Yoga Beyond Belief: Insights to Awaken and Deepen Your Practice

cramps or tightness accumulated throughout the day or in other poses and improve posture and body alignment. Forward bends may be practiced at almost any time during a session. Most often the limiting factor in forward bends is tight hamstring muscles. Spinal health and balance require flexible hamstrings. The relationship of these muscles and the spine is described below. Leg muscles are built up and tightened by nearly all physical activity such as walking, hiking, dancing, and biking. It is important to include enough forward bends in your practice to counteract tightness in the legs and back and to regain and maintain flexibility.
    Give yourself a long period of time to lengthen the hamstring muscles if they are very tight. Think in terms of many months, or even a year or two, to lengthen these muscles, depending on your age and relative tightness. Be careful to take the forward stretch in the muscles—notby overly pulling and flexing into the spinal joints. Make sure you do not pull your shoulders up toward your ears, shortening and tensing the neck. Holding the pose dynamically for a time and then relaxing more and holding it passively for awhile usually brings faster results. By including some simple forward bends, such as the Standing, Hanging Forward Fold, a few times during the day, you can accelerate regaining flexibility and get the benefits of these invaluable postures.
Twists
    Spinal twists relieve pressures on the spinal nerves, align the vertebrae, and lengthen the spine. They are used to balance the spine after backbends and after intense forward bending. Twisting poses can be done near the beginning of sessions, as well as toward the end of sessions, to release any residual tension or compression. It is important to keep the spine straight during twisting to ensure the correct effects. Rounding the spine while twisting can undesirably concentrate the effects of the twist into one or two vertebrae. It is usually best to lift the chest and sit straight or keep the spine straight during the pose. Twists can release and prevent nerve impingement and improve the flow of energy to the internal organs and legs. Twisting postures should feel good and bring sensations of releasing tension and pressure and a realignment of the spine.
Inversions
    Inverted postures such as Headstand, Shoulderstand, Handstand, and even Downward Dog are tonics for circulation. They tone the whole body, counter the effects of gravity, and balance the endocrine system. The Headstand, called the king of asanas, stimulates the pituitary and pineal glands and increases blood pressure. The Shoulderstand, called the queen of asanas, complements the Headstand and lowers blood pressure, balances the thyroid, and is considered the great tension-relieving posture. Inversions drain stagnant blood from the extremities,tone the internal organs, improve complexion and eyesight, and have many beneficial effects on the mental-emotional system.
    If you cannot do the Headstand, the Shoulderstand will give most of the same benefits. If you are unable to do the Shoulderstand, you can get many of the benefits by placing your legs up the wall or even by holding the Downward Dog pose. Inversions can be practiced near the beginning of a session, in the middle, or at the end, to balance and restore energy.



W ellness, healing, relief from pain, and prevention of injury are primary motivations for many people to practice yoga. The long, lean muscles developed through asana practice are less prone to injury, use energy more efficiently, and heal faster. But even experienced yogis may overreach themselves attempting new poses, and it is not unusual for yoga students and teachers to become disheartened if they or others get injured from practice. In my early teaching days, I sometimes got discouraged when people would come to class feeling great and then pull something doing a pose. I would think, “Oh my god, maybe this person shouldn’t be doing this yoga. Maybe he or she was better off before.” Then I started observing more people and found that those who don’t practice yoga had just as many, if not more, problems and injuries. They might hurt their back just by picking up a shopping bag, by sleeping in the wrong position, or by the way they carry their purse or child. Many things may cause the body to go out of balance, even to a point of injury. However, yoga practitioners who practice regularly and for a long period of time learn how to heal