 5 (Standing Poses and Marichi Poses)
In this continuation of our theme of moving the pelvic halves onto the legs while keeping the tailbone free, we will do a few of the less commonly practiced standing poses and Marichyasana variations.
To recap the basic points:
- Contour the hip bones around and in towards each other, condensing the front of the abdominal wall.
- Expand the inner surface of the pelvis outwards to support the body.
- When twisting, keep the hip bone of the side you are twisting towards contouring in as much as the other one.
- Allow the two pelvic halves to be separate from the tail and the sacrum and move them onto the legs.
- As you contour the hip bones in towards each other, also connect the sitting bones forward. Depending on the pose, this might mean connecting the front of the sitting bone towards the heel (standing poses), or towards the knee (seated poses).
- Connecting the sitting bones forward does not mean tucking under. To make this clear in your body, keep the tail moving back freely away from the sitting bones so that it can remain connected to the sacrum and to the head. (more…)
Intermediate Practice: Pelvic Halves 4 (Standing Poses and Back Bends)
In this practice we will apply the same contouring of the pelvic halves onto the legs from previous sequences to back bends. Consider the following:
- Narrow the hip bones in and turn them down onto the thighs in your back bends. This may seem counter-intuitive as the front of the body needs to lengthen in back bends, but remember that we are separating the spine from the pelvic halves and making the pelvic bones part of the legs while we connect the tail and sacrum through the spine to the head.
- Move the sitting bones forward as you contour the hip bones in and down. This does not mean tuck them under. Instead, allow them to connect forward to the thigh bones, strengthening the ham strings without gripping the buttocks.
- Allow the tail bone to move back and be free of the sitting bones. The sitting bones moving forward and the tail bone moving back are two oppositional actions to help you find a free equilibrium in the base that will allow you to be both grounded through the lower half and lifted and open through the upper half.
- If your tail is bound up to one sitting bone, find a relationship between the tail and the other sitting bone and allow the tight side to release into it.
- If the pubic bone is turned towards one inner thigh, contour that hip bone in more to make the pubic bone evenly spaced between the two inner thighs/lesser trochanters.
- Expand the inner surfaces of the pelvis evenly in all directions. (more…)
Intermediate Practice: Pelvic Halves 3 (Standing Poses and Twists)
As we continue to explore our current concept of condensing the pelvic halves, creating support for the legs and for the spine, have the following point once again in mind:
- Contour the hip bones around and in towards each other, condensing the front of the abdominal wall.
- Expand the inner surface of the pelvis outwards to support the body.
- When twisting, keep the hip bone of the side you are twisting towards contouring in as much as the the other one.
- Allow the two pelvic halves to be separate from the tail and the sacrum and move them onto the legs.
- As you contour the hip bones in towards each other, also connect the sitting bones forward. Depending on the pose, this might mean connecting the front of the sitting bone towards the heel (standing poses), or towards the knee (seated poses).
- Connecting the sitting bones forward does not mean tucking under. To make this clear in your body, keep the tail moving back freely away from the sitting bones so that it can remain connected to the sacrum and to the head. (more…)
© 2010 Witold Fitz-Simon.
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