Yoga Practice | Diane DeRuggiero

Yoga Pose Makeover – Triangle Pose

by diane | Aug 29, 2019 | Yoga

In this Video, I realign Triangle Pose for the average human body. Triangle Pose requires flexible hamstrings and an extensive range of motion in the hips.
Moving into this pose with a straight front leg can create compression in the front hip and leave no room for the torso to move toward the front leg, causing the spine to round to allow your hand to reach the mat or block.
Rotating the torso to the long side of the Yoga mat creates tension in the SI Joint, as one side of the pelvis rotates inward, and the other rotates outward. If a practitioner has low back or SI joint issues, the torso may need to stay parallel to the mat.

The video is about 2 minutes long.

Enjoy!

Yoga got your goat?

by diane | Jul 19, 2019 | General Musings

Yoga is everywhere, all over social media. Yoga has become the cure-all for everything; even goats are into it.

But what is Yoga?

Is yoga only for the human pretzel?

Judging from what I see on social media or even on the covers of some Yoga magazines, Yoga is an elite practice for the human pretzel. Somewhere Yoga became about achievement and advancement into often extreme practices. The message that you need to be stronger, skinnier, or more flexible has drowned out Yoga’s message of finding your truth.

If Yoga requires you to conform to someone else’s standards of practice, beauty, beliefs, or lifestyle, it’s not Yoga anymore.

Yoga is about awareness

The goal of Yoga is self-awareness. Yoga asks you to watch and understand your motivations, not move from your subconscious autopilot. It is learning about yourself and discovering what you need to take care of yourself and your unique talents.

Yoga taps into your inner wisdom

Your body carries nature’s intelligence, but it is easy to lose the connection to this intelligence. Your soul nature speaks in whispers, quickly drowned out by the noise around you or your thoughts.

The goal of Yoga is to get out of your head and into your heart, the seat of your inner wisdom. Yoga practices help connect you to your innate intelligence.

Yoga connects you to the present moment

Yoga is meant to connect your mind to the present moment. Making shapes on your little rubber island is an act of meditative awareness. Ideally, letting go of achieving a specific outcome or shape. Instead, the goal is to mold yourself into a shape that works for your body at that moment.

But it takes bold truth to admit that your practice is not the same as someone else’s or even the same as your practice last week. It takes being aware of the moment. It means letting go of what does not serve you and choosing the path or action that does.

I’m personally ok with goats doing Yoga. Goats are cute. But don’t let them push you onto a path of achievement that is not your path to walk. That path is for each of you to find with the help of your deeper wisdom.

Yoga Pose Makeover – Warrior 2

by diane | Jun 13, 2019 | Yoga

In this Yoga pose makeover, I realign Warrior 2.

Similar to Warrior 1, this is a standard pose in many practices. The main problem with this pose for normal human bodies is the need for hip flexibility. To line the back heel to the front heel with the torso facing the long side of the mat requires the hips to open more than most students abilities. This pose can also stress the hip, low back, and SI joints.

The video is about 2 and 1/2 minutes long.

Yoga Pose Makeover – Warrior 1

by diane | Mar 14, 2019 | Yoga

In this Video, I realign Warrior 1. Warrior 1 is a familiar pose in many Yoga practices, but squaring the hips toward the front of the mat may be difficult or painful for many practitioners.

Widening the feet across the mat’s width and not forcing the back hip to “square” to the front of the mat can help create space in the hip and SI joints.

To try a short practice built around Warrior 1, check out my post, Yoga Practices – Warrior 1 realigned.

Yoga Practices; Warrior 1 Realigned

Yoga Pose Makeover – Forward Fold

by diane | Jan 10, 2019 | Yoga

Uttansana (Standing Forward Fold) is a standard yoga pose, often repeated several times in a class. Repeated many times during a class, it can create issues in the SI joint (where the pelvis halves meet the spine) or lower back. Personally, I no longer “swan dive” into this pose with outstretched arms and straight legs. I no longer teach it this way. This post will explain why Forward Folds may be problematic and ways to realign this pose.

The Forward Fold “Swan Dive”

In this first picture, I am folding forward with straight legs creating a shearing force on the sacroiliac joint (the joint where the two halves of the pelvis meet the sacrum at the base of the spine). The hamstrings act as pulleys, pulling the pelvis down and back. In contrast, the spine’s weight pulls the sacrum forward and away from the pelvis in the opposite direction. Arms out to the sides will add more to this shearing force. If the hamstrings (muscles on the back of the thigh) are tight, more pressure is exerted on the SI joint because there is no slack on the “pulley.”
Tightness on the back body, including the hamstrings, may also cause the back and shoulders to round forward. This lessens the disc space on the vertebral bodies’ front side and may cause pinching on the front of the discs and bulging out on the back of the discs, particularly in the lumbar spine.

Forward Fold Realigned

In the second picture, I am bending my knees and sending my hips back slightly. This prevents stress on the SI joint or rounding of the lower back. Sending the hips back lets the bony points on the top of the pelvis tip forward slightly. It is possible to overdo the forward tilt of the pelvis. This would create too much arching in the low back (lordosis). Make sure you are not feeling stress in your low back. Imagine you are lifting up a hefty package. The torso can move towards the top of the thighs, and hands might even reach behind the thighs to keep the spine long.

When the knees bend, and the pelvis tilts forward, the hamstrings are slack. Once you have folded over, you can straighten the legs more, creating a stretch in the hamstrings. The knees don’t need to straighten all the way. If you feel any sensation in the knee joint or the knees are hyperextending, soften them. This keeps the ligaments of the knee joint from being overly stretched.

Your hands may come to the tops of the thighs or your shins. You may even place your hands on Yog blocks if they don’t reach all the way to the mat. The goal is to keep the hands high enough so the low back does not need to round.

Once you are forward, the back muscles can relax, and the chin can drop toward the chest. This creates a stretch along the spine and the back of the neck.

To come up, keep the hips back slightly, and let the knees soften or re-bend, drawing up along the spine with the center of gravity over the heels so that the spine is not compressing on the front.

Try this out and see if you can feel the difference.

To see this practice in motion, check out my post

Yoga Realigned – Forward Folds