From the Ground Up

Hello friends and welcome to Yoga Alchemy. Today's class is about a series called Coming From the Ground Up. It's a method that I like to use to work with the hips in a little bit softer way even though we'll be working in and out of standing poses. Historically and developmentally this is really good for the nervous system as well. It creates a sort of cooling aspect to the practice. So first thing I'd like you to do is come to sitting and you're gonna take your blanket and prop your blanket up just a little bit so that your front hip points are a little bit higher than your knee points. This allows a softness to the pelvis and allows the spine not to work so so hard. Once you get comfortable allow yourself just to feel the weight of the body moving down into the pelvis and feel the weight of the spine actually rising away from the pelvis. We're looking to create a comfort there but also to be able to be in the asana and have that the effort that feels good in the body. So take a minute to do that. Feel your breath for a moment. Tap in. Rest the eyes back in the head. There you go. Slide your hands now to the pelvis and just rest your hands there as though you don't have to over press but just get a feeling of the groundedness of the pelvis and again that sense that the spine is sort of growing out of the pelvis. We're looking for a yumminess. Can we create a yummy sensation in the pelvis so that as we move deeper into the asana there's still that sense of connectedness and yet peaceful sensation there. So we're not going to overload the pelvis. We're gonna give it all the space that it needs. Okay let's move to the mat. So come around to hands and knees and let's take your blanket and just neatly place it to the side. We are yogis you know. It's like that. You're gonna want to have a block handy. The block itself will be of great help. If you already know that you're quite stiff in the pelvis then I suggest you also get a chair. So we'll begin sitting back on the feet. You're gonna feel the weight of the pelvis again releasing down and you feel that link to the spine. So there is a real co-creative thing happening in the body with the mind. You're paying attention deeply and you just let yourself shift forward coming to hands and knees and curl your toes under. Let's stretch the feet out for just a moment. The feet have a deep connection with what goes on with your pelvis and then sit back on the feet. So one of the things that we're going to be doing is we're kind of going back to the original movements of the body when we first started to learn to stand up when we were little. And the way that this works neurologically is it sort of washes out some of the things that have happened to us since we were little. Some of the things that have happened in our body. Some of the things that have happened in our mechanics. So as you come to hands and knees when you take that first step and you plant the foot. I want you to not move forward in your mind but really let yourself be right here in the pelvis. Let the pelvis just relax down and see what would happen if you brought yourself up. These are basically movements of a child learning what it would be like to come to full standing. So sweep the arms up and again you're feeling a depth in the pelvis but a lightness in the spine. A depth in the pelvis and a lightness in the spine. Sweep the arms down. Go back to hands and knees and let's take a moment to release into child's pose. So here we go again. Coming back to hands and knees. Opposite leg is going to come forward this time. You can always take your back foot and curl it under like this. It's like a little kickstand if you need a little extra support and balance.

Bring yourself up. Go quiet in the pelvis. So the pelvis gets quiet, the spine gets light, the arms float up. If you feel a little wobbly from side to side, take this foot over to the edge of the mat. Just take it over. It's going to widen the space and give you more stability. Get a breath here. You're feeling that spine growing. Arms float back down. Now from here let's go on and take a downward facing dog just to stretch the legs out. Always returning to these poses where the body is in a reflecting itself from side to side. It's called a Samana, sameness. So there's a sameness on the right side and the left side. It's very soothing to the nervous system as well. Let's go a little further. So we've got the step forward and that step forward is always a very conscious step forward. You may know if you're wobbly, if you are, go ahead and take the right leg a little to the right. It's fine. Now's the time for the block. So get your block out and place it about where your ankle is. The other hand is going to go to your hip. Take a minute, take a breath. Look at your beautiful foot and when you're ready you're going to straighten the back leg. As you straighten it, you bring the heel down and let the front leg straighten. This is very soothing actually to the hip joint and just watch. I'm going to roll myself up. So easy like a flag unfurling. Now in this position, we're a little bit different but still the pelvis is going to feel like it's moving away from the spine and the spine is going to feel like it's moving away from the pelvis. So create that for yourself and notice your eyes. The eyes want to remain quiet. There's no straining here. There's effort. There's no straining. You're floating all the way back down. We simply unwind back to the way we started. The block to the side and back to a little downward dog just to stretch the spine back out. Even in this posture, can you notice your eyes? When the eyes are hard, they're reflecting a hardness inside. It might be a mental hardness. It may be a physical hardness somewhere in the body. Oftentimes, if you can consciously relax the eyes, you'll begin to relax that other area. It's pretty cool. Let's go to the second side now. So we're going to step our leg forward, determine where you want it so that you have balance. You can put your kickstand up if you like and then bring yourself all the way up. Let the body feel this posture. You're feeling the weight of the pelvis descending and the lift of the spine. You're noticing your eyes, keeping the eyes quiet and then flow yourself down. Back down and let's go back to downward facing dog. Lengthen that spine. And back to hands and knees. Now we're going to take triangle pose on the other side. So you'll need your block and step that leg forward. You know, and sometimes when you step your leg forward, does this happen? It stays back there. Let's grab it. Get it up there. Also, sometimes the front leg won't straighten. And if that happens, then what I'd like you to do is take the block a little higher. You could even get a chair and put your hand in the chair seat. I'm going to put my block here for today. A little bit back by my ankle. Slowly making my way up, letting both limbs straighten. Letting the arm just unfurl, spine unfurl. You will notice the quietness in the pelvis almost immediately. Feeling the breath moving through. Notice the eyes are quiet. And you can increase the vigor of the body because the hips are so nice and settled. Again, the pelvis is moving this way while the spine is moving this way. And slowly bring that arm down. Going to undo exactly what you did. Come all the way back down to the knee. You can place the block to the side. Slide back to hands and knees. Roll yourself right into downward facing dog. Down to hands and knees. And then this time releasing into a nice child's pose. Balasana. And curl the toes. Rest the forehead. If the head has a hard time reaching the ground, don't dangle your head. You could stack your fist. You could even get more height if you need it. You want the neck to be able to relax. Slowly press yourself back up. So this can be done in any of the standing poses. That's what's so brilliant. And it can be done in any style as well. It's a little extra time to come to the knees and step forward. But if you're working with things in the hip, you're going to find that it's very beneficial. And it'll lead you back to strengthening yourself to move on to new ways to move into the standing poses. So try it out. Thank you. Namaste.