Petra Yoga

Today was the first day of the training and we learnt about the connective tissue in the body, fascia, which enwraps all the interior structures such as bones, muscles and organs. This tissue forms membranes, which are interconnected via a great network and provide a connection between all the parts of the body. In other words, an injury in the feet may directly affect your neck. Therefore, we must address the body as a whole to deal with a particular problem. A healthy fascia should be highly adaptable and constantly in the state of flux as it alternatively stiffens and hinders the connection and communication through the body. Tias calls fascia ‘The internet of the body’ because it ‘comprises a web that connects various parts of the body’.

In the second part of the day, our focus was on feet and how we can improve the asana practice by working with more focus on the feet. In standing postures, feet are the foundation; therefore, the most important part of the pose. If the feet are not working properly in a standing posture, that misalignment will propagate thorough the knees, hips and beyond.

Can you spot the difference in these two photos:

In the top picture, the student is rolling the shoulders downwards, thus creating a big strain on the muscles of the rotator cuff.  By doing the pose in such a way over a period of time, one puts these muscles at risk of a permanent injury.

The bottom picture shows a corrected press-up where the shoulder does not go below the elbow in respect to the floor, which is a correct and much safer way of doing this pose.

Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga is a style of yoga with a precisely defined sequence of postures.  Not only the postures have a certain order in which they are practiced but each posture also has its own way of going into and coming out of it.  That routine is called a vinyasa of that particular posture.  One can think of it as a ‘choreography’ where the breath is the music to which we do the pose.  It is very useful for a practitioner to learn the proper vinyasa of each posture and when practising to silently keep count of the vinyasas along with the appropriate inhale or exhale and drishti (visual focus).  The best way to start learning the count is by trying to count sun salutations A & B and then to learn for subsequent postures as you practice.

The main benefit for counting while practising is that it helps keeping the mind focused on the practice instead of drifting away with the thoughts.

An excellent book with the proper vinyasa count for the primary and second series is Asthanga Yoga by Lino Miele

So, next time when you are on the mat, remember: “One, inhale, look at the thumbs; two, exhale, look at the nose; three, inhale, look at the third eye,…”

Supported shoulderstand is an excellent alternative to the traditional posture for people with stiff shoulders and/or bad necks. The contraindications are the same as for the regular shoulderstand (i.e. high blood pressure, period, glaucoma)

All the props needed can be bought from yogamatters.com .