What animal do you most resemble?
What do we do when we are faced with a lot of waiting time on our hands and nothing to do? Without all the apps on my cell phone, I’d probably be rather impatient. Duolingo keeps me humming along when I have to wait for my allergy shot to “process” for 30 minutes. No problem. Now imagine growing up when the first yogis came into being. Five thousand years ago, the hunters and gatherers of India found they often had little to do in between their main duties. There were no cell phones or other gizmos to entertain them during the lull. Imagine living in a cave where the temperatures dropped down to 30 degrees in the evening. How would you warm up your body? What would you do to entertain yourself?
Oftentimes, sitting around the cave, the people would imitate nature by trying to move their body like an animal would move. Yoga at this time was just being created. Interestingly, it was mostly the males who attempted these animal poses. They were often very advanced and pretzel-like. They moved the joints through a much larger range of motion than most people ever use, creating a series of postures designed to systematically work every part of the body and create awareness where there was none. In order to retain the inspired shapes into memory, they would name their poses after animals or some other form of nature. Cactus pose anyone?
They moved the joints through a much larger range of motion than most people ever use, creating a series of postures designed to systematically work every part of the body and create awareness where there was none.
“The ancient yogis didn’t have fancy machines or advanced technology to study the body, much less the nervous system. Instead, they used observational powers of the body itself. They experimented with various techniques for channeling the breath. The more they learned about their bodies, the better they felt they could understand the world around them.” Timothy McCall, MD, Yoga as Medicine, 2007.
Today we will look at some of these animal and nature poses. How many are familiar to you?
The more they learned about their bodies, the better they felt they could understand the world around them.” Timothy McCall, MD, Yoga as Medicine, 2007.
I guess the pose above would resemble Happy baby or maybe just plain Happy. Thanks to Peaches, my grandpuppy.
What I really do love about yoga is the way we balance the body. Says A.J. Mohan of Yoga Therapy: Principles of Movement and Breathing,
“Even symmetrical exercises like jogging and swimming can aggravate latent structural imbalances in our body because we usually unconsciously emphasize one side more than the other.”
Well crap! Even when we try to do good, we often do more harm than good.
Unfortunately, as we age, our spine continues to increase in curvature. The shoulders become rounded and stooped. The head is lifted to look forward, and the abdomen bulges out. This change in the shape of the spine is due to the continued influence of gravity and a progressive decline in muscle strength and tone, accelerated by decreased use of some muscle groups. (p. 34, A. G. Mohan, Yoga Therapy, Chapter on Yoga for Fitness)
How well are you working towards maintaining muscle strength? Which muscles are lacking in attention? Which muscles are overworked?
Usually, the postural muscles on your backside lax over time and the muscles in your front body pull in and down with overuse.
Don’t feel defeated if you are struggling with some of these challenges right now. Change it!! Even if you have spinal issues or health issues, yoga THERAPY is designed to give you a fighting chance. Yoga THERAPY makes the benefits of yoga possible for ANY body.
Currently, I am working with amazing students who initially came to me because of weakness, arthritis, change in stature, weight gain, slow recovery from surgery, and well, I could go on. My own scoliotic body struggles daily. My spine SO wants to become more crooked, but I fight it EVERY SINGLE DAY anyway. If you feel you are not making progress quickly enough, get a coach who can uplift and motivate you. If you want someone who is trained to work with folks like I just mentioned, call me or find another Certified Yoga Therapist.
If your mental state keeps you from moving or wanting to move, please call a counselor for help. Don’t continue to suffer. There are so many well-trained people who WANT to make your life better. www.betterhelp.com is something I’m just learning about. It’s all virtual and sounds really positive. If you’ve ever been helped by someone local, please pass their information on to me. I’m happy to put their information on my website. We should promote those who are making a positive difference in others.
And now…. What you’ve been waiting for… haha… Well maybe, maybe not, hmm...
CHECK OUT THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE! JANUARY 30-FEBRUARY 3, 2023
CLASSES
MONDAY 12 p.m. Delicious Deep Stretch
TUESDAY 12 p.m. Perfect Posture Yoga
WEDNESDAY 12:15 p.m. Delicious Deep Stretch
FRIDAY 10 a.m. Half & Half Yoga
HALF & HALF will satisfy almost everyone’s need for strength training and deep stretching. At 10 a.m., we will be doing standing stretches and warrior poses. At 10:30 a.m. we take a quick water break and then proceed to the floor. Relaxing, restorative poses will follow.
In studio & ZOOM
Yoga by Dayna Private Sessions Schedule
JANUARY 30-FEB 3RD
MONDAY makes me smile
8 a.m. OPEN!
9:15 a.m. Judy & Andy ZOOM
10:30 a.m. Christine ZOOM
12 p.m. Deep Stretch *
1:30 p.m. Chris & Carol
3 p.m. Tina
TUESDAY totally rocks
9 a.m. OPEN!
10:30 a.m. personal appointment
12 p.m. Perfect Posture Yoga*
1:30 p.m. OPEN
4:30 p.m. Susan and Paula ZOOM
5:45 p.m. Christopher @ studio
WEDNESDAY wows
9 a.m. Chris & Carol (on location)
10:30 p.m. Jenny (on location)
12:15 p.m. Deep Stretch *
1:30 p.m. OPEN
3:15 p.m. Brookdale Nursing (there)
4:45 p.m. Christina
THURSDAY thrives
9 a.m. Judy & Andy ZOOM
10:30 am Belmont! (there)
12 p.m. Open House Vino Vida in Fredericksburg
FRIDAY freedom
8:30 a.m. Paula and Susan
10 a.m. Half & Half Yoga
Thank you for your loving spirit. You make my job a wonderful experience every day.
Dayna Culwell, C-IAYT
Owner & Instructor, Yoga by Dayna
