In my last post, I mentioned gaining strength practicing Boat Pose (Navasana). Sometimes we associate being strong with external strength. For example, having big muscles or having a nice physique may be an outward sign of strength. But what about inner strength? Being able to endure tough emotional and mental challenges. This type of strength comes from within.
A pose that can remind us of that inner strength is Boat Pose. It's a yoga posture that strengthens your core. This is the trunk of your body that supports the rest of the body. When one has a strong core - strength that is developed from within - all other types of strength are exuded: inner and outer.
Boat Pose
Start by sitting on your yoga mat with your knees bent and heels on the ground. Begin to lean back so that you're able to lift your feet off the mat. Keep your knees bent and hold on to your legs.
Flex your feet to keep them engaged. This will keep your legs engaged as well. While holding onto your legs, use that as leverage to lift and extend your spine. Imagine you're sitting in a high-back chair and you want to sit up straight against the back of the chair. In Boat Pose, the body is shaped like the letter "V" except that your knees are bent.
The key to this pose is your breath. As you inhale, continue to extend your spine. As you exhale (and feel free to breathe out through your mouth to release all of your breath), draw your navel toward your spine. Focus on the lowest part of your belly as you exhale. Here, you are engaging and contracting your transverse abdominas muscles. These muscles are part of your abdominal system and are low and deep in your pelvic area. These muscles are rarely engaged, so this pose and way of breathing will help to engage them.
Hold the pose for about 5 breaths, take a break, then do it again. Repeat the pose 4 additional times. Over time, you will gain more strength. Soon, you'll be able to do the pose without holding onto your legs and you may even be able to extend your legs.
When you build strength from the inside out, you begin to feel more confident and able to face challenges of everyday life. And not only will you build inner strength, but having a strong core contributes to building outer strength, as well.
Namaste
Showing posts with label abdominals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label abdominals. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Friday, February 3, 2012
Celebrate Your Victories
In my yoga classes this week, I have been teaching a pose that I've been calling "Victorious Warrior." It's not a real yoga pose, but it's a posture that helps generate strength and stability in your core. I combined the posture with the concept of Ujjayi Breathing. Ujjayi means "victorious" in Sanskrit. The idea of the yoga sessions was to find and experience the victories in your life.
That can be the intention for your home yoga practice this week: to take a moment and call to mind your personal successes and victories that you've experienced this week. Be proud of the moments when you made great achievements. Give yourself a pat on the back for accomplishing something you've been working on. Celebrate!
Ujjayi Breathing
Start in Mountain Pose. Be sure your feet are firmly planted on the floor with your toes pointing directly forward with your feet about hip-distant apart. This will establish a strong foundation. Stand tall with strong legs and extended spine. Feel the energy rising up through your body through the crown of your head. Just standing here can give you a sense of feeling victorious. Mountain Pose can help you feel majestic, proud, and confident.
Close your eyes and focus on your breath. Breathe slowly and deeply. Use the muscles of the throat to engage the Ujjayi Breath. With each inhale, experience how the breath rises high into the chest, expanding the lungs, chest, and opening the heart. Maintain this vibrant, intentional breath by engaging the abdominal lock (i.e. draw the belly button in toward your spine.) This will allow the breath to remain high in the chest space rather than "falling down" into the belly. This way of breathing creates that uplifting, victorious sensation in your body. Take 10-15 breaths here. Celebrate the stillness, celebrate your victories, celebrate the moment.
Victorious Warrior
As mentioned, their really is no such thing as Victorious Warrior, but a variation of Warrior II and Side Angle Pose combined that generates strength and stability in the core body.
Come to Warrior II. Start with you right foot forward. Bend that leg so it is just about 90 degrees. The back leg is straight with the foot firmly connected to the mat. Be sure your right knee is stacked directly over (or slightly behind) the right ankle. The arms are extended out to the side (with hands reaching toward the front and back of the room.) Engage your core by scooping the pelvis under so that your tailbone is pointing toward the floor. By tilting the pelvis in this manner, you create more opening and alignment in the hips, a release in the low back, and an engaged low abdominal region. Hold this posture for a few breaths with some emphasis on the exhale so you are able to hold the posture. Experience the energy and strength generated in this pose so far.
Now, keep your right hand right where it is while reaching the left hand up over your head. The upper body will shift a bit toward the front knee creating a 45 degree angle with the floor. Be careful NOT to shift the lower body too much. It's just an upper body movement. If you shift too much energy into the front knee, you might experience a release of the core engagement. For this particular pose, you want to remain strong and connected to the core system. Keep the arms extended and even form a "V-shape" with the arms (turn your hands so your palms are facing each other.) This is what I call Victorious Warrior. The longer you hold this position, the more intense it may feel. Here, be reminded of your inner strength that it took to meet your goals, to be successful, to be victorious. If you can, hold for 5-10 breaths. Return to Warrior II, then do the other side.
By practicing these two yoga poses, we can be reminded that it can take great effort to achieve our goals. And once the goals have been met, you have every reason to celebrate.
Namaste
That can be the intention for your home yoga practice this week: to take a moment and call to mind your personal successes and victories that you've experienced this week. Be proud of the moments when you made great achievements. Give yourself a pat on the back for accomplishing something you've been working on. Celebrate!
Ujjayi Breathing
Start in Mountain Pose. Be sure your feet are firmly planted on the floor with your toes pointing directly forward with your feet about hip-distant apart. This will establish a strong foundation. Stand tall with strong legs and extended spine. Feel the energy rising up through your body through the crown of your head. Just standing here can give you a sense of feeling victorious. Mountain Pose can help you feel majestic, proud, and confident.
Close your eyes and focus on your breath. Breathe slowly and deeply. Use the muscles of the throat to engage the Ujjayi Breath. With each inhale, experience how the breath rises high into the chest, expanding the lungs, chest, and opening the heart. Maintain this vibrant, intentional breath by engaging the abdominal lock (i.e. draw the belly button in toward your spine.) This will allow the breath to remain high in the chest space rather than "falling down" into the belly. This way of breathing creates that uplifting, victorious sensation in your body. Take 10-15 breaths here. Celebrate the stillness, celebrate your victories, celebrate the moment.
Victorious Warrior
As mentioned, their really is no such thing as Victorious Warrior, but a variation of Warrior II and Side Angle Pose combined that generates strength and stability in the core body.
Come to Warrior II. Start with you right foot forward. Bend that leg so it is just about 90 degrees. The back leg is straight with the foot firmly connected to the mat. Be sure your right knee is stacked directly over (or slightly behind) the right ankle. The arms are extended out to the side (with hands reaching toward the front and back of the room.) Engage your core by scooping the pelvis under so that your tailbone is pointing toward the floor. By tilting the pelvis in this manner, you create more opening and alignment in the hips, a release in the low back, and an engaged low abdominal region. Hold this posture for a few breaths with some emphasis on the exhale so you are able to hold the posture. Experience the energy and strength generated in this pose so far.
Now, keep your right hand right where it is while reaching the left hand up over your head. The upper body will shift a bit toward the front knee creating a 45 degree angle with the floor. Be careful NOT to shift the lower body too much. It's just an upper body movement. If you shift too much energy into the front knee, you might experience a release of the core engagement. For this particular pose, you want to remain strong and connected to the core system. Keep the arms extended and even form a "V-shape" with the arms (turn your hands so your palms are facing each other.) This is what I call Victorious Warrior. The longer you hold this position, the more intense it may feel. Here, be reminded of your inner strength that it took to meet your goals, to be successful, to be victorious. If you can, hold for 5-10 breaths. Return to Warrior II, then do the other side.
By practicing these two yoga poses, we can be reminded that it can take great effort to achieve our goals. And once the goals have been met, you have every reason to celebrate.
Namaste
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