Upper back strength

WHAT MAKES GOOD POSTURE
I’ve become very aware recently of my posture. As a yoga teacher, and practitioner, I judge myself when I catch my shoulders hunching, or my lower spine rounding in a seated position. It led me to investigate which asana help to build, and maintain, good posture in the practice of yoga.

OUR EVERYDAY POSTURE
The average person, sitting for hours at their computers, are rarely in a beautifully upright position – with the pelvis perfectly perpendicular to the seat, and their shoulders stacked over their hips. Even as we move through our day, our shoulders are often leading the way, with our upper back curved forward, in a hurry to get to our next appointment. Backbends stretch the front body, open the shoulders, stimulate the nervous system and lift your spirits. All backbends stretch the front body, but backbends that use the weight of the body against gravity, to strengthen the upper back, help to maintain this chest opening beyond your time on the mat.

STRONG BACK – HEALTHY BACK
Salabhasana/Locust is not an asana you’ll see much on Instagram, and some yogis find the breath quite challenging when the diaphragm is being pressed, but there is lots happening in this unassuming asana. The whole back body is strongly working to lift the weight of the body against gravity; the weight of the body is pressing and massaging the organs of the abdomen – aiding digestion and detoxification, boosting the immune system, easing constipation, and easing mental fatigue.

Ardha Uttanasana/Half Forward Bend also uses the upper back against gravity when done with awareness. Place the palms of your hands on your upper shins, use your arms to help reach your sternum forward and up, and feel the upper back working. If you have tight hamstrings this will be a great way to warm them up before any deeper Forward Bends. Like with Salabhasana/Locust, I have found huge benefits from spending more time in these two asana in my daily practice recently.

EXPLORING UPPER BACK STRENGTH IN YOUR PRACTICE
In your next practice try coming all the way down to the ground and taking Salabhasana/Locust instead of Bhujangasana/Cobra or Urdha Mukha Svanasana/Upward Facing Dog. Print out the above sequence to get a sense for what upper back strengthening feels like in your spine.

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Ruth Delahunty Yogaru

Travel & holidays

SUMMER CHALLENGES
Summertime brings with it longer days, plenty of fresh air and a general mood of happiness. It can also bring up some challenges staying with your yoga practice – whether it’s finding time to get to a studio classes, or keeping your home practice going. Remember little and often is better than none at all. Even if it’s just 5 mins of your favourite Surya Namaskara/Sun Salutations first thing in the morning to wake up your circulation, metabolism, and set you up for the day ahead. Summertime might just be the right time to try out establishing your home practice and bringing a travel mat with you on holidays.

TRAVEL FRAZZLES
Travel can be hard on the system, and takes a bit of time to find your feet. As soon as you reach your destination take your shoes off and stand in Tadasana/Mountain to re-establish your connection with the earth – especially if you've traveled by plane or boat. Your yoga practice helps you to rebalance your system and counteract the post travel frazzle. The sequence above can help to do just that. With some gentle backbends, twists and hip openers, the sequence has a bit of everything.

Travel impacts everyone in different ways. Below is a list of some of the travel related benefits of yoga, and some of the asana that you might like to spend a bit more time on in the sequence.

• Stiff back from sitting or carrying luggage – Cat/Cow to lengthen the spine; twists to wring it out; prone (face down) backbends to strengthen and realign the spine.

• Tight shoulders from sitting or carrying luggage – standing asana with arms raised to get the blood flowing; Gomukhasana/Cow Face arms to stretch the fronts of the shoulders; Garudasana/Eagle arms to stretch the backs of the shoulders.

• Tight hips from sitting – back leg in lunges, Virabhadrasana II/Warrior II and Trikonasana/Triangle to stretch out the hips flexors; prone (face down) backbends to lengthen the whole front body; Eka Pada Rajakapotasana/Pigeon to stretch the outer hips; Vrksasana/Tree and Malasana/Squat to stretch the inner groin.

• Light headed or disconnected from your grounding – Vrksasana/Tree and Garudasana/Eagle to find your foundation and your centre of gravity; Malasana/Squat to bring you back down to earth.

• Tired and need energy - Vrksasana/Tree, Garudasana/Eagle, backbends and inversions (remember downward dog is an inversion too).

• Tired and need sleep - forward bends, seated asana, shoulder stand and legs up the wall.

HOLIDAY BALANCE
You can also use this sequence as your holiday practice to help you settle into a routine, stay well and enjoy your time away. Practicing on the beach is a lovely way to start your day and explore the benefits and challenges of having a movable surface under you. A travel mat is very handy to have, but you can practice just about anywhere without one too. If your surface isn't suitable for seated or prone/supine poses stick with the standing grouped asana in the sequence. 

You might also find your gut takes a holiday too, and decides to slow down or stop altogether! I’m a very routined person, which works for the rest of the year, but when I’m away from home different foods and a warmer climate impact on my gut, and leave me feeling out of sorts and dehydrated. Plenty of water, a gentle twisting practice, and some pranayama if it’s part of your practice, will help you acclimatise to a new holiday routine, keep things moving, or get things moving again if you find travel has already slowed things down.

Below is a list of some of the ways practicing yoga on holidays can help to maximise your break and ensure that you return home feeling fully refreshed.

• Sluggish gut – twists (particularly closed twists where your abdominal is compressed eg high lunge twist, right leg forward and prayer arms to your right knee); backbends (particularly prone backbends where the full weight of the body is pressed on your digestive system); Malasana/Squat to let gravity do its work; gently lowering your legs behind you in shoulder stand, forward bends and Ananda Balasana/Happy Baby to compress and stimulate the digestive system.

• Immune boost – twists and backbends will keep the gut healthy and in turn boost the immune system as 80% of the immune system is found in the gut; inversions boost your circulation and balance your hormones which help strengthen the immune system too.

• Difficulty sleeping in a strange bed - forward bends, seated asana, shoulder stand and legs up the wall will help you settle into a good night sleep.

Print out the above sequence and bring it with you on holidays, paying particular attention to any areas you feel will benefit you. Run through it from start to finish, or explore some of the grouped asana after a few rounds of Surya Namaskara/Sun Salutations.

To save the images for personal use click and hold down the image until the ‘save image’ option appears; on Mac hold down ‘control’ and click the image to get the option box; on PC right click on the image to get the option box. Scroll down in the ‘option box’ and click ‘save image’.

Ruth Delahunty Yogaru

Waves of movement

GOOD BREATH
The breath is the where the magic is found in yoga. It deeply affects our physical and mental state. Conscious breathing triggers the parasympathetic nervous system through the cerebral cortex (rest & restore), increases lung capacity, builds circulation, aids digestion, release emotional and physical tension, and increase overall well-being. When we link the breath with the movement in our practice it slows the breath down – bringing more oxygen to our whole system and establishes a deep and constant breath.

COME BACK TO THE BREATH
Bringing our attention consciously to the breath in our practice is a challenge that continues as long as the practice itself. To the onlooker, a yogi flowing through their sequence may seem very relaxed and calm, but there is much unfolding on the mat. The complexity of alignment in each asana, the controlled and safe transitions, maintaining a meditative state of mind, and most importantly, remembering to breath! It’s no surprise that you might find yourself holding your breath while you are concentration on your flow, or during a challenging asana. Simply remembering to come back to the breath during your practice, and checking in with how you are breathing, will help to build your concentration, and face those challenging asana.

THE WAVE OF THE BREATH
The breath moves through us like a wave. On an inhale the belly and ribs expand as the diaphragm contracts down, and on an exhale the belly and ribs contract as the diaphragm expands up.

Before you try the sequence above, lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet on the floor. Place your hands on you belly and take a few comfortable breaths – following the ebb and flow of the air. When you are going through the asana let your breath initiate each transition. Keep returning to the breath during your practice If you find you are loosing the connection between the breath with the movement, go back to the simple warm up flow sequences and keep your practice simple. As you pause in each asana, use the breath to melt aways any tension you might encounter. For more information on using the breath to pause click on this link.

To save the images for personal use click and hold down the image until the ‘save image’ option appears; on Mac hold down ‘control’ and click the image to get the option box; on PC right click on the image to get the option box. Scroll down in the ‘option box’ and click ‘save image’.

Ruth Delahunty Yogaru