Yoga Mat Companion

The Mat Companion series is designed to assist you in understanding the functional anatomy of yoga. Although all yoga poses are interrelated, for learning purposes we have subdivided them into categories according to their general form. This first book of the series shows how to combine Western scientific knowedge with the practice of Vinyasa Flow and the standing poses. In Vinyasa we repeat a foundational series of postures that encircle individual asanas from the other pose categories. This vigorous and aerobic practice combines breathing and body movement to produce heat, warming up the muscles, tendons, and ligaments and generating a detoxifying sweat. Practicing Vinyasa in a heated room enhances these effects. In the first part of this book, we discuss the practical application of Western science to Vinyasa Flow. Following the Vinyasa portion of the book are the standing poses. Learning Hatha Yoga begins with these fundamental postures, which stretch and strengthen the muscles of the lower extremities and open the hips and pelvis. As a result of this practice, activities of daily living, such as standing and walking, feel comfortable and easy. Working the muscles and joints of the lower extremities also stimulates the nerve centers that supply this region, increasing electrical activity in the lumbosacral plexus. This increased electrical activity in turn illuminates the first and second chakras of the subtle body, aiding to remove energetic blockages that develop throughout our lifetime. It is this combination of biomechanical, physiological, and energetic processes that differentiate yoga from other forms of physical activity.

As the Chinese proverb states, when you cannot reach an important goal, keep the goal but change your strategy. Yoga poses, like goals, can sometimes be difficult to achieve. What are your options when you cannot attain a posture? You can give up on progressing in the pose or you can change your approach to attain it. Changing strategies requires resourcefulness. Draw on this to break through blockages and safely attain the asanas. The Mat Companion series provides you with these resources in the form of scientific techniques. Suppose you have tried all of the conventional means to bring your thighs to the floor in Baddha Konasana (Bound Angle Pose). You've tried pressing the knees down or placed weights on the legs and still you haven't progressed. Continued attempts will likely yield little in the way of results. So you decide to change your strategy. You can apply facilitated stretching to lengthen the muscles that are preventing you from going deeper into the pose. In the process, not only will you be able to bring the thighs closer to the floor, but you will also stimulate the nerve receptors in the pelvic region. This will illuminate the first and second chakras and aid to open energetic blockages. In addition, practicing in this way brings a better understanding of the asymmetries in your body. This understanding will carry over into other poses, expanding your overall yoga experience. Perhaps you have lower back strain in a forward bend. The temptation might be to give up on the pose. Instead, try engaging the abdominals to create reciprocal inhibition of the stretching back muscles. Contracting the abdominals also elicits the abdominal "air bag" effect and supports the lumbar spine. This change in strategy is simple to apply and often works. These are examples of how to combine your knowledge of Western science with the wisdom of Hatha Yoga. In many ways, practicing yoga is like the work of a native rainmaker who performs a ceremony to release atmospheric tension. Yoga releases physical and spiritual tension. Be resourceful and strategic as you make rain, both as a practitioner and as a teacher.

Practicing yoga is not necessarily the path of least resistance. And although the Sanskrit word asana translates to mean "a comfortable, easy position," most yoga poses are neither comfortable nor easy. Working with them, however, makes daily life more comfortable and easy. So why integrate Western science into the ancient art of Hatha Yoga? Because scientific techniques enable you to intelligently design your practice and give you confidence in your teaching. Hatha Yoga works with the body and Western science understands how the body works. For example, suppose you want to deepen a backbend such as Urdhva Dhanurasana. Knowledge of anatomy, biomechanics, and physiology enable you to predictably do this. Or if you're a teacher and a student comes to you with lower back discomfort in Camel Pose, you can use the abdominal "air bag" effect discussed in this book and often address the problem quickly and easily. Similarly, if you wish to deepen twists for yourself or your students, design your practice to involve physiological techniques such as facilitated stretching that will release and lengthen the muscles that inhibit turning the trunk. Many of these solutions would not be obvious, or would even be counterintuitive, unless you knew how to apply scientific principles to yoga. This book explains these techniques in detail, with their practical application for backbends and twists. Spare no effort in searching out areas of resistance in your yoga poses. If your body is stiff, use the physiological techniques described in the Mat Companion series to lengthen muscles, break through barriers, and gain flexibility. If your body is flexible, then work with the bandhas described here to increase your strength. Painter and sculptor George Braque once said, "Art disturbs, science reassures." The idea is that art takes one out of a comfort zone and into new experiences. Science provides grounding and stability. Yoga poses are like physical sculptures that take you out of your comfort zone. Scientific techniques are the sculpting tools that allow you to do this with intelligence and precision.

The Mat Companion series provides a methodical approach for using science to balance and connect the body and mind in yoga. The fourth book concludes the series with arm balances and inversions-two pose categories that clearly integrate opposites within the body. In our bipedal form, the hips and lower extremities are the weight-bearing construct. The more mobile shoulders and upper extremities allow us to interact with the world. In arm balances, we invert this construct, thereby strengthening the muscles, bones, and ligaments of the upper extremities. From an energetic perspective, arm balances stimulate the nerve plexuses associated with the fourth and fifth chakras. Practicing these poses with precision moves nerve impulses upwards through the subtle body. This opens the way for the unimpeded flow of energy from the lower and more primordial regions of the sacral plexus to the higher-functioning levels of the brain. A similar balancing of opposites takes place with inverted poses. Consider that most of our time is spent with the head above the heart and the lower extremities below it. Inversions reverse this, bringing the head below the heart and the lower extremities above it. Potential benefits of this body position include lowered blood pressure and heart rate and improved circulation of endorphins in the brain. All of this prepares the body for deep relaxation. Arm balances invigorate and stimulate the mind. Inversions bring it to rest.