Road Map To Owning Your Energy

January 1.  The day thousands of people all across the world begin a new exercise routine, a new diet, a new way of life… I’ve taught many yoga classes/sessions for beginners, and this is what I feel is most important in a yoga practice:

1. Breathing

Breath is life.  Unless you’re underwater or competing for a championship with a five year old, please do not hold your breath.  Allow the breath to flow continually and take some time to visualize where the breath travels in the body.  Taking time to focus on the breath every day is very helpful for a variety of reasons, such as stress reduction, connection, allowing a moment to formulate an appropriate response to something instead of a quick reaction you may wish you had handled differently later, meditation practice, and the list goes on…

2. Mindfulness and Presence

Cultivate more awareness about your physical body.  In this life, we are only given one body until death, but how much time do we spend learning about this vessel we are in?  Notice what happens in the body when you move an arm, for example.  Think about all of the muscle actions that need to take place, all working together for that moment, to coordinate that basic action.  Then think about all of the movements your body makes during the course of just one day.  Think about what it feels like to move. 

Notice where you feel resistance in the body.  Is this tension you can soften & release with a gentle massage of the fingertips or by taking some other movement, such as a gentle stretch?  Can you move in a gentle way to feel as though you are creating more space?  If you are seated, standing, or lying down without much movement, notice if you are comfortable or if you could make some small adjustment to your position so you can be even just a little bit more comfortable. 

Many times, I see people adjusting their physical posture to accommodate where their props are located, causing all kinds of discomfort… allow your props to work for you.  Remember, this doesn’t just pertain to your yoga practice on your mat.  Think about how you sit when you are ‘relaxing’ or working at a desk… do you have the items you use positioned around you so they serve you or are you regularly making accommodations with your physical body based on where these other items are located?

3. Acceptance

Regardless of your background, how the body presents itself in any given moment will vary.  Fact of life.  Each experience on your mat will be different.  This is precisely why some yogis practice the same sequence for yearsss without getting bored.  If you are mindfully aware of how it feels to move the body in a certain way, you can work with the same pose day after day, continually discovering new things.  Some days you will feel you have lots of space and freedom of movement, and others, you may not feel as good trying to take that same pose as deeply as the last time.  Remember, this okay.  This is natural.  This happens to everyone.  You are not alone. 

Also, when we accept how the body presents, are mindful of how we feel, and don’t attempt to push beyond our ‘edge’, guess what?  We tend to avoid injury!  I’m going to go out on a limb here and say, most injuries from a yoga practice happen because:

1. the yogi is not being mindful of how they feel when they take various movements, taking appropriate modifications, and possibly moving with incorrect alignment and/or muscle engagements;
2. the yogi is moving too quickly to notice how they feel, perhaps sacrificing correct alignment in the process; or
3. the yogi pushes beyond their edge because they think they can go just a little further. 

I’ve personally experienced this and, hopefully, I’ve learned from my mistakes and now you can too!

Whether you practice at home or in a class setting, please always remember, you know your body best.  The instructor is only a guide.  Your yoga practice – your time on your mat – is your opportunity to set aside the outside world and be aware of what’s happening within your physical body in that moment.  This is your opportunity to practice your self-care.  Focus on the quality of your breath.  Mindfully notice how your physical body feels.  Be present.  Ultimately, it really doesn’t matter whether you can move through any fancy yoga sequence including arm balances, deep twists, binds, pretzel pose variations, etc.  If you focus on just the above three things, you are practicing yoga.

Now, let’s talk about Mountain Pose – Tadasana

(Note:  Tadasana is contraindicated if you have difficulty standing, headaches, low blood pressure if the pose is held too long, and during pregnancy, feet should be separated wider than hip distance.)

1. Stand with your feet hip distance apart. Identify the bony hip points at the front of the pelvis with your fingers and imagine a straight line down, placing your feet there.  While you can take your feet wider apart if that feels more comfortable for you, ‘hip distance’ has nothing to do with where your outer hips are – it is based on bone structure.  Allow your feet to be parallel to each other, toes facing toward, toes even with each other.  Many of us have a natural tendency to step one foot just slightly off at an angle or slightly in front of the other foot.  Take a look down and just see where your feet are actually placed and make any adjustments.  Notice if this feels okay and make any additional necessary adjustments.  Remember, the feet are your foundation.  If your feet are not positioned correctly for maximum stability in any pose, this will affect everything which goes on in the body above the feet.

2. Lift and separate the toes, perhaps practicing your mindfulness by attempting to place the toes down one at a time.  Are we having fun yet?

3. Rock weight forward into the ball mounds of the feet (just beneath the toes) and rock weight back into the heels a few times, evenly distributing weight among the four corners of the feet.  The four corners of the feet are the ball mound under the big toe, ball mound under the little toe, inner and outer heel. I like to talk about this as living in the future, living in the past, and settling somewhere in the present. 😊

4. Take a soft bend in the knees – not a deep bend – ease up. A soft bend – your legs are still straight, but your knee joints are not ‘locked out’, so you can more easily identify muscle engagement surrounding the knees, offering support for your knee joints.

5. We often talk about lengthening the tailbone down. Please note, this does not mean tilt your pelvis all the way up… this means find a neutral pelvis.  If you don’t know what a neutral pelvis feels like in your body, take your hands to your hips and manually tilt your pelvic bowl all the way forward (as if you were trying to spill water out of it) and then tilt it all the way back (bringing the bony hip points at the front of the hips all the way up towards the ribs) and then find the comfortable space in between. 

For years, I heard the ‘lengthen the tailbone down’ cue and thought this meant tilt the pelvis up… well, I have a pronounced lordotic curve in my lumbar spine and this actually caused me pain – until I simply eased up.  Don’t make my same mistakes!  Neutral pelvis… whatever that means in your body.

Although we all have (approximately) the same number of bones, muscles, etc. in our bodies in approximately the same formations, because of postural patterns we have developed over a lifetime, taking certain movements with the spine simply may not feel good to everyone.  Remember, your yoga practice is your opportunity to explore how various movements feel in the body.  You don’t need to move through a deep variation of any of them.  If something doesn’t feel good, don’t do it.  Again, you know your body best and you don’t need to take every suggested cue.

6. Gently engage abdominal muscles.

This is an interesting one because, if you haven’t worked with your abdominal muscles much in your life, you may not really understand what these words mean in your body.  You will.  Commit to a regular practice and you will understand. 

7. Root Lock (Mula Bandha)

Think Kegel – squeezing the muscles of the pelvic floor as if you were attempting to stop the flow of urine and then add an energetic lift of the muscles up toward the heart.  If you haven’t worked with Kegels much, and you don’t know what I mean by adding this lift, be patient, work with it, and you will understand over time.  So, Root Lock is essentially squeezing and lifting the muscles of the pelvic floor, drawing energy up.  There is some debate over whether this should be practiced during menstruation, so, know that, and choose whether you practice this all of the time or just sometimes.  Regularly practicing your root lock will brighten many of your yoga poses as well as improve many things in your body – like your ability to hold urine – and maybe even improve your sex life!  Pelvic floor muscles are part of your deep core and should not be forgotten about.

8. Navel Lock (Uddiyana Bandha)

Draw the navel in toward the spine and up – once again, practicing this energetic upward lift of the muscles toward the heart. There is a much more advanced variation of this in traditional Hatha yoga, however, we’re going to keep it simple for today.  This is just about finding your abdominal muscle engagements. (Note:  Uddiyana Bandha should not be practiced during pregnancy, if high blood pressure, heart disease, stomach ulcers, hernia, or glaucoma).

9. Think about ‘corseting in’ the ribs or ‘knitting in’ the ribs. Many of us (especially when we are new to a yoga practice) focus on drawing in the abdominal muscles so much that our ribs actually protrude or stick out far beyond what is natural.  See if you can counter this by drawing in the ribs a little – even if you release some of what you were drawing in slightly lower down in the abdominal area.  Over time, with practice, you will find a balance that feels good.

Please remember the main idea here is noticing what it feels like to engage or activate certain muscle groups.  This is about cultivating more understanding of how these muscle engagements feel in your body.  You do not need to conform your body to make it look like some picture (notice – no pictures of Mountain Pose with this post… this is deliberate).  Know yourself and love yourself, no matter how your body presents.

 

10. Soften your shoulders. This is a big one.  Many of us create and hold allll kinds of tension in the upper back and shoulder area, leading to allll kinds of discomfort, poor posture that compounds over time, and even pain.  You do not need to draw your shoulder blades all the way down, but consider releasing some tension you do not need to cling to here.  I often suggest drawing the shoulders all the way up toward the ears, drawing the shoulder blades a little closer together (lifting the heart slightly, countering some of the chronic rounded position in the upper back so many people have developed over time from looking down at their phones, etc.), and just softening.  Then notice if maybe there’s a little more space between the shoulders and the ears.

11. Chin Lock (Jalandhara Bandha)
    

    Draw the chin back towards the throat – let’s see that double chin!  This action helps support the back of the neck, engaging and strengthening the neck muscles. (Note:  Jalandhara Bandha is contraindicated for high blood pressure and heart disease.)

12. Allow the crown of the head (this is the top of the head, not the forehead) to reach straight up to the sky.

13. Arms extend alongside the body with the palms facing forward, fingers separated wide apart, fingertips actively reaching down toward the earth. Alternatively, hands can be at heart center in Anjali Mudra (classic prayer gesture).
14. Energetically separate the feet (don’t actually move the feet) – just energetically press the feet apart as if you were trying to tear the mat in the middle between the feet, noticing the muscle activation in the legs.
15. Engage quadricep muscles (front of the thighs – maybe you feel the kneecaps lift slightly) and think about the action of ‘zipping up’ and internally rotating your inner thighs. I often teach this action by placing a block between the inner thighs and cueing to hug the block using the inner thigh muscles (adductors), attempting to press the block out behind you.

16. Breathe!

Allow the gaze to be soft and notice if you are creating tension where you don’t need it… such as clenching the jaw.  Soften the face.  We often talk in yoga about finding a balance between effort and ease. 

Please remember to be patient, be gentle, and commit to just being present with yourself and for yourself.  Not every cue an instructor gives is going to make perfect sense right away… or possibly ever… and that’s okay.  The important thing is your commitment to be more aware of what’s happening within your own physical body, mind, and with your breath.  Take the time to practice your self-care.  Main objective:  feel better so you can live a better life.  Don’t lose sight of this by looking at a picture and trying to conform your physical body into some pose someone else can do because they have different bone structure, flexibility, or have been practicing for a long time.  Not everyone’s body is developed to move in the same way, however, there is some form of yoga for every body.

Happy new year!

*Sheri Craze, E-RYT 200, RYT 500, YACEP is not a medical doctor and nothing contained on this site is intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any disease.  The information provided is purely for educational purposes.  Please consult with a physician before beginning this or any other exercise program. Check out Sheri’s Live Workshops & Classes by clicking here!