Ancient Chinese Wisdom

Today is Chinese New Year 2012, the year of the Dragon. To mark the occasion, I want to share a favorite story with you. This story is from ancient China (the days of Lao Tzu) but the moral is timeless. We often think that yoga and other spiritual pursuits teach us to 'live in the moment' but while it may be wise to avoid grasping to the past or fretting about the future, it is also important to understand that this moment in time is just that... a moment. It is only by understanding that every moment is a single thread in the fabric of our lives that we will achieve serenity in the midst of what may seem to be extreme highs or lows in life.

There was an old man in a village, very poor, but even kings were jealous of him because he had a beautiful white horse. Kings offered fabulous prices for the horse but the man would say, “This horse is not a horse to me, he is a person. And how can you sell a person, a friend?” The man was poor, but he never sold the horse. One morning he found that the horse was not in the stable. The whole village gathered and they said, “You foolish old man! We knew that someday the horse would be stolen. It would’ve been better to sell it. What a misfortune!” The old man said, “Don’t go so far as to say that. Simply say that the horse is not in the stable. This is the fact; everything else is a judgement. Whether it is a misfortune or blessing I don’t know, because this is just a fragment. Who knows what is going to follow it?”

People laughed at the old man. They had always known he was a little crazy. But after fifteen days, suddenly one night the horse returned. He had not been stolen, he had escaped into the wild. And not only that, he brought a dozen horses with him. Again the people gathered and they said, “Old man, you were right. This was not a misfortune, it has indeed proved to be a blessing.” The old man said, “Again you are going too far. Just say that the horse is back... who knows whether it is a blessing or not? It is only a fragment. You read a single word in a sentence how can you judge the whole book?” This time the people could not say much, but inside they knew he was wrong. Twelve beautiful horses had come.

The old man had a son who started to train the wold horses. Just a week later he fell from a horse and his legs were broken. The people gathered again and again they judged. They said, “Again you proved right! It was a misfortune. Your only son has lost the use of his legs and in your old age he was your only support. Now you are poorer than ever.” The old many said, “You are obsessed with judgement. Don’t go that far. Say only that my son has broken his legs. Nobody knows whether this is a misfortune or a blessing. Life comes in fragments and more is never given to you.”

It happened that after a few weeks the country went to war and all the young men of the town were forcibly taken for the military. Only the old man’s son was left, because he was crippled. The whole town was crying and weeping, because it was a losing fight and they knew most of the young people would never come back. They came to the old man and said, “You were right, old man - this proved a blessing. Maybe your son is crippled but he is still with you. Our sons are gone forever.” The old man said again, “you go on and on judging. Nobody knows! Only say this, that your sons have been forced to enter the army and my son has not. But only God, the total, knows whether it is a blessing or a misfortune!”

Judith Lasater: A Teachers’ Teacher

One of my favorite teachers in the yoga world is Judith Hansen Lasater. In fact, the name of this blog is in part inspired by her. The first time I took a class with her, I was amazed by the no-nonsense and down-to-earth way she was able to communicate with each individual in class. She is an innovator and a rule breaker. (Down dog with a rounded spine?!!!) She is the queen of restorative yoga and is an advocate for bringing rest and renewal to the masses. She actually went to PT school to become a better yoga teacher. (How cool is that?!) She wrote an essay for a recent edition of the International Journal of Yoga Therapy in which she boiled down her teaching process into three simple steps:

Step 1: Connect to Myself
It is important to be aware of what is going on inside our own hearts and heads before beginning to teach. You may be feeling excited and happy or you may be feeling tired and irritable. Whatever you feel, just acknowledge it rather than try to “fix it” or change it in any way. Just being aware of your own emotions will allow you to connect to your students more easily.

Step 2: Connect to the Student
Always ask the name of the student, if you don’t already know, whenever answering their question, providing adjustments or giving individual feedback. When a student or client asks a question, consider what might be prompting that question. Rephrase it in your own words to be sure that you fully understand their question.

Step 3: Teach the Asana
Without the connection to yourself and to your student, a lot of the content and meaning of what you teach may be lost. When we teach yoga we teach people so much more than just how to move. Judith states that this approach to teaching has “created a more fertile ground for self-awareness and healing in both the client and myself.”

Judith is a yoga teacher who became a physical therapist. That is why she has an excellent grasp on anatomy and biomechanics. I am a physical therapist who became a yoga teacher. That is why it is easy for me to default to thinking of my students and clients with a one-dimensional, anatomical point of view. It is teachers like Judith who help me to remember that healing is about more than achieving biomechanical milestones. Healing is often about the need to be heard and it's impossible to really hear someone when you are not connected.

What about you? Who or what inspires you to treat the whole patient?

You can read more about Judith, her publications and teacher training schedule at her website,

http://www.judithlasater.com/

Asana Analysis: Flying Warrior Pose

Fly into the 2012 with this challenging and joyful pose. This is usually called Warrior III but I think it is such a fun pose that it deserves a fun name. The perfect Flying Warrior pose evokes a feeling of stability and power but at the same time should put a smile on your face. This is a challenging pose that requires much strength, flexibility and balance but there are several modifications available that make it accessible to almost any level of fitness. However there is a lot of room for error in this pose. When searching for images for this post, I saw a lot of pictures of people with hyper-extended knees and necks, sagging spines and shifted hips. So make sure to ask a teacher, therapist or experienced yogi friend for feedback about your alignment when working on the Flying Warrior.

Muscles Stretched: The hamstrings, gluteals and gastrocnemius of the standing leg.

Muscles Strengthened: Gluteus maximus, hamstrings and quadriceps of both legs. Gluteus medius, tensor fascia latae, and iliopsoas of the standing leg. Calf muscles and intrinsic foot muscles of the standing leg. Transvesus abdominis, obliques, errector spinae muscles. Deltoids, triceps.

Points of Body Awareness:
*Begin by establishing a strong high lunge pose.
*Pivot the torso forward as the front knee straitens and the rear leg lifts away from the ground.
*If your hamstrings are flexible, your torso and flying leg will be parallel to the floor.
*If your hamstrings are tight, your torso and flying leg will be angled to the floor but should form one continuous line.
*Is the pelvis level? Resist the urge to stack the hips or to shift the pelvis up on the flying side.
*What is the alignment of the standing foot? It should be in a neutral position with the toes pointing strait ahead, outer heel lined up with the pinky toe, the arch of the foot slightly lifted and the weight equally distributed among the ball of the big and little toes and the heel.
*Is the torso long and strait? Are you able to hold a neutral spine position?
*Is the flying leg strait and strong? Make sure that the knee cap points strait down toward the floor.
*The standing leg should also be strait and strong but be sure the the knee is not hyperextending.
*Attempt to hold the pose for 5 to 10 breaths.
*When you are ready to come back down, lower the flying leg slowly as you bend the front knee to return to a high lunge pose.
*Step forward to mountain pose and enjoy the sensation of coming back down to earth.

To Modify:
I strongly recommend that when first learning this pose, that you chose an alternate position for the arms rather than the classic overhead position. You can reach the arms out to sides (like an airplane) or reach back with the hands alongside the hips. When the arms are overhead, it is much more difficult to hold a neutral position of the pelvis due to the increased forces through the standing hip. By choosing a modified arm position, you can focus your attention on achieving an ideal alignment of the legs and torso and build up strength, endurance and balance.

For tight hamstrings, the torso will not be parallel to the floor but at an angle. This will allow you to work on strength and balance without over-stretching the hamstring or compensating for tight hamstrings by rounding the back or externally rotating the hips. But the pelvis should still be level, and the flying leg in line with the torso with the knee pointing strait down.

For those who struggle with balance, try placing the fingertips on a wall in front of you, resting the forearms on the back of a chair or pivoting the torso forward only a few degrees, perhaps even keeping the big toe of the back leg in contact with the ground.

PT Notes:
This is an excellent pose for working on higher level pelvic girdle stabilization. It's great for increasing eccentric strength and endurance of the hamstrings and external rotators of the hip and is particularly useful for sports-related injuries such as patella femoral pain syndrome and ITB syndrome.

Use caution for those with significantly impaired balance and with muscle or tendon injuries that have not fully healed.

Images from Yoga.com and abc-of-Yoga.com.

For more detail here's a nice video clip from Yogaglo.com that shows how to do the pose: