Knee Safety in Hip Openers

My Yoga Online has posted a new Yoga Anatomy article by Dr. Robin Armstrong, Knee Safety in Hip Openers. This yoga anatomy article reviews the alignment considerations required to protect the knee when moving into hip opening yoga postures. With awareness to these essential biomechanical applications, one can readily avoid injury to the knee structures. This article is a great learning tool for yoga participants and for yoga teachers.

Remember the children’s song: With the leg bone connected to the knee bone and the knee bone connected to the thigh bone. This could be a yoga anthem worth chanting before class. Our bodies function as a whole, and no one action goes without a counter action, reaction, or complementary action in another part of our anatomy. This is especially important to remember when it comes to hip openers, which can unfortunately lead to the non-existent ‘knee opener’ which is yoga code for a painful and long recovery from an injury to our knee.

Click Here to Read Full Article.

Other Related Articles:
The Knee Yoga Anatomy
Standing Yoga Poses and Knee Locks
Knee Integrity in Warrior Yoga Poses

Seven Points of Meditation Posture

My Yoga Online has a new article by Rosalee Yagihara, Seven Points of Meditation Posture. This meditation article covers some simple and practical tips in developing a comfortable meditation posture, as well as introduces meditation techniques for anyone who is beginning a meditation practice.



As we develop a greater self-awareness with our unfolding yoga practice, cultivating mindfulness through meditation techniques is a natural progression on our path. The benefits of meditation have been proven by modern science to significantly reduce stress and tension, greatly improving our health, a necessary component to a balanced lifestyle in today’s fast paced world. The Seven Points of Meditation Posture is a key foundation to a successful meditation practice.



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Yoga Forward Bends and Hollow Locks

My Yoga Online - There are many techniques to improve and isolate yoga forward bends so they generate a holistic expansion throughout the back lines of the body. A simple technique that you can add to some of your forward bends is what I call a hollow lock.

A hollow lock has a similar feeling as uddiyani bandha (upper abdominal lock) where you exhale and draw the abdominal muscles and organs up and under the ribs. The hollow lock is a partial variation that still allows you easy access to continued breath, but also facilitates proper forward folding.

We are familiar with the common abdominal lock that we add to plank pose and back arches. This lock resists expansion of the core, thus holding a shortened position of the chest bone towards the pubic bone-all with the purpose to support the lower back and prevent a passive collapse into the posterior lumber spine.

Very different is the hollow lock. When we slightly hollow the abdomen, the chest actually flows away from the pubic bone. How is this important in our yoga forward bend? When we expand the chest away from the pubic bone, we are also expanding the anterior aspect of the lumbar spine, which reduces the possibility of compressing the intervertebral discs in the lumbar region. Instead of folding into the lower vertebrae, the hollow lock encourages the fold to come more readily from the hip joints.

The hollow lock also has a tendency to create a co-contraction where the back muscles (ie back extensors) also engage to elongate the vertebrae instead of collapsing forward into them.

This application of a hollow lock can first be easily learned in common standing forward bend poses:
*Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend pose)
*Padangustasana (Big Toe Hold pose)
*Padanhastasana (Hand to Foot pose)
*Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog pose)

Again, this hollow lock should be mild. Full hollowing like Uddiyani Bandha is not advised as this full lock should only be done while sitting or standing upright, and with a sustained exhale. Since we should have continuous breathing in our poses, you can only do a partial hollow to allow breath to remain fluid.

This hollow lock can be just used for a brief moment where you can hollow just as you prepare to fold forward or can be applied in the middle of the pose to add better alignment and connection to the hip motion. The main point when you are doing this hollowing is to feel your front lower ribs slide away from the hip crest and you experience a shift of pelvis forward into the thighs.

With exploration, you may find that this technique provides great benefits and you can then see how it can be integrated into other forward bends like seated poses:
*Janu Sirsasana (One leg forward bend)
*Paschimottasana (Two leg forward bend)

Not all techniques and alignment cues work for everyone. The great thing about Yoga is we can be fully unique in our practice-doing postures and variations that work for body, mind and energy. Give this hollow lock a try and see how it facilitates a better forward bend.