Seated Posture – Sukhasana (Easy Pose)

Sukhasana is one of the most simple and popular cross-legged seated poses and it's often used for pranayama and meditation practice. It is often translated as easy or comfortable pose and when you do this posture well, it can create a relaxed and yet alert state in both the body and mind.  This is an ideal condition for pranayama and meditation practice.

The name suggests it may be an easy pose to get to grips with but many people really struggle with Sukhasana. This is not surprising as we are more used to sitting on chairs or sofas than the ground. When we sit on chairs or sofas, there is a tendency to lean back and collapse the body. In meditation and pranayama, it’s really important that the spine is kept upright.

Seated postures in yoga teach us how to sit straight and this helps to strengthen our core muscles. When we sit tall, our chests are kept opened and spacious, making it much easier to breathe in a relaxed and calm way. If you breathe properly, the mind can be clearer and more focused.

In order to be able to cross your legs comfortably in this seated posture, you need certain amount of flexibility in the legs and hips. A regular asana practice helps tremendously. After all, one of the reasons asanas are traditionally practiced is to be able to comfortably sit and meditate. Postures such as Supta Baddha Konasana (lying cobbler pose) and Prasarita Padottanasana (wide stance forward bend) are particularly beneficial. Limbering movements like the Pawanmuktasana (wind releasing series) are also excellent warm up sequence to do to avoid cramps and pins & needles. 

Once you’re able to sit comfortably in Sukhasana, you will actually find that this pose is incredibly stable and grounding. When you can release your weight down properly, it’s easier to extend upwards more effortlessly. It’s also a great pose to keep your hips opened and relaxed.

If you have a home practice, try to practice seated postures at the beginning and at the end of the practice. Notice how it feels at different times of your practice. It’s a great way to reflect and to create a more harmonious practice. It will also make it easier to sit for longer in Sukhasana.

In fact the more time you spend in it, the better this pose will feel. So any time possible, try sitting in Sukhasana instead of using a chair or a sofa at home. At first try using a cushion, blankets and yoga blocks for support. You can even sit against a wall if you find it hard to keep the spine straight.

I think one of the reasons why I’ve found seated postures fairly easy from the beginning is because I spent much of my early childhood sitting on the floor. I grew up in Japan and it’s in our culture to sit on the ground, although this is slowly changing due to Western influences.

A well known yoga teacher in the UK once told me that she got rid of chairs and sofas and decided to furnish her house in an oriental style as she believed that sitting on a ground was so much healthier. I wouldn’t encourage everyone to go to this extreme but there are benefits gained from doing this pose regularly. 

When I sit in Sukhasana, I find that I can concentrate better and keep my posture intact. As I write this blog, I’m actually sitting crossed-legged on a chair! Keep practicing and it will become an easy pose for you too.  

Yoga For Your Back

I thought I would write about yoga for healthy backs because I recently hurt my back and had to modify my personal practice. Yes, yoga teachers sometimes do get ill and injured! In my opinion this can actually improve our teaching because we can understand what it is like and how to deal with it from a first-hand experience.

Injuries can be frustrating and stressful but it can also be an excellent time to reflect and get to know ourselves better.  After all, one of the most important elements of yoga practice is self-understanding. Illness and injuries are common part of living and now that we are all living longer, we are bound to encounter problems from time to time. 

In yoga, what is important is not necessarily whether you can do the pose well (or even at all) but how we deal with the challenges that we face.  Try to take a moment to question, do you try and force yourself into a difficult pose without paying attention and listening to your body? Does your practice benefit and reflect where you are at the moment?

Whilst you are injured, it is really important that you are sensitive and aware of the body so that you can adapt the practice creatively. Try to avoid doing strong poses or sequence. This is not the time to challenge yourself. Instead try to practice in a gentle, mindful way.  Think of how we would act if your looking after those we love that are in pain. 

Whilst there are many different types of back problems, I thought I would try and provide a general tips and guidelines for practice. These are the movements and postures that I found particularly beneficial.  If any of the poses or movements hurt, try modifying and if it’s still painful you can skip it altogether. Remember less is more. Doing a regular short gentle mindful movement is much more helpful for recovery. Make sure to consciously breathe through the whole practice. This will help you to relax and recover more quickly. Most of the practice is done on the floor to avoid compression and remove the pressure of gravity on the spine.

1. Semi supine pos

Try experimenting different ways of lying that feels best for your back.  Start by connecting with your breath and encouraging your whole body to relax completely.

2. Wind Releasing Pose and variations

If it doesn’t hurt your back, try moving very gently in a circle, side to side or forward and back movement .

3. Supine mountain pose with arm raise

Lie with your feet flexed and your legs engaged as if you are standing with your arms by your side. Slowly extend your arms over head. Try to get your arms and hands to touch the floor above your head. Repeat this movement slowly with your breath. Inhale, raise your arms and exhale release your arms back to the original position.

Once you have repeated the arm rise, try holding the pose with your arm extended overhead and point and flex your feet several times. Use of a block is optional.

4. Pelvic tilts

In this exercise, you are gently moving from anterior to posterior pelvic tilt. Inhale arch your back slightly and tilt your hips forwards. Exhale gently pull your belly in and flatten your back. Move with your slow deep breathing.

To strengthen your belly, hold in the posterior tilt position with the abdomen drawn in for several breaths and release. Repeat the hold few times.

After the exercise, try to find a neutral alignment for your spine and relax completely.

5. Supine twist (dynamic and static)

Start from semi supine pose and slowly release into the twist on an exhalation.  On an inhalation, return back to centre. Repeat on the other side. Once you have completed several rounds, hold the twist for several breaths on each side. 

6. Supine cobbler pose

In this dynamic variation of the lying cobbler pose, we will be moving our legs in and out slowly with your deep smooth breath.  Exhale bring the knee into wards one another and feet down on the floor. On your inhale return to the original position. Repeat this several times.

When your ready hold cobbler pose for several breaths. If it’s a strain to hold this position, try using yoga blocks underneath the legs or use a yoga belt to support your hips.

7. Full relaxation pose

To make the final pose even more relaxing use folded up blanket underneath your legs and optionally use eye pillow and another blanket to cover yourself. Try and make yourself really comfortable so that you can relax fully. Feel free to use semi supine pose instead.

Developing a Home Yoga Practice Part I

‘Home practice explores the exquisite relationships between the body, the breath and life itself. The whole reason for doing yoga is to enjoy this relationship, the natural intimacy with life itself’

 – Mark Whitwell, an internationally renowned yoga teacher 

Developing a consistent home yoga practice is one of the most rewarding and important activities for serious yogis but it can also be one of the hardest things to achieve. A regular practice requires motivation, creativity, discipline and confidence – all qualities that are really worthwhile to try and develop.

I’ve met dedicated students that attend taught group yoga classes almost every day and yet find it a real struggle to get on their yoga mat alone at home. This is important to remedy as it’s within a regular home practice that we truly discover and connect to ourselves. As Tara Frazer in her book ‘Yoga for You’ says, ‘Although you will learn a great deal from a teacher, you will experience most of yoga’s benefits by practicing alone. This is because, ultimately, yoga is a process of self-realisation and you are the best expert on yourself’.

No matter how excellent your yoga teacher is, they will never be able to feel and connect to yourself like you can. Instead of relying on other people, you can begin to look after yourself.

When we know ourselves better we are in a much better position to take care of our minds and bodies. One of the greatest benefits from my own practice is the ability to really listen and adapt my practice to suit my changing needs. I believe this is an essential point as no matter how strong or flexible you become, if you are unable to modify your practice when you have injuries or at challenging times then it’s severely limited. In fact, it’s during these times that our yoga practice should help and support us.

The yoga practice then becomes a therapeutic transformative activity for the individual. Gary Kraftsow, a senior viniyoga teacher said ‘...Yoga lies in the adaption of the practice to the individual, not in the adaptation of the individual to the practice’.  When designing a balanced personal practice, Krafsow says to respect our individual situations and requirements and take into account constitution, place, gender, time, age, capacities, aspirations and activities.

It is easy to ignore our personal needs and circumstances and set unrealistic aims and goals in our practice. Yoga is not something we accomplish but it is a life long development. You will naturally find that your practice will continuously grow and change.

Over time my own practice has changed to be more self-reflective and contemplative. It is now much less about achieving certain postures or complying with rigid ideals. I do my home practice to try and achieve greater harmony and balance within myself. I believe these important changes have come from my continuous personal practice.

In the next part of this blog, I will give tips and advice on starting a home practice.

Restorative Yoga Postures

I caught a particularly bad cold earlier in the year and had to adapt my personal yoga practice. I didn’t have the energy to do my regular asanas so I chose to do restorative postures instead. I thought I would write about the benefits of poses that I used to help.

I believe that it’s really important to be able to modify our practice to suit our changing needs. My personal practice enables me to connect and reflect on what’s going on within my life.  It’s imperative that we learn to listen to our body and adapt our practice as much as necessary.

In restorative postures, it’s much nicer to use props but if you don’t have any, you can always use alternative things that you can find in your home.  For example, you could use couple of pillows instead of a yoga bolster and a scarf or belt to replace yoga strap. Eye pillows are wonderful for restorative practice but if you don’t have one, you could use eye masks or cover your eyes with a small towel. Get creative and use whatever that works for you. Just make sure that you are supported and really comfortable. Here are some recommended restorative postures:

Supported Supine Bound Angle Pose

This is a great heart and hip opening pose, especially beneficial for relieving some symptoms of a cold.

 Props: Bolster, yoga straps or blocks and eye pillow

Supported Child Pose

When you’ve got a cold, it can be difficult to do forward bends but this is a lovely calming and relaxing one to do.

Props: Bolster, cushion, blanket 

Legs up the wall pose

Similar to forward bends, inverted postures can be challenging postures to practice when your feeling under the weather but you can practice this pose easily.  It is also said to be a great pose to encourage you to get a good night’s sleep. The trick to getting close to the wall is to start by sitting very close sideways and flipping your legs 90 degrees. If your buttocks are still far away, use your elbows to nudge yourself closer.

 Prop: a wall or a chair, bolster

Practicing points

• Stay in the pose from 5 – 10 minutes
• Feel and decide for yourself how much props to use
• Relax and enjoy

Yoga For Your Posture

What is a healthy posture? A good posture is one that is balanced, relaxed, and long lasting. Healthy posture allows natural movement of energy within our bodies and minds. On the other hand, poor posture tends to be unbalanced, tensed and collapsed, causing mental and physical strain that could otherwise be avoided.

In the yoga asana (posture) practice we look for the quality of ‘Sthira Sukham’. The Sanskrit word ‘Sthira’ can be translated to mean firm, steady or lasting and ‘Sukham’ refers to happiness, delight and comfort. Therefore, we are looking for a steady and comfortable posture. You will find that when these qualities exist at the same time, it will naturally be long lasting and sustainable.

So how can we achieve these qualities? First of all, it seems obvious but one of the most important factors for improving your posture is awareness. Like most things, without awareness it’s difficult to make conscious lasting changes. Although, at first this seems like a simple advice, it’s actually really hard to be aware of your posture, especially when you’re concentrating on something else. For example, working on a computer or doing the house work. We tend to only notice our posture when parts of our body start to ache as a result of being in a bad position for too long.

How can we be more aware of our body when we are focusing on something else? Bizarrely, the key to this answer is again awareness or attentiveness. If we are more conscious of how we use our body in our everyday life, we can know when we’ve collapsed our posture. It’s then easier to pay more attention during this time and make the necessary adjustments. Although, it sound easy this is a continuous process and we need to adapt and be mindful as our life changes.

The good news is that more yoga practice you do, more attentive and aware you can be of your body and mind. Regular asana practice will help to create a relaxed and strong body and mind, and help to create healthier and more balanced posture.

Handy Tips: Slippy hands

This is for people who find it difficult to hold poses such as downward facing dog or plank pose because of their hands slipping on yoga mats. If you have this issue, read on!

If you moisturise your hands, then make sure that you wash them before you practice. Cream and yoga mats don’t tend to mix and it will make your hands more slippery.

If you have your own mat and it’s new, wash it as I’ve found that new mats tend to slip a lot more. I was told that new mats have a layer of chemicals on them that make it much slippier. It is a good idea to buy your own yoga mat because it will encourage you to practice at home and it’s more hygienic. Plus, I have found that some yoga mats slip more than others so you could buy non-slip ones. They can be purchased online and in some high street stores.

Another alternative is to buy yoga gloves with grips. You can get these for your feet too and it is said that they are good for travelling as you can use them without a yoga mat. I’ve never tried this myself but I know that they are available from specialised yoga shops. Some of my students use tissues instead and it seems to work for them. If your hands are sweaty, it’s worth using a towel to wipe your hands as you practice. You can also buy specialist chalk that is used by climbers and I’ve been told that this really works.

Failing all this is, you could try practice these postures on the forearms instead of your hands. For example, forearm dog instead of downward dog.

I hope you find a creative way to combat slipping hands and enjoy your practice!