Engage Your Muscles & Stand Your Sacred Ground
Ashaya Yoga 2nd Essential: ENGAGE
Relates to the Earth element (Earth is solid, strong, and steady)
3 aspects of engaging your muscles:
1. Isometrically engage your muscles evenly 360 degrees around bones
2. Isometrically squeeze in toward the midline
3. Draw in from the foundation and periphery into the active spanda center
Spanda centers: there are four spanda centers in the body. They are active hubs of energy within the body. As you engage your muscles in a pose you pull this power into one of the four spanda centers. Which spanda center depends upon the shape of the pose and how gravity moves within the
1. Pelvis standing, seated, vasisthansana
2. Low belly plank, chaturanga, savasana
3. Heart down dog, handstand, arm balances
4. Palate bridge, headstand, shoulder stand
For me the deeper meaning of “engage” is found in these contemplations:
1. Become involved in the pose by integrating mind and body through
engagement.
2. Engage with life! Yoga creates curiosity and inquisitiveness.
3. Engagement creates action. This action is how you “Step into your Authentic Self”, which is our studio theme for 2015.
4. Engage in order to access your power. As stated by Todd Norian, founder of Ashaya Yoga, “Stand your sacred ground, don’t puff up, don’t back down”.
Today’s practice emphasized the holding of engagement with one minute holds in many of our standing poses and a timed hold in half handstand.
enlist, secure, draw, involve, participate, activate, energize, squeeze, tone
Two Hearts Yoga Studio 