Integrating Spirit & Mechanics

I'm often told: “I'm not flexible, I can't do yoga.” I can understand the confusion because when I first watched people practicing yoga asanas (postures), I thought it was some form of gymnastics or extreme sport. Through years of Hatha yoga practice I’ve found that there are definitely asanas that only the most advanced practitioner can do, but I've also found that "getting" a posture is not the point of practice.

In the process of practicing and teaching yoga, I’ve found something sweeter than the struggle to "get" the most advanced postures: I’ve found a deeper understanding of happiness. I’ve uncovered hits and sometimes blasts of "chit-ananda" or “bliss-consciousness”. What is the point of asanas such as downward dog, triangle or extended side angle? As John Friend, the founder of Anusara yoga, says: "It all goes back to ‘chit-ananda’ which resides in everyone..."

In my introductory program, I show you Anusara yoga’s five universal principles of alignment. These principles of alignment are key to understanding how the “energetics” or spirit of the body integrates with the “matter” or biomechanics of the body.

The first principle, "Open to Grace" is essential to the practice. The word Anusara in Sanskrit means to step into the currents of grace. Instead of fighting the currents in our lives, John Friend says when we open to grace "all efforts are tempered and are less hardening and contractive."

The second principle of Anusara yoga, "Muscular Energy", is taking ownership of our muscles without gripping or clinging. It involves hugging all of the muscles onto the bones and into our midline: the energetic and physical center of the body.

The third principle, "Inner Spiral", is an expanding motion that takes the muscles of the legs and arms in towards the midline of the body. As the legs and arms are placed in an inward spiral, the corresponding action is a broadening of the back and hips, pelvis and buttocks.

The fourth principle, "Outward Spiral", is a contracting motion that balances the inner or expanding spiral of the arms and legs. As the muscles of the arms move away from each other, the shoulder blades come together in the upper back. Also, as we activate outward spiral in the legs, the tailbone moves down sealing the container of the body at the base of the spine.

The fifth principle of alignment in Anusara yoga, "Organic Energy", is the one that most people associate with Hatha yoga: flexibility. While flexibility is important, when it’s not countered with the above four principles of alignment, an overly limber body can lead to injuries.

Organic energy is the action of expanding the energy that has been collected into the midline of the body outwardly. The energy expands from the core of the body out to the periphery of the fingers and toes. And the practitioner radiates and expresses "chit-ananda" or bliss-consciousness out to the world.