Playtime in the bat room

REACHING FOR THE FLOOR
One of my favourite things to do is just hang around on the ropes. This series feels so great for the upper back and shoulders. As I look at these pictures I realize that they don't convey the sense of opening that I feel in my body. In this first picture, I feel as if I'm bending at a 90 degree angle; my legs feel parallel to the floor.

CHEST OPENER
Here, I've swung back, using my legs to propel me so that I can catch the lower set of ropes. By bringing my arms out to the sides there is a tremendous stretch across the chest.

BODY ARCH
 As I stretch my arms "up" above my head you can see how the full arc of the body is complete. The arch is distributed throughout the body. This is the perfect way to open out the groins and the arm pits, thus take the strain off of the lumbar which can take the brunt of the load in back bending.

I DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS IS... it just feels great!
Again, perception is deceiving here. It feels as if my feet are just inches away from my head, but not so. I play between this posture and the two previous ones, cycling and flowing from this to arms "up", to arms out wide,  to arms "up", back to this one and so on.

This actually is how I use my legs to catch the lower ropes, pulling the ropes with my heels I take a few swings to be able to reach the lower ropes. I'm able to hold the position with my legs and then extend my arms "up" to get that first really great body arch stretch.

...and landing

I left us hanging in JUST DROPPING IN, so I think I should come down now as the blood's kind of pooled in my head.

My first word of caution to any who practice this form of yoga is to gradually extend the time you hang from the pelvic swing. Think about it, the ligaments and tendons (which are less elastic than muscles) have a totally different orientation to gravity's pull in this inversion. One's head, which weighs in at approximately 8 lbs., provides great traction; adding to the stress placed upon the spine and joints. In terms of structural engineering alone, hanging upside-down demands respect.

Come down with control and come up to full standing position gradually.

I do this by bringing my feet onto the floor in front of me and going into downward dog. This allows the body and circulation to adjust to the change in position. Like decompressing after a deep dive, you don't want to stand up too quickly. The cool thing is that downward dog takes a whole new lightness afterwards and it is, dare I say it of one of the most oft repeated and dreaded of yoga poses, a delicious experience.

the dreaded DOWNWARD DOG
actually feels lighter after the inversion
enjoy the sense of length attained from the traction

A standing forward bend further takes advantage of the new, easy, length of my spine.

I stand with my heel supported in the rope for a while to align before bending forwards. I press my foot into the wall, anchor the other into the floor while internally rotating the thighs and extend out the crown of my head towards the wall. By shooting my arms outwards into the ropes I am able to use my core to maintain the position through the completion of a circuit of energy created between feet, arms and head rather than by the application of force or pulling. I do the right leg first, moving through the breath to deepen the pose while counting the breaths. I  then follow with the left for an equal amount of breaths.

radiate the energy from the centre of the body outward to the extremities
like a star shining

The use of even inhaled and exhaled breaths is a natural and organic way for me to work. Working with a timer takes me out of the pose makes me think, oh God how much longer do I have to do this keeping me focused on the end rather than on the process.

surrender to the forward bend
radiating outward the whole time

Taking further advantage of the easy length of the spine, I then do a twist to the right followed by a brief forward bend over the extended leg and repeat on the left side. To rotate, first one must lengthen the spine and create space between the vertebrae. Pressing into the wall and floor through the feet, internally rotating the thighs — which feels like scissoring them — provides stability to the pelvis and allows for internal movement through the pelvic and abdominal cavities. Draw the belly towards the point on the back of the body where the back of the hand contacts it; extend the hand beyond the fingers of the outstretched hand while opening up the delto-pectoral groove. Mula and uddiyana bandha can be applied throughout.

stand tall and collected
spiralling around the central axis

A spiralling of energy can be imagined, if not felt, winding around the spine. This action actually originates at the feet and continues through the torso and gently through the neck (be careful not to let the gaze of eyes place too much emphasis on the turning of the neck by drawing the ribs towards the centre line and elevating the upper sternum and outwards under the collar bones) all the way beyond the top of the head. I always like to maintain the twist for a few more breaths with the head turned to gaze forward before I release the twist; I feel so Regal as I perform this complementary action.

One last forward bend and...

There, I feel much better now!

My next challenge is not a yoga one but a tekkie one; to do a You Tube video of this so you can see it in action. Actually that means my next challenge is a consumer one; to get a camcorder/camera as my camera went on the fritz towards the end of our trip out west.

This is kind of a cliff hanger, isn't it? The video is the least of my problems; it's the shopping that I dread. Hanging upside down, learning tekkie stuff I can handle. Shopping, ugh — that's a real challenge for me.

Keep posted to the same bat channel.

Just dropping in

Last weekend while working on handstand during a yoga workshop I enjoyed playing with balancing and attempting to extend my ability to maintain the inverted position. Handstand brings such a fresh and lively perspective to my body and brings out the kid in me. I love the dynamic interplay of:

• the 3 3rds of the body - the legs/pelvis, the core and the shoulder/arm regions
• the skin, the muscles and the structure of the bones
• the bandhas and the breath
• the hands and fingers; the feet and toes

Working with my toes to get a good contact

Once toes are established I begin to slowly and with control descend to the floor
reaching really, really strongly through my arms
getting my fingers and hands in place
gathering skin to muscle, muscle to bone
and feeling the rope with my toes

Contact made, I begin to play with balance
notice how my feet are drawing back
I push my hands into the floor, firm up the core
and bring my feet forwards
Dynamic interplay back and forth as
balance is attained

just another view
toe bones touch and legs work together as one

Bear in mind that I am proficient in balancing in the centre of the room for brief periods of time and descending into handstand from the ropes enables me to have the benefit of subtle support and feedback provided by the grip of my toes on the ropes and the padding at my back body. I am in no danger of falling backwards as I am able to come out by bringing my legs down in front of me with control.

My core is strong enough that with the benefit of: mula and uddyana bandha; even, focused and controlled breathing, I can draw the floating ribs and the ASIS (anterior superior iliac spine) towards each other, filling out T12 and creating lift and lightness in the pose. 

As I descend my fingers are spread and the contact of my hands are slightly clawed (this is an old gymnastics technique) so that the finger tip pads, the base of the fingers and the heels of the hands provide a solid base from which ample feedback to and from the rest of the body is exchanged thus enabling the subtle movements required for balance to take place. The fingers and the muscles in the arms communicate with each other as do the toes and leg muscles.

From gymnastics I know that the more you "push" into the floor, the more lift you get. So, pushing into the floor drives awareness into the core/T12 and through it into the legs and feet. Conversely filling out T12 enables the hands to drive into the earth as the legs shoot upwards to the heavens. Activating the legs and feet reflexively activates the arms and hands and vice versa. The skin draws into the muscle and the muscle into the bone; I feel tall, long and lean (though I am none of these things) and it feels exactly like diving from a 3 metre board (I used to dive in university). Ahhh, what a lovely feeling!

Unfortunately it is almost impossible to write about the work without dissecting what is really a dynamic, organic interplay of actions allowing the pose to take full flight.

For more on yoga with ropes check In the Bat Room and Just Hanging Out

in the bat room

I usually begin hanging from the pelvic swing

with this pose, click here to see.

And, then proceed to the version below.

I am not actually touching the mat here.

Notice the shadow on the green mat.

To release the back in a little different way

I then do these 2 versions beginning with

the less dramatic pose above followed

by the one you see below.

This one here is a little tricky. You have to keep the rope to the inside of the knees and ankles and squeeze towards the middle. This is when it really helps to have a butt, the bigger the better. I find it demands a lot of trust in my abilities as it feels as if I could slip off at any moment. However, this is exactly what makes it such a great technique to practice as it is this very quality that enables me to descend into handstand. I'll talk about this and demonstrate it in another post.

just hanging out

One of the many things I love about my work is I get to hang out between clients. Thanks to Pam for being my photographer.

More tomorrow, til then hang in there all!