Yoga Pose Focus: Rounding and Opening

preparing for The Longest Day!

Shining a light into the darkness

Hello, Yoga Mamas! In just about 9 days I’m offering a couple of yoga classes to support a fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s Association. It’s called The Longest Day and it brings people together from all over the world to shine some light on Alzheimer’s Disease near the summer solstice, which is the longest day of the year. The idea is to raise funds and awareness for research and support resources for caregivers and those living with dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Leading up to the classes I’ll offer on Saturday, June 24, I’ll be posting a few times to offer some detailed guidance on yoga postures. My hope is that this can help prepare folks to practice with a better awareness of their needs and abilities. Even if you’re a seasoned practitioner, you might even learn a few modifications or variations of postures that you weren’t familiar with!

Yoga is for everyone

One of my main goals as a yoga teacher has been to make yoga accessible to people of various abilities; no, you don’t have to be super flexible, young, or into meditation to do yoga. You can begin where you are, in whatever state you're in, but the trick is to know how to modify the poses to suit your body and your needs in each moment

But how do you know what your body needs right now? Mainly by slowing down, paying attention, and observing. Observing includes practicing in a playful way: experimenting with new things, slightly changing what’s familiar, and being spontaneous! For instance, if something doesn’t feel good today, even if it usually feels good on other days, be open to changing it slightly. Often, many of the traditional yoga alignments are not rigid — they can be bent, moved, or played with. Now that’s flexibility!

Spinal flexion and extension

Let’s start by getting centered on the spine. This one is not a pose we hold, but more of a movement, transitioning between flexion of the spine and extension of it. Flexion and extension are anatomical terms, but I like to call it rounding and opening because those terms seem more visual and relatable to me and they also convey a sort of feeling you can infuse the movement with.

Here’s a video to guide you through some details and modifications for cat cow pose, a.k.a. flexing and extending the spine. Even if you’ve done this movement thousands of times, isn’t it so satisfying? Enjoy:)