Lower back suppting Chair Pose

After spending the morning with my Physical Therapist, we devised a new way to get into chair pose that is particularly supportive of those with lumber back issues. 1. First bend the knees while pulling in the belly button and arching the lumbar spine. pull up on the paraneaum. 2. Extend the arms outstreatched and upwardsa at about a 45 degree angle. bring the weight into the heels and balance for 10 long breaths. do three sets. This protects the lumbar spine particularly L5 S1 from over curvature - convex- of the lower spine. This would be less helpful for those with the opposite problem or a concave lumbar or flat lumbar disposition.

Iyengar's first 10 postures from Light on Yoga

Light on Yoga was Iyengar's first recognized major contribution to yoga in the West. Thought the writing is a bit staid and the photographs a grainey black and white the book retains its usefulness as an instructional instrument. Espically interesting are Iyengars takes on pranayama and on the Bahandas. In both cases when talking about breathing exercies and root locks he explains things in an accessable and clear way. I do recognize that in reading the text I am aided by my knowledge of yoga which allows me to 'see' exactly what he describes.

Having picked up Light on Yoga just the other day off my book shelf I thought a nice experiment would be to work through the book and attempt all 700 or so postures, completing about 10-20 at a time. This is rather ambitions as many require a very supple body and some postures will take some time to master. Yet I feel up to the challenge.

In fact after doing them myself I instructed my class in the first 10 postures today. They seemed to very much enjoy the expreience if not the effort as it was difficult for many of them to get the revolved poses (uttitha parsvokonasana etc)

Thats all for now I hope everyones self practice is coming along

P

Making Space

The toughest part of being new dad is making space for yoga while taking care of our new little peach. The fact is it can be done. Yesterday we all did about a hour of yoga while my wife did some pilates. We passed little banana between us when she needed attention and put here into her seat when she seemed able to entertain herself. I also recognize that this space for yoga is based on the fact we are both off work just now and that there will be less time once my job starts up again. Pre planning is really whats most important here and making sure I communicate with my partner about taking yoga time. She needs/deserves her time too.

cheers