Eagle Spinal Twist

Welcome back. Thank you again, Matt and Winifred and Julie for being here, my friends. You know, everything's impossible without your friends. This would be impossible to show some of these details of these postures without my friends. So stay close to your friends. In fact, the texts say this. The texts are so clear about paying attention to the company you keep because according to not only the sages but also the modern scientists, ninety percent, ninety seven percent of human behavior is imitation. And so find people you love who glow, who are bright, who bring out the best in you and stay close to them. So what my friends are going to help me show in this next clip is simply a version of a lying spinal twist. We usually call this eagle wrap spinal twist. You'll sometimes hear it referred to as twisted root. There isn't a classical Sanskrit name for this spinal twist. You could make one up like supta. What is eagle pose? Garandasana? Garandasana or Garadasana? Garadasana. Garadasana. So yeah, we could make one up. Supta. Garadasana. Would be close. You really do know that most of these yoga postures are made up anyway. So part of being a yogi is that you keep making them up. So what I'm gonna ask my friends to do is let their feet release so the soles of the feet are on the floor. Nice. Reach your arms out in front of you and like we did before, just roll on back down onto your back. Hug your knees into your chest and wobble. Now as we explore this pose, I'll cue that if this is more torque than is useful in your sacrum, I'll cue a release into an easier posture. So my friends, will you please, we'll start with the right leg wrapping over the left. So you let your right thigh wrap over the left and sometimes that right foot hooks around the back of the left calf. Like notice you know, all three of these yogis happen to have that foot hook behind their calf. That's not necessarily happening for you at home. Reach your arms out from your shoulders, palms turning up and then the request here, Matt, I'll get out of your way. The request here is let everything come over to the left. So you're gonna let your knees come to the left as and Julie let your right palm come on to your left palm and now what you do here is you get kind of organized. You let your shoulders and your hips just snuggle into one line and then as you're ready you're gonna let this right arm eventually open back over to the right and notice as each of them did that. Yep, now here we are in this shape. Here are some of the things I'm hoping that you might notice. Like just notice if you look at where Winifred's shoulder happened to have land versus where Matt's shoulder happened to have land. You know so often I find that newer yogis want to know where they're supposed to feel it and what it's supposed to do. The play here in this show is to notice what's happening for you. Over here and you'll be able to see this better when we come to the other side but some of you might be able to see it. Some of you might be able to see it where Julie's knees are not needing to touch the earth whereas Winifred's happened to. Now we're notice how all of them are gazing slightly differently. So Julie's gaze is over towards her bent knees. That tends to be the gentlest and the most kind on the neck. Notice how Winifred's gaze is over towards her right hand. That tends to be the most demanding on the neck. So you'll just find out what's comfortable for you. How you guys doing? Does this feel okay? It should feel good. We've been working a lot of poses today. Okay now if this you know I forgot to let you know how to reduce this but Winifred will show if this is too much torque what you might choose to do instead is you just unwrap and you'll let one knee rest on the other. Okay so this is a sweet less intense version of the same posture. Okay so to come out of it let's come out of it together. So just gently you'll start to unwrap as you'll find your legs back in towards your chest hugging your knees in and wobble. Yeah nice pretty.

Okay and then to find the other side and only as you're ready so don't let me rush you but only as you're ready you'll find your left leg over your right. You'll find that wrap maybe that foot hooks around behind the calf maybe not. Like my foot hooks behind my calf and nothing magical yet has happened. You're gonna let everything come over to the right. If we were in a cooking show Matt's the the part that's already done. Organize and then you'll let this left arm come back over to the left. Beautiful. Yes so pretty all of you and most likely okay most likely if you're if you're with us if you're practicing and not simply just watching you'll always notice that this side is different. You know it might feel stickier or it might feel easier or it might feel more open. You'll still notice if we look at Matt's arm you'll still notice on Matt's arm how his shoulder isn't quite on the earth and how Winifred's is resting more and and it's hard to see Julie's left shoulder but it might be easy in this angle to see where Winifred's knees are versus where Julie's putting her knees but both of them are feeling the twist yes. Okay so our body finds different shapes and then also particularly on this this conversation on the side like don't let the tyranny of symmetry get you down. You know the heart the heart is more on the left the liver's more on the right the stomach's more in the center okay the spleen's all the way over here on the left like we're not symmetrical on the inside so it's so silly that we would imagine we would be symmetrical on the outside. Now notice how in this one without queuing Julie's chosen to turn her gaze away from her knees the more difficult gaze nice Matt is more straight up and down. Okay beautiful I think we need a few more breaths so that we're even on both sides yeah does it seem right I think so so hard to do both poses the same amount okay when you feel like we've done about the same on each side so when you feel ready you'll start to unwind okay you'll hug the knees in towards your chest and you'll wobble nice beautiful thank you my friends Julie Winifred and Matt thank you my friends for being here let us know what you're finding out this is a living practice namaste