The Various Yoga Disciplines
The postures and breathing exercises of Hatha (physical) Yoga are tools and when practiced correctly, they are extremely useful and potent in helping you regain or maintain your physical and mental health. Practicing can stabilize and boost your body's vitality and harmonize your emotions while strengthening your mind. But the postures and breathing are a small beginning of Yoga, the real power of Yoga is unlocked when you approach it as a lifestyle or spiritual path. Through Yoga you have the means to tap into your full potential as a human being.
This month we will learn about a fairly new Yoga discipline called Svaroopa Yoga. It is an easy, gentle, safe and wonderfully effective form of Hatha Yoga. This style of Yoga uses asanas (exercises), pranayama (breath work) and guided relaxation to release and unravel tensions in the muscles that wrap around the spine. Svaroopa works with the body in a radically different way than other styles of Yoga or other forms of exercise. It's therapeutic and uses familiar Yoga poses to create a deep opening in the muscles around the spine. When the tight muscles that wrap around the spine relax, release and lengthen there is a ripple affect throughout the whole body and mind. The poses open you up from the inside-out; this is called "Core Opening." Core tensions in the body begin in the muscles around the base of the spine and then affect the rest of the body. Svaroopa begins by releasing the muscles around the tail bone and then caring the changes through the sacrum, lumbar vertebrae and the rest of the way through the shoulders and neck. As the tension begins to release in the spine, the effects radiate throughout the entire body. The results are a reduction in muscular tension, a supple body, new and flexible. It's very beneficial and realized after only one class.
Everyone can experience the many benefits of Svaroopa which include deep relaxation, mental clarity, renewed energy, internal centering and healing on many levels. Physical benefits include improved flexibility, circulation, hormonal balance, digestion, nervous and immune functions, reduced pain, easier and more effective breathing. Svaroopa is especially helpful for those experiencing chronic back pain or discomfort including sciatica, lower back pain and scoliosis. Svaroopa brings greater body awareness and greater sense of clarity and ability to focus.
Svaroopa focuses on alignment, using props and holding the pose a little longer to help the student relax into the pose allowing the pose to have an effect on the student. This style of Yoga is very approachable for every body. Although it is a therapeutic form of Yoga and really can help heal many types of injuries and illnesses, people without a health issue will also receive many benefits from practicing Svaroopa. Often students who have had difficulty with other Yoga classes find that they enjoy Svaroopa classes because of the use of props and the emphasis on releasing, rather than tightening muscles.
A typical class begins and ends with a guided awareness of the body in a relaxation pose. This is followed by a series of postures using props such as thick blankets or chairs to support the body as needed. Each class incorporates all five Yoga angles; forward bend, back bend, side bend, inversion and twist to benefit the whole body. Svaroopa utilizes twelve themes that focus on different areas of the body while still focusing on opening the body from the tail bone up the spine. More on Svaroopa next month. Here's To Your Dancing Health!
Side Bend
The Side Bend is an excellent stretch for the SIDES of the BODY. It stretches and develops the INTERCOSTAL MUSCLES of the RIB CAGE. It tones the LEG and HIP MUSCLES. It's great for the WAIST as it stretches and relieves tightness, reduces excess weight and helps overcome flabbiness while firming. The side bend is good for the BACK and helps relieve backaches. The NECK is strengthened. Keeping the ARMS stretched and reaching will help tone them. Stretch down the leg only as far as comfortable. Dancer and I disclaim any liabilities or loss in connection with the exercise and advice herein.
1. Stand with your legs stretched out. Arms are shoulder level. Turn your right foot out.
2. Lift up in the trunk as you reach and stretch your right hand down your right leg. Shoulders remain facing front and your left arm is stretching out and up, work towards getting it parallel with the floor overhead. Hold for 10-20 counts. Return to starting position and turn your left foot out. Lift up and stretch to the left, holding for 10-20 counts. Repeat each side and then rest.