Restore: Legs-up-the-wall pose

I am not sure of it’s Sanskrit name, but I am pretty sure it’s not Viparita Karani as it’s called sometimes. Viparita Karani is rather a blanket term for all of the inverted postures. And that’s what it means, to invert the body upside-down. The English, Legs-up-the-wall is very descriptive name for a pose and so are most of the Sanskrit names, so why not accept it?

It has been my favorite pose for quite a while. This photo was taken while I was compiling yin yoga travel booklet for a client so she could continue with her daily routine on a trip across the globe. It turned out to be her favorite pose too. Photo was taken this winter when I was still working on my air pollution forecasting thesis and running the shala at the same time. So I’ll forecast you this, the benefits of legs-up-the-wall pose.

Benefits of legs-up-the-wall pose:

  1. Calms the mind
  2. Refreshes the nervous system
  3. Reduces anxiety
  4. Regulates low blood pressure
  5. Relieves the leg muscle tension
  6. Helps with edematous swelling of the feet and legs
  7. Soothes varicose veins
  8. Improves digestion
  9. Alleviates headaches and migraines
  10. Reduces premenstrual bloating
  11. Relieves menstrual cramps
  12. Relieves symptoms of menopause
  13. Regulates urinary problems
  14. Relieves sciatic and back pain

How to do it?

When you find a wall, sit right next to it with both legs parallel to it. Turn over lifting the legs up the wall, lying down on the ground. If you feel something’s not right:

  • Scale check the intensity of the stretch in the back of the legs. On a scale from 1 to 10, my advice would be not to go above 7 as this would not help relieve anything but it would only add up to already existing tension and bring to a counter effect. In that case slide the pelvis away from the wall to angle the legs accordingly so you can feel a pleasant and relieving stretch at the back of the legs.
  • If you locate the tension at the back of the neck and you feel it flat against the ground with the chin too close to chest, roll a small towel and place it under the cervical spine.
  • If the neck tension is coming from the head dropping back with the shoulders lifted off the ground, place a support under the back of the head. The head can be supported with a towel, blanket, sand bag, pillow, block, book…
  • If the legs won’t stay together and they’re sliding to the sides or down the wall, use a strap or a belt looped just above the knees for support.

If everything seems and feels to be right, you may start to give in to the pose. Disengage the feet, calves, thighs, muscles of the pelvic floor, abdominals, shoulders and arms, hands and fingers turning the palms up, relax the throat, lower jaw, muscles of the face, forehead and temples, try closing the eyes or just not gazing upward. Total release. Make it a passive pose. Avoid the sense of doing in the pose.

To make this pose a bit more therapeutic, elevate the pelvis by placing a folded blanket, bolster or a block under the hips and sacrum. This will create a slight inversion for the lower belly organs which get pressed down by the intestines during daily activities. It will improve blood circulation in the abdominal area, as well as digestion. Experiment with height of support under the hips and sacrum, but also with the distance from the wall. To avoid tucking the tailbone, you might need to walk the hips away from the wall.

Stay with the legs up the wall as long as you like. The longer, the better. If you have time, up to 20 minutes should provide a great spectrum of it’s benefits. If you spend a lot of time sitting, standing or walking, if your field work requires challenging body positions, if you’re engaged in hard physical labor of any kind, please find break time for legs up the wall. No task, especially if it’s a job, is worth depriving our bodies of therapeutic nourishments that it deserves. Try not to succumb under the heavy load of long working hours. Do not let the body pay the price. I had a privilege to do yoga with elderly people, including my mother, who spend their lifetimes working hard and the marks on their bodies are clearly visible. But as soon as they engaged in simple yoga routines, their bodies instantly returned the favor.

If there’s no wall near, which is less than likely, since there are lots of misplaced walls all around this world…  find a tree, a pillar of some kind, a partner with whom you can do legs up the legs pose, anything that works.

Stay well.

 

Mirela,

No gods, no gurus

Janu Shirshasana C

_64a3498-2

Janu – knee; Shirsha – head

Head-to-knee posture

Janu C looks like a tricky one. One leg is straight, the other one is bent at the knee, externally rotated from the hip, the foot is flexed and rotated so the heel is pointed upward and the toes flexed and spread over the mat. Torso folds forward and the arms reach over for the other foot, the face meets the knee. Or not.

To phase it in, let’s start from dandasana. In dandasana the hips are squared, equally directed forward. The back is straight, or not. If the pelvis is tilted backward the lower back will be rounded. To unround it, bend the knees or sit on a block. Bring the sternum up and roll the shoulders back and down to straighten the upper back. Bend one leg, bringing the knee to chest and then externally rotate from the hip. Take hold of the foot with both hands, flex it and without applying force try to turn it so the heel is pointing towards the navel and the toes are being brought in contact with the mat. Release. Now look at the foot. If the foot is not vertical to the ground, press the hands against the ground, lift the sit bones and bring them a little bit forward maintaining the squareness of the hips. This should bring the foot more upright. Or it might not. Either way, do not obsess. It’s not a big deal if the foot is not vertical to the ground and it’s equally not a big deal if it is. But it could be a big deal if we cause an injury to the knee. So far this is not a spiritual practice. It is a physical practice meant to be therapeutic for the body. From here, do not manipulate the position of the knee, let it settle by itself. In time it will settle down into the ground. If it doesn’t meet the ground, for safety reasons a simple way of supporting it is by placing a block or a book under it, rather than just leave it floating above the ground. Go for the block/book if there is a discomfort inside the structure of the knee or the history of trauma. To avoid more trauma, never press the knee down. Never ever. Not in a mood for caps, but I can not stress this enough.

Fold forward from the hips, but not fast forward. Back straight and try not to make sudden, unpredicted movements. If not floating through vinyasa, I wouldn’t recommend jumping into it, unless the idea is to self-destruct. Slowly explore comfortable range of motion. If possible, reach the arms forward and bind the hands around the other foot. Elongate through the spine. Stay centered to the midline of the body and try not to lean to one side. Muscles along the spine should be elongated equally. Right and left side of the waist should be of equal length.

Some extra caution is required until we’ve become proficient in performing the posture so we can enjoy it’s benefits. One of the benefits, when performed correctly, is improved circulation and influx of nutritional supplies through the blood to some of the restricted areas of the knee structure. Still, not all of them will get the supplies easily. Such is the inner cartilage of the meniscus. But the surrounding connective tissue can be nurtured well.

Although this posture might bring some discomfort to the ankle and the foot, which also belong to the group of the body parts with limited circulation and blood supply, it is highly therapeutic and nourishing. It can help heal chronic problems bringing the nutritional elements to these poorly supplied parts of the leg. After performing the posture we might feel as if someone gave us a nice foot massage. Mmmm. Or not. Beware, it can be contraindicated if there is a feet injury such as plantar fasciitis, metatarsalgia or some ongoing inflammatory process which we might not feel and perceive as uncomfortable if the body is properly warmed up.

Forward fold stimulates the pancreas, liver, kidneys, urinary bladder, uterus and ovaries (especially if the heel comes in contact with the lower belly) and is very beneficial for digestive, urinary and genital system.

It might take some time to get to it. Gradually go through all of the phases. It’s important not to push and force. Align the idea of a visual appearance of the posture with the idea of it being therapeutic, beneficial and nurturing.

Mirela Đurić

Mesečeva sekvenca – Chandra Krama

mesecevasekvenca

Dragi ljudi, ovog meseca smo pod naletom toplotnog talasa bili izloženi ekstremno visokim temperaturama vazduha vrlo opasnim po bezbednost flore, faune, visokog rizika po zdravlje ljudi i potencijalno velike materijalne štete. Proglašen je crveni meteo alarm, najviši stepen opasnosti od elementarnih nepogoda, te je Mesečeva sekvenca uoči noći punog Meseca bila otkazana.

Kako su mnogi od vas pisali raspitujući se o sledećem terminu za Mesečevu sekvencu, koju smo do sada radili uoči punog Meseca, da ne bismo čekali toliko dugo, ovoga puta ćemo je na opštu radost i veliko narodno veselje vežbati u noći bez Meseca. Dakle, termin je nedelja, 20. avgust u 19 časova. Ovoga puta noć mladog Meseca u Evropi je 21. avgust. kada će se kao tanki srp na načem delu neba pojaviti oko 20 časova i 30 minuta.

Aštanga joga je veoma dinamičan i fizički izazovan stil joge. Tradicionalno se vežba šest dana u nedelji, sedmi dan je dan za odmor. Takođe, dani za odmor su takozvani Mesečevi dani, uoči mladog i punog Meseca. Tih dana, kao i za vreme trajanja menstruacije, odmor možemo potražiti u Mesečevoj sekvenci čiji je autor Metju Svini (Matthew Sweeney), dugogodišnji praktičar aštanga vinjasa joge i učenik Šri K. Patabi Džojsa.

„Dani koji prethode punom Mesecu uslovljavaju suptilne promene telesnih tečnosti, unutrašnju plimu, i obično se povezuju sa energijom u usponu. Kako ovo može dovesti do prekomerne stimulacije, intenzivno vežbanje na pun Mesec se ne preporučuje. Dani koji prethode mladom Mesecu (ponekad nazivanim i mračnim Mesecom) uslovljavaju unutrašnju oseku telesnih tečnosti. Energija je smanjena, zglobovi su suvlji i ograničene pokretljivosti, ukoliko pokušamo sa intenzivnijim vežbanjem, šanse za povređivanje su veće. Od ova dva, vežbanje na mlad Mesec je problematičnije od vežbanja na pun Mesec.“ (Matthew Sweeney, Vinyasa Krama)

Iz tog razloga, Mesečeva sekvenca se izvodi lagano uz veoma tiho uđaji (ujjayi) disanje koje neće aktivirati simpatetički nervni sistem i nepotrebo povećati telesnu temperaturu. Bandhe su mekše, a za vreme menstruacije su isključene. Asane se izvode aktivno ali bez ulaganja napora. Kretanje kroz vinjasu je sporije i prati unutrašnju plimu i oseku.

Vreme: 20. avgust (19:00 – 20:30)

Mesto: Vedanta Yoga Centar, Sremska 9, II sprat (prilaz kod stepenica iz Prizrenske)

Cena: čas nema cenu, čas je na bazi donacija

Šta je potrebno za čas: udobna i rastegljiva odeća

Šta nije potrebno za čas: čarape, voda, joga prostirke su na raspolaganju u studiju, nije potrebno najavljivanje

Čas vodi: Mirela Đurić, praktičarka aštanga vinjasa joge i sertifikovana instruktorka joge

Letnji raspored časova :: Summer classes schedule

20883240_477307659310331_1333485315_o

Dragi vežbači, jogine i jogini, i na nakon selidbe časovi se odvijaju bez pauze. Letnji raspored časova je malo izmenjen, a časovi zbog vrućina skraćeni.

Časovi se odvijaju u Vedanta Yoga Centru na Zelenom Vencu. Adresa je Sremska 9 (prilaz je kod stepenica iz Prizrenske ulice).

Časove vodi Mirela Đurić, sertifikovana instruktorka joge.

 

ASHTANGA YOGA – MYSORE ČAS*

Ponedeljak, utorak, četvrtak, petak

17:30 – 19:30

*Mysore čas je otvoren za potpune početnike, a isto tako i za vežbače sa iskustvom. Radi se u malim grupama gde svaki pojedinac ima punu pažnju instruktorke. Čas se prilagođava pojedincu, a ne pojedinac času. Ashtanga yoga je veoma dinamičan i izazovan stil vežbanja. Međutim, na Mysore času svaki pojedinac vežba tempom koji odgovara njegovoj ili njenoj trenutnoj fizičkoj spremnosti.

 

YIN YOGA – VOĐENI ČAS**

Nedelja

19:00 – 20:30

**Yin čas je na bazi donacija i otvoren je za sve zainteresovane. Nije potrebno najavljivanje. REdovni vežbači mogu sa sobom povesti prijatelje. Čas je prilagođen početnicima, a uz modifikacije joga položaja i dalje izazovan i za redovne vežbače. Asane se izvode polako, polako se ulazi u položaje i polako se izlazi iz položaja. U položajima se ostaje duže, po par minuta. Yin čas je umirujući i rashlađujući. Odlična je priprema za meditaciju.

Pashasana

_64a3704-2

Name of the posture: Pashasana

Meaning: Noose posture

Noose refers to the position of the arms looped around the legs. But Pasha also refers to one of the many Shiva’s names. This is the first posture of the ashtanga yoga intermediate series. As many of the postures of the intermediate series, it is an upgraded version of the primary series posture. In that sense, some practitioners see it as more intense utkatasana. Some like to see it as double Marichy C, since we wrap the arms around both legs at same time. Some see it as a combination of those two postures.

The apanic effect of pashasana is the strongest one I have ever felt in any of the postures. To put the yogic terminology aside and to explain this more precisley, so someone like my mother who started practicing yoga with no previous experience at the age of 62 can also understand it – when I first started to practice pashasana, I remember it’s strong downward pull causing a really, really strong urge to run to the toilet for a big one! Full flexion of the hip joint, which brings ones knees to chest and thighs pressed against the abdomen, combined with a deep twist and binding of the hands, governs the feeling of being pulled into the ground. Almost like dug deep down, that’s how strong and grounding it feels. Once the balance is gained and maintained, the struggle seems to be over and upon the inhalation we are able to feel the elongation of the spine, the spreading of the ribcage and the collar bones and the opening of the chest across the sternum. There is a counter flow being restored. Holding pashasana gives one a strong sense of being firmly grounded and the opposite force arising should only be as strong as the grounding one. Those opposed forces of the equal intensity and the same absolute value, give a great energetic mish mash sensations.

Being the first posture of the intermediate series, pashasana’s task is to set the grounding for what’s to come. And what’s to come can tear us apart and pull our hearts out if we’re not well grounded. Shalabhasana, bhekasana, dhanurasanas, ushtrasana, laghu vajrasana, kapotasana and supta vajrasana. Performance of those postures can bring one to an emotional discharging by seemingly unexplainable and unstoppable crying. So, facing those moments of life’s hard times or just postural, asanic hard times, we should make sure to ground well and ground deep before we bring our feet back above the ground with vinyasa and the back bands of the intermediate series. Compared to pashasana, vinyasa and the back bands have a lifting quality. Have patience with pashasana, give it time, it’s a complex posture requiring a lot of flexibility and a lot of strength. Strength should come from the core, oblique and rectus abdominis muscles. Flexibility is needed in the Achilles tendons, calves, hips, shoulders, intercostals, thoracic spine… Will not go into technical details of performing this posture, but much of it depends on bodily proportions, length of the arms, legs, femur bone and the spine. A person with long legs and long arms might easily bind in pashasana, even if they’re not so flexible. And a person with shorter femur bone opposed to the length of the spine might have difficulties binding even if they’re more flexible than the long-legged one.

Patience with rooting down. As one friend nicely pointed, whatever’s been cut down by repression, down to it’s roots, easily grows back up again like mushrooms after rain. Of course my friend didn’t talk about pashasana, asanas nor mushrooms, but rather about certain ideas. Anyways, I made an excuse to use this metaphor just because I like metaphors and I like recalling that summer’s night with friends in the park for old times-good times sake.

Mirela Đurić