Awaken your Spine

Hi and Welcome to your Journey into Yoga! I’m Avery Rich and am so happy to have you along for the ride :)   Our practice today is going to open and stretch out our spines!

Undulate - the dictionary describes this word as meaning “move or go with a smooth up and down motion”  It is also said to mean something moving in a wavy pattern.  The first time I really grew accustomed to this word was when I started my own yoga journey.  Finding myself in the hands and knees or “all fours” pose, we were moving into doing some cat/cows, postures which would undulate the spine - I found this word intriguing - amusing - maybe even a bit sexy??

One of the things that happens when you journey into yoga is that you start to move your body in different ways - ways that may seem very unfamiliar or even foreign at first.  Some of the postures will feel more comfortable for you, some more different;  you may feel more at home in some poses than others - this is all about the journey. 

Cat and Cow - although these two poses are often done in conjunction with one another, they are very different from one another.  In fact, they are exact opposites.  In cow pose, we are encouraged to arch the back body and spine, thus bringing in a great stretch to the back, neck, and shoulders.  and he’s, you are gift - these are areas that many of us hold a lot of tension and even stress.  Cow pose runs in the heart opener family of poses in yoga, meaning that it encourages the upper body to open and stretch.  We spend most of our time in forward bending shapes, meaning that our shoulders and necks are encouraged to shift forward - think of the shape your body is in when you drive, work on your computer, look at your phone - all forward shifting.  Cow pose does the opposite and encourages the shoulders to open and release, the head to lift and the spine to open!

Cat pose is cow’s counterpose - the salt to its pepper;  they are very different but work very well together in a sequence.  Cat pose is the opposite shape to cow, yet does very similar actions in the body.  In addition to undulating the spine, cat pose helps to warm up your back, shoulders and hips.  This is often why you see these two poses at the start of a yoga class - it’s all about warming up the body for what’s to come!

Guiding into cat/cows

If you have been following along on this journey for awhile now, you know that ideally you have a yoga mat of any kind available for our postures today - but if you don’t, fear not! a blanket or towel will still work  SIDE NOTE - to make your journey as smooth as possible, if you are able to get a yoga mat for upcoming episodes I promise we will put them to good use! And it doesn’t have to be a fancy mat bought at the local fancy yoga store - yoga mats come in all price ranges and I encourage you to just get one that works for you!

We will begin today in the hands and knees position - this is called all fours sometimes - I personally like to call it table top!  Some things to notice and check in on - you will want you hands to be roughly shoulder distance apart - this doesn’t have to be exact but is a good guideline to stick with.  Make sure that your fingers are apart with your palms pressing into the ground.  turning your attention to your knees again, your knees should be slightly apart - maybe slightly wider than hip distance apart and again not to worry - no exact measurement here just guidelines.  Now that you have created your table shape let’s dive in.

On your inhale, we will move into cow tilt - as your belly drops toward the ground, your head and hips will lift - feel your shoulders open away from each other as you form this lovely arch shape - let hold for 5 breaths

Now, heading into cat back - keep the press into your palm and you draw your belly space up towards your spine and then drop your he’d and knock - feel that glorious stretch into the back of the neck? other places too - lets hold for 5 breaths.

Let’s pause for a minute in what I will call neutral spine - come back to where we started and take a moment to ask yourself this question:  which postures feels like more of a challenge to me? Now, move back into that pose (either cat or cow) and let’s hold for 5 breaths  now move into the other pose for 5 breaths.

Now sit back onto your heels  - if you are interested in moving into a short shavasana now is your time - if you are ready to complete your practice I wish you a wonderful rest of your day and look forward to continuing your journey next time