Change Your Shape

"Movement can be defined as “any motion that creates a change in shape of a body or parts of a body…”

Katy Bowman

This is so important to yoga - any movement that achieves the objective of stimulating the flow of energy where we want it to go (around the body, harmoniously) is effective asana.

Where are you stagnant? Where are you blocked? Sitting all day? Try small movements of the sacrum, followed by larger movements of the sacrum. Try doing some lunges to open up the front of the hips.

If you have bent forward all day, try moving the other way. Try a gentle backbend. It doesn’t need to be fancy.

Ten minutes of present movement will begin to unravel hours of unconscious movement, and in time, your movement patterns will change.

Try breathing deep, then breathing shallow. Try imagining the energy moving from the stuck place to a place it is needed - the brain, perhaps, if you’ve been thinking all day, or the legs, if you’ve been sitting all day.

Asana arose spontaneously as the yogis followed their energy, so the old texts say, or through the observation of nature. Our friend Benny follows his dog around, doing what his dog does, allowing exploration to reign as his intention. Our teachers are everywhere.