Humble Pride

YOGA FOR THE CHEST – UPRIGHT POSTURE AND NECK

Yoga asanas are often named after the state we seek to cultivate through them. Those called Warrior illustrate the attitude of humble pride. The yoga warrior is calm, stable and determined, strong and ready, but does not react blindly. The warrior waits to see exactly what is happening, then acts mindfully and from the right intentions. In Warrior asanas, we embody this attitude: strong legs carry calm and determination, while a relaxed, open chest carries the quality of quiet observation and awareness. The yoga warrior fights for peace, light, alertness and the clear preservation of right intentions. The warrior also has discernment and knows what requires a firm no, because a healthy no is an important part of true compassion. This is the perfect balance of pride and humility that we practise carrying through the body, the way we move and the way we train our muscles to support upright posture. This month, we emphasise opening the chest, deeply mobilising the shoulder girdle, standing upright and correcting a forward-head or turtle-neck posture. At the same time, we cultivate strength calmly and steadily through powerful, quiet asanas.

Yoga therapy for:

• upright posture
• mobilising the shoulder girdle
• correcting turtle neck posture
• calm strength
• an open attitude
• rushing and stress
• mindful yoga
• a compassionate attitude
• positive affirmations

INTRODUCTORY TALK AND YOGA CLASS ON THE MONTH’S THEME – 75 MIN

HUMBLE PRIDE

In the introductory workshop, we explain the concepts of humility and pride, and why moving to either extreme is neither useful nor healthy. When we find the centre that contains the best of both, we live the true Middle Path – the middle way.

Humility is the joy of belonging to something greater that we honour and return to, something we trust and to which we surrender. 
Pride is a calm bodily feeling of love, security, possibility and knowledge about the way we build ourselves and our life. May we humbly understand our divine, sacred aspect and recognise that we are part of something greater. 

Through our body, we build and carry this attitude. Pride is strength and calm; humility is openness and ease. 

In the practice, we introduce exercises that will continue throughout the month’s classes. Much of the work concerns the shoulders, the position of the neck and opening the chest. We systematically mobilise the neck and shoulders and strengthen the upper back and shoulder girdle muscles. Today, we explore each exercise separately, and throughout the month we will integrate them into complete classes. You will feel a pleasant tingling in the shoulders as we begin our journey of releasing the stress that pulls them forwards and upwards. 

Mindful journal: Become aware of where you move too far into pride, where you award yourself medals and what you boast about. Try to distinguish a calm bodily sense of pride and accomplishment from pride that exists in the head. Write down the situations and thoughts in which egoic pride appears.

40 MIN

1. WHERE THERE IS NO EGO

Everything is ego but the breath. 

We begin by relaxing into a pleasant energetic calibration with the breath, entirely without effort or achievement. The breath is already good exactly as it is. Through yoga, we simply create a little more room for it and bring it into balance. The saying above expresses this perfectly: in the breath, we truly relax our craving and aversion. We do not wish for the inhalation to pass or the exhalation to arrive.

During the class, we mobilise the shoulders with a strap, practise sun salutations with Dolphin Downward Dog arms and move through several Warrior I sequences with Parsvottanasana and a rotation focused on opening the shoulders. We finish with several abdominal exercises on the floor and relaxation in a twist.

Enjoy, my dears. I am happy that we are here and that what we are doing matters. 

Mindful journal: Building on the opening journal prompt about recognising where pride or ego becomes too strong, add the intention to feel it in the body. Distinguish calm, effortless breathing from the breath that appears when the mind is caught in identification, craving or aversion. Write down your observations. 

60 MIN

2. THE FLOW OF ENERGY

We begin with Dirga pranayama , breathing through the body’s three chambers. We first fill the lower abdomen, then the space of the diaphragm and finally the chest. We carry this sequence and continuity of breath through every movement later in the class. By directing the breath with our attention and performing movement, we create a particular direction for energy to travel through the body. After breathing, we introduce a shoulder movement with a strap that also irons and lengthens the fibres of the back and trapezius. We repeat the movement from different bases throughout the class.

The class strengthens the foundation, legs and pelvis while lengthening the upper back and neck muscles. Alongside this, we cultivate a gentle, calm direction of energy. We also practise the Gomukhaarm position, in which we seek these two opposing directions.

Give yourself enough time to devote attention to the movements and this conscious direction of energy. 

Mindful journal: What does the calm direction of the subtlest energy feel like? How can you connect with the aspect of yourself that is an energetic being? Feel and write down the difference between rigidity or blockage and energetic flow.

MINDFUL SLOW FLOW CLASS – 40 MIN

3. FACE YOGA

Today’s Mindful Slow Flow class is dedicated to mobilising the shoulders and neck, face yoga and exercises that stimulate the vagus nerve. We mostly move only the neck and shoulders, so whenever sitting in the same position becomes tiring, change it and support yourself with a cushion. 

First, we connect with a long, calm and balanced breath. We remember that calibrating the breath is itself the finest form of energy work and that there is nothing to achieve. A person who can hold the breath longer or use longer counts is not better. Be honest with yourself and find the right measure. :)

We practise exercises for the shoulders, jaw and face, followed by Nadi Shodhana pranayama. You can introduce these vagus-toning exercises into your daily routine. 

Mindful journal: What does true surrender mean to you? How deeply can you release the need to know what life will bring? Surrender requires courage, yet it is the only way to live happily and freely. Explore your own measure of genuine surrender and describe the feeling. 

40 MIN

4. A FOUNDATION FOR THE SHOULDERS

The task of today’s class is to strengthen the muscles beneath the armpits, the middle back and the core so that the neck can lengthen from this base. The idea is for stress to travel downwards rather than rise upwards, and we use these muscles to establish that direction. Throughout the class, we practise several positions and movements in which this frame can be strengthened. 

During sun salutations, we lower the knees to the floor and feel strength appear beneath the armpits, travel towards the abdomen and connect the front plane of the body. 

We maintain the same awareness in Warrior II and a variation of Trikonasana in which a strap looped around the foot helps us extend upwards. You will see: throughout the class, we simply remember our intention. On the floor, lying on the abdomen, we move through a sequence that directly strengthens the middle back, abdominal muscles and obliques. We finish with Paschimottanasana using a strap, followed by integration of the abdomen while lying down.

Through my practice, may I know clearly what I am doing and learn to arrange my body in the right balance of pride and humility: strength, determination and right intention, together with the joy of belonging to something greater than ourselves and playing our part in its great game.

Mindful journal: Describe what closes and overwhelms you. In which moments do you become aware that your body has taken a closed position? Which thoughts and emotions accompany that posture?

60 MIN

5. STRENGTH WHERE IT IS NEEDED

Continuing the previous class, we strengthen the muscles beneath the armpits, the middle back and the shoulder blades, connecting them with the strength of the core and legs. 

Throughout the class, we emphasise guiding the breath along the length of the spine and gathering all our attention into that movement. With this principle, we repeat arm movements with a strap from different bases. In particular, we hold the strap behind the back and draw the shoulder blades together in varied positions, learning to activate the muscles beneath the armpits and let the shoulders descend.

We practise Utthita Hasta, Warrior I and Parsvottanasana with the same focus and principle, as well as back exercises lying on the abdomen with a strap. 

We also complete the class with Shoulderstand, moving especially slowly and carefully while feeling the neck muscles lengthen and smooth. When we want to change something intelligently, we work in harmony with what is present now. We move with what is and through what is, so the first step is to feel exactly what is here and, naturally, to accept it.

Mindful journal:  The way the body carries itself, literally the posture we take while experiencing different emotions, is a lifelong field of exploration. The invitation is to notice how thoughts and emotions shape us and arrange the body so that we can carry them. Ask yourself: which posture does my body take under the influence of particular thoughts and emotions?

40 MIN

6. MASSAGE THROUGH TWISTS

We ask how contraction can travel down from the shoulders while the ribcage becomes more mobile. We introduce rotations that help the shoulders glide down and the neck lengthen from them. Imagine unscrewing a screw with each rotation. :)  

We combine twists with positions that have a strong foundation in the legs. Feel the calm, stable strength into which shoulder stress can dissolve. Strength in the legs draws energy down from beneath the armpits. Dynamic rotational movements help lengthen the neck. The strap is our best friend again, so have it ready. :)

Mindful journal: May everything I do serve something greater. I strive to become a better person and grow spiritually for the benefit of all people, not only myself. Try to see the wider, non-egocentric picture. Notice how it resonates when you tell yourself: may I offer my effort to master myself to all humanity and to the power greater than us.

60 MIN

7. THE FUNCTION OF BREATH

We begin by sitting quietly and breathing from the depth of the body through the whole body, establishing a coherent breath. We notice the function of inhalation and the function of exhalation. Once the two are equal in length, we connect this rhythm with coherent waves through the spine. We develop variations of this movement that give us new ways to feel the breath’s function.

We move through slow sun salutations to raise the temperature, followed by several sequences with held poses in which we feel the whole body breathing and allow the asana to direct the breath through it. On the floor, we continue with positions that lower the shoulder blades and massage the length created in the neck. 

The class has a slow tone and somehow feels all-encompassing. :)

Mindful journal: Remember to relax into the present point in time and space. When we touch NOW, we find the starting point from which we can open to the rest of our life. Feel this present moment. Close your eyes briefly and notice where you are, including everything that is here, what you want and what you do not want.

40 MIN

8. OBLIQUES

Today’s class is very clear, from the title to the end: we strengthen the oblique abdominal muscles. We begin actively and dynamically. :)

We practise sun salutations to warm up and connect with the breath, then move into sequences from a Warrior II base in which we can pulse and strengthen the obliques. Several times we pulse and several times we hold Parsvakonasana, Reverse Warrior and Trikonasana with the arms in the air. As throughout the month, we ensure that the base is strong, calm and firm. On the floor, we practise Side Dolphin Planks, which target the obliques even more strongly. :)

Settle into your dynamic forty minutes of yoga. 

Mindful journal:  Feel the wider space and time around you. Move away from whatever pulls you into a narrow sense of self and makes reality seem fixed. From a broader perspective, see everything with which you identify as less personal. Write about your identification in the third person and try to take it a little less seriously.

60 MIN

9. WITHOUT STRESS

By sitting and settling at the beginning, the breath itself calls forth the concepts of pride and humility. Pride is a feeling of worth, fullness and determination; humility is the heartfelt feeling of belonging to something greater, to which we contribute our best intentions. 

During the class, we build on the previous practice and continue to work with the obliques, while integrating the strength beneath the armpits with the strength of the legs. You will remember this from earlier classes in the month.

We move through sun salutations, and in Sun Salutation II add asanas and pulsations from positions supported by strong legs. We practise the lateral lowering movement, this time with a strap beneath the shoulder blades. 

Slowly immerse yourself in your time for yoga and remember how we redefine postural habits, reduce patterns of stress contraction and strengthen the muscles that support effortless upright posture. 

I hope you have managed to carry this idea through the month’s classes and will remember to refresh the muscles’ memory whenever you notice yourself beginning to enter a stress response with hunched shoulders.

Mindful journal: Intention: I want to bring my determination, security and stability, together with the joyful surrender of knowing that I am part of something greater. I want to find the balance that lets me carry my body openly. This is my conscious choice: with small steps, day by day, I notice when I separate myself from the whole and remember to return.

10 MIN

AWAKENING THE SHOULDERS

WATCH THE VIDEO
You do not need a mat. Simply stand up and begin gently mobilising the body and awakening its energy. :)

We open the chest and deeply mobilise the shoulder girdle, with an emphasis on strengthening the foundation in the legs. We practise several shoulder rotations and a backstroke-like movement from different squat positions. 

The intention is to strengthen and stabilise the legs and pelvis while movement through the chest and shoulders creates breadth and relief. 

In this way, we establish the perfect balance of strength and relaxation that we practise carrying through the body, our movement and the way we train the muscles for upright posture. 

Enjoy and move at least a little every morning. It makes a great difference to the way we enter the day. :)