Pose of the Month: Parsvottanasana

The pose of the month is Parsvottanasana (Stretch of the West). I am going to teach it in every class this month to challenge me to learn more of this pose!

Help for the Savasana (Relaxation Pose) Challenged

Do you have any students who simply cannot relax in Savasana? In our culture, it is simply not unusual to find those who cannot surrender in that position. Savasana is actually stimulating to our nervous system! Now I don’t mean stimulating like backbends or headstands, but a bit. The back body is about stimulating (hence the effect of backbends) and the front body relaxing and surrendering (hence the effect of forward folds). We do Savasana on our backs to keep us a little alert. Savasana is supposed to be conscious relaxation, not falling asleep. But when someone already has a very stimulated nervous system (in other words, stressed. Not uncommon in our world!) then Savasana can further stimulate it, rendering relaxation impossible.

If you have a student who needs help, place her in Asavasana. (Whenever an “A” is placed in front of a Sanskrit word, it changes the word to its opposite.) You place her on her stomach over a bolster. You can see me here in the photo demonstrating it. I like to hang my head just a bit over the edge (letting the forehead have a downward angle helps relax the brain) but if that is uncomfortable for your student, have her rest her head on the bolster, turning it to the other side halfway through the relaxation.

Savasana

So, in my yoga group: "The Muses", we are studying Savasana for the month. Ever have a hard time convincing your students Savasana is necessary and not a waste of time? Here are a few "Did You Knows" about Savasana to help you.

What We Teach is Just Our Opinion

One of the best messages I ever received from a yoga teacher came from Barbara Benagh about a dozen years ago. She said whatever a teacher teaches you is only her opinion about a pose based on how it feels in her body. I love to remind myself of this observation whenever my “control” button gets pushed when one of my students has the audacity to do something other than what I have taught her (Note: last sentence must be read with dripping sarcasm.) Perhaps she has decided that what works in my body doesn’t work in hers!

Honor Other People’s Reality:

We all have beliefs about our bodies. (And beliefs, by the way, are just an opinion, a thought, that we have held for a very long time. Read more about them here.) We may see ourselves as flexible, tight, injured, weak, strong, unable to go upside down, unable to balance, etc. My guess is if you sit for a moment you will come up with half a dozen beliefs you have about your own body. What is most interesting about our beliefs is others usually see through them before we do. And, as teachers, we often see that our students are capable of so much more than they think they are.

As teachers we need to honor other people’s realities and at the same time, hold the door open for something more. Beliefs create the reality in the body, not the other way around. If you think you are tight, you will be tight. If you think you can’t do a handstand, guess what? You’re right! We can best help our students by first helping the student feel safe by honoring what they think about their body. I think we have all experienced at one time or another a teacher who led us to feel less than or even stupid by not understanding what he/she was trying to teach us because we weren’t ready or were still too mired in our belief and so still afraid to try. We need to be there with the student in the place the student is, not where we want the student to be.

Then, at the same time, you can hold the door for the student for something more. You can gently guide them to use different language to describe their body, to see that anything can change, that they are capable of anything. Gently remind them they are strong enough, flexible enough, whatever. Then they will fly!

Savasana and Injuries

When we have injuries or even really tight areas in our body, we feel differently in them, we don’t allow the energy to flow through them effortlessly either from years of holding or habit.

When our students have an injured place in their body, especially if they have had it for some time, they hold their body in an imbalanced way as a result. An easy and very powerful way you can begin to affect their injury is to have them envision balance in Savasana (Ending Relaxation Pose). Have them imagine their sides as feeling equal. Have them imagine their breath flowing equally through both sides as well.

You can also guide them to begin the process of no longer seeing the injured side as the “bad” or “injured” side. The more they can see the sides as equal, the faster a healing can occur.

Assisting Part III: The Conscious Adjuster

In Part I, I discussed the benefits of adjusting. In Part II, the disadvantages. So what is the balance? It is what I call the “Conscious Adjuster”. In conscious adjusting, we don’t just mindlessly walk around the class adjusting every student as we teach. We take a moment (and it only takes a moment the better you get at it) and assess whether the adjustment is necessary and whether it will truly help the student understand the point you are teaching. We don’t adjust for something we aren’t teaching, even if it might be useful. There is nothing more confusing for a student than adjusting the arms when you have been focusing on the feet all night.

The conscious adjuster also uses all three adjusting techniques (voice, light touch, and physical manipulation) with more emphasis on voice and light touch. Voice is telling the student what you want to see and is the best adjustment technique. It takes a great teacher to be able to use their voice that well. Voice is best because the adjustment is then entirely the student’s. She made the movement in her own body and has a better opportunity to be able to replicate it.

Light touch is another good adjustment technique. In light touch, you use one or two fingers, at most a flat palm. Light touch is good because it will bring attention for the student where you want her attention without adding too much of your own energy. A light touch often wakes up the brain to be able to identify the correct muscle to engage to create the movement so the action is almost entirely the student’s.

Last, but certainly not least, is physical manipulation, when you, the teacher, actually move your student into the position she needs. Although this technique may be all yours, it can get a student out of stuck consciousness place (See Part I) so it is definitely useful sometimes.

Assisting Part I: What’s the Point?

Assisting refers to whenever we suggest an adjustment, by words, touch or physical manipulation. Of course we tend to view an adjustment merely in terms of physical manipulation, but whenever we suggest to a student to change their position with words or a light touch, we are also adjusting them. Over the years I have heard many arguments for and against adjusting students (especially with physical manipulation) so over a few different posts, I am going to explore a few sides to assisting.

Remember that the point of yoga is to shift our consciousness; to evolve. In yoga we do it through our bodies. We take our bodies to new places that then takes our consciousness to new places. Who among us has never experienced being stuck? We all get stuck in our illusions and that stuck consciousness shows up in our body as doing the same thing with our body over and over. Often we are sure we are doing what our teacher is asking of us, only to be shocked when she comes over and manually adjusts us into the correct position. And surprised when we realize we can’t yet replicate the adjustment without outside assistance. (How many times have you adjusted student, again and again and again, for the same pose! My rule of thumb is three adjustments and then I let it go. I realize that they aren’t ready for what that position has to teach them and their body is resisting the change.)

My main support of adjusting is because it can get our students out of their ruts; to wake them up and take them where they haven’t been before.

Stay tuned to find out what my hesitations are for adjusting!

Paschimottanasana (Stretch of the West)

This pose challenged me for years. It wasn’t until I realized that it was my lack of stability in my legs (from first chakra issues) and my discomfort with my present, that I found the root of the issue. Interestingly, I always assumed it was my hamstrings that were the issue. Of course, once I worked with the first chakra issue and the fear of the present, the hamstring issue dissipated!
Forward folds are all about surrender and being fully present. Letting go of the past (back body) and gently using the front body (present) to breathe and trust. When our legs aren’t being used effectively and efficiently, the torso needs to make up for the lack of support and works harder than necessary. The added gripping makes the fold more effortful and one can only surrender when peaceful and not gripping, especially in our gut, our fear center. The key to this pose is working the legs just enough, without gripping, to give your Dandasana a strong base. Then the torso can be light and the fold a surrender. To work the legs effectively and efficiently, one needs to tap into both physical and energetic lines. I will be writing about some ideas around this thought over the next couple of days.

Sitting with Dignity

“Sitting down to meditate, our posture talks to us. It makes its own statement. You might say the posture itself is the meditation. If we slump, it reflects low energy, passivity, a lack of clarity. If we sit ramrod-straight, we are tense, making too much of an effort, trying too hard. When I use the word ‘dignity’ in teaching situations, as in ‘Sit in a way that embodies dignity,’ everybody immediately adjusts their posture to sit up straighter. But they don’t stiffen. Faces relax, shoulders drop, head, neck, and back come into easy alignment. The spine rises out of the pelvis with energy. Sometimes people tend to sit forward, away from the backs fo their chairs, more autonomously. Everybody seems to instantly know that inner feeling of dignity and how to embody it.”

Remember Wherever You Go, There You Are? by John Kabat Zinn? I recently pulled my old copy off the shelf and opened it at random. This entry was what I read. I love the thought. What does it mean to you? My computer dictionary defines dignity as: “the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect”. Mmmmm...doesn’t that thought feel good?

I have begun practicing the idea when I am preparing to begin class. I sit before my students as they do their breathing. I sit with dignity, imagine grace coming through me, feel gratitude for the opportunity to be a teacher, and then I use the Mudra I described in a previous blog post to open my throat chakra and make my voice more resonant. Then, and only then, do I begin.

Hamstring Help

I have been having this discussion with Nadine over at Just Breathe and she recommended we blog it since it might help you as well. It began with my blog entry on Dandasana on a block and then it went on from there…The best part is I started that blog with saying how I finally decided in September that I was ready to completely move beyond my injury and was open to the lesson it had to teach me. Apparently my lesson was to shut up and listen because answers keep coming at me…Thank you, Nadine!

Nadine,

Did you try the Dandasana on a block pose? We need to chat -- one hamstring injury to another!

Laura

Laura
Ooh, tell me more....
Does dandasana on a block help build stability? My main problem is that my hips have become so flexible in the forward direction, that my sitbones tend to flick up and my lower back overarch, unless I am really concentrating on my alignment, and of course, I am not always, especially when demonstrating! I just want people to get the gist quickly, so bad. So the injury heals, it flares up, heals flares up. I will take any and all advice! It works best for me so far to do a lot of work on strength and stability in the hips - esp the hamstrings, loose bastards, so I do a lot of locust etc.

I would LOVE to hear your thoughts Laura!

Nadine

Nadine,

Interestingly, our problems are similar, yet not. I have hamstrings that are very tight (yogically speaking, that is. I went to a doctor about my pull and he brought my leg easily to 90 degrees and proclaimed me healed. He walked out before I even had a chance to say, “uuhhh....”). The reason I ask is we can exchange notes. I can share what I have learned for my self and I would love to hear what you do.

Here is a list of what I do:

1. I learned how to hold the attachment of my hamstring. I contract
at the tendon right at the sit bone. I do that while lengthening
the rest of the hamstring. If you stand in Tadasana and
isometrically push one leg back, you can feel the necessary
contraction. (Sometimes I put a strap a the top of my thigh to
remind myself to contract.)
2. I do the dandasana I shared on my blog. REALLY helpful for
learning how to ground through the errant sit bone. Yes, I think
it does help build stability. As I mentioned in the post, you
feel the bones so you can tap into keeping them aligned. It
isn’t about the soft tissue anymore. You won’t flick the
sitbones either if you are in the bones.
3. I do seated forward fold with the extended leg heal up on a
block (and sitbones on a blanket). I can’t explain it, it just
helps.
4. I also ground well when I forward fold in seated positions to
not do what you mentioned doing in your email – flick those
babies up. Teaching is tricky. Not only do I do moves quickly, I
often exaggerate the movement so students can really see what I
am doing.
5. I also do LOTS of strengthening. I love bridge, too for
strengthening “that” area.

Okay, any ideas for me? Thanks for sharing!!

Have a spectacular evening.

Laura

Hey Laura!

You have pretty much covered all bases, I think. This is just about what I do: I can elaborate a bit, but there is nothing you aren't doing, that I know about! I really appreciate the reminder to be present even when teaching, since this is my problemo...

The reason that propping your foot up on a block helps, is that it 'locks' the femur into the pelvis and prevents over-rotation. I didn't figure this out for myself, read about it in Yoga for Wellness by Gary Kraftsow! Funny, most of the time we are trying to get people to move
their pelvis around the thighbone more, not less. As to strength: I also love bridge, moving dynamically in and out of it, then holding the pose. I do the same with baby locust, lifting chest,
arms, head and alternate legs, in and out with the breath, then both legs together.

I have found that getting stronger in my core - lower back and belly - has helped a lot with the 'floppiness' so I also practice urdvha prasarita padasana every day. Since I am tight in the front of my hips, I have found also that regular and assiduous stretching of the hip flexors and quads helps balance the hips - basically mine are overstretched and weak at the back and the
opposite at the front. My favourites for this are warrior 1, warrior 3 (also really good for contracting the hamstrings) and some pigeon variations. Moving in and out of pigeon forward fold is another good back strengthener, I find.

My last thing is this: it seems that the injury shows up in the hamstring but sometimes comes from over stretching the entire hip area - including aggressive hip openers, and if you do less of this, it helps. I have found this for people whose knees trouble them too, actually!

I am reluctantly coming to the conclusion that most yogis spend too much time on flexibility and not enough on strength...

Thanks for all the help!

Nadine



Hi, Nadine.

Fabulous! Thanks for explaining why foot on a block works. I love knowing why I am doing something — especially the physiology behind it. Thank you for that info. (I was going to call it a “tidbit” but it is so much more for me.)

I was thinking about your comment about getting our students to move their pelvis around the thighbones more, not less. You know, as I understand it, the injury occurs over time because the femur is not rotating tight within the socket, being “locked” in, but protruding out ever so slightly to be out of alignment. Apparently, many Iyengar practitioners are suffering from hip joint problems. I think it has to do with exaggerating the movement and the femur coming out a bit. (Hence what you telling me makes perfect sense.) It was part of my problem too. I thought the pain was from stretching the scar tissue in my hamstring, but it was pain in my joint from using it incorrectly for years.

As for your hip flexor, also add releasing the psoas. Are you familiar with Liz Brock’s book, The Psoas Book? She also had an article in Yoga Journal a few years back that is available on the YJ website. The psoas needs releasing first before stretching and it can drastically shift your hip flexor tension. Strengthening it will also transform your Urdhva Prasarita Padasana. (Everyday? You are amazing!! And I am inspired...) I have a YJ article written by Richard Rosen on that pose in which he talks about the psoas too. It was written in 1995 so I would guess it didn’t make it to the website but you can check. It is excellent for describing how to use the psoas and not the abdominals for the lifts.

Do you move in and out of pigeon forward fold with your arms overhead? Or just with out using your arms? I am curious how to do it to use it for strengthening the back. I do Salabhasana (locust) with arms overhead. Wow is that one amazing! It really helps get into the lower trapezius.

Ooohh...I am just moving through your entire email and responding as I go and just got to the part about too many hip openers. That is what I was talking about with the hip injury! Another recommendation to help “bring in” the femur is to do a practice with a strap running through your mid hip — just across the top of the femurs — the greater trochanter. Use the strap to draw the femurs in (it is subtle. It is easy to contract in the buttocks, but the action is lower, at the top of the thighs.) This action is especially important for seated forward folds and standing poses like Parsvottanasana and Parivrtta Trikonasana. And, yes, the issue affects the knee as well.

Peace and miracles of the hip joint...

Laura

Setting an Intention

Do you set intentions for the classes you teach? Setting an intention – a theme or thread that runs throughout the class, can bring more cohesion to your classes. Intentions can be physical (e.g. stretching hamstrings, strengthening the core), mental/energetic (e.g., calming with forward folds, stimulating energy with back bends). Intentions can also be broader, teaching a lesson the student can take off the mat into his/her life such as surrender, nonviolence, truthfulness.
I sometimes set the intention for the class a week ahead of time, sensing from the class what would be helpful the following week. Sometimes my intention comes to me during my own practice – an insight I have gleaned that I want to share with others. Often the idea comes to me in the moment before I start class. I sit quietly with the class while they do some breathing to let go of their day. In my silence, the idea pops into my head and a class forms around the theme.
However and whenever you do it, setting an intention is a powerful way to deepen your level of teaching. If you have always focused on physical, you will have an opportunity to focus on the philosophical and vice versa. I also find intentions helpful when I have begun to feel stale and need some new ideas.

Teaching From Auto-Pilot

Do you have an “auto pilot” setting for your teaching? I know there are times when I find I have taught a portion of a class without even thinking about what I taught (like driving to the store without consciously driving to the store!) There are certain poses in which we have a tendency to say the same thing each time we teach it, sometimes we even say the directions in the same order as well! Students may become lulled into class and stop being conscious about being on their mat as well. They can be thinking about their grocery list in Trikonsana and their cluttered desk in Adho Mukha Svanasana. Nothing is new to grab their attention.

Sometimes repeating the same things can be helpful. I bet you have experienced finally “getting” what your teacher has been telling you each and every time she teaches a pose. And getting the same direction on many different levels. (Tadasana and Adho Mukha Svanasana are two poses in which I feel I have found several levels of the same direction from my teacher!) Other things are so important they are essential to mention every time. And still other times, the pattern might be comforting. I like to say the same thing each time students return from Savasana because I think it helps their minds stay relaxed, there is habit in it.

Think about it for yourself. It helps keep me very conscious as I am teaching. Am I saying the same thing because I am on auto pilot? Because it is important? Because it is comforting? Or because there are many levels to the direction?

Quick Twists Tip

Want a fun exercise for helping your students go more deeply into twists? Have a partner run her finger up the student’s spine. We have a tendency to twist in the same part of our spine every time we twist. (It is usually around your lower ribs at T11 and T12 and L1.) We can twist in other parts of the spine, though, it just takes finding them. When someone takes her finger up your spine, you are able to “feel” more spots where you can turn more deeply. If you have chairs, do the twist in the chair. If you don’t, I find Maricyasana I to be the easiest pose to do this exercise in.

Have the student come into whatever twist she is doing. (Since you are already using partners, have the partner put her hand on the student’s head so she thinks about lengthening as she moves into the pose.) Once she is in her deepest twist, have the partner take a finger to her lower back, just above the sacrum, and slowly slide the finger up her spine, vertebra by vertebra. Have the partner go slowly enough that the student can integrate the touch and see if she has access to any twist there. Be sure to do both sides. Your students will be absolutely amazed at how much more deeply they are able to go.

More Alignment

In yesterday’s post, I talked about encouraging students who hyper-extend their knees or elbows to feel both sides of their joint equally to sense correct alignment. This idea can be used in sensing alignment of the body as well in seated poses and in Tadasana. Sitting where you are now, extend from the sit bones up and out the top of your head. Now, if you exaggerate the ribs coming forward (thereby lengthening the front of the body more than the back) do you feel more of the front body than the back? Reverse the action and round through the back (while still lengthening and not collapsing). You feel your back body more.

Now come back to the center and lift through the middle. We can lose the alignment of the torso in the lower back, chest, and head so make sure you have an equal awareness on the front and back of all of those areas. Can you feel it? When you have it while you are sitting, do it in Tadasana.

Help with Hyper-Extension

Here is a tough one – how can you help students who hyper-extend knees and elbows to feel alignment? Here is an idea that works for those who are already quite aware of their bodies (and sometimes beginners too). Tell your students they should be able to feel both sides of their joint equally. Try it. Fully straighten your leg right now and then press back on the knee. Even if you don’t hyper-extend, you probably feel the back of the knee more than the front. You definitely feel the back more if you are hyper-extending. (This action should produce pain, but if you have hyper-extending the joint long enough, the pain receptors basically wear out). Now slightly bend the knee just until that point when you feel the front as much as the back – you are now aligned. Do it for you elbow too. I love to use this one for myself in Tadasana – I hyper-extend my elbows. When I stretch my “elbow pit”, I can feel it strongly, but then I lose my elbow (the other side). When I release the joint so I feel both sides equally, my hand just lights up because the energy can get to it.