Category Archives: Spiritual

Nov22

Bandhas, Blocks and Bones!

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Yogic Bandhas are a form of energy activation via special centers in the body to temporarily contain the body energy (prana) in the torso. The 3 specific bandhas are : Mula Bandha, energy activation at the perineum, Uddiyana Bandha, energy activation of the abdomen into the rib cage, and Jalandhara Bandha, to energize the throat.

It is common to practice this energization by squeezing and tightening these centers to close energy gates as a way to create energy flow when the tightness is released (it functions a bit like a damn). However, when practiced this way, unnecessary tension can also be created from muscular overdoing out of habit and because of the conditioning around more being better. But is it?

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Listen to Leo’s experience with block squeezing versus blog hugging when activating Mula Bandha

Bandhas are about energy activation above all else. Although performed on the physical level engaging the skeletal muscles (part of the core muscles), they also function as an internal energetic process. The key is to not overdo muscle tension so the energetic process can happen most efficiently and body stiffness can be avoided.

It is my personal experience and the experience of yogis I have worked with, that when you focus only on the local area around the centers, you loose connection with the whole body and its innate intelligence. You still can get results from your practice yet you also develop or reinforce body stiffness in the process. How can you avoid overdoing in this context? Stay connected to your bones and skeletal structure!

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Watch or re-watch this easy to view 7 min video by Kathleen Porter
about how the skeleton works as your primary support system!

Muscular overdoing overshadows the skeletal structure and bone strength. To experience this, explore energizing the root chakra with Mula Bandha using a block between your legs as high as it fits to hug the block with your bones.  Start exploring in Mountain Pose or Bridge Pose for instance and compare plain squeezing to bone hugging. Bone hugging instead of muscular squeezing prevents excess tension while connecting you with your complete skeletal structure and the support under it. This way, your bandha activation is allowing your whole body to be engaged in an appropriate way, each part using just the right amount of muscle tension.

Once you have experienced energizing the root chakra with the block to connect with your skeletal structure and strength, it can be done without the block as well even in lotus pose. As a result, the outer muscles can let go, the core muscles kick in organically working with the skeleton and its support. The energy activated by the bandhas is then both localized and generalized so that when released, the gates for the energy to flow are wide open all over the body.

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Notice the muscular pulling down created by the squeezing versus the lengthening and improved alignment
when simply hugging the block to activate the root chakra for Mula Bandha!
(Compare the red line in his shorts on both pictures!)

With an awareness of bones hugging rather than muscles over-squeezing, you will experience the strength of your bones working harmoniously with necessary muscle tension to create flexible strength and powerful energy flow. You can use a block to practice through a flow of poses or a single pose. All the while, you activate the bandhas in an integrated way that includes and respect your innate body intelligence guidance.

This way of handling the bandhas, based on Cecile’s experience and teaching of the Alexander Technique, reminds us to always use the body as a coordinated self, rather than focusing on isolated body parts. This allows all your movements to be in sync with your innate body intelligence. Such movements then become your safest and most efficient movements. Yoga poses or other yogic practices then benefit from optimal safety and efficiency.

Do you want to learn more about this mind/body approach to strain-free yoga? 
Do you want to learn how to reclaim efficient moving for balanced living?
Join my FREE 6-part EMAIL SEMINAR:
"How to Unlearn Habits that Create Body Stiffness On and Off the Mat"
(Based on the Alexander Technique Principles and Facts)
Oct27

Mastermind for Committed Yoga Teachers with a Vision!

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BODY SYNERGY LAB
 The First Mastermind For Committed Yoga Teachers with a Vision

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A Mastermind is an awesome journey for a small group of people with a similar focus. All participants have an interest to serve and support each other, personally and professionally with an intention to deepen personal accountability as they learn and grow, during the time frame of the Mastermind, towards a specific goal (or in a specific direction) that also happens to benefit Humanity. It is a journey that allows each member to blossom towards their deepest inner goal with the committed support of all members in a spirit of harmony.

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As a participant, you bring your own life experience and professional experience to support the others to attain their chosen goals. My contribution to this mastermind is my life experience and professional experience as a Facilitator, an Alexander Technique Teacher, a Thai Yoga Therapist, Kriya Yoga Initiate (through lineage of Paramahansa Yogananda) and Kinesthetic Artist. As a result, you will receive a Body Synergy Lab Certificate of Completion for studying one year of Alexander Technique-Based Yoga with Cecile Raynor (even though this is only part of the benefits you will gain from committing to this Mastermind!).

My work sprouted from my 25 years teaching the Alexander Technique, the best kept secret of famous performers and Olympic athletes who swear by it because it allows them to reach their highest potential without straining or over-stressing while enjoying effortless postural balance. As applied to yoga, it is the best tool for ultimate safety, and optimum benefits even within high performance practices. These benefits naturally spread over your daily life and include improved posture and flexible strength.

My contribution to this Mastermind supports and complements the yoga training you received with an uncommon perspective that makes your practice safer, your teaching more impactful on and off the mat, while giving your career a unique edge. 

Here is a testimonial by Anthe Kelley, Founder and Director of Akasha Yoga School 
and Akasha Studio in Jamaica Plain, Boston MA

“The enormous impact that Cecile makes in a few hours at the start of each 6 month yoga teacher training program I run has never ceased to amaze me.  I’ve witnessed students completely transform through the insights gained from her work.  Teacher trainees approach all subsequent material through a lens that encompasses and continues to revisit Cecile’s work based on the Alexander Technique as applied to yoga practice and teaching. 

 The profundity of this phenomenon is nothing short of remarkable!  Any yoga teacher trainee who gets to experience her hands-on attention, the breadth of her insight, wisdom and postural understanding will be well-served in their career as a successful, evolving, present and sensitive yoga teacher and human being.”

Here is also a testimonial from one of the yoga teacher graduates 
 about the work we have done together and the impact it had
 on her own yoga practice and her yoga teaching practice right from the start.

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Click here to listen to Sara!
Discover strain-free yoga whatever yoga style you are attracted to 
from Kripalu yoga to power yoga, hot yoga or any other style!
 Discover the joy of a strain-free body On and Off the Mat!

To be part of this journey designed for a small number of selected teachers with a vision, simply apply for it by going to this link !

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to email me at cecileraynor@gmail.com.

Jan7

Core Strengthening Language! Part 1: Pitfalls

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Some like it slow, some like it with flow, some like it tough while others like it gentle and the varieties go on and on. How do you like it? Do you practice yoga to relax, to stretch and strengthen, or to restore? Do you use props or no props? Do you stand for naked yoga, or against it? Do you travel to practice yoga on every beach you can get your feet to or do you like the regularity of going to your yoga studio?

Yoga has become a popular trend and yoga studios are still flourishing everywhere. On some level, it makes sense, different body types, different personalities, different awareness levels, so attraction to different forms of yoga! It certainly has also become a lucrative business for many. Yet, on a deeper level, it seems like people are missing something in their everyday life and they are searching that missing thing in yoga and its community. It is an amazing phenomena and it is beautiful in many ways to witness this drive some have to satisfy their deep yearning. And it is wonderful when it becomes a family activity that brings families doing something positive together.

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However, in most adult classes, there is also some confusion in the teaching and practice of yoga due to various historic factors but most recently, due to the influence of the core strengthening and muscle stretching language which has created unfortunate pitfalls.

In most yoga studio, whether students are encouraged to do this slowly or fast, you can hear instructions relating to body parts to be controlled in one way or the other: pull your shoulders back, roll your shoulder blades down, lift your chest, tuck your chin or tuck your pelvis, squeeze your legs together, position your feet this way or that way, push this and hold that. This way of practicing yoga is made up of numerous muscular adjustments imposed on various body parts. 

If you add to the equation that most teachers have their own understanding of what those instructions mean and all students in a class have their own interpretations and corrupted translations, how is it even possible to teach without expecting trouble sooner or later? It is a way of working that has presented definite benefits but lots of unnecessary challenges as well which were not part of the original intention of yoga.

images-8Most people in this picture stick their neck forward in an effort to do a pose they are not ready to do in a healthy way.

Yoga postures as described by Patanjali are meant to be a balance between steadiness and comfort. Steadiness in various poses encourages your body to build up strength. Comfort allows for your strength to remain flexible. Yoga postures are all about this balancing act. However, our sense of balance and coordination, our ability to move fluidly and to enjoy good postural balance is the job of our postural mechanism which works with the body as one whole coordinated entity when not interfered with. For more info about this, go to: https://offthematyogablog.com/2013/12/18/what-are-postural-reflexes/

Neuroscience along with disciplines like the Alexander Technique also understand body functioning as a coordinated whole, where each part affects the whole and the whole is connected to each part in a synergy of its own for each individual. That is why in countries where people use themselves in a more natural way, you won’t find pulled shoulders and tucked bellies, you witness ease of movement and flexible strength with a smile!

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So for yoga lovers to get the most out of their yoga practice and prevent injuries, there has to be a change in the way language is used in the yoga class. Developing an understanding of how the postural mechanism functions to make it part of every stretch and every strengthening practice is an amazing way to turn things around in a fairly easy way. Yoga teachers instructed in this way of teaching have reported clear changes for the better in their own practice and in their students practice.

Like these teachers and students, you can discover how to build body strength without building body stiffness in the process. You can learn to trust your innate body wisdom instead of second guessing it and working against it with unnecessary muscular control. It can transform not only your yoga practice but your daily level of well-being. How do you go about it? Look for an Alexander Technique teacher, preferably one with yoga experience so they can speak your language (although any good teacher can help you with this).

The Alexander Technique seems like the perfect tool to negotiate this balance successfully within each pose, and best of all it translates into less muscular tension, improved posture and better coordination On and Off the mat. For more info about this, go to: http://www.alexandertec.com/what.htm

More details coming up in Part 2 and maybe 3.

In the meantime, to learn more about how to use the Alexander Technique as applied to yoga to get the most out of it and prevent injuries on and off the mat, find an Alexander Technique teacher in your neck of the woods or if in the Boston area, sign up to Cecile’s workshops and classes or keep reading her blogs. You can also, follow the blog to receive tips of the week right to your inbox!

https://offthematyogablog.com/schedule

 

 

Oct16

Harmful Stretching versus Healthy Stretching! Part 1

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images-5Notice how her upper back and shoulders are rounded which makes her compress the back of her neck as she is reaching for her foot? It may be the best she can do considering where she may be at with her posture but this is certainly enhancing her habitual postural pattern.

Stretching feels good and can be helpful when done in a way that is appropriate for the body as a whole.
How do you stretch? Do you stay mostly focused on the muscles you are stretching? Do you find yourself rounding your back to stretch your tensed back muscles thinking it is a good thing to do because it feels good? Are you aware you may be compressing the back of your neck while you focus on a stretch?

You may be surprised to hear that muscles are not meant to be stretched in that way and that actually, this is a form of overstretching! It is easy to confuse the feeling good in the stretched muscles for something good to do. A bit like indulging in a meal that tastes good and is healthy even though it may not be best for your body.  What matters for “Healthy Stretching” is not only what you do but how you do it and sometimes why you do it.  Creating muscle strain and skeletal distortion while you exercise does not really serve you well despite all your good intentions. However, expanding your awareness by making helpful distinctions can resolve many problems by placing them in a bigger perspective.

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Notice how her neck is nicely aligned with the rest of her spine so her head is still poised on top of her spine and above her sits bones. On the other end,  his neck is jutting forward creating neck tension while he is trying to undo tension in other parts of his body.

Do you know how to access your inner teacher to make sure you are not creating excess body tension in one part of your body while you are undoing tension with your stretch in another?

Keeping an awareness of what is happening in your whole body whatever body part you are working with is essential to benefit from your stretches without creating more problems for yourself while you stretch.  Your stretches are most efficient when you start by freeing your joints from excess tension with a thought of letting go of that tension. Neurons get fired at every thought and affect your whole body as they travel via your nervous system.

That is why when you have happy thoughts, it shows in your facial expression and in the way you carry yourself. Same applies with depressing thoughts. The fact is your postural mechanism is in charge of your balance and coordination. And it can guide you towards your most efficient stretches if you let it do its job by releasing into your stretches starting with your joints.

In the article below by Brooke Thomas called   “S t r e t c h i n g   d o e s   n o t   w o r k   the   w a y   y o u   t h i n k   i t   d o e s“,  she shares the finding of Jules Mitchell’s thesis presenting a bio-mechanical view into stretching and yoga poses. Because Jules started her work from the perspective of a yoga teacher- with all the training that had told her that stretching leads to increased flexibility, she was surprised to discover that the research on stretching did not prove what she was taught to be true.

http://breakingmuscle.com/mobility-recovery/stretching-doesnt-work-the-way-you-think-it-does

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For this pose to be more holistic and therefore efficient, these women could choose to release their knees a bit more
which would help them release all the other joints, especially their hip joints sockets. As a result, their spine would lengthen effortlessly!

Jules Mitchell discovered that this popular stretching idea – if you stretch more and stretch harder, your tissue will change – was untrue. In reality, Brooke points out, “we are not lumps of clay that can be molded by persistently tugging on things”. We are functioning as an integrated whole from head to toes, mind, body and soul!

The best way to stretch is to let your postural mechanism do its job while you stretch. Only then do you benefit from “Healthy Stretching”! There are actually two complementary ways to practice “Healthy Stretching”. For more details about it, look for Part 2 of this article coming soon on this blog.

Alexander Technique teachers have been teaching this since the 19th century. If you want to learn to stretch in an integrated way and you are in the Boston area, come to my workshops and classes or call for a private session by calling 617 359 7841.

To inquire about my October and November Workshops for Yoga Teachers, Workshops for Yoga Students and my Alexander Technique Workshops or to register online, click on https://offthematyogablog.com/schedule/

Jul17

3 Common Oversights by Yoga Lovers that keep their Muscles and Joints Strained Part #4

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THIRD COMMON OVERSIGHT: OVERRIDING BODY-WISDOM

Confusing what is habitual for what is natural is a major reason why you end up overriding the wisdom of your body. As explained in the previous blogs, muscular overdoing can be a compensation for skeletal distortion and skeletal distortion can happen from muscular overdoing as well. Unfortunately, all this comes to feel natural simply because it is habitual.  However, muscular overdoing and skeletal misuse are both coming from the most essential oversight of all:  lack of expanded awareness due to a disconnect from our beginner’s mind.

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The key is to realize that you can only focus your mind on what you are aware of.

When you are being mindful on the yoga mat, the broader your body awareness, the deeper rooted is your mindfulness which allows you to blossom up and out like a beautiful tree on-and-off the mat.  Certainly  you can already focus your mind on not pushing past your perceived healthy limits. But what about your unperceived healthy limits? That is why somatic education to expand your body awareness is crucial. It makes the difference between your holding a tree pose with excess tension and your releasing through it as you expand up and out into it. Totally different in the moment. Totally different over time in the quality of what you harvest from your practice.

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Let’s use nutrition awareness as a metaphor for understanding how various levels of awareness can expand to work together. You know what you like and don’t like to put in your mouth. In this case, your focus is on what tastes good, a primitive pleasure even a baby can be aware of. That is one level of awareness to select what to eat. However, you can also include in your decision what is healthy for your body to eat. That brings your awareness to another level. Then again, you may care to include in your decision what is healthy and sustainable for all the humans on the planet. That takes your awareness yet to another level! So as you can see, you may be mindful on some level yet unaware of a broader type of awareness.

It is the same with body awareness: you may be mindful when practicing on the yoga mat but what are you mindful of? As substantial as it may seem, what if it is just the tip of the iceberg? Motivated by the good intention to develop strength of body and mind, with all your might you may be controlling your skeleton with your muscles to perform a specific pose. Maybe muscles and bones can work together as a team if you allow them to do so within the framework of the pose chosen by your mind! Try to develop an awareness of your skeleton as your primary support system instead of relying on muscular effort to stabilize the skeleton and see what happens. In this process, you are less likely to overlook the real needs of your body and its wisdom, which is to move efficiently with ease in an integrated way.

Watch or re-watch this easy to view 7 min video I had posted in my last blog about how the skeleton works as your primary support system!

 How to not override the wisdom of your body?

Be aware of your whole body no matter what body part you are focusing on. Excess tension interferes with the optimal functioning of your postural mechanism. So release all excess tension into your support without sacrificing your skeletal height so you can feel lighter, stronger but still resilient and balanced in your pose. Try it now as you are sitting reading this blog on your computer or smartphone. This ease and lightness comes from your allowing your postural mechanism to do its job by stepping out of its way. Observe how it affects your body from head to toes as you expand in all directions like bread dough rising. Notice your postural alignment improve with no muscular effort which allows you to go deeper into your growing edge when on the mat. This way, you promote a quality in your movements that is organically sustainable on and off the yoga mat.

Known for his meticulous style, Yoga Guru Iyengar himself said: “By attending to the mental and spiritual side, a sincere student of yoga becomes like a smoothly flowing river …”. This fluidity is the gift you receive from your body wisdom when you let your postural mechanism work for you. It micro-manages your joints and muscles for you while taking you to that sweet balance spot quickly and easily. This gift is often overlooked by some yoga teachers and students alike when they focus on a myriad of details to the point they loose track of the big picture. They focus on the hundreds of little waves instead of embracing the entire ocean with its full depth, hidden riches and organic support system.

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Awareness expands with combined education and experience. You have heard people say, “Life happens when you are not looking!” In the same vain, you could say “the risk of injury increases when your awareness still holds some blind spots”. It does not mean that you have to be on your best behavior 24/7. It is more about educating yourself to increase the depth of your awareness and then choose to be mindful as best you can.

Expand your body awareness by learning to let your postural mechanism do its job.
It will take you into an inner journey onto the smooth flowing river of your body wisdom.

 

Flowing river Yoga 

PS: To learn how to let your postural mechanism work for you and avoid unnecessary tension, join one of my classes or workshops listed above!

May28

3 Common Oversights by Yoga Lovers that keep their Muscles and Joints Strained Part #1

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Prayer-Twist-Yoga-Pose when all is in balance!

Prayer-Twist-Yoga-Pose when all is in balance!

* Do you still feel your muscles and joints complaining
even though you do yoga to stretch, strengthen, balance and relax?

* Do you find yourself micro-adjusting muscles and joints in search for balance,
never being sure if or when you will find your sweet spot?

* Do you want to know how to safely expand your growing edge?

* Would you like to enjoy the benefits of yoga without the strain?

* Would you like to improve your posture without holding yourself up ?

If you answered YES to any of these questions, you will enjoy and benefit from reading this blog series!

Before revealing those 3 common oversights that may  keep your muscles and joints strained unnecessarily, I want you to experience what happens when in your daily life and on the yoga mat,  you plug into your beginner’s mind. It is helpful because your daily mind guided by habits tends to be attached to the way you do things, the way you think or talk and that is limiting.

If I say to you  “Less muscular efforts allows for more strength“, observe how your habitual way of thinking receives this, observe if and how you want to react, yet choose not to and see what comes out of this choice. Stay in a spirit of discovery: “Let’s see what happens if I don’t try so hard…can I really get stronger?” and maybe you’ll discover that indeed you can get stronger and even gain flexible strength as it were. Mainly this blog is designed to inspire you and open doors to safely go further than ever into your growing edge! As a yoga lover, I know how much you love growing past your limits and I do too!

Sometimes, there is a blind spot in our awareness and we do not realize it till it is pointed out to us. Ignoring it holds a danger factor just as ignoring the blind spot while driving a car would. Keeping a beginner’s mind opens our gate of perception wider. Understanding and experiencing become deeper and more accurate!

As a yoga lover, you already have some level of mind and body awareness. However, there are many levels of awareness to open up to as you live, learn, and mature in your life journey. Studying Yoga from learning Asanas to developing Spiritual Depth which is the  purpose of Yoga is one such journey. Learning to practice yoga based on the natural movements of the body and its postural mechanism is one dimension of this same journey.  It allows you to move safely on-or-off the yoga mat, thus preventing injuries.

Natural movements based on the innate wisdom of your postural mechanism is a sound foundation and a perfect tool to progressively merge the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual at every step of the way on your life journey. It is a mind and body relationship that improves the quality of your life by improving the quality of your movements, the mind and the body being the two sides of the same coin really. And it is what Off-The-Mat- Yoga blogs, classes and workshops are here to assist you with!

Food for thought till next blog: Muscular Overdoing & Will Power.
When do you use Blind Will and when do you use Wise Will?

In the meantime, make a point to explore with your beginner’s mind between now and the next blog and I’d love it if you would share your experience on this blog!