Yoga for the Dancer
The Various Yoga Disciplines, cont.
You can transform an otherwise mundane daily routine into a meaningful ritual that can be energizing, creating a peaceful mood in your heart and connecting with everyone and everything. If you believe in a divine being, this is a good time for inwardly aligning yourself with your beliefs. When you live an active life of self-transformation, dreams often carry important messages and it's important to write down any significant dreams. They may confirm your present inner development experiences, or they may provide you with a key for understanding what you are going through. If your dreams aren't written down upon awakening, you are likely to forget them. Keeping a dream diary will help with your daily resolution.
It is believed the teacher's role is important in viniyoga. In youth, our practice supports growth, and as we age it should promote and maintain our health and stability. The link with the teacher is vital to design effective personal practices that will facilitate these changing needs. Depending on the person's emotional and spiritual needs, meditation, chanting, prayer and ritual can be incorporated into each individual's practice to deepen their yogic practice and enrich their lives. There are important features of viniyoga, including integrity of the spine. There are hundreds of asanas (exercises) in yoga. In viniyoga they use the classic asanas as a model and adapt it to attain a specific function. They work dynamically in the exercise, exploring the range of movement for the greatest opportunity to stretch and strengthen. This dynamic preparation helps us to enjoy the deeper benefits of the static asanas.
With the breath being so important in viniyoga - in the asanas practice - every movement is integrated with the breath. On the inhalation, you enjoy energy, motivation and inspiration. On the exhalation, you experience calmness, relaxation and stability. When your movement flows with the complete breath, you feel balanced, present and alive. When exercises are put together in certain ways they become more effective, efficient and elegant. A well-sequenced practice is a treasure in the yoga world. Such a sequence has the qualities of order and harmony throughout, each posture and adaptation being selected and placed purposefully to create an integrated whole. Building effective sequences is at once an art and a science based on definite principles. Because no individual can be characterized by one specific condition alone, the sequences are prescriptive and must be adapted to respect your total situation, including your age, physical and emotional condition, profession and personal interests.
In asanas practice, viniyoga refers to the steps that must be taken in order to achieve a particular goal, such as achieving proficiency in a particular exercise, working on a particular area of the structure or producing an overall effect in the body. The effectiveness of any asanas is influenced by the other exercises it is combined with. Viniyoga is about counteracting asanas, which refer to the compensatory steps required to return the mind, breath, and/or body to a neutral condition. The general idea is that balance can be progressively restored by moving from the internal to the external, from the complex to the simple and from the difficult to the easy. More on viniyoga next month. Here's to your dancing health!
Hamstring Stretch
The hamstring stretch is designed to give you an intense stretch high in the upper HAMSTRING MUSCLE near the GLUTS. In the hold, the ENTIRE LEG receives a stretch. The SPINE and NECK are stretched. The ARMS are strengthened as you bend the elbows out pulling the TRUNK toward your legs. Start with your hand hold above the knees, and as you stretch, begin lowering the hands below the knees, then eventually the calves and finally the ankles. Your INTERNAL ORGANS receive a fresh supply of BLOOD and OXYGEN as you fold the body over. The object of this exercise is to eventually lay the trunk on the legs. Dancer and I disclaim any liabilities or loss in connection with the exercise and advice herein.
1. Begin by standing erect with your feet under your knees, hips and shoulders. Arms are resting by your sides.
2. Bend forward and grasp your legs above your knees with your hands. Neck is relaxed as you bend your elbows outward, pulling your trunk toward your knees. Make sure your knees remain straight and if they bend, back off on your pull. Hold for 10-20 counts. Release your hold and slowly roll through your spine one vertebra at a time. Relax and repeat.