Laura Erdman-Luntz, MA, E-RYT(500) | Yoga | Yoga Teacher Training | Minnesota | Costa Rica | Life Coaching

An Underappreciated Yoga Pose: Sphinx

This pose is fabulous!  Be sure to include it in your yoga practice.

 

Deepening Your Pose: Supta Padangusthasana (Reclining Big Toe Pose)

Here is a video I did for my sister blog, Musasana.  On Musasana, I study and blog about one pose every month. 

Idea for Class for Yoga Teachers

Feeling a bit burned out on teaching?  Or, at least, coming up with new twists for your classes?  Here is a super simple way to bring new creativity to your life:  start class with a pose you have never started class with.  If you always start standing, start sitting. If you have always started sitting, start lying down.  Have you ever begun with Savasana?  (I start all my classes in Savasana...)  What about making a very gentle Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose) your first pose?  You can do almost any pose as your first pose, you just need to make it smaller, and the mere act of starting somewhere you normally do not will make everything else feel different and fresh.

Related Poses:

• Yoga Teacher Burnout
• Yoga Burnout

Yoga Pose of the Momth: Parivrtta Parsva Konasana

Check out Musasana and the pose of the month:  Parivrtta Parsva Konasana (Revolved Side-Angle Pose).  Here are some Study Points for you.  Here are a bevy of posts on last month's pose: Dandasana (Staff Pose).

Finding a Neutral Pelvis and Spine in Yoga Poses

Did you know there are only two positions for the human body in which the pelvis is completely free and not being tugged on by a muscle? The two positions are vajrasana/virasana (sitting on your heals) and table position (being on all fours.) In any other position, sitting, standing, or laying down (whether on your back or front), the pelvis is being pulled by muscles off its neutral position thereby making it nearly impossible for a yoga practitioner, especially a beginner, to find what a neutral position is for him/her.  Yet, finding a neutral pelvis is integral to finding your neutral spine.  If the pelvis tips too far forward, the lower back gets too much of a curve.  If it tips too far back, the lower back is flattened.

So, how do you teach students how to feel a neutral pelvis? Put them in virasana on a block. In Virasana, we sit between our feet. Put the block lengthwise underneath your sit bones. The block will make Virasana comfortable for most students. If a student still feels discomfort in the knee, add a block or place a blanket under the block. The benefit of using a block is the hardness of the block helps the student really feel her sit bones. If the blanket is over the block, that feeling will be lost.

Feel your sit bones on the block. Take a deep breath and close your eyes to bring more awareness inside. Slowly tip the pelvis forward, stop when you begin to feel the lower back harden. Bring the pelvis back to neutral and slowly tip the pelvis back until you feel the abdominals harden. You will not have to go far either way. Your neutral position is somewhere between these two points where both the abdominals and the back are soft and relaxed.

Then have your students lengthen from the sit bones through the top of their head. Have them do it slowly, bringing it up their body from their sit bones. Have them pay attention to maintaining the pelvis in its neutral position, without creating hardness in the abdominals or the back. (We have a tendency to create hardness as we lengthen by lengthening the front or back body faster than the other thereby tipping the pelvis.)

Now your students can experience the neutral pelvis, and its effect on the posture of the torso, and can bring that experience into other poses.

Related Posts:

• Yielding: Part I
• Yielding: Part II

Inner Smile

This idea originally comes from Lilias Folan when I studied with her 22 years ago!  (In fact, she was the first "famous" yoga teacher I studied with.)  Anyway, I was reminded of this lovely meditation last week in class.  I have been working hard getting grounded and strong in my standing poses and now it is time to soften that "work" to bring in the heart. 

You can do this meditation anytime anywhere.  It makes a lovely Savasana (Corpse Pose), as well. 

To do it, simply bring in the feeling you have in your body just before you smile.  Feel your energy brighten!  Your vibration literally goes up!  I liken it to adding fresh lemon juice to a dish just before you serve it.  It lightens and brightens the food.  

So, next time you build a strong Tadasana (Mountain Pose), or are standing in line at the grocery store, or settling in for a Savasana (Corpose Pose), feel your smile!

Related Posts:

• Sensing Your Energy on the Yoga Mat
• Find Breath in Your Pose
• A Thought: Yoga Poses with Ease

Smile
Originally uploaded by OMAR EL ZoMoR

Opening up the Upper Back with Yoga: Part III

Continuing my series on the upper back, the next variations will help you get movement directly into those stuck spots:

• Of course, backbends over various objects such as blanket roll, chair, or ball are helpful. My favorite variation of this one is backbend over roll a block. I can slowly move the block bit by bit up my back to use the edge to bend at my “stuck” spots. (It feels MUCH better than it looks!) You can do it at any of the heights of the block. If you are at the two lower heights, you can sit on your buttocks and keep your knees bent with feet on the floor. If you are at the highest height, sit in Vajrasana. You can see me in the photo. I lifted up off the floor to get into the pose and then allow both my hips and my upper body to move down into the pose.



• Sphinx: Another excellent variation for “awakening” the upper back. Placing your arms in a variety of positions helps you really get into the upper back.

• Maricyasana III – In this variation, you place your hand on the wall. Use the wall to help you really get the shoulder blade in and to get the twist higher into your back.

Related Posts:

• Opening the Upper Back with Yoga: Part I
• Opening the Upper Back with Yoga: Part II
• Deeper Backbends
• Purvottanasana:  How to

Reversing the Cycle of the Breath

Here is a wonderful exercise for letting go. I often use it as a visualization for Savasana in my classes. I find it especially helpful in a restorative class.

In our culture, we view the cycle of the breath as beginning with an inhalation and ending with an exhalation. There are cultures in which they view it going the other way, beginning with an exhalation and ending with an inhalation. For your Savasana, encourage your students to use this image of the breath. Have them first exhale, releasing whatever they are holding on to, creating space in their body, mind, and heart for something new. And then have them inhale and bring in wonderful new energy to fill those spaces.

Baby's breath 2007_03
Originally uploaded by dolphin_dolphin

Kindness Campaign

 

GLOBAL KINDNESS INITIATIVE

 Let’s spread kindness in December! (And win prizes!)

“Once you begin to acknowledge random acts of kindness - both the ones you have received and the ones you have given - you can no longer believe that what you do does not matter.”
~ Dawn Markova

I am initiating a Kindness Campaign for the month of December for my students and me and I encourage you to join!  (If you are a yoga teacher, please encourage your students to join as well!)

This idea came from the inspirational power of Lisa Cotter Metwaly.  I recently had the honor of meeting her (at her restaurant, the "Q Kindness Cafe" in downtown St. Paul.  Really!  She has a restaurant with a kindness theme!) She has recently expanded her vision to spread kindness globally, an initiative she calls Global Kindness Initiative. 

To participate, simply post your act of kindness on her blog here.  I just posted my first one!  Post as often as you want.  Prizes are in the works and you are entered into the drawing each time you leave a comment!  (Including something from Delta Airlines!) 

I made it easy for you!  I have also created a handout you can feel free to copy and distribute to make it even easier for you.  Just download it here.

Let's make December a month to spread kindness!

feel good moment

Kindness...it is all good. Enjoy!

Related Posts:

• Random Acts of Kindness
• Kindness
• Expressing Kindness

Quick Twist Tip

Want a fun exercise for helping your students go more deeply into twists? Have a partner run her finger up the student’s spine. We have a tendency to twist in the same part of our spine every time we twist. (It is usually around your lower ribs at T11 and T12 and L1.) We can twist in other parts of the spine, though, it just takes finding them. When someone takes her finger up your spine, you are able to “feel” more spots where you can turn more deeply. If you have chairs, do the twist in the chair. If you don’t, I find Maricyasana I to be the easiest pose to do this exercise in.

Have the student come into whatever twist she is doing. (Since you are already using partners, have the partner put her hand on the student’s head so she thinks about lengthening as she moves into the pose.) Once she is in her deepest twist, have the partner take a finger to her lower back, just above the sacrum, and slowly slide the finger up her spine, vertebra by vertebra. Have the partner go slowly enough that the student can integrate the touch and see if she has access to any twist there. Be sure to do both sides. Your students will be absolutely amazed at how much more deeply they are able to go.