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Jim and His Karma
2111 Posts |
 Posted - May 10 2006 : 6:19:07 PM
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Sort of in parallel to the "Opposite Flow" thread......
It's dawned on me, after twenty years, that a lot of tiny little directions in Iyengar yoga (the asana practice I do) add up to a big conclusion: that our body is in correct alignment and energy flow when energy moves down the back and up the front (this is essentially the culmination of the tadasana instructions highly stressed in Iyengar yoga). And, having realized this, I'm applying it more and more deeply and pervasively to my body and life.
My question is this: does this conflict with the AYP model? I'm having trouble reconciling the mappings.
Victor, you out there? |
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Jim and His Karma
2111 Posts |
Posted - May 10 2006 : 6:23:50 PM
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BTW, the way I got here was by spontaneously making "tadasana legs" (Iyengar people understand) while in savasana after meditation. Result was spinal energy flow gushed unhindered into my legs, and, eventually, cultivation of what the Taoists refer to as the macrocosmic (not microcosmic) orbit.
I pulled up with kneecaps and front thighs, per iyengar, but continued the upward action all the way up my front body to ajna. Then I energetically pulled down from sacrum and continued the downward action all the way up my back to the throat...and back over to the ajna (I'm going gingerly on that, because crown is involved).
...and the effects were very very very profound. My forward bends have improved vastly, and I can finally do handstand off the wall for more than a sec or two. This seems a key move that's opened up everything. |
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Victor
USA
910 Posts |
Posted - May 10 2006 : 11:08:18 PM
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| i think its more complex than that. i have heard the instruction of up the front and down the back in bodywork classes and it does tend to produce a more tall and erect posture. my experience with ayp practice however as well as asana shows me that it can vary alot from pose to pose or even the same pose on different days. its much easier to see during the pose but as a general instruction it doesn't always work for me. i know i am not offering much as a correction but it does seem more indiviof an individual thing |
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Jim and His Karma
2111 Posts |
Posted - May 11 2006 : 5:07:55 PM
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Victor, thanks for replying. Yeah, I may have reached the wrong conclusion. But can we back up to where this came from? I'd like your persepctive.
when, just after meditation, I do (in corpse pose) Iyengar tadasana legs (kneecaps and front thighs moving firmly up toward trunk, sacrum energetically directed down away from the trunk, and backs of thighs sucking down into the floor/bed), I get a tremendous energetic result. The word "gush" applies, and makes me think "ah, THIS is why they have us do those actions").
I'm trying to integrate it all. Can you try it, see if you find what I find, and help me make sense of it all?
If you're busy, no problem...I'm not in a hurry! Reply anytime! |
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Victor
USA
910 Posts |
Posted - May 12 2006 : 10:23:14 PM
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Well, the energetic gush that you describe certainly sounds like a channel is opening up! In Savasana however it isn't suggested to do any lifting of muscles or any firm action at all but rather to relax teh body deepy and allow the legs to roll away from each other with no grip. I am sure that you realize this of course and were playing with sensation to see how it feels. for myself in corpse pose i like to let my knees bend and slightly seperate the feet so as to release any grip in the legs.
Tadasana is another case entirely of course. In that there is a strong lifting action but i would hesitate to simply imagine an up the front and down the back flow. There are the sides of teh body to consider. The movement of teh side ribs.In tadasana this is wehre I would feel the lift more than the core actually. I would ground the midline through the feet and hen lift the sides of the body to open the breath, but that is just one instruction to play with. That is how I look at these kind of instruction. They are something to explore and play with rather than a standard instruction as you may change and need a different direction later |
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Jim and His Karma
2111 Posts |
Posted - May 12 2006 : 11:43:37 PM
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Yes, I'm wrong to call this savasana. I should say: lying on your back (after meditation).
Thanks, Victor, for your reply.
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Kyman
530 Posts |
Posted - Aug 06 2006 : 3:40:48 PM
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Jim, that's a very interesting experience you had. Has it continued to change and deepen your original practice?
I just posted recently a story similar to yours, where I was advised to balance my energy more into my legs. I became aware of the dense structures in the belly that joined the legs. There was definitely a healing or a purification when I opened this area up more. It is amazing how the branches cross cross through the body? It feels like it does it in the foot, knees, hips/belly, and chest? Do you know of anywhere else? |
Edited by - Kyman on Aug 06 2006 4:42:35 PM |
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Direction of Energy Flow in Iyengar Yoga
