We focused on the core this week, although almost every asana and vinyasa between asanas involves using one’s core. May you move in your core power with a little help from the following practice! š
Bird-dog curl (Tuesday) or Downward facing dog to plank curl (Thursday)
Breathe out with the curl, and move slowly and deliberately. “Cinch” your waist as though tightening a belt around it.Move into 3-legged plank pose first, then curl knee either to nose, or one or other elbow. Press ground away with hands and arch back during curl. Exhale on the curl.
Vasisthasana | Side plank on elbow (Tuesday) or on hand (Thursday)
Keep body in straight line – hips have a tendency to fall back in this pose. Be sure to keep elbow below shoulder, and press well into edge of forearm. Use lower oblique to lift lower hip and ankle.This variation is the classic side plank, but only practice it if your wrist is not unhappy here. Holding the toe o the upper leg is a more advanced option. Be sure to not let the hips swing back.
Placing a block between legs helps one avoid over-using glutes. Keeping chin in chest prevents neck issues from being exacerbated.Keep thighs rolling towards one another, and place soles of feet on floor.
LolasanaĀ
Curl into C-shape, with bellybutton lifting up into spine. If possible, pull feet off floor.
Block under sacrum, extended leg(s): A greatĀ counterpose to all the abdominal work is to place the block underĀ the sacrum. Adding the leg lifts shifts the pose into another core working asana.
Raise one leg to hip height, then raise it higher. If you can balance on block without using shoulders, raise one leg and place foot of other leg on thigh, sliding foot down extended leg.
Continuing on with our summer yoga for riders course, we turn our attention to the core. To me, ācoreā means the entire cylinder of the trunk around the belly button area – both above and below it – not just the external layer of abdominals over the belly, as “core” is often used in popular parlance. Because of this, the psoas muscles, which we addressed last week, can also be thought of as part of the core, since they run right through it. Truthfully, we are almostĀ always toning the core when we practice yoga asanas (postures), unless we are doing restorative work only.
As riders, we need a core that is both stable and supple. Too much stability leads to stiffness (usually in the form or a tight lower back and psoas), which leads to one bouncing all over the saddle and horse’s back. Too little core leads to “wiggliness” (usually due to weak deep abdominal muscles), which leads to giving confusing signals to the horse, lack of balance, and inability to use the seat independently (and the likelihood of simply falling off should the horse move a little too suddenly!). Both of these problems tend to be addressed by focusing our work on the deep abdominal muscles, theĀ transversusĀ abdominis, because having tone here allows effort to be distributed throughout the core area, and the back and psoas muscles to not work quite so hard.
Although we haven’t discussed the chakras, or energy centers of the body, much in our course yet, the bellybutton area also happens to be the location of theĀ manipura* chakra, which is believed by many practitioners to be the seatĀ of self-confidence, willpower, and assertiveness. In other words, having tone in the core allows one to stand (or sit!) in oneās own dignity – and who wouldn’t want that?
(*As an aside: autocorrect kept insisting that it really ought to be the manicure chakra… sometimes, one just appreciates a laugh – good for the core! ;-))
Read on for this week’s selections from our class practices.
Warmup: Tuesday’s practitioners may wish to practice cat/cow a few times to warm up the core, while Thursday’s practitioners may wish to move from downward facing dog to high plank a few times (or through sun salute A).
Bird-dog balance, then curl knee to nose: opposite leg and hand are up in the air.
Breathe out with the curl, and move slowly and deliberately. “Cinch” your waist as though tightening a belt around it. .
Thursday only: Adho muka svananasana variation/three-legged downward facing dog -> three-legged plank -> curl knee to nose. Variation is to take knee first to one elbow, then to other elbow (twist).
Move into 3-legged plank pose first, then curl knee either to nose, or one or other elbow. Press ground away with hands and arch back during curl. Exhale on the curl.
Thursday only: Flip the dog -> upward facing tabletop
Remember to bend the leg remaining on the ground, so that ball of that foot can swivel. Organize your legs once in tabletop so the the feet are parallel and hip width apart.
Vasistasana/side plank on forearm. Variation is to bring elbow of top arm to bottom wrist.
Be sure to keep feet-hips-shoulders in straight line. Lift whole bottom leg off floor, and press down side of wrist to floor. Ā If bringing top elbow to bottom wrist, exhale on the downward motion.
Supported setu bandha sarvangasana/supported bridge pose with block, dynamic,Ā to ensure deep core engagement and relaxation of gluteal muscles.
Place block between thighs, then press knees over feet, drawing hips up. Hold block as lightly as possible without dropping while moving hips up and forward, down and back. Keep shoulders relaxed and breathe! š
Constructive rest, two legged twist.
Shoulders really want to get engaged while moving in and out of the twist, so keep monitoring them so that they don’t do the work instead of the core. Keep knees well tucked up and together. Breathe out during the movement, both going down and up.
Happy core practicing, everyone! Your ponies (not to mention your back, hips, and self-confidence) will thank you for it. š
We turn our attention back to the core again (as though we ever forgot about it!) as we begin three weeks of arm balances and/or inversions. These poses are less about arm strength, although that does factor in, and more about using the core well, especially our first pose of this section, bakasana, or crow/crane pose (I’ll explain why two different English names are used later), where the abdominals are especially important (remember: core includes everything in the “cylinder” around your lower torso, abdominals, obliques, and the back muscles).
Let’s first “wake up” the core by engaging in cat/cow pose. The cat portion of these two counterposes provides a great opportunity to really engage the abdominal muscles and allow the back to stretch, which is key to bakasana.
Margarita cat wanted to make sure that I was doing cat pose correctly, so, she came to supervise (as is her habit on set…). Cow pose: hips up, shoulders back, belly drops down; cat pose: round the spine and push the ground away with your hands, pull the bellybutton in strongly.
Next, we move from either three-legged dog pose to plank, bringing the knee to the nose; OR from hands and knees to bring one knee to the nose. Take the variation that feels most doable to you – stressing the shoulders is not what we’re trying to do, so unless you are very comfortable in your down dog, start on your knees. Repeat 3-5 times on each side.
From neutral spine on hands and knees, reach one leg back, then bring it towards the nose as you round your back.Lift one leg from dog pose, then move into plank as you bring the knee to the nose; note that the shoulders are over the wrists in the curled pose.
Counterposing these moments with sphinx pose will bring balance to your practice.
Lie on your belly, placing the forearms parallel to each other in front of you – elbows under your shoulders, or slightly ahead of the shoulders. Relax the glutes, and draw the sternum forward and up.
We are now going to engage in some small, internal movements that don’t look like much to an external observer, but are quite powerful for the person practicing them!
Lie on your back in constructive rest (feet on the floor hip width apart, knees bent), feeling the natural hollow under your lower back. Keep this hollow, neither losing it nor exaggerating it, as you bring your hands under your head and your elbows “hug” your head. Then peel your shoulders and ribs off the ground, resting the head in the hands (so, not using the neck muscles), and then imagine that your feet are stuck in the mud, and you are desperately trying to free them – just barely hovering them/just barely touching them to your mat.
Then do push your belly button to spine, and press the back strongly into the ground. Take your arms, palms together, between your legs as you peel the shoulders and ribs off the ground. Take the arms to one side of the legs, then to the other, breathing throughout. Repeat 3-5 times.
Finally, repeat the pose above, but bring the knees to the outsides of the shoulders at the same time. Breathe as you hold 3-5 breaths.
It doesn’t look like much is happening, but give these a try and see for yourself what really IS happening š
Finally, we are ready for our main event, bakasana, or crow pose (where the arms are bent) / crane pose (where the arms are straight). Note the similarity to the final pose of the above abdominal sequence, where your knees were reaching for the outside of your shoulders.
Begin on balls of feet, with feet together, knees apart, arms between knees and back rounded/relaxed. Place the hands as for down dog, but the elbows will be bent towards the back of the mat. Getting the knees as high up on the outsides of the shoulders, along with using your abdominal muscles strongly, will be the key to this pose. Begin to shift the weight of your body onto the “shelf” formed by your upper arms, perhaps, lifting one toe, then the other. Think of a see-saw – your arms are the fulcrum, and you have to balance your top and bottom halves on this fulcrum. Once you are securely in crow pose, you can begin to straighten your arms into crane pose.
Take care to NOT lift the hips too high, and to look down and slightly ahead (NOT between your hands), both of which will make you land on your nose – and no one wants a broken nose…. No “hop and hope,” please! š
We counterpose all of this abdominal work with a supported bridge pose, with a block under the hips. If you wish, you can wrap the arms around the insides of the ankles (remember, external rotation), and lift the hips off the block for full bridge.
Relax in supported bridge (with block under the hips), or lift up into bridge with arms binding ankles for a deeper stretch of the front body. Relax gltues in both variations.
Rest in savasana, and enjoy your newly found or rediscovered abs! š
