Finding Home

November 3, 2023 Posted In: Pose Play
Yoga student Sammie Drost lying supine on a large, green gym mat, her calves resting on a black, armless chair. Her legs are belted at the thigh with a yoga strap, there is a blue foam yoga block between her lower legs, resting on the chair. A workshop attendee sits at her right shoulder, placing gentle reference on Sammie's shoulder.
It is each of our birthright to be at home in our bodies. They ought to be a refuge for our minds, allowing us to feel relief, attain tranquility, and embody the entire self.
Gather props such as a chair, yoga strap, blankets, sandbags, or similar items. If a partner is available, ask if they will assist getting into or out of the pose. There are many options: blanket under the head/arms/calves, yoga strap just above the knees, sandbags on the shoulders/hip crease/across the shins, etc.

Lie down facing up, calves resting on the seat of a chair. Once the props are arranged, place the arms to the sides, palms up. After several breaths, the chest opens and the elbows, wrists, and hands soften. On an exhale, notice the lengthening of your spinal energy. With each inhale and exhale, feel the sensation of the breath spread evenly through the body.

A yoga student laying supine on a large green gym mat, you see her head resting on a folded yoga blanket, her calves resting on a black, armless chair. There is a sandbag resting on her low belly.

With the foundation firmly established, the body is able to calm and notice subtle connections between its various parts. For example, connections can be made from the shoulders to the hips to the knees to the ankles. The reference on the back ribs and sacrum can send a certain energy to the legs. The diaphragm may signal a charge to the heels. MBS students have figured out that asana creates stability, allowing the mind to settle. This reveals a wondrous network throughout the loud and quiet places in the body.

 

Options:
  • Have a partner gently give reference on the diaphragm
  • Place sandbags on shoulders/hip creases/or mid shins
  • Cinch a yoga strap above knees/around mid thighs
  • Place blankets/bolster under the knees in lieu of the calves on chair
  • Press femur bones away from abdomen and notice the additional sensations of space
  • To activate, take one arm overhead while pressing the opposite sit bone diagonally away from that arm, switch sides

 

Benefits:
  • Relief and support allows for the experience of the subtle body
  • Support from back body, and removal of gravity allows for inner activation to unfold
  • Changes perspective of the world and perception of gravity
  • Alignment is restorative
  • Chest lifts when sit bones extended away from the spine
  • The settled emptiness allows for a sense of direction to be received