EXPANSION FROM CORE TO PERIPHERY, or AN INTRODUCTION TO SEATED FORWARD BENDS

There are two separate groupings of postures specifically focused on seated forward bends in Light on Yoga. The first is on pages 148-79, and herein are the most basic (and most commonly practiced) poses within this category including Janu Sirsasana (Head-toward-knee, 148-51), Ardha Baddha Padma Paschimottanasana (Half Bound Lotus Forward fold, 153-56), and Paschimottanasana (Seated Forward fold, 166-70), among others. The second (more advanced) set of seated forward bends is on pages 288-308. It begins with Kurmasana (Tortoise, 288-92), and grows increasingly more difficult as it proceeds through a series of poses in which one or both legs is hooked behind the head.

When we start to practice seated forward bends in class next week, it will be based on the poses presented in and around the first section, the more basic ones. I mention the more advanced set just to highlight a point. If you look closely, there exists an interesting (and I think significant) pattern and repetition of shape within the sections of poses preceding both sets of seated forward bends. The pattern is noteworthy because it both directly and indirectly informs the work of the seated forward bends. Let’s look at it.

The sequence opens with a very long series of standing poses in which the major joints of the body (namely shoulders, spine, and hips) are taken through a full range of motion all with the feet and legs as the primary point of foundation (pages 61-99). The next section is an introduction to basic back bends (100-09). That is followed by a section of poses with two simultaneous agendas taking place: (1) creating stability in the core and the arms, and (2) creating mobility in the hips, knees, and ankles (110-148). Postures found here include Navasana (Boat, 113), Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-facing dog, 110-11), Virasana (Hero, 120-23), and Padmasana (Lotus, 129-32). Notice that these poses are nearly exclusively performed with the body seated upright and no more than 90-degrees of flexion at the hips. After that is the first of the two sets of seated forward bends (149-79).

Then all of that (or something strikingly similar to it) is repeated.

Standing poses aren’t seen again in a concentrated way. However, their primary function—taking the major joints of the body through a full range of motion utilizing a central, stable point of foundation—is. In a lot of ways, the Sirsasana and Sarvangasana cycles (Headstand and Shoulderstand, 179-237) are the inverse of the standing poses section. They repeat nearly every form which was introduced to the body in the very first section of postures, but here the foundation is the head or shoulders rather than the feet. For example, Salamba Sirsasana I (Supported Headstand I, 183) is the inversion of Tadasana (Mountain, 61), Parsvaikapada Sirsasana (Side One-legged Headstand, 202) is the inversion of Trikonasana (Triangle, 64), Halasana (Plow, 217) is the inversion of Uttanasana (Standing forward fold, 93), and Supta Konasana (Reclined Angle, 222) is the inversion of Prasarita Padottanasana (Wide-legged Forward fold, 83). And there’s more if you look carefully. Do you see the repetition of shape here; can you find a shape like Revolved Triangle in the inversions section? These sets of postures (standing, Headstand, and Shoulderstand), and their repetition of shapes, share a common and important purpose: to cultivate balance and stamina while conditioning the central axis of the body.

Following the original standing poses is a section of basic back bends. Many of those shapes are likewise repeated during the inversions section. The most explicit relationship is the similarities between Ustrasana (Camel, 88 [technically in the standing pose section]), Dhanurasana (Bow, 102) and Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge, 229), but you can find components of the basic back bends in a couple of other places throughout the inversions section if you pay close attention. Of course, gravity plays a different (more demanding) role here, and, therefore, the back bending postures within the inversions section are more challenging than those within the basic back bends section even though the shapes of the body are essentially the same. These poses are designed to make the spine strong. The spine must be strong before it can be flexible or you risk overstretching tissues and/or damaging joints.

After the inverted back bends is another round of focused-attention on simultaneously developing upper-body stability and lower-body mobility just like in the first half. Postures such as “UPP” (Leg-lifts, 240-42) and Vasisthasana (Side Plank, 309-11), for example, are the more challenging versions of postures seen earlier such as Navasana and Lolasana (Pendant, 116-17), each of which are designed to create strength and stability in the trunk and/or arms. Also here, the hips, knees, and ankles are taken into deeper ranges of flexibility with poses such as Ardha Matsyendrasana (Half-lord-of-the-fishes, 259-62) and Malasana (Garland, 262-66) which are similar to, but more challenging than, poses seen earlier such as Gomukhasana (Cow-face, 115) and Marichyasana I (Marichi’s twist, 160). Notice again that these poses are also nearly exclusively performed with the body seated upright and no more than 90-degrees of flexion at the hips. These shapes are direct preparation for the forward bends without the added stress which folding forward entails.

And, as I mentioned earlier, the second section of seated forward bends begins with Kurmasana, and is, overall, more challenging than the introduction to seated forward bends seen earlier in the sequence. However, the additional challenge is essentially proportionate to the difference between the standing shapes and the inverted shapes, or between the first set of hip-openers and the second.

So there’s the pattern. What does it mean?

Well, I think one way (not the only way, not the best way, just one way) to look at this pattern of events is as a deliberately gradual expansion of physical conditioning from the core of the body (i.e. the trunk or axial skeleton) to the periphery (i.e. the limbs or appendicular skeleton), and also from those poses which are the least to the most stressful.

Many of the seated forward bends target the most peripheral parts of the body—they require fine-tuned use of feet, ankles, knees, hands, wrists, and vertebrae (I don’t consider the spinal column to be part of the peripheral body, but the joints of the spinal column are vulnerable here in a way which is similar to the peripheral joints). So these distal, oft overlooked, and sensitive body parts are first placed into positions of atypical tension (bent, stretched, tucked, folded, rotated, clasped, etc.), and then the heavy trunk of the body is laid down on them to create additional compression. In other words, you compact and then you smoosh. That is a lot of physical stress for the body to undertake without diligent preliminary work. That is why seated forward bends come at the end of the pattern of sections within the sequence. They are poses designed to target the most peripheral parts of the body with the most amount of compressive stress.

On the other hand, standing poses (and their inverted cousins as well), target the most centrally-positioned parts at the core of the body. These poses help us understand the relationship between our body as a whole and space around us. They focus on big, “easy” to manipulate, “easy” to palpate parts in the middle of the body—stomach, ribs, chest, shoulders, and pelvis, for instance. They utilize fairly big and overt movements, and rely less on the more fine-tuned actions which show up in later postures. And, comparatively speaking, they include much less compressive stress on the peripheral body. They come first because we are naturally better equipped to access them in the early stages of practice.

The sections of postures which follow standing/inverting seem to gradually expand toward more and more acutely focused movements—broad areas of the trunk, then specific areas of the spine, then shoulders and arms, hips and thighs, and outward into the extremities. Along the way, more and more weight-bearing and joint-compression are being implemented. The body is slowly developing strength, stamina, mobility, suppleness, balance, and control in more and more localized places and particular ways. With each section of postures, you are learning more how to come into yourself, both physically and energetically, which is a necessary element of safe and effective seated forward bends. And how that happens is by conditioning the body from most-core/least-stressful to most-periphery/most-stressful until you have something like Vrksasana (Tree, 63) transformed into Marichyasana II (163), or Shoulderstand into Yoganidrasana (Sleeping Yogi, 306).

The sequence of events happens twice because you need the whole first set of postures as a solid foundation of physical conditioning for the body before you can move into the more challenging (although similarly shaped) variations which is the second set. You need each of the poses within their particular sections in that particular series of events. It’s like learning to play music—you learn individual notes, then you learn chords, then you learn a song, and each step along the way has its own patterns and purposes. Or how a child learns numbers and then learns how to multiply them. She learns 1, 2, 3, 4… first, and then 7, 14, 21, 28… She doesn’t have to learn all new numbers, only a different kind of pattern within the ones she already knows. You can’t multiply before you can count, and you can’t harmonize before you can pluck. Likewise, you can’t sit and fold before you can stand on your own two feet.

More on this soon…

The pattern summarized:

     1. standing poses (61-99, cultivate balance and stamina while conditioning the core axis of the body with the feet/legs serving as the foundation)

     2. basic back bends (99-109, stabilize and mobilize the body’s posterior chain of muscles)

     3. basic core- and arm-strengtheners plus basic hip-openers (110-47, develop strength in the upper-body and flexibility in the lower-body)

     4. first section of seated forward bends (147-79)

     5. inversions (179-237, cultivate balance and stamina while conditioning the core axis of the body with the head or shoulders serving as the foundation)
          *Sirsasana cycle: 179-205; Sarvangasana cycle: 205-37

     6. inverted back bends (continue to develop strength and flexibility in the body’s posterior chain of muscles via a shift in the relationship to gravity)
          *found throughout Sirsasana and Sarvangasana sections

     7. more challenging core- and arm-strengtheners plus deeper hip-openers (237-88, increase strength in the upper-body and flexibility in the lower-body)
          * two separate sections: (1) core-strength, leg- and hip-openers, and seated twists (237-76), and (2) arm-balances (277-88)

     8. second section of seated forward bends (288-308)

Can you see any repetition of shapes in these poses, and, therefore, how they could be part of a logical sequence of events?

Vrksasana to Marichyasana II

Salamba Sarvangasana I to Yoganidrasana

REVERENT REPETITION, or FORM, FUNCTION, REFINED FORM PART 2

Yoga Sutra I.12-14: "The vacillating waves of perceptions are stilled through consistent earnest practice and dispassionate non-attachment. Of these two, practice is the continuous struggle to become firmly established in the stable state of the Truth Self. That practice is indeed firmly grounded when it is pursued incessantly, with reverence, for a long time."

I talk about repetition a lot. That is because it is inherently imbedded in what we do. We are students learning how to practice yoga. The word practice literally means "a habit;" "a repetitive action for the purpose of acquiring skills." Its Latin roots mean "to do; to act." As yoga practitioners, we are defined in part by the repetition of our actions.

Etymologically, to repeat means "to go toward again" and "to strive for again" (re-: "again" + petere: "to go to," "to reach towards"). It is how we gain ground, literally and figuratively. To literally put one foot in front of the other in a repetitive manner is obviously called walking, and it causes you to go toward some real thing. Likewise, one figurative foot in front of the other leads you toward understanding and achievement. Repetition is the means by which we move forward, the means by which we reach toward something we want or need.

In Sanskrit, one word for "practice" is abhyasa. The first part of the word -- abhya -- means "intense" and "repetitious." The second part of the word -- asa -- means "to sit" and "to be established." It is the same root that forms the word asana which literally means "a fixed position." So abhyasa means to be established in intense repetition. The Sanskrit words for "multiply," "exercise," "study," and "strive for" are all very closely related to the word abhyasa, and you can see in each of them a similar idea: the necessity of repetition.

It is more than just repetitiveness, though. Patanjali's fourteenth Sutra says that practice is achieved from continuous action performed for a long time (see post "What Does Dirgha-Kala Mean?"). It is necessary that the repetition be done with respect and graciousness; it must be in the context of gaining some greater good or as an offering to some higher purpose. Remember, yoga is a means by which you are affecting change, but change for a specific reason. Yoga practice is an act established in repetitive action with the intention of changing your body first, and then your something-more-than-just-a-body, from one state to another. Through the endurance of intense experiences, you are moving toward things like strength, patience, resolve, and humility. But it isn't strong for the mere sake of strength, nor is it humbling for the mere sake of humbleness. It is because those are qualities and capacities with which you move toward the steady, non-vacillating state of existence which is the whole underlying premise of Yoga. That is the way you affect change: through the endurance of repetitive, reverent intensity.

This idea fits into the conversation of "form, function, refined form" from last time. Recall that "form" answers the question "what am I doing?", "function" answers the question "why am I doing it?", and "refined form" answers the question "how am I doing it?" We used Down-dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana) to answer what, why, and how: Down-dog's "form/what" is an inverted-V, its "function/why" is a counter-pose to back bends, and its "refined form/how" is a particular positioning and engagement of the body determined by its function.

Your practice as a whole follows a similar pattern; it also answers what, why, and how. When you are on your sticky mat, the "form/what" of your practice is the sequence of poses you are practicing. It could be alignment-based, vinyasa flow, yin, restorative, a public class, at home, beginner or advanced, or any other variation thereof. What am I doing? I am performing asana.

"Function/why" provides purpose. Yoga is hard; it is too hard to do without a good reason. Your purpose, your intention, for practicing keeps you focused and motivated. When your body is strong, flexible, and healthy, you are much more likely to create that same kind of fitness and wellness for your mind and your heart. In other words, physical well-being leads to mental and emotional well-being. That is nearly universally why people invest so deeply into yoga: they want to feel better inside and out. So the "function/why" of your asana practice is to cause physical change in order to eventually cause other types of change. Why am I doing it? Because it affects me.

However, physical fitness does not necessarily entail mental or emotional fitness. The former does lead to the latter, but only with the proper "refined form/how." Remember when we changed our answer to the question why in regards to "why am I practicing Down-dog?" When its function is to counter-act back bends, Down-dog requires a certain use of position and engagement which is different when its function is a means of hopping from the back of the mat to the front. In order to know how to perform any individual pose well, you must first know why you are doing it. Likewise, in order to know how to practice yoga well in a broader sense, you must first know why you are practicing it at all.

Patanjali's Yoga Sutra answers "what" and "why" in its opening verses. Verse one and two say "You are engaged in the act of yoga which will stop the disturbed nature of the mind." Verse three says "You want that because an undisturbed mind is free and liberated, the way it is meant to be." Because Patanjali understands that that is easier said than done, the rest of the Sutra explains "refined form/how." How am I doing it? How do I do it well? Again, he tells us that yoga must be practiced continuously and reverently for a long time. In other words, I do it well by doing it frequently, endlessly, and respectfully.

This doesn't just apply to yogasana. The formula isn't particular to yoga poses. The same is true if your practice is seated meditation, or scriptural study, or mantra chanting, or gardening, or writing poetry, or parenting, or nearly anything else for that matter. Ask yourself what am I doing, why am I doing it, how do I do it well? And because every what has its own why, and every why has its own how, the questions are ceaselessly repetitive; not merely for the sake of repetitiveness, remember, but because that is the way we progress, that is how we move forward, that is putting one foot in front of the other in order to reach toward what you most want and need. Therein, yoga becomes an abiding walking meditation.

Yoga Sutra I.12-14: "The vacillating waves of perceptions are stilled through consistent earnest practice and dispassionate non-attachment. Of these two, practice is the continuous struggle to become firmly established in the stable state of the Truth Self. That practice is indeed firmly grounded when it is pursued incessantly, with reverence, for a long time."
(Stiles, Mukunda. Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, San Francisco: Weiser Books, 2002. Print.)

WEEKS 16 & 17 PART 2, or THE BEST WAY TO GET UP MAY BE TO LIE DOWN

There is no one right way to learn a pose, or to get into a pose once you've learned it. For example, LoY instructs most of the classic level 1 lateral-angle standing poses (such as Triangle and Side Angle) from the starting point of Mountain pose. But at least one reputable lineage of practice often builds their standing poses from starting in a basic runner's lunge position. Is one better than the other? No, not unless one happens to be better than the other for you. And all sorts of contingencies are going to influence that; at the very least, which parts of your body are stiffer and/or stronger than some other parts. The point is simply that there is more than one good way to learn any given pose.

Lying on the floor happens to be one very good way to learn (or refine) poses. Nearly any pose or individual components of poses can be evaluated and clarified from a reclined position. One benefit to lying on your back is that the floor is doing a large part of the hardest work for you; that is, supporting the spinal column. Of course, without some appropriate use of toning and overall awareness, the lumbar or cervical curves could flatten. But the amount of effort required to maintain good spinal form is distinctly less when lying down than in any other position. And you have eliminated other challenging aspects such as balancing. Because you exert less effort on keeping the torso well-formed, you can distribute that energy and attention out into the limbs and their joints. In other words, a body-shape which is challenging to perform while standing or sitting or inverting may be more accessible while lying down. A few example: Reclined Hand-to-big-toe pose (Supta Padangusthasana, 244) first stage can teach you a lot about Intense Side Stretch (Parsvottanasana, 78), which is a basic standing pose, as well as inversions such as One-legged Headstand or Shoulderstand (Ekapada Sirsasana, 199 or Ekapada Sarvangasana, 223). The second stage of Supta P. is a great resource for understanding something as elementary as Triangle pose (Trikonasana, 63) as well as something more advanced such as Side Plank pose (Vasisthasana, 311). And Happy Baby (Ananda Balasana, not in LoY) is fantastic preparatory work for Crow pose (Bakasana, 315) and other arm-balances.

Of course they are not perfect replications. And there are limitations and exceptions to floor work. Anything that requires arm or leg extension into the back plane will be difficult or even impossible. Supta P., for instance, while it does give you an opportunity to improve the leg and hip mobility required for Parsvottanasana, it can't do much to help with that pose's traditional Reversed Prayer hands. And Reclined Hero (Supta Virasana, 123) is a wonderful way to prepare for a back bending sequence IF you can get into the pose. If you cannot comfortably get into Supta Virasana, then getting to the floor may be your peak rather than your prep.

What I hope to highlight here is that much can be gained from finding relationships between poses, and one such relationship which tends to be particularly helpful is recreating a pose or part of a pose with the support of the floor. Don't reinvent yoga every time you introduce yourself to a new pose. The body is complicated and intricate, but the ways in which it moves is in fact finite. Many of the poses are simply variations of each other with various relationships to gravity. So look for relationships and similarities, and use poses to learn other poses.

The following is the sequence we practiced in class on 12/7. We used reclining leg and hip poses as preparation for Shoulderstand variations. You can modify, decrease, or embellish this sequence in any way that works for you. You may want to add some rounds of Sun Salutation to the beginning, some poses to open your shoulders and upper-back, or, rather than spending the second half of the practice in Shoulderstand, you could use the reclined work as preparation for the standing sequence.

     ~~~~~

Opening meditation and any warm-up you desire

(Hold the following 5 poses for 1 minute each on the right side first, and then repeat each of them on the left side.)
1. Reclined Hand-to-big-toe pose (Supta Padangusthasana) variation with hands clasped behind thigh

2. Supta Padangusthasana first stage (either holding the big toe, the foot or ankle, or a strap around the foot)

3. Supta Padangusthasana second stage (with leg extended out to the side)

4. One-legged Happy Baby (Ekapada Ananda Balasana, not in LoY)

5. Eye-of-the-needle pose (Succirandhrasana, not in LoY)

Repeat poses 1-5 a second time on each side

Upward Extended Foot pose (Urdhva Prasarita Padasana, 240-242) 3-10 times

Revolved Abdomen pose (Jathara Parivartanasana, 237-240) 2-3 times per side

Happy Baby (Ananda Balasana)

Supported Shoulderstand first variation (Salamba Sarvangasana, 205-213) for at least 5 minutes

Plow pose (Halasana, 216) for 1-5 minutes (if your toes do not comfortably rest on the floor overhead, you should continue practicing first variation Shoulderstand and Plow before moving on)

(each pose in the Shoulderstand cycle can be held for 10-30 seconds)
Ear-pressing pose (Karnapidasana, 220)

Reclined Wide-angle pose (Supta Konasana, 221)

Side Plow pose (Parsva Halasana, 222)

One-legged Shoulderstand (Ekapada Sarvangasana, 223)

Side One-legged Shoulderstand (Parsvaikapada Sarvangasana, 225)

Finish your practice with any seated or reclined forward folds or twists that leave you feeling balanced, whole, and ready for several minutes of relaxation

Corpse pose (Savasana, 422) for 5-20 minutes

Closing meditation

     ~~~~~

As you move from pose to pose, think carefully about what you're doing while you're doing it for the sake of the present moment, and at the same time consider how what you're doing now may be related to upcoming actions. Where are the repetitions and similarities? Which poses most clearly inform others? Which poses most effectively teach or prepare you for others? Be receptive and curious. And questions and comments are always welcome.