They are energetic, powerful, active and give great energy, just what we need. In standing postures it is essential to create awareness in the soles of the feet, in the work of the feet, the ankles and the legs so that this produces a clear impact throughout the entire body, especially in the spine and, in addition, it gives us a feeling of lightness.
Hello, my name is Silvia Jaén and I welcome you to my yoga class
It is going to take place in the wonderful crater of the volcano, in Lanzarote where it is just going to be ideal for the group of postures that we are going to work today, the standing postures
Standing poses are energetic are powerful, active they give great energy
Just the one we need and the one that this wonderful place we are in will bring us
To work the standing postures it is essential to create awareness in the soles of the feet, in the work of the feet, of the ankles in the work of the legs so that this produces a clear impact throughout the entire body, especially the spine, and produces a feeling of lightness that is what should be in all asanas, in all yoga postures
A yoga posture is never heavy, must never fall, must never be dense
It must always be light so that there is some internal space and so that the breath can move freely
So let's start these poses, the first ones of a whole group of poses where we can find: Push-ups, twists, extensions, inverted poses but as I told you before, their base are the standing postures, for the correct understanding of what we are going to do later in future asanas
In order to do what we are going to stand up, we are going to start with the basic Tadasana pose, which is generally executed with feet together, unless there is a lumbar pathology, in this case the feet would separate, but we are not going to stop doing it because of it
Today, more than anything, we want to find the sense in standing postures as by working with feet apart I can create and access more easily to the gesture of the sacrum
Which is this flat bone at the beginning of the column, which when I direct it to the ground there is a full rising gesture of column to the sky
In this way, as I mentioned before the posture is going to become light there will be a lot of space, a lot of openness and the breath will be able to function and move better
So let's start with my hands on my waist for now
We are going to be very clear about the work that the feet do in this position, so from now on we are going to divide it into 4 parts: The front part: which are the ones that comprise the toes The back part: which is the one that understands the heels Then the outer part: that goes from the little finger up to the outer heel
And the internal part: what is the one that is directed from the big toe up to the inside of the heel
These four points we are going to push at the same time on the ground
This means that practically, the foot is no longer the one that pushes but we involve the whole leg pushing towards the ground at the same time
Once I step equally, to do this, I have to separate my toes well, both, on the front, external, internal and rear there is already some action on the foot what is going to make me link with some action also on the legs
The legs are going to stay firm, the kneecaps will go up and with this gesture we are going to try that the sacrum, the lower part of the spine, descends in a very clear gesture
It means that at no time when I make that gesture I was talking about before, the sacrum is not going to escape like this, pronouncing more the lumbar curvature
This would generate a lot of tension in this area and therefore in a slightly higher area, and an exaggerated expansion from the front of the spine
So this way with feet apart, as we said, with firm legs and kneecaps up you bring the sacrum to the ground
Try to keep your buttocks soft do not activate them and in this way when the sacrum goes down there is a rise of the pubic bone towards the belly button
It is a gesture that doesn't come fast, that little by little, we are going to learn without haste but it is fundamental so that this space is produced in the front of the body and everything we do in Tadasana, we are going to take it to the following positions
If the sacrum, as I was telling you, escapes the space is very clear here but with tension
If the sacrum, however, is overly hidden, the result is a shortening in the front of the body, with which there is no room to breathe, with which we cannot feel, neither the light posture, nor the soft breathing
So we place the sacrum in a middle point, a middle ground, let it descend, in such a way that a space is produced in the front column, without losing the action in the feet and legs, take with a wide circle your shoulders back, that's it, and let the shoulder blades push forward little by little
The posture at first may seem a bit exaggerated but it is when a real space occurs, at the chest level, clavicles and sternum
Keep your shoulders down and back and the head in line with the spine
With the wide panoramic gaze forward let the breath move through that space that you have generated
There are many actions at the same time but try to maintain awareness in each of them while you breathe calmly
Okay, we get out of the pose and now we're going to try it with our feet together
So let's bring together the big toe, heels, the inside of the foot together, it is exactly the same, it may take a little more work, a little more awareness in the area of the feet, in the action of the legs to generate the descent of the sacrum but it can be done, so keep pushing with the four parts of your feet, frontal, external, internal and rear
That activity in the legs, that produces the rise of the kneecap upwards
Lower the sacrum once you lower it you will notice that from the pubis up to the belly button more space is generated, there is more height from the belly button to the sternum, there is also more distance from the sternum to the chin, it also occurs, a clear space, once I have this, don't stop taking your shoulders down and back
and keep your gaze calmly ahead
Breathe, once this is understood, this we are going to go to the next posture, a basic posture also called Utthita Trikonasana
In the standing postures, we always start from the Tadasana posture, it's like the neutral posture, the posture that repositiones, that settles, that makes us have the awareness of her, and then take her to the other postures that come later
So let's start from Tadasana, we quickly review all that gesture of pushing feet, action in the legs, descent of the sacrum and how all this generates an elevation of the column and the edges of the trunk towards the sky
Carrying your shoulders far back, feel the space in your collarbones and breathe in calm
So from Tadasana, we separate arms and legs, we try to keep the feet parallel to each other
It means that we can't keep our feet a little bit out, they must stay at all time, parallel to each other, very important so that the rest of the pose goes well
So taking into account the above points in which I maintain the thrust of the four sides of the foot, the firmness of the legs, the kneecaps go up, the descent of the sacrum, that makes us generate more space and more height, from the edges of the trunk and front column
The gesture of the shoulders back as we did in Tadasana, and the firmness of the arms, we carry our heads slightly, in line with the column
Once here, keep those actions while you breathe calmly
We begin to pose without loosing anything that we buit, we turn the left foot inwards and the right foot completely outwards
We are going to keep the legs very firm as up to now
Keep the sacrum down, as you've done all this time, in such a way that the trunk rises and does not fall
We've agreed that the yoga posture is not heavy, it does not sink it rises all the time to the sky
Keep the neck very long, the chest very open and when you breathe out, you lengthen the right side and enter the position holding your leg where you can reach it: ankle or calf
Keep your legs firm and from here, for now we are going to put our hands on our hips, we are going to try not to make this gesture with the trunk of our body
Don't do a lateral hump
The two edges of the body trunk must elongate equally
So we are going put this side in more and more, and from the right hip, try to make the right side longer, go to the armpit, at no time does the posture fall or collapse, nor does it weigh on the right leg
The left arm helps make the posture lighter and lighter
Once here, your gaze can go forward, if it bothers the neck you keep it here, if it does not bother you, you can look towards the upper hand, at no time do you stop lengthening the two edges of the trunk, keep your legs firm, keep your arms apart, and all that Tadasana gesture, apply it now in Utthita Trikonasana
Breathe, until you feel the air equally on one side and in another
Let your gaze be wide, panoramic, as in Tadasana, feel like the breath can move over and over again and above all, separate the trunk of the body from the structure of the pelvis
With firm legs return to the center inspiring, you maintain the firmness in them, you keep your arms firm and we just change the turn of the feet
Well, this time it will be the right that goes a little inwards and the left the one that turns all the way out
Keep your legs steady those push points of the feet, at the same time on the ground, fingers, internal, external and rear
Keep the sacrum down and the rise of the trunk towards the sky, and taking advantage of an expiration you lengthen to the left side, and you enter the position as you did before, holding the leg, wherever you can reach, keeping the firmness of them, and trying not to wrinkle neither the lower side nor tension builds up on the upper side
Lengthen the two edges of the trunk equally well, and try not to drop the posture, on the left leg, that does not weigh, all the time if you keep the firmness in the legs the trunk of your body will remain light and away from the pelvis
With the upper arm open the pose and breathe calmly
Inspiring, you return to the center, you leave your feet parallel to each other, Little by little bring both feet together until they meet in the center and we do Tadasana
Taking up all those gestures that we did at the beginning, from the feet to the highest part of your head
Breathe
What happens when it bothers a little the lumbar, when we have sore lumbar, the sacrum, when there can be any type of ailment
At this point, very common and most very common to people who usually attend their first yoga class, the first thing they usually complain about is the lower back
They already come with it and their purpose is to stretch this area
For this purpose we can use certain supports in yoga to facilitate work in each of the postures
In this case in Utthita Trikonasana the posture that we just made it, we can make it easier, we can smooth it with a brick
So, we would do exactly the same
We would begin from Tadasana we separate arms and legs
Now we do it a little bit lighter
I take into account all those gestures, all those actions what have you done before, what we had in mind, and turn the left foot a little and then the right foot out
We will place the brick just outside of the right heel
This way what I'm going to do is soften the posture by lowering less, leaning on the brick and thus improving with a good action on the legs, on the feet and a good gesture of the sacrum towards the left side and forward a greater space in the lumbar spine
We keep here a few moments, same requirements on the edges of the body trunk, very long
Calm breathing, opening the chest wide and breathe
Inspiring, you go back to the center and we do the same on the other side
We take the brick, we put it this time on the outside of the left foot you turn a little right inwards and the left one completely out
Legs, feet firm active arms and exhaling we enter the posture
Hand resting on the brick but make sure the posture don't rest on it
It's the same as when we held the leg don't fall on it, don't fall on brick
Push it away from it keep all those gestures you've done so far, lengthens the edges of the trunk well
Not this gesture but there and breathe calmly
And then reaching out the upper arm to the sky separate the body trunk far from the pelvis, you look up to the sky if it does not bother the neck and breathe calmly
Breathing in, you return to the center
Always accompany the movement of your breath with the movement of the body
So put your feet together and again Tadasana
Breathe, bbserve that each time you are generating that wanted space
That the breath moves freely
Good, now we go with the next position
Taking into account all the action, all the gestures that we have to take as essential in the standing postures that will then lead us to the following, we continue with Virabhadrasana 2
So from Tadasana again, we separate arms and legs, this time a little more than in the previous position
The feet are again parallel to each other
The legs are kept firm, the body trunk is kept very high and away from the pelvis
don't let it fall, always up
Keep your arms parallel to the ground and from here you turn a little the left foot inward and the right foot completely out
Once we've done this, we will bend the leg, but we try that the knee does not go to the diagonal
What I want to say is that with this gesture we don't lose the straight line
You stay in line with the foot and ankle at all time
So once there we start bending the leg, as a reference we can use that the knee is just the same line as the second third toe
In this way the thigh turns out and I keep the same gesture what in Tadasana
Firm legs, very raised trunk edges, arms parallel to the ground and head in line with the spine
Finally, I look at the right hand
There is always someone who can be bothered by their shoulder, by putting tension on the trapeziums in this case we would put our hands on our hips
If not, if that is not the problem we continue with them parallel to the ground
Breathe easy, chest wide open, and keep your shoulders down and back
You go back to the center change, turn the feet, and from here keeping the same action in arms and legs, we bend the leg
Always checking that the knee stays in line with the second, third toe
That the rear thigh is kept parallel to the ground and from here all as in Tadasana
Posture going up shoulders down and back, head in line with spine and breathe
You return to the center inspiring you turn your feet and to the center, Tadasana
Now in Tadasana you keep breathing calmly
See how as you feel those actions, those gestures you are creating more awareness all over the body and therefore in the breathing
Feel how it moves freely
That the chest, the clavicles, the sternum have more and more space
Feel every part of the body doing the action it has to do now in Tadasana
And feel as a result a deep trunk lift, the firmness and inner calm
Well let's continue with the next posture called Utthita Parsvakonasana
So, from Tadasana, as we have agreed that we are going to do, between the standing postures let's separate arms and legs again
Same separation as before, as in Virabhadrasana 2 pose
For now, feet parallel to each other here when you spread your feet when the arms are parallel to the ground, stop for a moment, and feel how the posture is acquiring that gesture of Tadasana, that gesture of not weigh, of being light
As intense as it is but try to keep that lightness and that space so that the breath can move
Once here we turn our feet again, and as we did in Virabhadrasana 2 in the previous position, we rotate the thigh, bend the leg and check always, knee, second, third toe in line
Leg from behind very firm and exhaling, you lengthen your side, as if it were Utthita Trikonasana
Once there, as we said before, we can rest our hand on the ground, in case there is no problem or we can rest our hand on a brick if the lower back is bothering us, or if it may be difficult to touch the ground with your fingers
The brick will always be a little support for us
We can leave it low or we can leave it high if you prefer it
Once this is done as we mentioned before, do not let the weight of your body fall on the brick or on your fingertips
Keep the light posture, opening up, and with very firm legs, especially the one behind
That, the edges of the trunk like those of Utthita Trikonasana the second posture that we performed in today's session
Very long, no lateral humps, but have the same space the upper side and the lower side, far from the pelvis, separating all you can in the pelvis
The arm above, grows towards the sky, lightening the posture and the head is in line with the spine
Opening your chest wide, breathe
To return back, strong with your legs you return inspiring, arms parallel to the ground, we change
We move the brick again if we need it if the lumbar area bothers us
If not, we put it aside, to rest the fingertips on the ground
Very firm legs that's it, arms parallel to the ground if nor shoulders nor trapezoids bother us
If they do, we had already agreed that we put hands were on our hips
Done this, we bend the leg, make sure that foot thrusts are the same than those of Tadasana
That the firmness of the legs is the same as Tadasana, and that the knee is in line with the second, third toe of the foot
The edges of the trunk very high
Head in line with the spine and shoulders at all times well away from the ears
We lengthen the left side and keep the edges of the trunk very far from the pelvis
From there, open the chest, breathe
Inspiring you return to the center leave your feet parallel, together, Tadasana, and breathe calmly
Feel how the feet, the legs, maintaining that intelligence that makes you enter the posture, that makes you feel posture
Feel the firmness that goes from the soles of the feet to the highest part of your head and not for that tension, firmness, strength, energy, and calm
Good, we have seen four of the most basic postures within standing ones
In this session let's finish with one, whose name is Prasarita Padottanasana
So we have to separate the feet, at least like the last two postures, Virabhadrasana 2, Utthita Parsvakonasana, more or less the same separation between the feet or a little more
Having understood all the work that feet do, what legs have to do and how that turns out on a very long body trunk with space, open, and calm, I bring the attention to the hips
The hips have already awakened some intelligence in the two previous positions
I keep my spine very straight, chest wide open by the descent of the sacrum that we talked about in Tadasana
Front column very long, open, you breathe in and look up at the sky, and when you breathe out, you stretch forward, without losing none of the points with which you pushed the soles of your feet on the ground
Without losing the work that we saw in the previous positions in the legs
The kneecaps very high and once done the work of the feet, of the legs, I quickly access the sacrum, which is not directed towards the ceiling, because this would cause a sag in the lower back, which is what we did not want in any case when we started the session, when we watched Tadasana
The sacrum was escaping, the lumbar area was shortened
Well, we have to do the same here the sacrum in this case, looks for the coccyx as before in such a way that the lower back stretches and generates lots of space and action on the bibs
The column is concave, the sensation of the spine has to be forward and upward and far from it with the shoulders invading the neck
always down and back long nape, breathe calmly and observe the front column space at all times
If we didn't have space we would be shrunken
If we do everything from the base of the feet, until we reach it, the front column expands, opens and then the breath moves freely
Once here, bring your feet together a couple of steps
They stay parallel to each other
With your hands on the waist you stretch your spine forward, well moving from the hips until you stand up
Put your feet together and Tadasana
Breath calmly
Feel a little more of each pose integrated in Tadasana
Each part of your body has more awareness
Your breathing is moving, is deep, and the look is wide, panoramic
Okay, let's go sit down
We're staying cross-legged as we started the session
With our hands on our knees and with everything already seen, it will surely come out much easier that stretching of the spine, that firmness and that intelligence in the body, in which far from it becomes a heavy posture but high, wide
When someone has that attitude of depression or decay their overall posture tends to drop, to stoop, to sink the chest the gaze even lowered, the head poised forward
What we do with yoga, among many other things, is to overcome that inertia, that tendency
So if the edges of the trunk, if the armpits are high, if the front of your spine like what we have seen throughout the entire session
If your head stays in line with column and a wide panoramic look is generated that does not precisely focus on a specific point but it is as if it came from your temples encompassing all the space you have on the sides another attitude is produced in the brain and as I said before among many other things, in yoga we work this, trying to overcome that tendency to fall, to depress the physical parts of the body and on the contrary, then to generate space and lightness, harmony and deep softness
So just sit for a moment on the buttocks, with your legs crossed and with calm hands on knees
Feel all of this at the same time without judging anything, just observing it
Let your tongue not press on the palate that rests on the floor of your mouth
Let your jaw drop
Let your breathing move
Just a few moments, contemplating all this
Ok to finish we're going to lie on our back we are going to use a blanket to place the head
A folded blanket with a round edge that will then come into contact with the shoulders
Basically so that the neck is not in the air, that all the vertebrae are well placed and inside of the blanket and can rest comfortably
So we lay down on the ground Before the final relaxation, first I place the blanket as I said, always in contact with the shoulders is a reference more than anything for, for that so that the vertebrae rest comfortably, all inside the blanket and once I have done this we will bring the knees towards the abdomen
It is very important, whenever you have done your yoga session have a beginning and an ending
I cannot go directly to Savasana, but I have to go lowering the pace little by little, letting little by little also the brain, head, whole body in general be situating and set itsself up for what is going to be our final relaxation
Once this is done we are going to let the neck lengthen in such a way that the chin goes gently towards the chest, lengthening well the back neck
This goes, carries, to lower the gaze as well, thus seeking a descent of the brain and a calm in the mind
If on the contrary I is shrink the nape with which the chin goes back the effect of the brain and from the look it also goes up and back
So it produces a gesture of tension
At no time will I be able to access deep relaxation because I'm alert
So you can help yourself with your hands, lengthen well the back neck, to let the gaze remain low and once this is done you can either keep your gaze down or your eyes closed holding the knees well
Spread elbows sideways and let the trunk lengthen deeply backward
Make sure that the jaw, the face is calm
Once the sides lengthen, the belly sinks goes to the lower back and once i have this I dedicate a little more attention to breathing
It expands to the sides
Rock your body gently to one side and the other giving a little massage to your back
Let movement and breath be one and so you can loosen and soften more from the inside
Stop in the center and once here stretch your legs towards the ceiling and extending the heel well as if you wanted to touch everything that you have there in front of you, you lengthen the back leg in order to create a lot of space in all that area
We do the same with the other leg
It is the same to start with one that with another, it doesn't matter
You also lengthen it as if you wanted to reach with the heel towards what is in front of you
What I get this way is a bigger space between the base from the buttock to the heels
Very important than shoulders don't look up for the ears but they already have all the intelligence of what is practiced
Move away from them, pulling your upper arm out a little
So the tendency of the hand support is like towards the index finger not to the pinky because if not, we would get that the shoulders close, let the posture sink and we don't want that
So, you spin a little arm out, you let it rest rather towards the index finger and see the space that you now feel generated in your chest, between the shoulders
Once I have done that gesture, there is a little action very soft, very soft, at the height of the dorsal
It means that i don't let myself sink into ground
That would mean I have lost the intelligence of the shoulders and arms
Upper arm out, and a little bit of smooth, very smooth action on the dorsal, towards the sternum
Make sure that the skin of the face descends all the time towards the jaw, and that is falling gently towards your temples, towards the ears
Check that each eyeball rests in its corresponding socket, it sits on it
The eyes are a projection of the brain, so the more relaxed you are, the more relaxed your brain is
Widen your throat the sides of your throat relax
Leave the belly towards the lumbar area, relax your hips, leave your thighs, your legs, your feet
Drop arms and hands deep to the ground
Bring your attention to the palms of your hands for a moment and feel weight on them
With next deep breath, you completely abandon yourself in relaxation
Start taking three breaths deep
Feel like little by little wake up the body and begins to gently move your hands, the feet, arms and legs
Make any gesture you need, any move you feel like
Wake up, feel again every part of the body, already relaxed and little by little we're going to turn on the right side
With the help of our hands we sit down
Try not to open your eyes
Try the movements be slow, calm and unhurried
Allow yourself a minute, of your time to settle all that you have practiced to feel the benefits of all practice
Make you aware
Feel your whole body and your mind calm
Namaste
Open your eyes a little bit, little by little
From the bottom to the center
Thanks a lot!
Audio:
Subtitles:
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