Posterior Chain Practice

In this practice, I hope to introduce you to some postures or little vignettes of postures that will help to strengthen the muscles in the back body or the posterior chain. Now there's no one correct way to breathe in asana, but there are definitely ways that we can use the breath to give us more space and length in the spine as well as more support, especially in the lower spine. So we'll begin with a breathing practice that we'll take throughout the practice called the Sri Yantra breath. So just establish a seated position, whatever position feels right for you, and let's all take a moment to just close our eyes. And taking a before picture, so just observing what's going on in your physical body.

You can notice in the seat that you chose if you're hinging forward and the front body is trying to kind of grip and support, or if you're lounging back and the back body is trying to brace or support, maybe just sway the torso a little bit until you find what you know to be neutral. Maybe the crown of the head over the base of your spine, the more surface muscles can soften and those more deep internal muscles can do the heavy lifting. Turn your attention towards your own breathing. Maybe first without changing the breath, noticing where the breath is filling or emptying. How the caress of each breath might show up a little differently.

And then let's begin to deepen the breath in and out through the nose. And as the body becomes a very welcome vessel to receive graciously, gratefully, that breath. We'll start to give it a little bit more direction. So as you inhale, can you feel as if the inhale is drawing down like an arrow pointing down the thoracic spine, lengthens the ribs, open the collarbones, turn upwards into a smile. Can you feel on the exhale like an arrow pointing up pelvic floor, lower belly move in and up towards the heart.

And then inhale the breath drawing down, lengthening your thoracic spine, opening your ribs and of widening and flowering your collarbones upwards. Knee exhale like an arrow back towards the heart, pelvic floor, lower belly moving in and up, supporting the lumbar spine, directing you back into your heart, back into your center, back where you live. One more breath just to feel. Inhale drawing down, keeping the belly somewhat firm on the inhalation, and exhale increasing the lift of the belly pelvic floor back in and up. Let's see if we can continue with that movement of breath, that awareness, you can bow your chin to your chest, and allowing your eyes to flutter open.

And then we'll move on to the hands and knees, just moving wrists under the shoulders, the knees underneath the hips. We'll take what's called chakra vakrasana, so on the inhale breath, cow pose, reaching your heart forward, turning your seat up, bringing the chin just ever so slightly in like you're creating a bit of a double chin so you don't thrust your head back in space. And then exhale, bend your elbows, bring the chin further in, the belly in and up as you move back into child's pose. Just do this a few times, inhale, taking the whole inhale to arrive up onto the hands and knees, lengthen the thoracic spine, open the ribs, open through the collarbones, take the whole length of the exhale to move the belly in and up like an arrow back to the heart into child's pose. Two more times with your own breath, so if it's different than my breath count or my movement, always go with your movement.

And lengthen the breath, trying to challenge yourself to slow down to let the breath infuse or envelop the movement, leading the dance. Next time you're in child's pose, stay put and just feel. You're going to take your hands and bring them onto your sacrum with the palms shining up to the ceiling, so one hand over the other hand over the sacrum. Next in here, you're going to come to stand up on your knees, you can sweep the arms out to the sides, all the way up by your ears for what we call Bali, exhale, you're going to dive forward, bring the hands back to the sacrum, belly lifts to control the descent back into child's pose, inhale, sweeping up into Bali, taking the whole inhale to get their lengthened thoracic spine, open the ribs, exhale back into child's pose, inhaling, reaching up, lengthening your ribs up off your pelvis, now if you want to challenge yourself and you have a healthy low back, keep the arms forward as you exhale, bring your belly in and up, try to let your tail reach your heels before your forehead reaches the floor, if it works for you, keep your arms forward, come back up onto your knees for Bali, exhale, lifting your belly, supporting your lower back, with the arms forward it's a lot more challenging, if your low back is hurting, go back to the hands on the sacrum one more time, big inhale, lengthening your spine, opening your ribcage, exhale, child's pose, keep your arms reaching forward now or walk the arms forward if they're on your sacrum, spread out through your fingers will come up onto hands and knees for cow, and then this time exhale downward facing dog, so tuck your toes under from the lift of the belly, it kind of suctions the pelvis away from your ribcage into downward facing dog. Now you can take a few moments to adjust your down dog if you want to pedal through your feet, feeling the calves, hamstrings, get a little wake up.

But then be still, reaching the pelvis up away from your ribs, feeling the inhale lengthen again drawing down from head down to upper belly, exhale, increase the engagement of your lower belly, pelvic floor, in and up towards the heart. One more breath, try to be still, then rise high up onto your tiptoes so you have a lot of space underneath you and just take a slow walk forward and just feel the transition of the weight. You need to come up onto your fingertips or bend the knees, we're gonna make it all the way forward into Uttanasana, you can separate your feet about hip distance apart, fold down over your legs and then bend your knees enough that your whole front body touches your thighs. If you don't have the mobility or flexibility in the hamstrings, sometimes it will make your lower back round, not a very safe place for your back, so bend the knees, let the belly hang out on the thighs, relax the thoracic spine, head, neck, arms, and we'll take your fingertips to the backs of your knees, keep the knees as soft as you need them to be and then inhale, grow the spine coming up halfway, so what we call Ardha Uttanasana, can lengthen on the inhale that thoracic spine, again bringing your chin slightly inward, so not looking forward with the head or the eyes, feeling the length in the cervical spine, be mimicked in the length of your lumbar spine, lengthen out a little bit more behind the heart on the inhale and on the exhale charge the lower belly in and up, almost like your tail is a pushpin, pushpinning in towards a kind of a bulletin board pelvic floor. On the next inhale through that incredibly long spine, you can ride your hands up the backs of your legs coming all the way up to stand and then exhale to stay standing, find your breath, notice again if you're pouring your weight forward, the front body is trying to brace and harden or if you're leaning into the back body, back body is trying to brace and try to strike what you know of to be balanced.

So we'll take Uttanasana variation, so for the first one bring your hands to where your tush and your thighs meet and on the inhale breath just lengthen the spine, so as the breath trickles down, it lengthens behind the heart, the ribs feel the collarbones feel you get taller and then on the exhale breath, put a little bend in the knees so you can crease from your hips and fold forward in one kind of long curvy spine, inhale come halfway up the hands will ride back to the backs of the knees, that Ardha Uttanasana tail kind of pushpinning in to the pelvic floor, exhale you'll fold all the way down the bottom of the exhale the belly lifts in and up the head can relax, inhale through that super long spine keep the chin slightly in come all the way back up and then on your exhale just stay standing in Uttanasana feel the belly engage and everything else softens. Now you're going to continue with that movement or if you have a strong healthy back or feels like you want to try on the inhale you'll reach your arms up by your ears now more challenging on the exhale again bend your knees same movement will fold forward over the legs now it's really kind of front loaded here so a lot more work on the lower back inhale if you're using the arms reach the arms forward come halfway up lengthen behind the heart exhale fold forward over your legs inhale reach your arms forward of your head come all the way up through that super long spine and if your arms are lifted exhale reach your arms forward like a sleepwalker and then all the way down by your sides now I can feel even my hamstrings and calves waking up so we'll do it one more time with or without the arms inhale lifting the arms up or just lengthening through your spine exhale bending the knees fold forward over your legs again keeping the chin a little in so the back of the neck lower back stay long inhale reach the arms forward come halfway up exhale fold all the way down inhale reach the arms forward long spine come all the way back up to stand now if your arms are lifted reach the arms forward and down by your sides I fibbed one more inhale reaching your arms forward and up exhale little bend in the knees crease at your hips fold forward now change it up slightly inhale reach your arms forward come halfway up now on the exhale we'll stay here draw your elbows into a cactus shape and charge the belly in and up to the heart a few more times inhale reach your arms forward lengthen behind the heart exhale elbows into a cactus charge the belly in and up now if it's too much keep your hands on the backs of the knees one more inhale exhale elbows into a cactus belly moves in and up we'll fold forward over the legs release down and pause just feel could ride the hands up the backs of the legs inhale come all the way up to stand long spine exhale stay standing and just feel what's happened to you we're going to step our left foot back pretty reasonable stance and I like a wide stance so hip distance apart for a little bit more stability we're going to come into pyramid pose or parsvottanasana so if your right foot is forward take your right hand to your sacrum the palm shining back the left arm up towards the ceiling inhale again lengthen asymmetrically a little bit more through the left side body left side of the spine exhale put a little bend in the right knee so you can crease from your hip rather than bending from your back all the way forward over that right leg inhale reach the left arm forward of the head lengthen behind the heart come all the way up exhale again fold forward if it's too much you can keep both hands on the sacrum inhale come all the way back up exhale fold all the way back down now this time inhale come just a third of the way up so a low diagonal exhale fold all the way down inhale come halfway up you can really feel your hamstrings kind of saying hello exhale folding down now two thirds inhale come all the way to that kind of high diagonal shape exhale folding down now for reals inhale come all the way up inhale lengthen to come up and then exhale lower the left arm down you'll bend your right knee just enough to step your left foot forward head tadasana pause we'll step the other foot back now so stepping your right foot back reasonable stance I think reasonably wide as well angle your back toes up at an angle that your back knee doesn't have to twist or torque but it can be comfortably pointing in the same direction as your back toes your left foot is forward so your left hand is on your sacrum your right arm up towards the ceiling on the inhale breath lengthen behind the heart exhale put a little bend in your left knee even if you're quite flexible put a little bend as you fold down over your legs inhale reaching the right arm forward a little longer through the right side of your spine going to powerfully reach through the inner elbow to come up exhale fold forward over your leg one more like this inhale reach the right arm forward lengthen to come up exhale fold inhale come up with just a third of the way so I'm gonna have a low diagonal really reach to the right side of the spine exhale fold inhale come in up about halfway exhale fold and you'll reach through the right arm all the way back up high diagonal exhale fold finally inhale reach the right arm all the way back up to the ceiling spine long to come up exhale lower the right arm down you'll bend your left knee step your right foot forward Tadasana and just feel inhale let's lengthen the spine exhale Uttanasana fold down over the legs let's step the left foot back into a lunge and then just carefully bring your left knee down to the floor bring it slightly forward so it's right underneath your left hip and then walk your hand or hands up to the front knee your right foot is forward let's take the left arm up by the ear breathe in as the breath travels down lengthen a little bit more through the left side of your spine and then on your exhale breath we're gonna bend a little deeper in that right knee sinking your pelvis down and forward but as you do that feel the belly pull in and up so it's not hanging into your flexibility like a hammock but lifting up as you lower down inhale come a little bit out of the pose lengthen even more behind the heart exhale as you engage your belly sink a little lower with control inhale coming up exhale lowering down belly pulling in and up can reach both arms up towards the ceiling maybe even look up to the ceiling so taking a backbend with strength and grace and control exhale lower your hands to the floor you can tuck your back toes under lift your back knee and step back to plank pose we'll step the left foot forward in between the hands and bring your back knee down other side just establish your seat hands to the front knee readjust if you need so your hips are more or less level right arm up towards the ceiling inhale get a little longer through the right side of the spine exhale as you bend your left knee deeper your hips are going lower but somehow you're getting taller in all of this inhale come a little out of the pose lengthen exhale sink a little low belly pulling in and up last one inhale exhale keeping the belly moving up reach both arms up towards the ceiling maybe even take a little backbend in the thoracic spine inhale exhale bring your hands to the floor this time just bring your left knee back to meet your right then we're going to move on to our backs we'll just take a moment gracefully come onto your backs then we'll bring the knees into the chest for apanasana so you can place one hand on each kneecap kind of perching as if we're going to do the Charleston full disclosure I don't really know how to do the Charleston but I assume it's something like this and as your hands are on your knees imagine as if your sitting bones are like little eyeballs and instead of them peeking up to the ceiling they're peeking down towards the floor so your spine is pretty much in neutral position on the inhale breath you'll straighten your elbows and move your thigh bones a couple inches away from you your tailbone heavy and then on the exhale keep your tail pretty heavy bend your elbows bring your thigh bones into your chest your thighs as close together as the flesh will allow and just do this a few times I know it doesn't look like much inhale straighten and exhale as you draw your belly in and up thigh bones into your chest these small kind of subtle postures do it a few more times on your own can be quite powerful in kind of reintegrating to the intelligence of the body one more please inhale and exhale thigh bones into the chest you can keep your thighs close to your chest and open your arms into a cactus shape or straight out to the side if you have room and then you're just going to lower your knees towards your right tricep or your right elbow so it's kind of a higher twist which might be a little bit nicer for your lower back if you want you can turn your nose away from your knees towards your left but not trying to get your ear to the floor just a careful easy sweet rotation of the neck and just breathe inhale lengthen behind the heart and as you exhale engage your belly in and up and that might help kind of soften you into the rotation one more breath bringing the knees back up keeping the belly engaged to make that easier and then you'll do the other side bringing your knees towards your left elbow or tricep area so keeping it kind of a tight angle if you want you can add in the neck rotation just sweetly turning your nose to the right and feel three breaths as the inhale travels down you create more length capacity the exhale strength belly moving in inhale receptivity openness expansion exhale stability strength receiving now bringing the knees back up to the ceiling in a step the feet to the floor and you're gonna lengthen your legs down the mat not quite Shavasana yet one more pose and to keep the legs long the feet flex back big toe and pinky toe peeling back arms can be down by the sides to begin and then walk both side of your legs over to the right side as far over as you see fit and then start to just do a little shoulder shimmy of your shoulders also to the right so if you're peeking and down from the ceiling you look like a banana you can sweep your right hand onto your belly for a little kind of kinesthetic awareness of where what's going on down there and then take your left arm up and alongside your ear completing the banana keep those shoulder blades down to the mat both butt cheeks down to the mat feel the tail lengthen to the heels pinky toes flexing back again doesn't look like much but very interesting to the so as breathing in somewhere along the left side of your body opening lengthening exhale feel the belly move away from your hand towards the sacrum towards the lumbar spine and up to the heart one more breath lower the left arm first down by the side do a little shoulder shimmy back to neutral walk your feet back to neutral take a moment just to pause before doing the other side and acknowledge if you feel a difference in the sides already and we'll do the left you'll walk both set of feet over to the left side they can go off the mat that's fine and then do a shoulder shimmy also over to the left both shoulder blades like little teacup saucers resting down on the floor both set of glutes down into the floor equal weight flex back through the pinky toes left hand on the belly right arm can go overhead you call it soup to banana on the back banana breathing in length and somewhere along the right side the waist the so as the intercostals the exhale belly pulls in and up like an arrow back to the heart two more breaths and then reaching your right arm down by your side shoulder shimmy back leg shimmy back and take one last knees into the chest if you'd like and give them a hug rock a little side to side just massaging the back of the body into the floor into the earth acknowledging the support and then let's slide our legs into shavasana the legs can rest about a little wider than hip distance apart can adjust the buttock flesh that feels fairly supportive to the back of the pelvis and fairly symmetrical without having to get too fussy as you relax your abdomen your lower back will softly arc just ever so slightly away from the floor the back of the heart thoracic spine just melt down the arms a little bit away from the sides of the body shoulder blades underneath palms facing up a little breeze under your neck bones and close the eyes relax the jaw and then just for a few minutes it's resting in the space and support that you've remembered and Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Remaining still, just be aware of the physical body. Any shifts from the beginning of your practice. Aware of the movement, the natural movement of your breath.

Invite the breath a little deeper. Feel as if the breath could inflate through the torso and trickle down through the arms and legs, animating your fingers and your toes. As you're ready, bending your knees and placing your feet on the floor. And then just roll over to the right side into a fetal position. You can make a little pillow with your right arm for your head.

Let's find a moment of gratitude for your body, a level of your engagement in the practice, and the experience that's born out of that engagement. And pressing down with your left hand, you can let your head stay heavy. You're just coming up to sit. And bringing one hand to the heart, a moment of gratitude for the heart, insistent throbbing. Namaste.