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Archives for April 2014

5 Recovery Yoga Poses for Runners

April 15, 2014 by Lucy Leave a Comment

Last weekend was the London marathon and in honour of all those who raced, slogged, sweated and triumphed – here are some great recovery yoga poses for runners to show your aching legs some love.  Also, please eat some cake now.

These are great for weary legs and tight muscles whether you’re a marathon runner or simply working hard doing what you do. Take some time out to recuperate!

1. Supta Baddha Konnasana

Supine Baddha Konnasana Place the soles of the feet together, allowing knees to fall out to the sides and lay back.

Keep the back of the neck long and the face relaxed.

Breathe there for at least 10 long deep breaths, allowing the body to relax.

Don’t push the knees down – just allow them to open to where the body allows.

 2. Inner thigh stretches

Inner thigh stretch Lift one foot and place it onto the inner thigh of the opposite leg – gently encouraging a deeper stretch.

Avoid any knee pain – don’t press too hard, keep the body relaxed.

Breathe here for at least 5 long breaths before moving to the other side.

This is also a great, gentle alternative to Pigeon pose.

Inner thigh stretch 2

 

 

 

 

3. Fascia Release

Fascia is a cling-film like substance that coats the muscles and tissues of the body.  Tension can build up and make fascia tight – releasing this can help improve flexibility and muscle condition. You might not even release how tight the leg muscles can get – this is a deep massage and can feel intense but is really great for recovery.

Fascia release 1 Place a block just below the hip bone, using arms for support and keeping the legs off the floor if possible.

Rock slowly forwards and back, massaging muscles into the block, just allowing gravity and the slow rocking motion to do the work.

Continue, along with deep even breathing, for 3-5 minutes, or as long as you wish.

Fascia release  As above, but this time taking the block just above the knee (the pictures aren’t terribly clear, but we’re working on a lower part of the leg and muscle)

Using the same slow rocking forwards and back motion, continue with the breath for a few minutes, or as long as you wish.

4. Extended Twist & IT band stretch

This supine twist helps to stretch the outer leg and IT band which can become particularly tight for runners.  It also gives you the gentle restoritive benefits of a twist – gently opening the spine and cleansing internal organs such as the liver and kidneys.

4. Extended twist Using a strap, hook it over the ball of the foot and extend the leg upwards.

Keep the strap taught, but not with too much pressure on the back of the leg.

Take the strap into the opposite hand (from the raised leg) and bring the leg over towards the floor.

Keep the foot of the extended leg mildly engaged to help support the knee.

Breathe here for at least 10 long breaths, before moving to the other leg.

5. Legs Up The Wall (Viparita Karani)

Legs Up the Wall An amazing restoritive pose that everyone can try for relieving tired or cramped legs and feet, gently stretching the back and calming the mind.

Use a cushion or bolster under the hips if the hips feel tight and get your bottom as close to the wall as possible.

Extend the legs upwards and relax the body into the floor, keeping the back of the nexk long and relaxed.

Long, deep breaths here for at least 10-20 breaths, or as long as you wish.

Legs Up the Wall splitFor more of a stretch on the inner thighs and opening the hips, try taking the feet apart.

You can support the outer thighs using cushions or blocks if you wish.

 

 

So relax, restore, recover! You’ve earned it!

A huge huge HUGE congratulations to everyone who took part in the London marathon – and all the marathons and races that are taking place all over the world.  Wishing you all lightness, energy and love,

xoxo lucyogini

 

Filed Under: Well being, Yoga for...

Meet the Bandhas!

April 4, 2014 by Lucy Leave a Comment

The bandhas are a commonly misunderstood part of yoga practice, or at best vague. They can be a difficult concept to take on board – especially when you’ve already breath and balance and gaze and ‘relax your shoulders’ and ‘soften your face’ to think about! Having to think about internal alignment as well – gah! But here’s the good news – don’t get hung up about the bandhas; as you develop external alignment and understanding of the postures, they start to come naturally. Let them develop as your practice develops.  It’s good to have a bit of an understanding of them though, so that as you progress with your practice, you can start to recognise them and integrate the bandhas into your yogic life.

Bandha is a Sanskrit word, most commonly translated as to lock, to bind or to hold.  When I first heard this in a yoga class long, long ago, in my head I heard lock as in ‘a canal lock’.  Maybe it was my years of canal-side dog walking (I’ve never heard of this analogy being used elsewhere, before or since!) but it kind of made sense to me: the Bandhas are a way to seal (lock) energy in the body, harness energy and move energy up through the body, just as a canal lock controls water to allow a boat’s passage.

The Bandhas have a precise physical space in the body; they also describe a more metaphysical idea of energy movement.  Here are the three main bandhas, along with Maha Bandha – the big daddy which is the combination of all three.

Mula Bandha (‘moo-la ban-dar’)

This is probably the one you’re most likely to have heard in class in reference to the pelvic floor.  Mula Bandha is the root lock and is located at the base of the body.  Think of Mula Bandha as the lock or seal that holds energy in and allows it to flow upwards through the body.

How to find it:

Imagine you really need a wee…all those muscles you’re clenching – this is the region of mula bandha, in the soft tissue of the basin of the pelvis.  When first practicing this, you’ll probably find that everything down there tightens up, but with a bit of practice, you can start to refine this area; you can see below in this diagram the precise location, whether your yogi or yogini:

Mula Bandha location

 

 

 

How it benefits your yoga practice:

Retaining energy inside the body as you practice encourages that energy to grow exponentially – helping you to feel lighter during class, hold poses for longer without fatigue and float out of class at the end (the yogic high)!  Many practitioners state that mula bandha should be held throughout your whole yoga practice!

Benefits off the mat:

Practicing with mula bandha has been shown to stimulate pelvic nerves and help to balance and regulate the endocrine and excretory systems as well as relieve constipation and depression.

Uddiyana Bandha (‘Udy-yana Ban-dar’)

The next lock or seal is found around the centre of the torso, around the diaphragm.  Uddiyana means to fly up, or to rise up and this bandha is all about your insides – stomach, diaphragm and internal organs – as well as your energy – flying upwards.

How to find it:

Start standing tall with feet a good step apart.  Inhale through the nose.  As you exhale through the mouth, fold forwards and place your hands just above the knees.  Without inhaling, close your lips and make the action of inhaling – a ‘mock inhalation’ if you like – from the belly without actually doing so – it should feel like a vacuum is created inside and the abdominal wall and internal organs are drawn up and back towards the spine, under the rib cage.  Hold this for as long as is comfortable and exit by inhaling through the nose and slowly standing up straight.

Uddiyana Bandha

 

How it helps your yoga practice:

Uddiyana Bandha can be hugely transformative to your yoga practice, as it moves energy upwards more powerfully than Mula Bandha alone, helping you to jump more easily, find inversions with more stability and lightness and twist more deeply.

Benefits off the mat:

Uddiyana Bandha creates a soft massage for the deep internal muscles of the lower back.  It stimulates the digestive system, and so can increase metabolism, tone the abdominal organs and can be used as a remedy for stomach ailments.  It also helps to regulate the adrenal system, helping to alleviate stress, tension and lethargy.

Jalandhara Bandha:

….is the double chin you do want.  Jalandhara Bandha is the throat lock (Jal meaning throat; Jalan meaning net; dharan meaning flow or stream) which controls the flow of energy in the neck and head – it’s the top seal, to mula bandha’s root seal, retaining energy within the space of the body.

How to find it:

Sit tall in a comfortable position.  Place the hands on the knees and inhale deeply through the nose, then bring the chin down towards your neck – making a ‘double chin’ – and slightly lift the sternum.  Press the hands onto the knees and straighten the arms.  Pull your chin in even further and hold for as long as possible.  To leave the bandha, lift your chin and inhale to the remaining capacity of the lungs, then fully exhale.

Jalandhara Bandha

How it helps your yoga practice:

Jalandhara Bandha is most often practiced in combination with specific breathing exercises (the Breath of Fire – ‘Kapalabhati’ ­– for example) and not often on its own.  However, I find it useful to loosely engage this bandha in many asana, just to the point that the neck is lengthened (not fully bringing the chin into the neck, just drawing the top of the head upwards so that the chin isn’t raised and the head is level).  This ensures a long spine and no cramping or straining in the neck and shoulders.  On a more metaphysical level, by doing this we also encourage the flow of energy around the body helping us to hold poses more stably, more comfortably and for longer.

Benefits off the mat:

By compressing the sinuses on the main arteries of the neck helps to regulate the circulatory and respiratory systems and the pressure on the throat helps to balance the thyroid and metabolism.  Engaging Jalandhara Bandha is also said to trigger instant mental relaxation and provide stress and anger relief.  Break out the double chin whenever you need to!

Maha Bandha: 

Not a separate bandha but the combination of all three of these major bandhas.  Maha means great and by engaging all three bandhas at once can hugely boost energy and focus, gaining benefits of all three bandhas, stimulating, balancing and regulating internal systems of the entire body – hormonal, sexual, metabolic, digestive and more.

To practice Maha Bandha, sit in a comfortable seat with hands on the knees.  Take a full breath in, and all the way out entirely emptying out the lungs.  Without inhaling, engage Mula Bandha, then find Uddiyana Bandha.  Inhale a tiny amount and lift the chest and drop the chin to engage Jalandhara Bandha.   Hold this for as long as possible, pressing palms down onto the knees.  When you feel ready to exit, lift your head, inhale fully and release all the bandhas.

Maha Bandha

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So there you have it! The three major bandhas plus the big daddy bandha! Lock and load and see the effects in your practice and your understanding of the body from the inside out.

Would love to hear your experience of practicing these – get in touch in the comments below 🙂

Love & lightness,

xoxo lucyogini

Filed Under: Well being, Yoga in Focus

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