Advanced Practice: Wrists, Hands, Shoulders and Breath Free (Pranayama and Inversions)
This advanced practice behind with Shavasana (Corpse Pose), breath awareness and reclined pranayama to free the ribcage, shoulder girdle and arms. It follows with seated pranayama in which the practice is to maintain that freedom in the upright. After that comes an inversions practice with an awareness of the breath and organization of the arms, shoulders, back and chest.
Thanksgiving Special: The Moment’s Peace Practice
This is practice is for when you need a time-out. Perhaps after the meal is underway, after cleaning up, or after company has finally gone. It is a quiet practice designed to restore and rejuvenate.
If you have an eye pillow or a face cloth, place it over your eyes in the supine poses.
Thanksgiving Special: The Digestive Bliss Practice
This quiet practice is designed for later in the day, after the big meal, or perhaps the next morning. It is a quiet, supported practice, designed to open the abdomen and to create space for digestion to happen.
Later on, perhaps even the next day once you’ve had a chance to digest, repeat The Fire in Your Belly Practice.
Intermediate Practice: Stabilizing with the Iliopsoas 1
In this practice we will be refining our concept of moving from the core channel, which we began exploring earlier this year. Psoas major, along with iliacus, is the muscle that flexes the hip joint, picking the thigh up when standing. It attaches to side of the lowest thoracic vertebra (T12) and to the sides of the lumbar vertebra (L1—L5). It travels down the length of the body coming over the pubic bone, through the hip crease, to attach to the lesser trochanter high up on the inner thigh. Iliacus attaches to the inner surface of the pelvic bones, the ilia, and joins psoas major through the hip crease to also attach at the lesser trochanter. We have two of each of these muscles, one on each side of the body.
Psoas Minor is a muscle that can be found in only around half the population. It attaches to T12 and L1, follows the path of psoas major, lying against its surface, but whereas psoas major travels over the pubic bone, psoas minor attaches to it, providing a stabilizing connection between the pubic bone and the spine of the lower back. Even though many of us have never developed psoas minor, the fibers of connective tissue that would have made it up still exist in the body, making it a useful organizing landmark regardless. (more…)
Restorative Practice: Releasing the Organs 3
In our third practice focused on supporting the organs, we will turn our attention to the heart and lungs.
- Allow the abdomen to soften and open, releasing away from the chest.
- Allow the chest and front ribs to soften and widen.
- Follow each exhalation al the way to the very end.
- Allow the ribs to soften and drape down the length of the body every time you exhale.
- Allow the lungs to gently deflate inside the rib cage with the exhalations.
- Allow the heart to settle back towards the spine as you exhale. As the breath rolls back in, allow the lungs to fill and gently wrap around the heart, gently cradling and supporting it.
Restorative Practice: Releasing the Organs 2
This week our focus is on creating softness and space around the kidneys and bladder.
The Sequence:
- Take a few moments to gather the mind and body up into the present moment, letting go of the day that’s been and releasing any anticipation or apprehension over the time to come.
- Become aware of the movement in the torso as you breath. With the exhalations it empties, narrowing and lengthening. With the inhalation it fills, widening and deepening. Become aware of the inner volume of the body, the chest and abdominal cavities, and the way it changes as you breathe.
- Become aware of the movement of the abdomen and the lower back. With the inhalation, the diaphragm moves down and the abdomen and lower back expand. With the exhalation, the diaphragm moves up and the abdomen and lower back narrow. Observe the contents of the abdominal cavity and the way they move and are reshaped with the breath.
Intermediate Practice: Initiating from the Trochanters
As we continue our exploration of movement from the core, in this practice we will be thinking of contralateral action, where the opposite arm and leg are moving away from each other. These poses all involve flexion of the hip joint and deepening of the hip crease. If, however, we initiate from the hip crease itself, we run the risk of over-working and compressing the joint, potentially jamming the sacrum and lower back forward. Instead, we will think about initiating from the trochanters (see figure) instead.
Working with the trochanters gives us the added benefit of being able to work with the legs and hip joints to provide optimal support for the torso. We can also begin to work with our own tendencies and imbalances in an effective way. To this end, consider the following points:
For argument’s sake, let us consider the greater trochanter to be the outermost corner of the crescent-shaped hip crease, or groin, and the lesser trochanter to be the innermost. Anatomically speaking this isn’t quite the case, but this idea allows us to link the hips, thighs, pelvis and abdomen in a simple and useful way.
Our primary goal will to be balancing the weight and support in each of the four trochanters. In some poses, such as Uttanasana (Intense Stretch Pose), the hip creases tend to flow inwards, the weight falling on the lesser trochanters, and in some poses, such as Setu Bandha (Bridge Pose), the hip creases flow outwards, the weight tending to fall towards the greater trochanter. Widen the hip creases in the opposite direction from the tendency in order to balance out the trochanters.
Restorative Practice: Releasing the Organs 1
For our next restorative theme, we are going to be working with releasing the organs. In this practice, our focus will be on the stomach, the liver and the intestines.
The Sequence:
- Take a few moments to gather the mind and body up into the present moment, letting go of the day that’s been and releasing any anticipation or apprehension over the time to come.
- Become aware of the movement in the torso as you breath. With the exhalations it empties, narrowing and lengthening. With the inhalation it fills, widening and deepening. Become aware of the inner volume of the body, the chest and abdominal cavities, and the way it changes as you breathe.
- Become aware of the movement of the abdomen and the lower back. With the inhalation, the diaphragm moves down and the abdomen and lower back expand. With the exhalation, the diaphragm moves up and the abdomen and lower back narrow. Observe the contents of the abdominal cavity and the way they move and are reshaped with the breath.
Restorative: Movement of the Breath 4
In this practice we will begin by observing the movement of the breath in the torso. From there we will delve deeper to observe the movement of the organs, particularly the lungs, the heart, the stomach and liver, the kidneys and the intestines.The Sequence:
- Take a few moments to gather the mind and body up into the present moment, letting go of the day that’s been and releasing any anticipation or apprehension over the day to come.
- Become aware of the movement of the ribcage as you exhale, following each breath to the very end, allowing it to be soft and free: the ribs soften and drape down the length of the body. Allow the lower back the abdomen to remain soft and wide as the sides of the waist gently narrow. Watch to see if you are reaching for the next breath, even at the most subtle level, and let that go if you are.
Restorative Practice: Movement of the Breath 3
In this restorative practice, we continue our exploration of the movement of the breath in the torso by observing the diaphragm itself. In particular, we are going to observe the exhalation, when the diaphragm releases and is drawn deeper into the rib cage by the deflating of the lungs. This particular emphasis will help the entire body to soften, surrendering to gravity.
© 2010 Witold Fitz-Simon.
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