Yoga, adapted.
Hey fellow amputee!!
I am so glad you are interested in yoga. Before I lost my leg I did an enormous amount of yoga and I can say it really helped me get back to being myself again after I lost my leg.
Nothing can replace having a very trustworthy teacher who can guide you in your yoga practice, but I will try to outline some of the foundations of yoga to get you started.
The first concepts I am going to talk about here don’t have to be mastered before you do any asana (yoga postures). These are foundational issues in yoga that you will keep coming back to, over and over again. The more yoga you practice, the more breathing, gaze, bandhas will become internalized. This is just meant as an intro, to have these concepts in your mind as you start doing asana.
Why do yoga?
My mind works a like a hamster wheel. Yoga gives me the opportunity to slow down my mind. The second yoga sutra (the philosophical guidelines for yoga written by the sage Patanjali) says, “Yoga is the calming of the fluctuations of the mind.” Just something to think about as you practice. You will see the next things I explain help calm and focus the mind.
How to practice.
- Sit comfortably.
- Breathe.
- Notice your thoughts
- No judgement, no rules, just notice.
Reference, very dense: http://www.swamij.com/yoga-sutras-10104.htm#1.2
Breathing
In the style of yoga I practice (Ashtanga) we do ujayi breathing. Every movement is initiated by the breath. You start to inhale before you move (like a millisecond before).
Basically, with ujayi breathing, you breathe in and out only through your nose, keeping your mouth shut. In addition, you create a Darth Vader-like sound in the back of your throat, creating white noise to help focus your mind. Also we breath up into the chest and lungs, not into the belly, expanding the rib cage and the side of the body. This is actually a practice in and of itself (pranayama), but it greatly enhances the practice of asana (yoga postures) as well.
How to practice:
- Sit comfortably and up straight.
- Close your mouth.
- Breath in through your nose, slowly. Count to five on the inhale.
- Breath out through your nose, count to five on the exhale.
- Try breathing into your ribs, the side of your body, rather than your belly.
- Relax your tongue in your mouth and push the air being inhaled and exhaled against the back of your throat to create sound.
Here’s a video to help: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8O2zheeES0
Drishti (gaze)
When practicing yoga, you fix your gaze on one thing. There are a number of places to look, depending on the posture you are in. But the idea is that you do not look around. This practice, like ujayi breathing, helps focus the mind and helps you let go of your distracted mind. Sometimes the gaze is fixed on a point, like your hand or your nose, but most often your gaze is directed forward and is not focusing on anything. You let the background fade away into fuzziness.
How to practice:
- Sit comfortably.
- Breathe slowly through only your nose.
- Relax your eyes and let go of focusing on anything in particular.
- Notice if you can simply leave your eyes open without actually “seeing” items in the background.
- And then notice if you can do the same with items in the foreground, much like “staring into space.”
Reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbaG-zc1b-M
Bandhas (internal locks)
This is actually an area I am working very hard on right now. 15 years into a regular practice and still working on the foundations!! LOL This is sort of the wonderful thing about yoga. You keep moving forward, but coming back to basics. That’s ok and sort of a life lesson, no?
In the style of yoga I practice, there are three bandhas (or internal locks). Mula bandha, udiyana bandha, and jalandhara bandha. Locks are the sustained engagement of muscles while you move in the practice.
Mula bandha is the root lock. This is so foundational that entire books are written about this bandha. Often described as a lifting of the pelvic floor, mula bandha creates stability. This is incredibly subtle and I am only able to think about it in the grossest (meaning largest) way. So this is going to sound funny, but basically, you have to hold yourself “down there” like you have to go to the bathroom. You’re supposed to hold these muscles the whole time you practice. So practice your kegels!
Udiyana bandha is the abdominal/core lock. Imagine engaging your belly muscles and side rib muscles so that you have to breathe into your chest instead of your belly. Again, we try to hold this lock for most of the practice. Udiyana bandha and mula bandha in concert create a muscular base of support when doing yoga.
Jalandhara bandha is the chin lock. You simply lower your chin to your chest, as tightly as possible. This bind is practiced in only a few postures.
Ok, now that you have mastered all of that LOL you are ready to start doing asana (yoga postures).
Sun Salutations — ASANA!! Yay.
A great place to start with asana are the sun salutations, surya namaskara A and B. I will provide a number of ways into the posture here. Pick what helps you learn.
Surya Namaskara A
Written out:
1. Stand at the front of your mat, feet together, hands by your side. Breath in and out through your nose.
2. Inhale and reach your arms up over your head.
3. Exhale and fold forward, trying to touch the floor with your fingertips.
4. Inhale and look up, still basically folded in the middle.
5. Exhale and step back. You may need to put your knees on the floor. This is where balance and strength will really matter with a prosthestic. You’ll have to figure out how to be in a plank position.
6. Inhale, looking up, doing a mini back bend.
7. Exhale and push back into downward facing dog. Breath in and out five times, through your nose.
8. Inhale and step up to the front of the mat. Look up.
9. Exhale, folding forward again.
10. Inhale and stand up up, arms reaching up over your head, looking up.
11. Exhale, arms at your side, looking forward.
Surya Namaskara A
And a video
Don’t worry about the jumping you will see in this video. Just step back and see what works for you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftwHMruUdCs
I practice most days in Brookline, Massachusetts with my teacher Kate O’Donnell. You should come join me.
Best, Erin
