strength

Posture #7 – Balancing Stick Pose

May 16, 2015 By Beverley Brown Leave a Comment

Here is the next in the series of Posture Tips – the powerful Balancing Stick Pose!

(10 seconds in this posture is reputedly to be the equivalent to 10 minutes on a treadmill – I know which I prefer!)

The last of the “three” balancing postures is a doozy! This posture is only held for 10 seconds but can be a great workout for the whole of the body. As with all Bikram postures I believe preparation and alignment is key to not only getting the best out of a posture but also making it more enjoyable. Nothing feels great if you are just trying to hang in there and the body is all twisted so prepare first and you’ll find it really helps. It’ll tone you up much more too!

This one takes your determination and focus as you are not really in a natural position for the body – standing on one leg and trying to keep the body and arms parallel to the floor is not something the body is accustomed to! But it can be done!

Preparation for Balancing Stick Pose

Start as normal with your feet together and raise the arms up – hands just like in Half Moon Pose i.e. place the palms together right to the wrist, interlock the fingers and release the index finger and cross the thumbs. This makes the body know you mean business! Just like most the postures keep the head glued in between the arms and don’t let the two body parts separate. Most beginners will try and keep their head up to see where they are going but when the head and arms are separated the energy is dissipated and you won’t feel as strong. Keep the chin up so you can breathe and bring the body back a couple of inches – this will again open up the chest allowing you to have more puff for the posture!

As you inhale, take a big step forward on the right foot and then ensure both knees are locked. I find if I point my left toes too it really allows the leg to be straight – both legs locked to begin with gives you a lot of “oomph” to do this posture.

Let’s go – 10 seconds only!

Then in one piece the whole body pivots like a see saw and then comes to a balance in the middle. I often say to my students – imagine you are like a steel bar with no bends in the middle – that’s how much you need to keep straight so you don’t end up like the “broken umbrella” as Bikram so eloquently puts it! Broken umbrellas – weak, steel bars – strong! Imagine yourself in a T – parallel to the floor – you can feel it when you have it.

Keep those legs locked and toes pointed and you’re sorted! The other challenging part is keeping the arms upright – mine tend to try and dive bomb a bit and your arms will pull you down if you let them. So again it’s just practice to keep lifting them so they stay parallel to the floor.

While you are in this posture there is no let up – try to continuously stretch forward and backward as if someone is pulling your foot and another is pulling your arms – like a good ol’ tug-o-war! One of Bikram’s favourite words for the arm part is “as if the scapula is coming out of the body”! Body down – leg up – every muscle contracted!

You will need to look forward but keep the head down securely cradled in between those lovely strong, locked arms! Where your eyes go your body will follow – you want to go forward so look forward!

Once you start to improve on this posture after lots of practice you can start to fine tune – like rolling the hip of the airborne leg down a bit to ensure your hips are parallel to the floor. Then you can gauge whether your legs or arms need to be higher or lower but all this comes in time and when you are ready to make some improvements.

At last the 10 seconds are over, inhale and come back to centre. Rinse and repeat on the other side and then give the second set all your muster! I feel worked out just by writing this!

Summary of the Main Points of Balancing Stick Pose

Keep the arms strong by locking them and glueing the palms together
Head is glued in between the arms throughout the posture
Body is back a little – open the chest to allow you to inhale properly
Keep the chin away from the chest so you can breathe
Pivot the whole of the body in one piece – don’t separate at the waist!
Eyes forward – look forward
Keep every muscle contracted for the whole posture, stretching forward and pointing toes
Aim to keep the arms and legs locked
Pull in the tummy – that will give you a lot of core strength to hold this posture more easily

The Benefits of Balancing Stick Pose

Opens up the chest and works the heart
Develops determination, focus and concentration
Increases body strength like nothing else!
Tones up every part of the body and it only takes 10 seconds – love it!

Next up is Standing Separate Leg Stretching – my favourite “feel good” posture!

Speak soon…

Beverley x

Posture # 6 Standing Bow Pulling Pose

May 4, 2015 By Beverley Brown Leave a Comment

Aah – a personal favourite! Why? Because I love the challenge of it! Even after many years of practice I have to give this one my all! It is actually the posture that I used to get nervous about – mainly because I would get mad at myself if I couldn’t hold it. As often is the case, I made peace with the posture and now I love it!

Thank goodness, I no longer get cross with myself if I have to come out or even if I fall out – I simply get back in and use the time I have. Funnily enough, once you take the pressure off yourself of trying to hold it you usually can! The first set is held for 1 minute and the second just 30 seconds.

Here is how it goes. A summary is repeated at the bottom if you prefer.

Preparation for Standing Bow Pulling Pose

As this is the second in the group of 3 balancing postures, as usual you start with your feet facing straight forward and bring your right hand out, palm facing up. Thumbs and fingers together as Bikram says “as if you are holding money in your hand” and you don’t want to drop it! Then you bend your right knee and grab the foot which is now behind you with your right hand from the inside at the ankle. This may feel strange as usually this posture is practised by holding from the outside of the foot but with the Bikram method it is slightly different. Make sure you have that nice tight grip and that you don’t lose it. Then to stabilise yourself, the left arm goes up very close to the head. Again fingers and thumbs together so your hand is kind of like a paddle and your arm is locked and strong.

Focus and final preparation for Standing Bow Pulling Pose!

Now it’s time to get your focus by gazing at your standing knee which as usual should be locked throughout the posture so you have that “concrete lamppost in place” true Bikram style! Concentrate on that and it will give you a lot of strength. Make sure your knees are together at the start and the hips will automatically be square on the mirror. This will avoid doing the “surfing stance” which brings the body out of kilter before you start!

As you inhale, charge the body forward towards the mirror as if you are trying to touch it with your fingertips, and at the same time, kick your right leg back and up towards the ceiling. You bring the body down from the lower spine until the chest and abdomen are parallel to the floor. This is possible as you are constantly stretching your left arm towards the mirror and this will lead your body down.

As a beginner you may have a tendency to just try and “hang in there” for the duration of the posture (counting down the seconds no doubt) but as in all Bikram postures by being proactive with the instruction you will find it will make each posture easier not harder as you may think! Every little detail helps to create more strength and eventually more ease. In the old days there were some little details I would try and get away with not doing, only to find when I did make the effort to listen more and do what was in the dialogue that the posture became soooo much easier! I was surprised but I have since found that to be true on all the postures now – it’s like one day there is an “aha moment” and your body just starts to get that feeling of “oooohhh – that’s what its meant to feel like!” I have heard this from other students too so I know that this is quite a common occurrence.

So in the case of Standing Bow Pulling Pose it requires you to continuously kick your leg back and up as hard as possible and eventually your foot will be visible above your head “like a red indian feather sticking up!” If it seems like you’ll never see that foot in the mirror – don’t despair just try moving the foot away from the buttocks first and then kick up. As usual there is always more to aim for (what’s new?) if you’re game and that is to get both feet in one line down the centre.

Keep on kicking back so eventually you can’t see your right shoulder in the mirror as it is behind the left shoulder and therefore invisible in the mirror. Keep on stretching your left fingers towards the mirror and you will find you gain so much more poise and strength to enable you to hold longer. The dialogue then says to try to touch your shoulder to your chin. Now it doesn’t say try to touch your chin to your shoulder – why? Because if you move the direction of your head you will lose the balance and alignment. The head should stay straight as “where your eyes go the body follows” and you will also lose your focus if you turn your head. So you keep your head facing straight and bring the body parts in towards the centre. The dialogue will keep you on track every time! Eventually both shoulders will be in one line.

Kicking and stretching should be 50/50 – that ensures your balance and if your standing leg is locked too – those three things – as Bikram famously used to tell us ” You can balance there for EVVVEEEERR!” I think that could be a tall order but you get the idea! The rest of the posture is continually keeping the standing leg locked, stretching forward and kicking up until finally the 60 seconds is up – phew! Then you have the pleasure of doing it all over again on the other side.

The second set of 30 seconds will feel like a doddle now ! Actually joking apart I usually see that the second set seems be so much easier for everyone and this is possibly due to mind over matter again – the extra seconds can play on the mind and you can put too much pressure on yourself. If you’re the over achiever type of person it may be best to think “who cares?” and just go for it with a light hearted attitude – “bank” the seconds you hold the posture and ignore the rest. If you come out or fall out don’t judge yourself (judgment does not help your body one iota), just use the time to go in again and practice. Those three, four, seven, fifteen seconds will eventually merge into being able to hold for the whole time without the breaks if that is your aim of course!

Summary of the main points of Standing Bow Pulling Pose:

Keep thumbs and fingers together with palm up to grab the foot from the inside at the ankle and hold that strong grip
Standing leg should have a locked knee and act as that “concrete lamppost”
At the start the other arm should be strong and upright very close to the head
Both knees together at the start facing the mirror to avoid the “surfing stance”
Inhale and charge the body forward until the chest and abdomen are parallel to the floor
Keep stretching the stabilising arm forward as if trying to touch the fingertips to the mirror
Keep the head straight and touch your shoulder to your chin (not the other way round!)
Continually keep kicking up and back with the leg until eventually you can see the foot raise up behind the head (this could take time – no worries!)
All three – stretching forward, kicking up and standing leg locked will enable you to keep the balance!

The main benefits of Standing Bow Pulling Pose:

Increases both strength and flexibility
Tones the legs and arms, lifts the buttocks
Develops concentration, focus and determination
Shunts blood from one side of the body to the other allowing it to equalize again when standing still in Savasana
Acts as an internal massage
Flushes blood to the face giving it a glow
Relieves back pain as it brings flexibility and strength to the lower spine
Works out most of the body’s muscles
Opens up the chest and increases lung capacity
Great for pregnant women
Flushes out the kidneys to eliminate toxins
Helps correct high blood pressure
Good for tennis elbow and frozen shoulder
Improves flexibility of the sciatic nerve
Strengthens and firms the abdominal wall, upper thighs, upper arms, hips and buttocks – great all over workout!

Well as usual I’ve gone on a bit! Just take the bits you need!

Bev x

How to stay strong and calm in a Bikram Yoga class

April 11, 2015 By Beverley Brown Leave a Comment

If you’ve ever done a Bikram class you should have experienced the incredible peace you get after the class that usually lasts quite a while. The body can even tingle all over for hours and you can sleep like a log! However what about when you are in the class itself? Is it possible to feel that peace when you are challenging yourself in so many ways? When you first start it may not feel like it as the mind often wanders, you’re busy checking out the other students’ postures, often comparing yourself and all sorts of other distractions (such as the heat) can manage to get your attention.

However there are a couple of simple pointers that can be put into action straight away that I personally have found to really have a beneficial effect not only on my postures but also my whole class experience.

Drink lots of water before you come to class

Now I know this one is obvious and you should have heard it many times but make sure you drink lots of water before you come to class. You do sweat a lot in a Bikram class so obviously you need to be hydrated before class and also after class to replenish what you have lost.

However, I was always a bit concerned that if I drank too much water I would need to go to the loo mid-class so I would not drink as much as I should! It was a belief that I used to limit myself with and I can so see that now. I finally got over myself and started to drink a lot more than I used to and that addition alone made such a difference to my strength. The difference in how I felt, how much stronger and calm I was in the postures, was like night and day. I know it is such a simple thing but when you’ve been stuck with a limiting belief for many years and finally kick it – it is a great feeling.

Breathe through your nose (not your mouth)

A lot of energy can be wasted by huffing and puffing through the mouth during and in between postures. Again I was guilty of that for a long time and more recently another teacher just happened to mention to breathe through the nose instead of the mouth particularly when standing in between postures. The room I was practicing in at the time was incredibly hot and humid even for me, and it really helped me stay calm and bring back my attention and focus rather than letting the mind go all over the place and allowing the internal chatter to have a negative effect. Again it was an instant realisation that something so simple could have such a beneficial effect.

Those are the things I love – small adjustments but with big results. I hope they help!

Bevx