Fluid movement

THE FLUID BODY
The human body is made up of between 60-70% fluid. This fluid acts as an important transport system for all bodily functions and a lubricant for movement. It decreases as we get older, but practising yoga keep you juiced up and minimises this naturally lose of fluid.

I am not naturally a very fluid person in my movement or, I have to admit, in my life off the mat. Routine is great but when it inhibits your ability to flow freely through life you need to dig deep and look for balance. The mind follows the body, and so, when we move with more fluidity in our practice we become more adaptable in life, less resistant to change, and find it easier to go with the flow in the yoga practice of aparigraha, or non grasping.

EXPLORING FLUID MOVEMENT IN YOUR PRACTICE
This sequence will give you the opportunity to flow through your practice. Use your breath to initiate your flowing movement. Think of the the breath as the ebb and flow of the tide – it takes it’s time and is never rushed; it pauses before it changes direction; it flows with ease and adaptability around any obstacles. Move from the inside out – yoga doesn’t care what you look like from the outside, it is busy working it’s magic on the inside! Be guided by what it feels like on the inside rather than what it looks like from the outside. Pay particular attention to bringing some fluid movement into your transitions. Pause, and work out how your are going to move from one pose to another, with muscular integrity and a slow and steady pace. Your time on the mat can double in benefits to the mind, body and spirit connection, if you link your poses with conscious transitions.

ALIGNMENT CUES
Think of yourself as fluid rather than solid as you move through the sequence. Become more pliable and explore working out how to adapt to obstacles you encounter in your time on the mat, and off the mat too. Let go of expectation of yourself in your practice. Everyone is different and everyone has different body proportions too – your leg may never be physically long enough to wrap around your head, and that person who can most likely struggle with other areas of their practice on or off the mat.

Print out the above sequence and move like a liquid rather than a solid form:

• Start by lying on your back and tilting your pelvis forward and back. Notice the effect this movement has on your spine – when your pelvis is tilted forward (anterior tilt) the spine arches and the lumbar becomes pronounced; when you tilt your pelvis back (posterior tilt) the spine flattens out and you lose the natural curve of your lumbar. Look for a tilt between the two where you can just about fit your hand between the ground and your lower back to build a blueprint for the natural curve of your back. Revisit this curve throughout your practice to ensure you are flowing in sympathy to the spring system of your back.

• As you flow from bent leg Adho Mukha Svanasana/Downward Dog to Phlankasana/Plank Pose ripple from your pelvis to your shoulders and move with your whole spine.

• From Ashta Chandrasana/Eight Crescent Moon inhale, and on your next exhale, bend your back knee and hover it a few inches off the ground. Hug your outer hips to the midline to stabilise the pelvis. Inhale and lift back up to Ashta Chandrasana/Eight Crescent Moon. For the second set of three take a gentle backbend with the arms in cactus position on your exhale.

• Try flowing through the Virabhadrasana II/Warrior II sequence with the breath cues as suggested in the sequence. Visualise the lungs filling up with prana as you lift up on the inhale and emptying out as you dip the pelvis down on the exhales.

• For the final flow in Ashta Chandrasana/Eight Crescent Moon, with hands in prayer position, strongly draw your navel towards your spine and press into your standing foot to activate the lift of the leg. Move slowly with the breath. On your final leg lift see can you come up onto the balls of your standing foot.

To save the images for personal use click and hold down the image until the ‘save image’ option appears; on Mac hold down ‘control’ and click the image to get the option box; on PC right click on the image to get the option box. Scroll down in the ‘option box’ and click ‘save image’.

Ruth Delahunty Yogaru

Press & reach

SENSORIAL SOLES
Inspired by my recent purchase of Vivobarefoot runners I’ve become curious about the role of our feet in our practice, and the impact they have on how our bones and muscles find their true alignment. As yogis we have the unique opportunity to refind the lost connection with the ground – without any barriers to dull the sensations and over support the musculature of the foot. Shoes protect our feet from doing the very job they were cleverly designed to do – feed proprioceptive signals to the brain and allow the body to move accordingly. As I acclimatise to walking in my barefoot shoes I’ve noticed my stride is different, my hips swing more and I am completely in the present moment through connecting with present felt sensations in the act of walking.

PRESS & REACH
The practice of yoga asana is designed to do just that – journey through the sensorial body as a method to find the gateway to quieten the mind, and in its origins, ultimately prepare for seated meditation. You start the journey through your foundation – the soles of your feet – and you complete the action through the part of the body which is reaching. This ‘press and reach’ is the essence of this sequence, and a principle you can apply to any home practice or class you attend. We root down to find a strong foundation, and we grow the pose from this stability. The action of pressing gives an isometric strength to the active muscles, while reaching stretches the active muscles. Yoga is not just about stretching – it’s about balanced amounts of stretching and strengthening for optimum balance.

EXPLORING PRESS & REACH IN YOUR PRACTICE
In yoga we find our grounding by pressing through the points in contact with the ground. Spreading equal weight through all the points will support the pose with unity and spark a chain reaction up through the body. The parts of the body that are stacked over this stable foundation will naturally flow into freer optimal alignment. Each pose has elements of press and reach. Establish your ‘press’ in the points of contact with the ground first, then follow the lines of energy through the whole body and look for the natural ‘reach’ in the upper body of each pose.

ALIGNMENT CUES
‘Press’ is sometimes easier to find than ‘reach’. The alignment cues below will help you to work out which parts of the body are strengthening/pressing and which are stretching/reaching. When you find your pose, trace the ‘press & reach’ through your body – get curious about where you feel the two opposite actions meeting and it moves from ‘press’ to ‘reach’.

Print out the below tips, along with the sequence, and find your ‘press & reach’:

• Starting with Marjaryasana/Cat, Bitilasana/Cow spread your fingers and find your hasta bandha. Spread your weight equally between the hands, knees and tops of the feet. From this stable foundation reach the centre of your spine up high in Marjaryasana/Cat and your sternum forward and sit bones up in Bitilasana/Cow

• In Urdhva Hastasana/Upward Salute find the three points of contact with the ground – ball of the big toe, ball of the little toe and the centre of the heel root down into them equally and feel a lift in the arches and inner ankles. Reach through the tip of the crown and the fingertips. Let your shoulder blades spin out to the sides and soften your shoulders.

• In Adho Mukha Svanasana/Downward Facing Dog spread your weight equally between your hands and feet. Spread your fingers and press into all five knuckles of your hands, and lightly into the pads of your fingers. Press into your feet and reach your sit bones up as high as you can. Feel the support of the press enabling you to reach up. I find starting your first few rounds with bent knees help you to find the forward tilt of the pelvis and stop your lower back from rounding.

• Our peak pose is Parsvakonasana/Side Angle. It gives the perfect example of ‘press & reach’. With the right leg forward, establish the foundation in the left foot in particular. Press into the three point of the left foot and reach through the fingertips of the left arm. Trace the journey from strengthening to stretching through the whole left side of the body.

To save the images for personal use click and hold down the image until the ‘save image’ option appears; on Mac hold down ‘control’ and click the image to get the option box; on PC right click on the image to get the option box. Scroll down in the ‘option box’ and click ‘save image’.

Ruth Delahunty Yogaru

Pincha Mayurasana - Peacock

GIVING THE SHOULDER CENTRE STAGE
In yoga the legs get plenty of attention and hard work in the duration of your time on the mat – from the sensory connection to the ground with the feet; the musculature energy of the legs in standing poses; to the intricate stretching and strengthening actions in the hips. The shoulder joint gets a lot less time in the limelight, and yet, when well warmed up, we ask them to hold the full body weight in arm balancing poses and inversions. We need to bring a bit more conscious attention to the integrity of the shoulders joint to prepare them for these more challenging poses. When we break down a pose like Pincha Mayurasana/Peacock we can see the importance of shoulders strength, flexibility and stability. As with every asana the shoulders don’t work alone – the core, arms and spine need to be strengthened too. One often forgotten area, that is important for the action of getting into kick up position in balancing inversions, are the hamstrings. This was a game changer for my inversion practice. I noticed that when I spent time warming up my hamstrings, I could walk my legs in closer to my forearms, and work towards reaching my pelvis further up over my shoulders and lengthen my kicking leg up more. Pincha Mayurasana/Peacock can be a good starting point for working towards Adho Mukha Vrksasana/Handstand. It teaches the principles of kicking up, with the benefit of a wider foundation on the ground, and less distance from the ground to potentially face plant! When the backs of the shoulders are tight it makes it harder to stack them over the elbows, and as a result the lumbar lower back over flexes to compensate and help find your centre of gravity – cause the ‘banana back’ effect. This sequence will help to avoid this by preparing the whole shoulder and all the assisting muscles that are recruited for Pincha Mayurasana/Peacock.

THE BENEFITS OF PINCHA MAYURASANA/PEACOCK
Pincha Mayurasana/Peacock is a very energising inversions. It strengthens the shoulders, arms, and spine and stretches the shoulders. Whilst it is very invigorating for the brain it is also very calming and helps relieve stress tension and anxiety. As an inversion it boosts the immune system and increases circulation.

EXPLORING PINCHA MAYURASANA/PEACOCK IN YOUR PRACTICE
As you run through the sequence pay particular attention to your shoulders. When the arms are reaching up, they are not just reaching up, they are reaching up with intention. The lines of energy are running all the way to your fingertips. Notice if you are bringing any unnecessary tension into your shoulders when your arms are raised. Soften around the shoulder joint while still maintaining the integrity of the strength required. Throughout the sequence Adho Mukha Svanasana/Downward Dog is replaced with Ardha Pincha Mayurasana/Dolphin to help prepare the shoulders for the peak pose. This is the perfect pose to add to any practice in order to strengthen the shoulders for all arm balances and balancing inversions.

ALIGNMENT CUES
The sequence will build strength and stability in the shoulders, arms and core. It will also prepare the legs to assist you if you are ready to try the kick up stage. Set your intention on strengthening your shoulders and staying within your safe limits, rather than expecting to achieve full Pincha Mayurasana/Peacock. There are two options – prep pose with hands pressing into the wall or the prop assisted full version of the pose.

Print out the below tips, along with the sequence, and spend some extra time exploring your shoulders:

HOW TO PREP FOR PEACOCK
Use this version to build shoulder strength to either build towards Pincha Mayurasana/Peacock or stay with this version fo the pose.

• Set your mat short side up against a wall. From kneeling, place your forearms parallel on the ground, shoulder width apart. Place your hands at the wall fingertips reaching away from you.

• Lift your knees and walk your feet forward. Press down through your forearms, lengthen up to your shoulders, broaden your collarbones. Gaze between your forearms.

HOW TO USE PROPS FOR PEACOCK
Once you are happy your shoulders can hold your inversion move on to this version of Pincha Mayurasana/Peacock using a brick to help you stabilise your foundation.

• Move your forearms about two inches away from the wall. Place the long side of a brick between your hands – fingers on the short side and thumbs on the long side of the brick.

• Press down through your forearms, lengthen up to your shoulders, broaden your collarbones. Gaze to the brick between your forearms.

• Bend your left leg, lift your right leg up and press out through the heel. Spring your right leg up overhead, follow with the left leg, reach your legs up high, draw your navel towards your spine.

• Hug your outer hips and inner thighs to midline, press through the balls of your feet, reach your tailbone up to your heels.

• To come down, slowly bend your knees and lower your feet to the ground.

Enjoy turning your practice upside down, focusing on the shoulders and letting the legs look after themselves for a change.

To save the images for personal use click and hold down the image until the ‘save image’ option appears; on Mac hold down ‘control’ and click the image to get the option box; on PC right click on the image to get the option box. Scroll down in the ‘option box’ and click ‘save image’.

Ruth Delahunty Yogaru