Standing for Forward Bend It's not about stretching and bending in the conventional sense.
It's not a static thing where you name postures and try to perfect them in a particular way.
It's not about shapes in space.
It's not about any of those things.
The pose doesn't matter.
It's more about feeling inside the body and undoing tension,
To explore the movement of where I am,
And this won't take me somewhere else.
Say I'm doing a forward bend.
I can start from the wrist and the hands.
I can start from anywhere,
But I have to find out how it brings me to the spine and how the spine releases me back again.
The quality of attention you bring to the yoga practice in each moment is of central importance,
So it won't lock itself into a method.
You can't define it and pin it down.
It doesn't belong to anybody,
And it isn't one person's invention.
It's your discovery.
Birds and animals,
Too,
Show a natural joy of balance and movement.
So standing with your feet hip-width apart,
The shoulders feel light,
Your heels are growing roots into the ground.
The outer edges of your feet are parallel to each other,
Pointing forwards,
So you create some space in the sacroiliac joint,
And the lower spine can move more freely.
Gravity is pulling the lower half of your body down like sand in an hourglass.
The upper half lightens,
And a rebound enables uplifting growth into the sky.
Scaravelli says it's like a tree spreading its branches outwards and upwards at the same time.
Your legs are feeling strong and solid,
Reclaiming space for your internal organs and giving a strong sense of an alert self.
You're aware of the arches in your feet,
Especially across the base of the toes.
If you lift them all up and then put the little toes down and the others one by one towards the big toe,
With as much space between them as possible,
Your soles seem to cover a wide area.
Your kneecaps are floating,
Your hamstrings released.
Your pelvis is balanced over your ankles,
Not tilting forwards or backwards,
Not doing anything but undoing everything around it.
Let the spine extend and take the weight of the arms and legs as they release away from the shoulders and hips.
Notice that the uplift in the upper body is maintained,
As on an in-breath,
Space is created by releasing the muscles at the tops of the thighs.
Activating the outer arches of the feet helps you become aware of the tailbone's location.
Feel the spine extend from there to the top of the head.
Now bring your attention to your hands.
They have the same structure as your feet,
The main arch to the thumb,
A strong,
Shallow arch to the little finger,
Essential in headstand,
And an arch across the base of the fingers.
Just flex them backwards once or twice,
Looking for space,
Even in the knuckle joints.
If they crack,
It's probably a good sign.
They're not often bent backwards in everyday life.
Then bring the outer edges together like the spine of a book and fold them into prayer position at the front.
Feel that the contact of the hands with each other allows you to release muscles through the wrists,
The elbows,
The shoulders,
And back to the spine.
Remain aware of space across the front of your body and a lightness in your shoulders.
Maintain this feeling of weightlessness in the arms as you bring them down like wings.
The arms don't stop at the shoulders,
Their weight is carried by the spine.
The little toe gives a connection to the lateral arches of the feet to give a strong base.
The heels feel far away.
There are no big surface muscles trying to tense.
Just check from head to toe and back again.
No tensing of muscles in feet,
Calves,
Thighs,
Groins,
Buttocks,
Stomach,
Back,
Neck,
Shoulders.
The skeleton is supporting all your weight.
No muscles are getting tired and you could be like this for a long time.
Again,
We're in Tadasana,
The Mountain Pose.
On an out-breath,
Allow your arms to float up to shoulder height,
Weightlessly like wings.
They don't finish at the shoulder,
But go all the way to the spine,
Which still supports their weight.
Again,
On an out-breath,
Let the hands float towards the ceiling,
Taking with them the wrists,
The elbows,
And leaving behind the shoulders.
The rotator cuff muscles are released,
And the bones in the arms seem to move through a sleeve of muscle.
The more vertical they get,
The less you need to use big surface muscles.
If your neck muscles start to tense,
Just move your head,
Possibly backwards,
To release them.
Move your shoulders to release tension there.
Feel as if you're hanging from your hands,
And all the weight is dropping down.
If your hands happen to touch the ceiling or a beam,
It's a surprise to find the release of tension possible from this contact.
On an out-breath,
Suck the thigh bones back through their hip sockets towards the spine.
Your kneecaps,
Too,
Are floating,
Not jammed.
There is space behind them.
On an in-breath,
Feel that your upper body is light.
Feel the space in your hip joints with your fingers.
As you breathe out once more,
Move into this space,
Pivot at the hips,
And fold the chest towards the thighs,
As the knees bend a little to protect your back.
Bandhaskaravelli says,
While exhaling,
The lower part of the back of the spine from the waist down,
And in particular the last three lumbar vertebrae,
Drop towards the floor before bending.
This action gives lightness and flexibility to the upper part of the spine.
Never bend without lifting first.
It's an agreeable motion,
Similar to the wave in the sea rising up before dropping,
Splashing on the shore.
It gives elasticity to the whole of your back,
Making it more supple and free.
Your upper body,
Especially the shoulders,
Feel light and free.
Let the toes roll up,
And let the heels ground you.
Keep the hips wide.
Wherever your hands make contact,
Knees,
Shins,
Ankles,
Or floor,
Use that to inform the shoulder blades.
These move down your back towards the waist.
If you can make comfortable contact with the floor,
Walk forwards with your hands,
But don't overbalance.
This allows the heels to lift.
From way up on the spine,
Allow the heels to gently lower to the ground,
Feeling a rebound from the contact that makes your upper body light.
Then deliberately give weight back to the heels as you bring your hands back.
Allow the legs to grow a little,
Down through the knees and heels.
The knees are open,
Not blocked.
Be aware of space behind the kneecaps.
Be aware of the contact between chest and thighs.
Let any notion of pose go away.
On every in-breath,
Feel a little more space,
On every out-breath,
Move into the space,
Releasing any tension you discover in any muscle group.
This practice can be as intense as you like,
But notice the way your breath is helping,
And notice how your body is enjoying it.
When there's no more space,
No more release possible for you today,
Take a deep breath,
Put weight into the heels,
And come back with shoulders light,
Bending your knees to protect your back.
Repeat as many times as you like.
In Sandro Sabatini's words,
From standing,
Gradually fall forwards and allow the spine to lengthen.
Drop the heels and make sure they're really rooted to the ground,
And breathe and rest.
Come up slowly,
Moving gently with the exhalation,
And gradually unfurling the spine.
Then,
When your body tells you you've done it enough,
Rest.
Rest lying on the floor with two legs against the wall.
Namaste.
