My granny’s back…

Well my 84 year old granny’s back is much improved from doing the very simple yoga exercises that I recommended she do:

From sitting – gentle side bends and rotation of the spine both ways. Then Savasana with knees bent alternating with the beginnings of Setu Bhandasana – getting the lumber spine onto the ground and creating space for the lower vertebrae. Also a little bit of Little Boat – when she can manage it.

I’ve asked her to try and do these movements 2 or 3 times a day. I think she started with 3 times and her back quickly improved – but then it went down to 2  and now – because she’s very busy (!) she usually only manages once a day.

Her back isn’t as good as when she first started the exercises – but much better than when she was doing nothing.

pose of the week – sitting with wide legs – upavistha konasana…

wide leg sitting – upavistha konasana

Benefits:  Can strengthen the muscles around the knees and help this area from feeling so vulnerable. Also strengthens the abdominal muscles and can improve flexibility in the hips and hamstrings.

Contraindication: This is generally a very safe posture to practice, but if it feels a strain keeping the upper body upright,  place a cushion just underneath your tailbone. This will give you some extra support and make the posture feel much more pleasant to do.

As with all poses of the week – if it doesn’t feel good to be in – don’t do it for now (until you have the advice of an experienced yoga teacher…)

Practice:  Sit on the floor with your legs comfortably wide. Placing hands wherever they feel relaxed – resting on the belly, or on the thighs…

Allow your hips and legs to be heavy and feel the sitting bones very much in contact with the ground…

Have an awareness of your spine being long and gently lengthening upwards.

Breathe easily and freely…

Stay in this posture as long as you feel happy being here…

pose of the week… savasana – corpse pose…

Savasana with knees bent…

BENEFITS: Lengthens the spine. Relaxes the body, mind and spirit. Beneficial for the many systems of the body – especially the immune system. Relieves stress.

CONTRAINDICATIONS: This is one of the safest yoga postures you can do, but as with all postures of the week, only practice if it feels comfortable… Often late in pregnancy lying on your back can make you breathless. This is because the heaviness of the uterus can compress a large blood vessal  (the vena cava) when supine. This will lessen the blood flow to the heart which will cause a drop in blood pressure and decrease the amount of blood getting to your baby.

You will feel the discomfort almost immediately if  it isn’t going to be a good posture for you or your baby.

PRACTICE: Savasana can be done at any time – but is often practiced briefly at the beginning of some yoga classes and usually always at the end of a session for between 5 – 10 minutes.

Lie on your back and gently hug your knees towards you.

Have an awareness of your breathing and then gently let your knees fall away from you as you breathe out. Place the feet on the ground about shoulder width apart.

If you are doing savasana at the end of a class you might like to straighten your legs…

Give the weight of your body to the ground and breathe…

Let every part of you be heavy and weighted…

Really trust that the ground is there – so you can fully be supported by it and let go. The body can then widen and broaden – especially on the in breath…

Allow the joints to be quiet…and a softness to flow over you – an easiness, a release, a relaxation….

Breathe… and have an awareness of the spine gently lengthening each time you breathe out.

When you are ready to finish, slowly wake the body up and roll over onto your side. Stay here for at least half a minute, to allow your body to adjust before coming upright.

When you are ready to sit up – use your hands to help you get up. This will protect your abdominal muscles and keep your spine nice and long.

 

pose of the week – tadasana – mountain pose…

tadasana…

Tadasana is one of the basic standing postures in yoga.

BENEFITS: Good for lengthening and realigning the spine.  May ease backache. Can improve leg and abdominal tone.

CONTRAINDICATIONS: Tadasana seems to be one of the safest postures to do – but as with all the poses of the week – only practice if you feel well and if the position feels comfortable for you to do.

PRACTICE: Stand with your heels directly underneath your sitting bones – a little narrower than your hips. Have the outside edges of your feet comfortably parallel. Take a moment to breath and then allow the lower half of your body to become heavier, so that the feet can really imprint themselves in the ground. In contrast to the earthing of the pelvis, feet and legs, the upper half of the body becomes lighter and is very much attracted upwards. Breathe easily and freely and enjoy the feeling of length and solidity…

pose of the week… angry cat – bidalasana…

BENEFITS: Increases flexibility of the spine. Tones and strengthens the abdominal and back muscles.

CONTRAINDICATIONS: If you have weak wrists or carpal tunnel syndrome, you might like to rest your forearms on some cushions or a low chair.  As with all poses of the week – if something doesn’t feel comfortable – don’t do it.

PRACTICE: Be on all fours making sure that the knees are directly underneath the hips and the hands are underneath the shoulders…. Spread the fingers wide with the thumbs reaching in towards each other. Take a moment to bring awareness to your breathing… The next time you breathe out imagine you are bringing your navel towards your spine and arch up. Then when you breathe in allow the belly to drop creating a downward arch. Be aware of keeping space at the back of the neck and not lifting the head too high.

Carry on arching up on the out breath and arching down on the in breath as long as it feels good for you to do…Finish on an upward arch breathing out….

Come to kneeling and rotate the wrists both ways. Then relax in Child’s posture for a few breaths…

pose of the week… little bridge – setu bandhasana

BENEFITS:  Lengthens the spine – especially in the lower back. Can help ease lower back ache.  Helps to open the front of the shoulders. Tones the abdominal muscles. Very relaxing and can relieve stress.

CONTRAINDICATIONS: Most mother’s to be will find lying on the back, uncomfortable to do towards the end of pregnancy – anytime from 30 – 40 weeks. You will know when it isn’t beneficial for you and your baby, as you will feel very breathless and ‘have’ to roll over onto your side. As with all poses of the week, only practice if it feels good to do…

PRACTICE: Lying on your back, gently hug the knees towards you. This will give you a nice long spine.

Take a moment to breathe…

When you feel ready – the next time you breathe out,  place your feet on the ground about hip width apart, fairly close to your pelvis. Take a moment to establish the feeling of your feet on the ground…

On an exhalation emphasize your footprints – This will lighten the pelvis and bring the back of your waist to the floor.

When you breathe in – relax everything.

The next time you breathe out, push your feet into the ground a little more so that your pelvis begins to rise up with some of the lower spine. When you breathe in, come down vertebra, by vertebra until the pelvis is back down on the floor again and relax completely.

Carry on with these movements of pushing the feet into the ground as you breathe out and releasing everything as you breathe in.

To get even more space in the lower spine visualize the tailbone being pulled away as your pelvis rises up. Keep this image of the tailbone being pulled away as the hips come down as well.

Only go as high with the pelvis as feels comfortable and stop when you have had enough…

When you are finished, gently hug your knees towards you and take a gentle rock from side to side. Take a moment to breathe…

pose of the week – sphinx

sphinx

pose of the week… warrior – virabhadrasana I

Virabhadrasana I

BENEFITS: Improves body strength – especially in the thighs and shoulders. Increases  hip flexibility and can help one to feel more confidant!

CONTRAINDICATIONS: Practice very gently if you have any knee conditions. Don’t hold the posture for too long if you have very high, or very low blood pressure.  As with all poses of the week – if something doesn’t feel comfortable – don’t do it.

PRACTICE: Stand sideways on your mat or be on a non slip surface. Take a large step to your right…

Check that the outside edges of your feet are parallel to each other. Bend one knee and then the other a few times…

Come to still and be tall and grounded. Take a moment to breathe…

Notice how open and in which direction your pelvis and shoulders are facing – You want to keep them like this throughout the posture….

Turn your left toes 90 degrees out to the side and bend your left knee (make sure the knee is going in the direction of your toes)

Raise your arms in line with your shoulders and look past your left fingertips. Be grounded, tall and brave… Breathe…

Stay for a minute or two or as long as it feels comfortable and good to be doing…

personal practice…

Students and other yoga teacher’s often ask me about my personal practice – How often and for how long?

So here it is:

I try to begin everyday with two salutes to the sun. Sometimes I will also do a few of the astanga salutes (to keep my arms nice and strong!)

Time allowing, I will also do a twist – usually lying down and a side bend. Which means that at the very least I have done the 6 movements of the spine (forward, back, rotation to both sides and side bend – both sides) every day.  I will also do a wheel from lying 2 or 3 times – in the most relaxed way possible.

Because I don’t want to wobble when I teach a balance during a class, I also try to do tree, warrior 3, half moon and some variations of  uttitha hasta padangusthanasana most days.

If I have the time (rarely!), I will go with how my body feels it wants… Pranayama is then likely to make an appearance…

Sometimes, I have the luxury of a few moments of relaxation in savasana…

I read once, that as a yoga teacher, you should do no less than one hours practice every day (or woe betide you!) I would love to achieve this, but at the moment – even with the best intentions in the world – its just not physically possible (3 children, home educating,  teaching etc for starters!)

Yoga is close to my heart though and with me for much of the day. If I’m ever still for a period of time, I need to move and stretch and I will… If I see a bar to hang from – I usually do.

During the day, I will forward bend at least twice.

On the bed, before sleeping, I often do dandasana – staff pose and usually a lying tailor and of course some much needed relaxation…

Can astanga yoga make your biceps bigger?

Getting bigger?

In short – yes of course!  But I know and have heard of quite a few women not doing Astanga because they are worried about how big it will make their arms and shoulders – men don’t seem to have a problem with this!  I thought I’d do a little personal study and practice Astanga daily after a period of ‘rest’ and see how big my biceps actually get after one month.

I begin on the 13th of January. It feels rather self indulgent measuring body parts… With a long unflexed arm my bicep measures 24cm – when flexed it is 25cm.

After one practice my unflexed bicep measures 24.5 cm and when flexed 25.5cm.

By the 15th January my unflexed bicep stays at 24.5cm but flexed it is now 26.5cm.

These measurement are taken straight after practicing. On the 17th and 18th January the measurements are the same as the 15th – but I also take a reading about 10 hours after practicing – both days show a decline in muscle growth – back to the original size of 24cm unflexed and 25cm when flexed.

On the 13th of February at the end of the one month of Astanga my unflexed bicep is 24.5cm and flexed up to 26.5cm.

So in a month a total bicep growth of 0.5cm when unflexed and 1.5cm when flexed.

I haven’t been able to measure the growth of the muscles in my shoulders – they definitely look stronger – especially the Deltoid muscles (top outer corner of shoulders) and the Pectoralis Major muscles. Although I only really notice this new definition if I happen to be brushing my teeth and happen to look in the mirror.

14th of February – no Astanga today as I think it would be good to see if there is a decline in muscle tone after missing one practice. Bicep – 24cm when unflexed – back to original size! and 25.5cm when flexed – just 0.5 cm more than when I started – Gosh what a quick decline….

Astanga yoga has really forwarded my physical practice and made my arms and abdominal core muscles much much stronger.  Even after a few years of being a yoga teacher and very comfortable in a dog posture, I was never able to do a proper push up. Navasana – boat pose has always seemed impossible – but Astanga makes you do these postures and I can now do a push up with the best of them and Navasana – looks nearly (but not quite!) effortless…

If you enjoy pushing yourself physically than Astanga can be fantastic – it can feel so good to do and after a practice you feel like you have really moved. A shame to miss out on because of possible bicep growth!

So yes, Astanga does make your arms and shoulder’s look stronger – but not too much! They then seem to go back very quickly to the size they were if you don’t practice for a few days – In my case anyway! Everybody’s body is different and unique… and so what if your arms get bigger because you have strengthened them!