Posture Clinic

Down Dog

Why not start with a down dog?

Depending on the style of yoga, there may be different cues for bodily alignment in down dog. For instance, in a more Dharma Mittra inspired class, it is often suggested that the forehead should be touching the mat. Which may look something like this:

The hands continue to push into the mat while shoulderblades wrap around the ribcage, stretching the upper back. The core lock is slightly compromised in this particular posture as shown above. Though still engaged through uddiyana bandha (located just below the bellybutton), the upper abdominals are stretching to allow the upper back its arch.

Don't mistake the cue to touch the forehead to the mat as an opportunity to arch, but rather to straighten strengthen and lengthen. Instead, try reaching the lower ribcage for the hipbones, an idea most often expressed in an Ashtanga practice. This will tighten the whole stomach wall, consequently straightening the back. Keeping this engagement, reach the crown of the head (or the hairline) for the mat. This allows the cervical spine's vertebrae to decompress.  Happy down dogging!

Headstand

Start by setting up your base: grab for opposite elbows. This is your shoulders' width distance. You'll notice when you clasp your hands you create a triangle with your forearms: the most stable structure, for all you engineering types.

Cradle your head in your hands, tucking the pinky fingers in so they don't get jammed. (The knuckles of your pinky fingers and maybe even your ring fingers should be touching the mat, while your palms are cupped to support the crown of your head.)



Next, walk your feet in towards your head. The weight should already be in your head as opposed to in your elbows. Weight in the elbows means your trapezius muscles will be working to keep you in place, and you'll become exhausted sooner.
Engage your stomach and suck in your belly button so much that your legs lift. 

Once you're up, think hips forward, feet back. This feels like falling, but isn't balance the humbling moment we realize we're teetering on the edge of something unknown? We fear falling because it means failure. What if it was just another opportunity to learn something about how your body works? YOUR BODY WORKS. That's beautiful in itself.

Don't get discouraged if at first you can't nail the headstand of your dreams. You can always use a wall or a friend. Plus, bringing friends into the adventure just makes it that much more fun!

Forearm Balance

Whether you've mastered the headstand or not, forearm balance can be really fun to play with!

Start out by setting up the same way you would for headstand: grab for opposite elbows. 

This time, place palms flat down on the ground either parallel to each other, or with thumbs intertwined. (I find with my thumbs intertwined I have a more stable base to work with)

Now lift your hips up and walk your feet toward your hands as close as possible. With your stomach engaged, you'll already feel your weight moving forward into your hands and off your feet.

Lift one leg up into a standing split. Pick one point to focus on with your gaze. This might be the most important step of the whole posture. With the lifted leg, reach up so high toward the ceiling and press off of your grounded toes so that you're balancing with your legs wide apart. If it's difficult to stay up, bend the lifted leg at the knee. This will send more weight behind you so you don't have to work as hard at counteracting your grounded leg.



You can stay here and work on the balance, it'll make it a lot easier to control your forearm stand once you're one straight line

Work your legs closer together. Once your feet are touching, engage the bandhas: Stomach locks into place and squeeze where the sun don't shine. Make sure you're not collpasing in the upper back, shoulderblades should be externally rotating a LOT while your elbows push actively into the ground. If you feel crunching in your lower back, try to use your stomach more. Most importantly, breathe! Hold the posture as long as you can, preferably 5 breaths minimum. If you'd like a bigger challenge, the last step is to release the head so the neck is loose.

But don't take the posture too seriously. Let it sing to you. The best asana is one where effort has left the body. What replaces it is much more profound.

Kapiasana

Learning this posture takes a lot of spinal mobility (probably obvious at this point) as well as core/lower back strength. However, the biggest hurtle to get over is the fear presented by the shape of the asana. Not only is this a huge psoas stretch, but a completely vulnerable position to be in. The heart is spread wide, and the throat is stretched and exposed, not to mention the body is balancing on a pretty narrow base.

When we challenge ourselves to take on a posture like this, we begin to overcome a lot of the real-world pain that we hold onto. When we literally open up our hearts, we're sending a message to our pain teling it we're ready to heal. As the throat opens, the chakra of self expression, we forgive the past. A wise yogi said that backbends are a sign of your past healing. We cannot become physically vulnerable until we are mentally open to change.

The best healing is left unattended. If you release the labor of your efforts and sacrifice them to a greater power, whatever that may mean to you, your body will take care of the "stuff in the basement". Without an emotionally stable foundation, the whole structure cannot stand.

Stay receptive, this is what life teaches. Learning to be receptive to the power of the present moment allows us to soak up the complete intelligence of the universe; past, present and future. With understanding comes acceptance. With acceptance comes forgiveness.