Challenging Teaching

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bikram teaching

Everyone is full of shit. Yes, I am talking about fecal matter. Even Bryan Kest, Iyengar, Pathhabi Jois, and Patanjali. Hell, even Jesus Christ took shits. Every human that has walked this Earth has been and is, full of it. This doesn’t make what they achieved less significant, but it does set things into perspective. … Read more

Anatomy of the Abdomen (part 1/4: External Oblique)

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external oblique

The abdominal wall consists of four distinct muscles, the transverse abdominus, the internal obliques, the rectus abdominus, and the external obliques. These muscles form three distinct layers, with the rectus abdominus and external obliques on top. The transverse adbominus forms a kind of belt around the lower spine and the internal obliques stitch together up … Read more

Jainism | जैन धर्म

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Jainism

Jainism is an Indian religion devoted to the practice of Ahimsa, self-control, and self-discipline and teaches that these are the pathways to liberation. Jainism is non-theistic, and modern Jainism is divided into two sects, Digambara and Svetambara. Jainists are renowned for their literacy and education and have the highest degree if literacy of any religious … Read more

Sutra | सूत्र

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sutra

A sutra is an aphorism, or collection of aphorisms in a manual or script from Buddhism, Hinduism, or Jainism. Siv means thread or line holding things together, which likely literally referred to the palm leaves used to write the manuscripts. This separates them from the Vedas which were passed down orally until recently. This form of … Read more

Buddhism

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buddha_sky

Buddhism is named after the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, who lived in about 500 CE. He was recognized as the enlightened one, or more literally, “awakened one”. He taught those who followed him how to avoid ignorance and suffering by the paths of knowledge and understanding. By obtaining truth and awareness, they would be granted nirvana, bliss … Read more

A Morning Yoga Practice

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http://youtu.be/ZUcLbl1K7vg

I put together a video two days ago that I thought was pretty cool. I just wanted to record about 20 minutes of video, and honestly kind of forgot about the camera. But apparently, 18 minutes of video is a lot of data so I had to compress the video down to 15. I wish I had video editing software…so I am working on a couple things to improve the quality of my videos: 1 get a GoPRO and 2 get video-editing software to speed up the videos. Hope to have both done within the month.

I am also working on some instructional videos. If you have any requests for poses, post a comment and I’ll do a video on it. Let me know what you think of my post-yoga practice and stay tuned for more…

Vrschikasana

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This is one of my favorite poses, also known as the Scorpion pose. In Sanskrit, this pose is Vrschikasana, literally meaning scorpion posture.

This pose begins in Pincha Mayurasana, or peacock posture, then the legs extend over the head until eventually, they connect with the top of the head. I have only been doing this posture for about 6 months, so I have a lot of progress yet to make before my feet touch my head.

This pose vigorously tones the muscles surrounding the spine, including the abdominals, serratus muscles, and latimus dorsi. The spinal erectors, internal/external obliques, the muscles of the psoas, and the quadriceps are all at work here. Not to mention the lift of the pelvic floor and inversion of the breathing system. The benefits are enormous.

The psychological benefits of the pose are also mentioned by Iyengar in his book, Light on Yoga. He talks about the feet reaching towards the head as development of humility, which is something that I resonate with. There is a long path for the yogi to reach such a destination and it is not something to brag about, but simply to enjoy for yourself. I am looking forward to a long journey with Scorpion pose because honestly, it feels amazing on the lower back and frees my hips and spine. Control of the breath is key in the posture, leading to a pure and enjoyable relaxation as one rejoins the normal flow of gravity in the body.

The things I remind myself while in the posture are to create length in the front of the body and to reach up and over my head with my feet. It’s a pretty awesome experience, but took about 4 years of practice to get to that point. Its requires a tremendous amount of breath control to breath normally while inverted and hold the posture, so activate a strong Ujjayi before going into peacock. I use the hands to press into the floor and activate my shoulders and triceps which cascades up into my back and hips. Everything lifts in unison as you kick up and then internal muscles stabilize to keep the entire body lifted. The majority of my focus is on my hands, and when I feel completely stable, I begin to move my legs and attend to the tightening of my abdominals around my spine so that they can lift my legs up and over.