Body and Breath

Each month a new series of 10 questions will be posted on the Test Yourself page. The following month the questions will then be posted here along with the answers and explanations.

Answers to the May 2002 questions are posted below. ( View Archive )

You are introducing a mixed group of healthy beginners (first-timers, college age) to a sampling of classic yoga postures (one pose for each chapter in Anatomy of Hatha Yoga). Use words that would suffice for actually leading the class.

111. Lead the group into the prone boat posture.

Lie down prone and place your hands on the floor near your thighs with the palms up (forearms pronated). Tighten the muscles of the hips and thighs, and then in one movement raise your head, chest, feet, legs, and thighs as much as possible, keeping the knees fully extended, leaving your hands resting on the floor, and taking deep inhalations and controlled exhalations. Then depending on your capacity try three progressively more difficult variations. Do the same exercise while also lifting the hands and extending the arms as much as possible to the rear; then lift the hands and forearms with the arms abducted 90 degrees (straight out to the side); and last, lift the hands and forearms with the arms flexed 180 degrees (fully overhead).

112. Lead the group in a short relaxation, highlighting abdominal breathing in the corpse posture.

Lie down supine on a padded surface (pillow optional) with the forearms supinated, hands a few inches away from the thighs (arms slightly abducted), and feet 12-18 inches apart (thighs slightly abducted). Breathe evenly, maintaining awareness of abdominal breathing, noticing that the abdomen moves anteriorly during inhalation and moves posteriorly during exhalation. Tuning your awareness further, notice also that you can feel the dome of the diaphragm descend during inhalation, and you can feel how it resists rising during exhalation. After following your breathing for 2-3 minutes relax from head to toe, either sweeping your attention up and down the body during (respectively) inhalation and exhalation, or holding your attention in the region of the heart.

113. Introduce the group to a suitable double leglift.

For the simplest and safest double leglift, sit on the floor with your feet outstretched in front of you. Then roll to the rear supporting your weight on your forearms with the heels of the hands at the waistline and the fingers partially under the hips. Then pull the head forward and strongly tighten the abdominal muscles in order to keep the spine curved to the rear as much as possible. Focusing on exhalation and holding the spine curved well to the rear (which protects the lower back), slowly lift the feet while at the same time keeping the knees fully extended. Lift the feet during exhalations and lower them during inhalations. Don't lower your feet all the way to the floor until you are finished. Rest and breathe, instead, with the feet in the fully lifted position. As soon as you no longer have enough abdominal strength to keep the spine curved strongly to the rear, come down.

114. Introduce the group to a suitable standing forward bend.

Stand straight with your feet together, and notice you can maintain an upright posture without much muscular activity in the lower extremities. Bend forward slowly from the hips and notice that the back muscles, abdominal muscles, and respiratory diaphragm control your descent as you bend forward. As soon as you reach your limit of bending from the hips, bend at the waist to come further into the posture, and notice that the muscles of the torso relax provided you are in discomfort. If you are quite flexible pull your chest down against the thighs to get a sense of inversion. Most people do not have enough flexibility to come this far into the pose and will find it desirable to grasp their legs or ankles firmly with their hands and bend their knees slightly to get a sense of the posture. In any case stretch far enough forward to feel the posture and yet not be in discomfort. The safest way to come out of the posture is to slowly roll up.

115. Outline how you would lead them safely into a generalized cobra posture.

Lie down on the floor prone with your hands alongside the chest (tips of the fingers in line with the nipples), chin touching the floor, and feet and toes extended (pointing away from the body). Slowly lift the back of the neck enough to place the forehead against the floor. After acclimating to that position for a few seconds, slowly lift the head (brushing the nose and chin against the floor) and activate the back muscles to extend the spine while keeping moderate tension in the hips and thighs. Don't push into the pose using the upper extremities. The hands are guides rather than supports. As soon as you have lifted up as far as possible using the muscles on the back side of the body, be attentive to the effects of breathing on the posture. Inhalation lifts you higher and exhalation drops you down. To feel how the diaphragm supports the posture in its highest position, inhale as much as possible. Slowly come down, place the hands in any comfortable position, and relax with the head turned first to one side, then the other.

116. Lead this same group into a generalized (symmetrical) sitting forward bend.

Sit on the floor with your feet outstretched in front of you. Then lift your hands overhead, and stretching up as much as possible, bend forward first at the hips and then at the waist. Drop your hands wherever they fall naturally to the feet, ankles, legs, or thighs, and then relax and appraise the posture. (Note: If there is any pain or marked tension, slowly roll up, bend the knees, and relax in any comfortable upright sitting position. The idea, if you are unable to remain in the posture, is to be comfortable and yet inconspicuous. Standing up or lying flat would be disruptive to majority of students who are still experiencing the pose.) If you are feeling fine, explore coming deeper into the posture by pulling forward, not with the hands, but internally, using the hip flexors deep in the pelvis, the rectus femoris muscles on the front of the thighs, and the abdominal muscles. Then relax and breathe for 2-3 minutes. If your breathing is relaxed and if you are acclimating to the pose without strain, pull yet deeper into the pose with these same muscles and again hold for another 2-3 minutes. Finally, if and only if you are in perfect comfort, and if and only if your chest is fairly close to the thighs, grasp the feet firmly and pull all the way down. After experiencing the pose within your limits, slowly roll up, allowing the hands to slide along the lower extremities.

117. Lead this same group into a generalized easy half spinal twist.

Sit on the floor cross-legged with the right foot drawn into position first (ending up with the left leg in front of the right), and raise the left knee, leaving the left foot flat on the floor in front of the right leg. Twist the body provisionally to the left, looking as far to the rear as you can while keeping the head and neck on axis with the thoracic spine. Place the left hand behind the hips and support the body with the left forearm extended. To complete the easy version of this posture, hook your right forearm around the left knee and pull it in against the chest and abdomen, push more insistently with the left hand, and sit up as straight as possible. Both ischial tuberosities should be on the floor. Repeat on the other side.

118. Lead this same group into a preparatory posture suitable for introducing them (at a later date) to the completed headstand.

Come into a kneeling position with the toes extended, clasp the hands, and place the forearms on the floor at an 80 degree angle from the clasped hands. You can approximate the correct angle by placing the elbows alongside the knees, planting your head directly on the crown, and bracing the interlocked fingers just underneath the back of the head to maintain the position. To come into stage one of the headstand, which is as far as we will go at the moment, curl the toes under, lift the buttocks and start walking the feet forward. Advanced students who are able to fold their chests down against their thighs with their knees straight in the posterior stretch may want to keep their knees extended for approaching this stage of the headstand, but most people will not have long enough hamstrings to allow this. So flexing the knees as necessary, walk your feet toward your head. Keep coming until less than 5% of your weight is still supported by the feet. Your back is probably rounded, you are close to the point of tipping over, almost no weight is on the elbows, and the tiniest nudge from the toes could lift you off. This is stage one, an inverted posture that is worth practicing in its own right-a forward bend with an inverted torso.

119. Lead this same group into a preparatory posture that introduces them to the shoulderstand.

Lie supine on a padded surface with the top of the head about two feet from a wall, or a little less depending on your stature. Pull the knees toward the chest, place the hands against the floor below the hips, palms down, and in a single movement tighten the abdomen, push strongly against the floor with the hands and elbows, and lift the hips up and the feet overhead, straightening the knees slightly at the same time. The feet should touch the wall lightly in the final position, and you may now have to adjust your distance from the wall to make that comfortable. The knees, hips, and back are all comfortably flexed. Interlock the fingers lightly at the top of the head, and brace the thighs with the elbows just above the knees, or place your hands against the lower back and pelvis. Adjust the posture for maximum comfort and relaxation. If you come into the pose but are not confident that you can balance gracefully, just roll down keeping the knees as close to the chest as possible.

120. Having noticed that nearly everyone in the class has problems with hip flexibility, introduce them to a sitting posture that will permit them to sit in relative comfort for 5 minutes of closing meditation.

To sit for only a few minutes, we'll try the easy posture (sukasana). Sitting flat on the floor, fold the lower extremities so that the lateral edge of each leg rests on the medial edge of the opposite foot. Sit up as straight as possible. The lateral sides of the feet are against the floor and the legs and thighs may point up at an angle of twenty to thirty degrees from horizontal. If the thighs are destabilized by trying to sit up straighter, which commonly happens in this pose as a result of trying to straighten the posture by using the psoas and iliacus muscles (the hip flexors acting on the spine and pelvis), try sitting on a thick, firm cushion, which will enable you to keep the thighs and knees closer to the floor, or possibly even against it. Close your eyes and breathe evenly for five minutes.