Get your behind in order

New year, more yoga. After a year and a half of study in Sun and Moon Yoga Studio's Dharma program, I have more than 200 additional hours of yoga philosophy, therapeutics, and the subtle practice of asana in my head, and I'm ready to practice teaching! And the beneficent universe (Annie), has given me the opportunity to do so - on Friday nights at 6:30pm.

Since I spend all day, every day caring for my little boys - a not-at-all-boring job, but also not one that gives my intellect a good deal of exercise (my amygdala gets plenty) - I am going to maximize the experience by writing about it. (Almost) every week, my plan is write about that week's class. And so, without further delay:

First Yoga of 2017: Stability and the Sacrum

Also known as: get your behind in order.

In my years (six+ years!) of teaching yoga, I have discovered that the more I plan for a class, the more awkward the execution of the class. I discussed this with my mentor (Alex) and confirmed that I wasn't a nut for feeling this way, and also realized that although the writing down of an asana plan muddles my teaching, planning a theme rooted in philosophy expands it. In other words, if I get my brain in order, the physical practice flows naturally.

So, the way I now prep for a class looks like this: 1) how am I feeling this week? 2) how does this feeling connect to a philosophical teaching? 3) what would feel really good to do that would complement this philosophy?

At the beginning of this year I feel, well, not great. I approach this year with a great deal of caution, and with the knowledge that there's going to be a lot of work to do. I also realize that at this juncture I don't really know what that work will be. But I know that change is coming, and I can expect that I will viscerally disagree with most of the changes. So, how to begin such a year?

In times such as these it is easy to spin out of control. Panic, fear, and overwhelm agitate the monkey mind, and then action is impossible. In such circumstances what I need is to feel grounded and stable.

And so, the sacrum. The sacred bone, Arjuna's chariot, the cornerstone of the skeleton - if your sacrum isn't happy ain't no one happy.

Located at the base of the spine, just above the tailbone, the sacrum lies nestled in your pelvic girdle. Got low back pain? You may be neglecting your sacrum. Sacroiliac joint pain - extremely common amongst yogis, especially the bendy ones - can ruin your year. This joint carries your entire body on its shoulders, and is extremely vulnerable to abuse in the form of bad posture and extended sitting, not to mention pregnancy. There are a lot of people walking around with a pain in their rear.

So how do we get our rears in order? This week I attempted to do just that:

When approaching a therapeutic practice for the deep lower back, it is key to balance the releasing of cumulative (perhaps years of) tension with strengthening the muscles that keep the spine and pelvis in healthy alignment. We began our Friday evening by patting down our behinds, locating the oh-so-important sacrum, and noticing where we were holding tension in our bodies. After breathwork and a meditative hip-opening flow, we began with the subtlest of movements: tipping the pelvis back and forth while lying on our backs to the rhythm set by our breath. We moved on to flowing bridges, and gave our cranky psoas (psoases?) some love by incrementally building up to supta padangusthasana.

Then we stood up and did a bunch of sun salutations.

Ok it wasn't that abrupt. We eased ourselves to mountain post, slow-flowed a few sun salutations with optional vinyasas, and then spent some time building strength in detail-oriented Warrior Ones, side angles, and triangles. Then we eased ourselves back down to the floor for backbend variations, perhaps climaxing in an unsupported wheel, or perhaps in a lovely supported bridge. Finally, free-flow practice or instructed twist, and then, savasana.