Flying Up and Diving Deep

Dear Yogis!

I mention Uddiyana Bandha (drawing the navel in) a lot in class, increasingly aware that my belly is less and less toned as the lock-down months continue! Uddiyana Bandha in Ashtanga is used throughout the practice which isn’t easy. However, some movements of the practice help to remind us of the abs and to tone the belly. For example, lifting half-way up from a forward fold can only have one purpose, that of drawing in the abdomen and creating that cavity in the belly. Seated twists too.

David Keil of Yoga Anatomy says: "If you do nothing but take a big breath, the abdomen and pelvic floor (to a much lesser degree) get pressed outward. If you put a bit of tension into the pelvic floor and the abdomen, preventing them from going out as we do when applying mula and uddiyana bandha, then the diaphragm functions differently. In that case, the breath is re-directed upward. This is in essence the purpose of the bandha."

This is why Uddiyana Bandha is called the ‘flying lock. It feels as though everything is lifted, the intention of which is to lift the energy. Energy depends on much more than a muscle movement, though. Digestion has to function well otherwise all the energy is taken up with the inefficiency of the system. I found a lovely piece about the abdominals and the digestion by Adam Keen of Keen On Yoga. He says: Most of the body’s problems can be, at least, placated if not got rid of altogether by strengthening the abdominals, the middle area”. He says the middle area is “the fundamental rectifier of structural imbalances as well. It’s a general panacea”.

He says we need Jump Throughs for abdominal strength. Oh gosh! Tip – buy a couple of cork blocks and we can practice.

Zoom Classes 

I’m glad to see the new Friday time and the change to Stretchy Yoga suits more people. On Friday mornings I can see the bookings trickle in as I write the Friday Email. I miss our Ashtanga practice. Would anyone like a Friday morning Ashtanga practice? If so, how early? For all classes and especially today, you can book here.

Yoga in the news 

On BBC Radio Two on Monday 21st, Steve Wright in the Afternoon had some factoids about yoga to mark International Yoga Day. Wind forward to 32:22 to hear.

Al Jazeera has: Can yoga heal trauma among Palestinians, Lebanese? “Counselling psychologist Salony Priya, based in India’s Kolkata, believes yoga helps develop “learned optimism”… “It involves challenging negative thoughts. Breathing exercise and yoga postures help the body produce feel-good hormones,” Priya, 50, said. In conflict-hit areas, there is helplessness, insecurity and trauma, she said. “Meditation and breathing exercises help produce gamma waves in the brain, which lead to positivity and coping.”

The National Herald has:  YOGA is just an exercise, was a Western fad, is not an extension of Hinduism and should be optional. If Yoga is Hindu then Karate is Buddhist, Kung Fu is Confucian and Taekwondo also Buddhist. Yoga's only association with Hinduism is that it evolved in India. By this standard Algebra would be Islamic.

The BBC has a documentary: Guru: Living a lie. Ishleen Kaur investigates allegations of abuse at the Sivananda Yoga school, a place she once called home.

The Tour De France starts tomorrow! Have a lovely weekend!