Living my Yoga - Day 4 of Training

Day 4 was a lot of learning for me about how to take a step back and protect my body in the future, especially if I want to continue to practice yoga for many years.

• Protect the Spine!!
• 20 minutes creates a new norm for the body - even though it may not be the optimum norm
• This is why it is so important to not hunch at the computer, because trying to return to the optimum norm will be that much more difficult
• Spine components:
  

  

  Source: testyoc.aaos.org

  



Herniated Disk
Source: testyoc.aaos.org



• Disk damage - learning that the nucleus stops producing water at around the age 30 (yikes...I'm 31!) which makes the disks dry and less flexible over time, increasing the the potential for disk damage....don't be too worried though, we have something to happy about, the more we move the spine in all different directions, the disk nucleus can absorb moisture...so that means we should move (safely) to help us protect our spine (and hopefully not get a herniated disk --> light blue area in the disk to the right can 'leak' outside of the disk and push on the spine)
• Luckily if you do get a herniated disk...."While you will need to stay off of your feet for the first 24 to 48 hours after suffering a herniation, you will need to exercise your back to help you regain strength and mobility as soon as possible after that. Exercises can strengthen the area around the herniated disc and allow you to regain mobility, flexibility and range of motion, according to Spine-Health.com" -- Yeah for Yoga! 
• Embracing Props
• Supported shoulder stand,Chaturanga, Plank, Chair Pose - Embrace the Block!!
• Learning about the spine and shoulders, and various other anatomy parts, helps me to understand why brute force attempts to get into a pose....in the long run will only hurt me...and I likely will injure myself not allowing me to do the pose at all in the future
• It is interesting how many of our yoga teachers have needed to have surgery in the past few years....should we learn from their mistakes...I think so!
• For so long I viewed props as a weakness, now I view them as a tool to help me go deeper in a pose, providing support and comfort ...why would I not want to be happy when I am doing a yoga pose?
• "Props educate the body.”—Patricia Walden
• "Props allow you to completely surrender to the pose and allow the power of yoga to fully work in you.”—Suzanne Deason

• Pada Bandha - Feet engagement
• Engaging your feet so they are like suction cups. 
• Engaging the 3 arches in your foot
• large inner arch
• smaller arch on the outside of your foo
• transverse arch which goes from the ball of the foot over to the pinky side.
• Ground through your heel - lengthen your foot - spread your your toes wide and then place the ball of the foot down followed by the toes.
• Remember, not to clench your toes - try to lengthen and extend your toes (do so by hand if necessary)
• Pada Bandha engages your entire lower body, from your feet, through your shin, over the knee to strengthen quads and to the inner thighs lifting all the way up into the pelvic floor, bringing awareness to your core (root lock).
• Remember to stretch your feet after walking in shoes all day!!
• "Sit in badha konasana and interlace your toes. Then interlace them the opposite way. 
• Sit in  lotus prep pose with one foot resting just beyond the opposite knee, then interlace fingers of one hand with toes and rotate the foot both directions and also move it up and down, pull it towards the body and push it away from the body.
• In Uttanasana, try to lift each toe independently - use your hands to hold the other toes down when necessary" ~ Source: http://www.yogalila.com/technique/