Namaste,
My name is Apinya.
I'm a yoga teacher who also offers live classes on Insight Timer.
When it comes to practicing yoga safely and effectively,
I am a firm believer in proper body alignment and there are a lot of details.
My intention of making this short breakdown into small portion alignment audios is to help you to digest this massive information little by little and one day I trust that you will become more confident with your own practice.
Let's begin.
In this audio,
The alignment action of the legs that I want to emphasize is beneficial to use when you stand with one foot forward and another backward.
It also applies when the back leg you happen to balance on your knee and I call this action a scissor action.
What is a scissor action?
I want you to imagine that you have a scissor in your hand and you have it open.
You put a piece of paper in between the blades and in order to cut the paper you have to move the blades toward one another,
Applying that to your legs.
To help you to really comprehend this scissor action,
Why don't you give it a try?
Please get to your yoga mat and stand with your right leg forward and left leg backward comfortably.
I will wait.
Are you there now?
Okay,
Now take a deep breath in.
Exhale fully once.
One more inhale.
Now this time while you exhale,
Keep your feet firm on the mat and drag your right leg back and left leg forward until your hips square toward the edge of your mat.
Then take another breath in.
Exhale out.
You can relax now.
From my experiences in teaching in-person classes for so many years,
When we stand this way our hips have the tendency to tilt a little.
So the scissor action,
One thing it does is that it helps to square your hips and when your hips are squared,
Now you can really target the front muscles like your hip flexors and the back muscles like hamstrings properly.
Isn't that great?
Second of all,
The scissor action also helps you to keep your foundation a bit more firm,
Strong,
And stable.
And you don't have to take my word for it because you are going to give it a try.
So please come back to your mat again if you're not there already.
But this time please come to a tabletop position first.
Then you step your left leg forward.
Keep your right knee on the mat and bring your torso upright.
Now from here you can rest your left forearm or your palm on your side.
Then please shift your torso forward just enough that you can bend your right knee and get your right foot off the mat.
Hold your right foot with your right hand and bring it close to your right hip the best you can.
After that,
Bring your torso back upright.
Ready?
Take a deep breath in.
Exhale.
Now apply the scissor action by dragging your left foot back and your right knee forward just enough that you get your hips to square.
And hold it and keep breathing.
I just want you to feel.
Can you feel greater stability of your foundation?
Please relax now.
What do you think?
Isn't this scissor action so great and useful?
This is it for this audio everyone and I hope next time when you practice your yoga,
You will bring this scissor action into use so you get the best from your practice.
Until next time,
Namaste.
