by Hilary Lindsay | Jan 26, 2017 | Asana, Family, Healthy Living, nashville yoga, Social Commentary, society, Yoga, yoga class, yoga community, Yoga Philosophy, yoga teacher, yoga teaching |
They come from disparate worlds. They are many colors and many income bracketed families. It takes a no time to see how many struggle or don’t even bother to pay attention. Some of them come every week but every week there are newcomers as well. Yoga is simply a means to focus attention and hold attention I tell them. To do that, we use our bodies. I ask them not to talk to each other during class unless it is a necessity. The class is short I tell them. This will let us make the most of our time. This will help us pay attention. I ask them to follow me in a wide squat. I drop one shoulder and then another. We are squatting. We are twisting I tell them. And we are breathing. We will lose our attention toward the squatting and twisting and we will find our breath to bring us back to our movement. We will be in charge of that movement. We will practice this and we will eventually do it in our own way and in our own time but we will keep moving unless we need to rest. We will be good to ourselves and the people in our room because that will make things easier for us. We will move in rhythm with the breath, I say as they continue to follow me. I raise my arms overhead in mountain. Breathe in and as we bend forward with bent knees I ask them to breathe out. A little boy named Marcel who hugs me before class has stopped and is swinging...
by Hilary Lindsay | Oct 29, 2016 | Asana, Healthy Living, Limbs of yoga, medical yoga, Meditation, nashville yoga, therapeutic yoga, yoga class, yoga teacher, yoga teaching |
The two rowers rowing in ‘tandem‘, need to be well matched and synchronized to make this work. If one pulls too hard or the other not enough, the boat will go off course. You have two of each limb, this many fingers, these toes, matching hips etc. which is why you buy two shoes, two gloves, two legged pants. But they don’t work exactly the same way. They may even look different on close inspection but you don’t notice. It’s like, how long have you had that mole? I don’t know. What mole! We don’t notice the subtle differences one side to the other because they don’t matter until we are uncomfortable. The intelligent way to practice yoga when you want to refine your impressions is to work unilaterally. Divide the body down the spinal line to conquer habit and dullness. Bring your awareness to the skull as well, divided by the bridge of the nose. When you can expand your focus to hold more events at once, you will unite and conquer the same postures that can otherwise be your downfall. For example, you can spread your collarbones and stop or you can see if one or the other can move again. The one that can move again would not have had the opportunity if you had left it at the first pass. Behind, the shoulder girdle and its muscles will become uneven in effort and tone as well. This will effect the spinal muscles which will effect the pelvis. The tailbone is an interesting place to consider as well. You can’t see...
by Hilary Lindsay | Jun 13, 2016 | Asana, Healthy Living, medical yoga, nashville yoga, Physiology, Pranayama, therapeutic yoga, Yoga, yoga class, yoga teacher, yoga teaching |
Note: This is for intermediate students What draws the viewer’s eye to a yoga pose is the surface. The viewer does not observe the work beneath the surface but if the pose is executed with grace it is because the work beneath the surface is done with integrity. This is balance through opposition. This is bridging the places in between. This is the bandhas. Ardha Chandrasana (Half Moon) is an excellent posture to demonstrate this lesson. Assume the posture with your back to the wall and the right foot leading. You will use the wall for support for the back body, including your head. The right foot is a few inches from the wall to accommodate the pelvis. Bend the right knee until it’s over the ankle and then lift the right knee to lift the right hip. Allow the left leg, the back leg, to rise and stop when you feel resistance. Pulse the back leg and up and down a few inches. Stop and observe. With the left leg stuck at the point of resistance, lift up vigorously with the right ankle bone to ignite the lift of the knee and then the hip. The buttocks muscles will respond and begin the rotation of the pelvis. The muscles will move to the bones and pull the skeleton to the mid-line. That is the impetus and support that now allows you to raise the back leg higher. Raise the left leg firmly and note the relation between the two legs. Assume the posture Supta Padangusthasana,(Reclining Hand to Foot Pose) with your back on the floor. Place...
by Hilary Lindsay | Mar 25, 2016 | anatomy, Asana, Ethics, Feldenkrais, Healthy Living, Meditation, nashville yoga, Physiology, Social Commentary, therapeutic yoga, Yoga, yoga class, Yoga psychology, yoga teacher, yoga teaching |
Yoga was a gift from a friend. Later I sought meditation to get me through college final exams. I was a rebellious teen becoming sensitized though I didn’t mean to. Running from a life of certainty I became staff at a Macrobiotic restaurant. The staff was given classes in Macrobiotics by the head chef. You are what you eat. You are who you eat. You are how you eat. Doors of the mind opened. This was the seventies. Base is everything. As the Macros say, “little yin attracts big yin” which meant that a taste of something is enough to suck you into something bigger. It was not a good thing with yin food (talking sugar etc. here) but it was a great thing with movement. I danced. Ballet, Modern and Haitian lead me to the worn wooden floors of dozens of somatic studios. This is how I move, how I look, how I feel. Aerobics, Pilates, Barre, Power Yoga, Feldenkrais, Tai Chi, Breema; the avenues were endless if you were inclined to find them even at the edge of the fitness revolution. From the weird to the woo- woo, to the sublime, to the scientific I dove in to things that seemed to jump out to find me. In California I embraced color healing, sound healing and acupuncture. I tried colonics, dream therapy, re-birthing and then there was Dora Lee the chiropractor who told me to make a list of all my unresolved relationships. She pressed my spine; asked me who number 10 was as the room filled with the smell of cigarette smoke;...
by Hilary Lindsay | Jan 10, 2016 | anatomy, Asana, Healthy Living, medical yoga, therapeutic yoga, Yoga, yoga class, yoga teacher, yoga teaching |
Below and also here is a link to an excellent article on plantar fasciitis. I’ve given you yoga postures to help with strength and flexibility to assist you. For strength: Tadasana or Mountain Pose Standing with feet slightly apart lift all ten toes to feel the arches rise. Press into the base of the toes. Look at them. Are the little toes coming up as well? Put toes down and maintain the lift of the arches. Lift the arches of the inner knees, the inner groins and lift the inner arches of the hip bones. Pick up the skin of the legs and feet. Pick up the abdomen. To increase awareness, raise your arms, firm the muscle to the bone and pick up the skin of the chest. Soften so there is action without strain. Feel and hold the memory with steady breaths. For flexibility: Vjrasana or Hero Pose and Modifications Kneel on blanket with knees together. Press calves back and sit on heels. Re-position by lifting hips and holding heels together to sit back again with sit bones behind heels which will press the heels forward. If the ankles can stretch more, put a rolled blanket under toes and sit again. If the ankles are tender and need support, put a rolled blanket under the ankles and sit again. If the knees are stiff have another rolled blanket behind the knees or a folded blanket under the buttocks between the feet. Binding the ankles with a strap is the final stretch for the inner ankles but not necessary. You just need manageable sensation. To stretch the outer...
by Hilary Lindsay | Nov 13, 2015 | anatomy, Asana, Healthy Living, medical yoga, nashville yoga, Physiology, therapeutic yoga, Yoga, yoga class, yoga teacher, yoga teaching |
Stand in Mountain Pose, Tadasana Feet root to the ground, tail roots to the heels, head rises from the tail, chest rises and arms draw down Shift to one leg and raise the other foot in the air, knee bent Where does your tongue go? Is it at the roof of the mouth? Is there hardness to the breath? Can you feel the pinch of the pelvic floor and the tightening of the diaphragm? This is the drawing in of the sphincter muscles that correspond to the bandhas Are you gripping? Stand down Step forward purposefully as if over your own arch and raise the other foot, knee bent Is the tongue in a different place? Is it at the bottom of the mouth? Is there softness to the breath? Can you feel the light lift of the pelvic floor and the soft expanse of the diaphragm? Is this easier? When there is too much effort, the trunk clamps down on itself and confines you. When you try to gain space in a posture done with wrong effort, that space may not be good space but compressed space. There will be a lack of prana or grace. When you include space when creating your pose, that space will be good. There will be a sense of prana or good flowing energy and grace. Asana is interpreted as good space. The bandha tone comes naturally when the muscles are directed correctly. This is a combination of sthira and sukkha which is effort and ease. Good space during effort is described by the bandhas. The bandhas...
