Applying the principle of Sarvanga Yoga in practice and instruction.

      To continue from the previous blog some questions might be;  How can we provide yoga instruction that invites practitioners to rapidly experience a unity that is already present yet unrecognized?  How can we do this without taking detours down the side roads of diversification?  First we must cultivate the practitioner's sensitivity.  Without feeling, nothing can be done.  The rampant injuries occurring in the yoga world indicate that sensitivity is lacking.  Any yoga practice that is causing injury reveals a tremendous lack of sensitivity.  This is a trap I've fallen into myself.  So step one is cultivating sensitivity.  This means that practitioners must learn what it feels like to apply an action in one part of the body and feel those effects throughout the rest of the body.  Practitioners need to explore the application of effort and learn to apply action with the minimum necessary effort possible.  There are qualities we want in a yoga pose or movement that require action but this action must be applied with awareness and often it is not.  This can be learned in a few weeks with proper instruction though minds that are thoroughly enamored with popular yoga trends are the most resistant.  As sensitivity is being embraced, we can begin to explore alignment and foundation principles.  Alignment is not a god.  It is important and there are certain poses that need alignment for injury to be avoided.  Nevertheless it is only part of the picture and if it is overemphasized it becomes a barrier to yoga.  Sensitivity is the quality that allows us to find the right alignment for our individual bodies without injury.  Proper foundation is of course important and must be understood somatically so that poses can express their full integrity.  Here we lapse into the relevance of the bandhas in this approach.  The bandhas which are themselves frequently mis-taught are recognized as adjustments that are made in the torso.  Their expression is the result of certain muscular actions made in the lower abdomen and upper half of the torso.  However, their dynamic can also be applied and experienced in the limbs, hands and feet.  Sarvanga Yoga refers this principle.  The term Sarvanga Bandha means bandhas throughout the limbs.  In this approach when referring to the bandhas, we mean actions made which affect relationships between the pelvis, ribcage and the spine in addition to actions that are being made throughout all limbs of the body.  When the limbs are active or muscularly engaged, broad and long they are expressing the dynamic of the bandhas.  When the hands and feet are active, broad and long they are expressing this principle.  So we begin to see that this principle of Sarvangabandha is a way to have the muscular body applying effort in a unified, comprehensive way.  This is extremely powerful.  It can be learned relatively quickly and provides a ready gate to the recognition of unity.  Where other approaches work in a step by step fashion sometimes directing attention here and sometimes there in the body this principle of Sarvangabandha ensures that unified application of effort which necessarily invites unified awareness will be present regardless of the pose, movement or yogic technique.  The only task left is to be very careful with the instructions we are using in class.  Instructions must be simple, direct and clear without any possibility of confusion so that practice time is not spent in trying to guess what the instructor is saying.   Actions and their consequences must be understood by the instructor so that there is no misleading of practitioners down the vague road of metaphor, artistic interpretation or fantasy.  In future blogs we'll explore in more detail what this instruction looks like for instructor and practitioner.