Bricks & hips

BRICK PARTY
Props are incredibly versatile and can offer support where you need it, facilitate deepening a pose and reinvigorate your home practice when used creatively. Anatomy comes into play when finding your personal optimum alignment. Some poses ask for a position that doesn’t suit your skeletal structure. For some students better alignment comes from using props regardless of flexibility or strength. Aisling Conn took us through the benefits of adding bricks, blocks and belts into your practice, with lots of different ways to use them and some sample poses to try out. Here we look at a full sequence using bricks. Bricks are the most adaptable of all the yoga props. They have three different height options – stacked, on their side and flat. They come on cork which are more sturdy and used mainly in Iyengar Yoga, or floam which are a slightly softer while still very supportive, and better for sitting on and propping the hips in poses like Setu Bandha Sarvangasana/Bridge and Restorative Yoga. Adding props gives your practice variety which is the basis of a sustainable practice. The more you surprise your body and don’t let it get too complacent in its movement, the more you can maintain your long term mobility.

HOW TO USE BRICKS
Bricks are currently my favourite prop to use in my home practice. I keep them beside my mat ready to grab and get creative with while I flow. There are lots of ways to add bricks to your practice. The most traditional use being in standing poses to press your hand into when your arm doesn’t reach the ground, giving you extra space to expand the chest and reach the top arm up. You can also use them to work the muscles of the arm in standing poses by raising one above your head and squeezing it between your hands. I have started to play around with placing them under my hands in Marjaryasana/Cat & Bitilasana/Cow. This helps to open the chest as you move from Marjaryasana/Cat to Bitilasana/Cow and deepen the breath. I also sometimes use them in Adho Mukha Svanasana/Downward Facing Dog to help me press the back of the heel down towards the ground and reach my sit bones up high.

EXPLORING BRICKS & HIPS IN YOUR PRACTICE
This sequence will give you lots of opportunities to try out the poses with bricks. Get creative and try a few different versions yourself too, to see what suits you and how you can find different versions of the poses. Use the bricks as suggested even in poses where you don’t usually use them and notice where in the body it might feel different.

For your Sun Salutation try placing a brick between your thighs and work on keeping it there without it falling out as you move. You might need to remove the brick as you step back and forward if jumping back and forward isn’t part of your practice. When using the brick in Adho Mukha Svanasana/Downward Facing Dog make sure to have the heel of your hand pressing over the edge of your bricks to make sure your hands don’t slip forward on the bricks. Play around with the three different heights of the blocks too and see what suits you.

ALIGNMENT CUES
The peak pose of this sequence is Ardha Chandra Chapasana/Half Moon Sugarcane using a brick to ensure you stay up a bit higher and have space to open the chest. If your arm doesn’t reach your foot just reach your arm towards the foot without holding it. You may not get quite as deep into your backbend but this version is very strengthening for the hamstrings and the hip joint.

• Have a read of the tips below and either print out the sequence or save it onto your device:

• From Ardha Chandrasana, bend your left knee, reach your left hand back to hold the outside of your left foot.

• Press your hand into your foot and your foot into your hand. Reach your left knee up, broaden through the collarbones, press down through your right foot.

• Arch through your whole spine, lengthen your neck and softly reach your head back, gaze down or up.

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

Utkata Konasana - Goddess

FIND YOUR INNER GODDESS
Utkata Konasana/Goddess is one of my favourite poses. Quite a few of the hip opening poses are asymmetrical poses, where left and right sides of the body are doing different things. In Utkata Konasana/Goddess if you drew a line down your midline the right and left side are in mirroring each other in symmetry which allows you to check that both sides are balanced. I often use Utkata Konasana/Goddess as a transition pose to go from a Virabhadrasana II/Warrior II standing flow at the top of the mat with the right leg forward, to a Virabhadrasana II/Warrior II standing flow at the back of the mat with the left leg forward. It is a subtly strong pose with plenty of physical challenge, all your muscles that have been strengthened and stretched will be talking to you after you’ve held it for a few breaths! Similar to Malasana/Squat it gives you the opportunity to work on your pelvic floor strength and is very toning for the digestive system.

THE BENEFITS OF UTKATA KONASANA/GODDESS
Utkata Konasana/Goddess warms and energises the whole body, particularly the lower body. It strengthens the legs, glutes, calves, ankles and spine; and stretches the inner groin, inner legs and chest. After incorporating it into your practice you will feel a lovely freedom of movement in your hips. As a hip opener it releases emotional tension, relieves stress and tension, aids digestion and is very grounding and calming. This pose is particularly beneficial for pregnancy because it creates space in the pelvis and strengthens the pelvic floor.

EXPLORING UTKATA KONASANA/GODDESS IN YOUR PRACTICE
The sequence will prepare you for the peak pose. It brings you through the pose several times to let you get a sense of progress as the muscles gradually open up. The main alignment to watch out for is to make sure your knees are pointing the same direction as your feet and that your knees don’t collapse inwards. It can sometimes feel like a balancing act of lifting the hipbones up and opening the knees.

Once you settle your lower body into the pose the best way to stay the course is to try different arm arrangements. Both distracting you from the intensity of the pose and giving you the opportunity to work on your shoulder strength.

It can help to find your alignment of the pose using some support before your first Utkata Konasana/Giddess on your mat. Try the pose sitting on the corner of a chair and feel the strong hip opening without the intensity of the pose, or try it with your back up against a wall to get a sense of the upright position of the spine in the pose. Then come back to your mat with these blueprints and see how a freestanding version feels.

ALIGNMENT CUES
This sequence will gradually open your inner groin and wake up the muscles of the outer hips and legs. These are some big emotional muscles so move slowly and when you get to the peak pose pause and savour all your hard work.

Have a read of the tips below and either print out the sequence or save it onto your device:

• From Tadasana, hands on hips, step your left foot out into a wide stance to face the side of your mat, rotate your feet out at a 45 degree angle.

• Inhale, lift your inner thighs and lengthen up through your spine. Exhale, bend your knees and lower your hips down, stack your knees over your ankles, thighs working towards being parallel to the ground. Tailbone reaches down, hipbones reach up.

• Press your weight into your heels and the outer edges of feet.

• Hands in prayer position at your heart, sternum presses into your hands and hands press into your sternum, gaze forward.

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

Moon salutation

MEDITATIVE FLOW
The Moon Salutation, also known in Sanskrit as Chandra Namaskara, is a mini sequence of poses similar to the more commonly practised Sun Salutation (Surya Namaskara). The Sun Salutation was originally designed for a morning practice to create heat and energy and the Moon Salutation was created to practice in the evening as a cooling and calming end to the day. Both can be practised anytime of the day depending on what you are looking for from your practice. They both stretch and strengthen all the muscle groups, increase circulation, build a strong respiratory, aid the digestive system, boost the immune system, unwind a busy mind and release physical and mental tension. But if you are in need of a more invigorating energy boost head to the Sun Salutation and if you are feeling stressed and depleted look to the more soothing version of the Moon Salutation.

The Moon Salutation is a very symmetrical and balanced flow. You move through the first half of the sequence focusing on the right side of the body, come to a central symmetrical pose and flow back to the starting position focusing on the left side of the body, reversing the order of the poses as you go. The repetitive and meditative quality of the sequence of movements relaxes the mind and body, reducing stress and anxiety. Each pose is linked with an in-breath or an out-breath, helping you to connect to the breath and its many benefits.

EXPLORING MOON SALUTATION IN YOUR PRACTICE
The Moon Salutation can be practiced as part of your practice or repeated as your full practice with as many rounds as feel good to you. As you move through the poses use the transitions from pose to pose as an opportunity to thread the poses together and cultivate a flowing breath. Move with fluidity and length through your limbs to make the transitions as beneficial as the poses themselves.

You can also practice this sequence with my on YouTube.

Start standing in the centre of your mat facing the long side. Hands in prayer position at your hearts and take a few slow meditative breaths.

Step 1 - Inhale, reach your arms up high. Palms together arms reaching. Lengthen through the whole spine.

Step 2 - Exhale, hinged to the right, press into your left foot and feel the stretch through the whole left side of the body.

Step 3 - Inhale back to centre and lengthen.

Step 4 - Exhale, hinge to the left, press into your right foot and feel the stretch through the whole right side of the body

Step 5 - Inhale, back to centre.

Step 6 - Exhale, step your feet wide apart, feet turned out, bend your knees and lower your hips down, stack your knees over your ankles, thighs working towards being parallel to the ground. Tailbone reaches down, hip bones reach up. Arms in cactus position.

Step 7 - Inhale, straighten your right leg and pivot your right foot forward and your left foot to a 45 degree angle. Reach the arms out at shoulder height.

Step 8 - Exhale, hinge to your right from the hip joint. Place your hand on your shin or the ground inside/outside your right foot. Bottom waist rolls forward, top waist rolls back, reach your left arm up, palm facing left, gaze to your left fingertips.

Step 9 - Inhale, pivot your hips round to the front of your mat, hinge forward from the hip joint over your right leg, hips level, right hip draws back, left hip draws forward. Reach the chest forward, fold forward, release your head towards the front leg, keep the legs firm.

Step 10 - Exhale, bend the right leg and lift the left heel up, firm your back leg, hug your outer hips to the midline, press into your feet and scissors them towards each other. Broaden through your collarbones, lengthen through your spine to the tip of your crown, draw your sternum forward and up.

Step 11 - Inhale, place the left knee on the ground, hug your outer hips to the midline, reach your arm up high palms pressing together. Draw your navel towards your spine, broaden through the collarbones, lengthen through your spine to the tip of your crown.

Step 12 - Exhale, place both hands on the ground inside your right leg and pivot your hips around to the side of your mat. Press into both feet, keep your right knee over your right ankle. Squeeze into the back of the hips to open your inner groin.

Step 13 - Inhale, bend both knees and sit your hips down into a deep squat. Press your elbows against your thighs, hug your outer hips to the midline, let your pelvis become heavy down towards the back of your heels. Lift your inner arches and inner ankles. Broaden through the collarbones, lengthen through your spine to the tip of your crown.

On your next exhale pivot around to the back of the mat with your hands on the ground inside your left leg for wide legged low lunge on the left side. Move through the steps on the left side in reverse from Step 12 to Step 1 until you reach Tadasana.

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