If you happen to apply yoga, you’ve in all probability heard the entreaty, “Take heed to your physique.” It’s good, sound recommendation. While you embark on any bodily apply, it’s essential to know and respect your physique’s limits. Tuning in and listening to your physique and what it’s making an attempt to speak to you every time you apply is crucial not solely to your physique’s well being, however to the expansion of your apply. How else can you actually know the results of an asana?

As lecturers, we are able to’t actually know what one other particular person is feeling in his/her physique. So encouraging college students to develop their very own physique consciousness is essential. Though listening to your physique, and inspiring your college students to take action, is essential, typically it isn’t sufficient to maintain your physique secure.

3 Causes Why Listening to Your Physique May Not Be Sufficient

Physique Consciousness Is Not a Given

A few of us come to apply with pretty refined physique consciousness, whereas others come to apply barely in a position to perceive what they’re feeling even when it’s in no way delicate. This disparity could be the results of some folks having already engaged in numerous bodily exercise whereas others haven’t. An individual who has suffered bodily or emotional trauma could possibly be both hyper-aware of bodily sensation, or might need developed a mechanism to close down excessive sensation. Regardless of the purpose, it’s secure to imagine that each scholar who involves your yoga lessons is just not experiencing the identical degree of physique consciousness. So not each scholar will be capable to belief his/her listening expertise, a minimum of at first. That is the place an skilled instructor who is aware of assess alignment integrity is so essential. And alignment integrity doesn’t look the identical for each particular person—people will not be cookie cutters.

Ligament Ache Might Not Present Up within the Second

Even when your physique consciousness could be very refined, there are occasions whenever you could be hurting your self inadvertently. A pose might really feel effective within the second, however in some circumstances, the ache response could possibly be delayed. For instance, you could not really feel overstretched ligaments till the subsequent day. As soon as ligaments are overstretched, they don’t return to their authentic size. Over time, persistently over stretching ligaments can destabilize your joints. Refraining from pushing to your absolute edge is wise, wholesome apply, on your ligaments in addition to your cartilage (up subsequent!).

Joint Injury is Typically Hidden—Till it Isn’t

A stickier, extra long-term subject is the opportunity of joint harm, particularly within the hip joints. Our acetabula (the sockets of the hip joints) are lined with a cartilaginous floor known as the “labrum.” As well as, cartilage covers the heads of our femur bones. The cartilage on each surfaces permits the ball and socket to articulate easily and freely. Cartilage has no enervation, so we are able to’t really feel the ball and socket articulating with one another. Once we make a behavior of pushing or collapsing into our joints—this particularly applies to the bendier of us—the cartilage can tear or put on down over time. We don’t really feel cartilage harm till the cartilage is gone, after which it’s typically too late. Happily, hip alternative surgical procedure has improved by leaps and bounds. However a greater concept could be to keep away from over stretching our joints within the first place.

How Can Yoga Lecturers Assist?

As lecturers, we should always encourage college students to take heed to their our bodies, and assist them perceive that ache and discomfort are alerts to again off, to not hold going. However we additionally want to coach ourselves to know what collapsing right into a joint appears like. A few of the poses that individuals generally collapse or push into their hip joints embrace excessive hip openers—suppose Kapotasana (Pigeon), Hanumanasana (splits), Anjaneyasana (lunges) and Yoga Nidrasana (ankle behind the pinnacle). (Do you actually need to place your ankle behind your head to take pleasure in a grace-filled life?)

Backbends could be a downside as effectively as a result of there’s a bent to push into your hip joints to get that further few millimeters of top. And that ubiquitous instruction about preserving your pelvis squared in standing poses? Please don’t do it. Let the hip of your again leg rotate inward so that you just preserve continuity between the legs and pelvis. This goes for twists as effectively.

Listening to your physique is crucial. You’ll be able to keep away from a variety of current and future struggling by merely paying consideration. But additionally, do keep in mind that simply because every thing feels effective within the second, it might not be in the long term. Know what regular vary of movement is on your joints. And bear in mind: Nowhere in yoga’s texts does it say that pushing previous your limits is nice apply. Bear in mind shtira (stability) and sukkha (ease) from Sutra 2.46? (Translated: The bodily physique ought to be regular and cozy.) If you happen to’re going to place vitality into something in your apply, purpose for a stability between these two qualities. And end up an skilled instructor who is aware of what meaning.

About Charlotte Bell

Charlotte Bell found yoga in 1982 and started instructing in 1986. Charlotte is the writer of Conscious Yoga, Conscious Life: A Information for On a regular basis Observe and Yoga for Meditators, each revealed by Rodmell Press. Her third e-book is titled Hip-Wholesome Asana: The Yoga Practitioner’s Information to Defending the Hips and Avoiding SI Joint Ache (Shambhala Publications). She writes a month-to-month column for CATALYST Journal and serves as editor for Yoga U On-line. Charlotte is a founding board member for GreenTREE Yoga, a non-profit that brings yoga to underserved populations. A lifelong musician, Charlotte performs oboe and English horn within the Salt Lake Symphony and folks sextet Purple Rock Rondo, whose DVD received two Emmy awards in 2010.