In class tonight Elizabeth had a tip for Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana). She said that one of the biggest things she sees students doing incorrectly during this posture is placing the arms too far away from the sides of the body.
If your hands are too far away from your body, you’ll likely end up
jamming your shoulders toward your ears—a Bhujangasana no-no. Before
lifting, your hands should be right next to your chest and directly under your
shoulders—thumbs in line with your nipples. Your upper and lower arm should create an "L" shape at 90 degrees.
You'll naturally want to splay your elbows out to the side, so you need to consciously hug your upper arms and elbows as tightly as possible to the sides of your body. At the same time, pull your elbows back towards your feet, drop your shoulders away from your ears and press your shoulder
blades forward into your chest.
By having the proper arm alignment, you'll be able to create more space in your spine by lengthening it, and use the strength of your upper-back muscles
instead of your arm muscles.
Jenny McKane started practicing at Bikram Yoga SLC in January 2011. I practiced next to her today and she gave me permission to share her story. She is so strong and graceful in her practice. Her mind body soul connection is strong. Such a positive inspiration to all that know her story. We never know why people practice at Bikram Yoga SLC. But once I know their story, it is a testimony to me of the why students keep coming and practicing. We have the best students in the world. I appreciate all that come and practice even if I do not why they come. ~Greg
It was 2013 and I was 37 years old when I found myself in the emergency
room in the middle of the night with severe abdominal pain. The pain
was caused by a cancerous tumor in my colon that had grown to the point
of rupturing through the colon wall and spreading cancer cells all
throughout my abdominal cavity and into my lymph and circulatory
systems. At that point, statistics showed that I had a 3% chance of
being alive 5 years hence. Enduring a six-month round of chemotherapy
was said to increase those chances of survival to 22%. So after two
separate surgeries, I decided to endure the chemo, crossed my fingers
and started the balancing act on that thin line that divides positivity,
hope, & the belief in miracles from depression, despair, fear, and
acceptance of death. The latter had more gravity so, unfortunately, I
tended to lean in that direction.
Two years later, hoping I might actually be in the clear, but still
believing otherwise, I began experiencing more pain. What the doctors
and I were hoping was just a ruptured ovarian cyst turned out to, in
fact, be the cancer. It had metastasized. By the time I got into
surgery, my right ovary had transformed into a tumor the size of a
grapefruit. Neither I nor my doctor could find statistics to show
whether or not more chemo increased my chances of survival at that
point, presumably because all of the statistical data (i.e. the
patients) were dead. But I wasn't ready to say goodbye to my kids yet,
so I told myself I could keep the core of my body alive while the
chemotherapy tried to kill every other part of it.
But this time something was different. I was different. I was tired
of reading medical journals and case studies and begging for
non-indicated methods of treatment and arguing with ignorant doctors
and, most of all, being pumped full of toxic chemicals that were
destroying my internal organs and making me feel inhuman. Four and a
half months into the second six-month chemo regimen, I made the very
difficult decision to quit. It might have been the wrong decision but it
just felt like the right thing to do. So I flipped it a big ol' middle
finger, informed my oncologist of my decision, and I haven't looked
back.
I can't pinpoint exactly what was different the second time. It
could have been the books I was reading, the people I was talking to,
unadulterated desperation, or, perhaps even cosmic intervention, but
pretty soon I found myself drawn exclusively toward Eastern Medicine and
ancient health and healing methods, including yoga.
My body thanked me for quitting chemo and I vowed to REALLY listen
to my body from that day forward... to care for it to the best of my
ability. And, you know, it was very hard to love and care for a body
that didn't even seem like my own. I was a scrawny, emaciated, pale,
hairless, weak, torpid figure covered in scars and filled with
adhesions. I had very little energy to work with so I started out slowly
and carefully by simply laying on my back on the floor every night and
sensing tension and pain in different areas of my body. And then I would
stretch and move in such a way as to address these areas. I was
surprised at how instinctive it became and by how amazingly good it
felt. Before I knew it, I was moving in a way that looked an awful lot
like yoga! And I was completely convinced that something I had read
somewhere not long ago was true: that these human bodies we inhabit do,
indeed, have the ability to heal themselves if given the opportunity.
Fast-forward several months and here I am: strong, healthy, fit,
and more mentally sound than I've ever been. Yoga has reconnected my
body and my mind. For the first time in 3 years, I have a genuine,
whole-hearted belief that I'm actually going to beat the odds and live
much longer than expected.
I owe my current state of health, in part, to eating a very healthy
and almost entirely plant-based diet void of dairy, sugar, and other
substances that are believed to promote tumor growth. I owe it, in part,
to opening up my heart not only to my support network of family and
friends, but also connecting to humanity as a whole... expanding my
awareness beyond what I can physically perceive. I owe it, in part, to
letting go of every aspect of negativity that once seemed to have a
choke-hold on my mentality. I owe it, in part, to learning to laugh and
have fun and to keep a sense of humor in the face of difficulty. I owe
it to meditation.
All of these things go hand-in-hand with yoga. The more I practice
yoga, the more awareness I gain, the more healthily I want to eat, the
easier it is to remain positive, the more connected I feel to everything
around me, the less stress I feel, the more slowly and deeply I
breathe. If done properly, yoga *is* meditation.
I currently practice 3 different styles of yoga including Bikram.
Even the beginner-level Bikram class is decidedly advanced for a person
whose body has recently undergone multiple surgeries and chemotherapy
and who has significant muscle atrophy. I don't know that I would
recommend it to someone who has no prior yoga experience.
But there are two things that Bikram has done for me that the other
yoga practices have not: First, it has sped up the rate at which my
body has been able to rid itself of the chemotherapy and radiation
chemicals that would otherwise remain in my system indefinitely. The
compression postures increase circulation of both blood and lymph and
the complimentary sweating helps to flush the tissues. Secondly, the
spine-strengthening series has helped me to regain back strength like no
other yoga class has done thus far. I once spent 28 straight days
laying in a hospital bed in an inclined position. As a result, my front
body was chronically contracted and my back body stretched. Bikram yoga
helped me to identify this imbalance and helps to correct it.
I constantly promote yoga to whomever will listen to me
passionately rave about it. It has transformed my body and my mind. It
has transformed my life. It enhances my feelings of strength and
willpower and the concentration and focus it requires makes me feel like
I can confidently and fearlessly take on the world. I wish it didn't
take such a difficult turn of events for me to come to this discovery
and realization, but I'm exceedingly glad I am where I am right now.
Already, my passionate promotion of yoga has encouraged several people
to take up their own practices. My hope is that yoga will help them to
keep their minds, bodies, and breath connected such that a continuous
natural healing process offers them full health and the ability to avoid
cancer and any other of today's rampant and prevalent health
conditions. Yoga for life!
The spine strengthening series has always been challenging for me.
Instead of isolating the muscles of my back I have been cheating — using
my leg strength, especially in Locust Pose. But the other day, I had a
bit of a breakthrough. I finally heard the words of the dialogue that
talked about shifting your weight forward. The teacher must have
elaborated on this theme or maybe I just finally heard it, but something
clicked. I was able to isolate and use my back muscles. Boy, did that
feel different.
As the teacher explained, the key to Locust Post — all three parts —
is in the shoulders. Pushing your shoulders onto the mat and using your
hands to create leverage against the floor forces you to use the muscles
of your back. This is challenging for me, because my shoulders and
chest are very tight. I need to really shift my weight forward to get my
shoulders to touch. But when I move slowly into the posture, I can do
it.
It is important to shift the weight forward and press your shoulders
and hands down BEFORE you lift your legs — otherwise the leg muscles
will take over. My legs do not reach nearly the same height as they did
during my “cheating” days, but I feel the benefits are greater. I am
excited for this breakthrough.
I also discovered that the position of the shoulders is important for
the other spine strengthening postures. In Cobra Pose, the shoulders
must stay down to activate the lower back muscles and the proper back
bend. In Full Locust, they must stay level with the arms elevated, even
as the shoulder blades remain relaxed and down, once again activating
the muscles of the back. And in Bow Pose, the key is to relax the
shoulders, letting them be guided back by the strength of the kick. In
all cases, focusing on the proper placement of the shoulders forces the
back muscles to do the work. It is harder, but the result is better.
This got me thinking about my shoulders in general. Keeping the
shoulders back and down is a common refrain in almost every posture —
even Savasana! I realized I have been ignoring my shoulder position
throughout class, letting my stronger leg muscles and core bail me out
in several postures. In fact, my most common correction in the standing
series is to lower my shoulders away from my ears.
I am making my shoulders a focus of my practice for the next several
months. Back and down will be my mantra. Let’s hope my spine will emerge
happier and more supportive of a happy life!
~ From hotoffthemat.com
The following from Zefea Samson on evolationyoga.com lets us in on some secrets for surviving Awkward Pose. These tips could also be taken to heart for other postures we find uncomfortable or awkward in our practice.
4 secrets to survive your most awkward pose
I am infamous for holding postures longer than most of my colleagues.
I have certainly heard students complain that I hold awkward posture
too long. Heck, I want to complain when other teachers hold the pose
more than my legs appreciate!
A friend and long time teacher once said during a workshop: “I
believe you shouldn’t trust any teacher who won’t hold this posture long
enough, as it tells you everything about their own practice. Awkward
pose is indeed an uncomfortable pose for most of us, but the teacher, as
well as you as a practitioner, should know that it is a safe posture
that physically and, most importantly, mentally prepares you for the
rest of class. It’s a shame to get shortened on that, so be happy with a
teacher who holds this posture a bit longer.”
Well, that’s nice, you might think, but knowing this won’t be enough
to maintain a pose that feels so strenuous, for an extended amount of
time. So here are some tips from that annoying long-posture-holding
teacher, to survive awkward pose, or any other pose for that matter,
that feels the most awkward in your practice.
1. right intention & focus
We all have those days, that the moment class starts you feel that
your body is just not up for it. For whatever reason you feel stiff and
tight and maybe even sore. Muscles that you didn’t know existed start
talking to you. You are pretty certain that they are telling you to not
do the posture, just leave the room and instead go enjoy your favorite
comfort drink in the coffee shop next door. And if it isn’t your body,
than it will be your monkey mind telling you that it wasn’t the best day
to come in because you are tired, you ate too much, you have too much
work to do or just because it’s too rainy or too sunny outside. But hey,
you are already there, so you might as well make up your mind to feel
different and figure out what it is that will make you enjoy the
experience.
Often teachers suggest at the beginning of class to set an intention.
Before you start moving around, take this moment to identify with the
focus you will need to approach your practice this time, what body part
needs some extra attention, what thoughts you need to let go of. With
every posture you have an opportunity to start over again and to recheck
if you are still connected to these objectives. You can also start
every next posture with an intention for that specific pose. If you
always tend to come out of awkward pose before it’s over, you can make
an extra determination to not give up, to listen to the teacher’s voice
instead of the one in your own head. If nothing else works, you could
even bribe yourself with the reward of that comfort drink after class,
only if you comply with your own goals.
You’ll be amazed by how quickly your mind will get strong this way.
And this will benefit you not only to execute a specific asana, but with
all other aspects of your life. For me one of the most amazing effects
of practicing yoga was to realize that I can do anything if I just set
my mind to do it!
2. correct form
Depth in a posture is only relative to correct form. By practicing
the correct form you will gain deeper depth. I am often personally
guilty of this. I bypass some essentials, just because they don’t feel
so good, to get to a certain end result. Just because I was able to
reach a certain depth last time, doesn’t mean it needs to happen today.
How do you know what the correct form is? Listen to the teacher. He
or she is there exactly for that, to let you know what steps are
essential and what the results are. I find it very important to listen
to the teacher each time as if it is the first time I am practicing. It
doesn’t matter in that sense if it’s an entirely new practice or the
familiar 26+2 series. In some traditions and some classes it’s
encouraged to follow your own intuition, but I find it important to let
the teacher lead me. Otherwise I could just do my own home practice,
right?
Different traditions give different variations of similar postures.
Utkatasana, which I have learned as awkward pose, is called chair pose
elsewhere. In a flow class you might practice it with your arms
stretched up instead of forward. Not one way is better than another,
it’s simply that different approaches have different benefits. And this
of course requires a different correct form. If you practice the way you
believe is correct instead of listening to the instructions in the
moment, you will most likely miss out on a lot of new information,
understanding and depth in your practice.
3. breath
In most activities that we do, our breath follows our movements. It
seems to be something that we have only little control over, if at all. I
recently watched a whole bunch of runners jogging by our house for a
marathon. Most of them were panting, huffing and puffing; their mouths
open in their red faces. They were focused on their pace and maybe their
steps, but their breath was trailing. It didn’t seem that they were
conscious of their breath. In yoga, ideally, it is the other way around.
Your movement follows your breath. That is why many teachers will
precede most instructions with a breathing cue: “Inhale, arms up, exhale
bend forward.”
In a fast paced class, when postures are held longer or when you
practice in a heated room, it will feel very daunting to focus on your
breath while you are also trying to stand on one leg or bend your spine
in different directions. This is why most classes will start with a
specific breathing exercise that not only will warm you up, but also
help you tune in to this essential force of life. Sometimes the teacher
will suggest a special way to breathe in a posture. When there are no
specific cues given, just be conscious of your breath and notice how you
are breathing. When, after just a few seconds in awkward pose your legs
start to shake and your arms begin to shiver, instead of panicking and
coming out, check what your breath is doing. Are you holding your breath
when things get tough? Never a good idea! Are you breathing through
your mouth? See if you can shift it to your nose, this will give you
more control. Is the pace fast and shallow, try to extend each inhale
and exhale. Notice how this will help to keep your heart rate slow and
steady. When this become your primary focus, the posture will be over
before you know it.
4. stillness
All asana practice includes savasana at some point. Most classes will
end with this posture where you do nothing, be completely still and let
the benefits of the practice sink in. The faster you can find that
place of stillness by letting go of your thoughts and tuning in with
your breath, the quicker you will feel refreshed and reenergized. Once
you get accustomed to this process you can apply it anywhere at any time
with whatever you do.
Once you advance in your practice, it is important to start finding
this place of stillness not just in your savasana, but with everything
you do. First find complete stillness in between the poses. If it seems
that you only have a few seconds in a fast paced class, you will find
more time and space if you are still in between. Really still. No
fidgeting with your hair. No water drinking. No adjusting of your
outfit. No anxious looks around the room.
Just. Be. Still.
And then, once this is no extra effort anymore and it starts to feel
like a normal thing to do, find the same stillness in each and every
pose. This might seem odd when you are stretching, kicking, and
contracting. The trick is to know where to be active and where not.
There is always something that you can let go of. You might often hear
teachers telling you to smile and that maybe seems unauthentic. What it
is, however, is an encouragement to let go of some tension. Maybe its in
your neck and shoulders, maybe in your face.
I recently saw an old picture of me in awkward pose, and oh, did my
face look awkward! When you are able to let go of tension somewhere
while at the same time you consciously contract and stretch specific
body parts, you will feel everything open up! This way you create space
and stillness within the pose, within yourself. Now you are truly
practicing yoga!
Well there you have it, my four secrets for surviving awkward pose
and an entire challenging yoga class. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not easy.
After practicing hot yoga for about 10 years I’m still working on all
of this in every single class. But take my word, focusing on these four
aspects will bring your practice and your life to a whole new level. Of
course there is much more to work on, like having compassion for
yourself and acceptance.
