One of my favorite practices is to find the wonder in things, if only the outrageous complexity of experience and relationship.
Old advertising tin for “Scent of Flowers” hair oil. Since 1919.
On Friday, on the cusp between late afternoon and early evening, a friend, who has been under significant stress, came over to hang out for a while. I brought my friend up to the yoga studio, invited putting legs up the wall (vipariti karani), which invitation was accepted. To create more ease, I took a folded practice blanket and rolled about a third of the way and placed the rolled part under the neck, with the unrolled portion under the head, to support the cervical curve. Then I offered the placement of soft weight (in this case, buckwheat-filled, silk, travel meditation pillows) for grounding on the soles of the feet. With the placement of the first, came the involuntary sigh that sounds like a “yes.” I asked to be sure and added the second. With the assurance that I would return soon and staying in the pose was entirely voluntary, I then went to feed the cat and then rejoined my friend in the pose.
As the day was one of the really hot ones and even in the house it was 79F, we then just massaged our feet and practiced moving our toes before we moved from practice to sharing food. Having never been asked to move her big or little toes independently of the others, my friend discovered how delightful it can be to pour one’s focus into something so small and notice also what else in the mind-body is responding to the attempts.
When I am working on alignment of my body (into shapes or controlling movements), that is all my mind is doing. While I appreciate focus on alignment is not for everyone, the structure and focus are soothing for me. What about for you?
Unless you have to wear a uniform, there is probably a little flexibility in what you can wear to work (aren’t we lucky to live such a bountiful lifestyle that this is a dilemma). A tie might be required, etc, etc. You can always choose, at a minimum, to have clothes that fit properly and allow some freedom of movement.
My choice to be comfortable rather than “lawyerly” in my office attire except for special occasions possibly has impacted my career, but it is salutory for me on a day-to-day basis to wear clothing that is appropriate for the weather (when we dress inside for the weather outdoors, we need to use less energy for heating and cooling; wouldn’t it be great if we could get everyone to do this) and allows for freedom of movement (this includes shoes).
When I pick out my clothing, I want to be able comfortably take a full breath (think waistline), easily raise my arms overhead or interlace my hands behind my back (how do the shoulders, chest, and back fit), do uttanasana (coverage, waist line, tightness around the legs, back, and shoulders), and run for the bus (tightness of clothes and shape of shoes; forget heels). If you need to wear a jacket, there still is nothing stopping you from wearing a shirt underneath that allows for free movement nor having the jacket properly fit.
There are a lot of ways our choices can enhance freedom rather than constrain it. Choosing to wear comfortable clothing (which usually is better able to be cleaned at home than at the dry cleaners — helps the environment) and comfortable shoes (which helps avoid bone deformation and possible surgery — good for you; good for the environment), is just one of many.
When I think of the Anusara principle of calf loop, I think of playing with drinking straws as a child. I’d take the straw out of the glass and bend it back and forth. The straw would end up with a horizontal crease where it was bent — not quite a break — but the place where it bulged at the bend would prevent the straw from serving the purpose of enabling liquid to be drawn up through it. When our knees (or our elbows for that matter) are hyper-extended, I think it disrupts the energy flow from the periphery to the core, weakening the pose, and breaking the integrity of the alignment.
As one whose legs started out bowed (though less after over six solid years of working “shins in/thighs out”), my natural tendency is to hyper-extend. I find that using calf loop, I do not hyper-extend. Calf loop (also called “shin loop”) has us draw energy from the base of the shin, up the back of the lower leg, and loop it through the top of the shin and then back down the front of the leg. We wouldn’t ever start a pose thinking about calf loop, but in the flow of a pose, after the major principles are activated, including muscular energy, we can enhance muscular energy and the integrity of the alignment of the knees by focusing on calf loop. When I practice calf loop, I find that it lifts the calf muscle and draws it more firmly into the top of the shin, and moves the top of the shin forward. These actions do not bend the knee, but firm the muscles behind the lower leg, including the calf and the popliteus (which is the muscle behind the knee that flexes the knee) to the bone.
What is tricky — especially for those who tend to hyper-extend, is that getting the knee in proper alignment feels like bending the knee. If we have been out of alignment, changing our stance will feel strange and perhaps “not right” at first. The sweet subtlety of practice (whether trying to expand our ability to do poses, heal and injury, or live in better alignment overall) is learning what is true integrity in a pose and what is habit, what will serve and enhance and what does not.
