http://leeanncareyyoga.com/yoga/2012/01/urdhva-dhanurasana-balance-efforts/

It basically discusses the action of the serratus anterior and the non-action of the upper trapezius, particularly in backbends.  Although the yoga anatomy concepts actually apply to all yoga poses, including the everyday down dog.

Here is a picture of me from the article that shows how the yoga belt and block helps me access the serratus anterior when upside down and backwards.

I teach private yoga lessons in Hermosa Beach, CA for the South Bay Yoga community.  My emphasis is on preventing and healing injuries, and choosing a yoga practice that counters your daily routine.  The photo is in my home studio.

Follow the link to read the whole article:  http://leeanncareyyoga.com/yoga/2012/01/urdhva-dhanurasana-balance-efforts/

Love,

Jules

Jules Mitchell Yoga Anatomy ERYT 500

I was recently interviewed by the lovely Roseanne from It’s All Yoga, Baby. Click on the logo above to visit the Blog and read the original interview about yoga injuries, my graduate studies in Exercise Science, Leeann Carey Yoga, Yoga Anatomy trainings, and the South Bay Yoga Conference.

Thankfully, this isn’t one of my harder poses, so making the video was fun.  The adjustment with the yoga belt is the best one for me.

For more videos like this visit www.leeanncareyyoga.com

As always, I’m available for Private Yoga Lessons in Hermosa Beach, CA. Just email me at yoga@julesmitchell.com

Enjoy.

The lovely Dawn DelVecchio from The Healers Way interviewed me about Yaapana Yoga.  Watch it here.  There is a special offer at the end, but it expires Dec 23, 2011.  Enjoy.

As always, I’m available for private yoga lessons in the South Bay.  If you live in Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach or Redondo Beach and want some yoga therapy, email me at yoga@julesmitchell.com.

It’s been a long time since I’ve blogged.  It’s not that I haven’t been writing, I have been.  It’s just that I’ve been writing academically for my graduate program in Kinesiology.  Academic writing is not the same as blogging, not even close.

So while I am ready to write some more material, I have a few other projects lined up.  One of these is rebuilding my website.  So, until I do that, I won’t be posting any elaborate yoga blogs.  You might find some of my yoga anatomy blogs over at Elephant Journal.

For now, I will post a few videos.  If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video must be worth ten thousand words, right?

The particular video below is perfect for today. This semester of academic writing meant extended hours researching and typing. My posture suffered terribly…especially in my hip flexors and upper back. With my flattened lumbar curve, I’m already working against gravity for good posture. In this video, Leeann Carey and I look at “how to stand” – which is much harder than you think.

Enjoy the Yaapana Yoga videos and stay tuned for a new website.

As always, I’m available for private yoga lessons in Hermosa Beach, CA.  I focus on yoga therapy for everyone, kinematic skills for the beginning yoga student,  and proper alignment for the experienced yogi.

Much love,

Jules

For today’s anatomy discussion, let’s look at the cyclical hip extension and hip flexion when running. (I promise, this will end up totally yoga related, so trust and follow along). First, let’s define the terms:

Hip Extension: When the femur bone (the thigh) is behind you as in the back leg during running. This is an increase in the hip joint angle.

Hip Flexion: When the femur is in front of you as in the front leg during running. This is a decrease in the hip joint angle.

Since these actions are opposing actions, when the hip extensors contract, the hip flexors stretch and vice versa. When running, the legs continually cycle through these two muscular actions. Let’s look at the primary muscles associated with these actions (and recognize there are many other contributing muscles that we will leave out of today’s discussion).

Hip Extension: The Hamstrings
Three muscles make up the group called the Hamstrings. They are:

Biceps femoris
Origin: ischial tuberosity, linea aspera, lateral supracondylar line, and distal femur
Insertion: head of fibula and lateral condyle of tibia

Semimembranosus
Origin: ischial tuberosity
Insertion: medial condyle of tibia, via oblique popliteal ligament to lateral condyle of femur

Semitendinosus
Origin: ischial tuberosity
Insertion: medial aspect of upper tibial shaft

Hip Flexion: Iliopsoas
Two muscles make up the group called the Iliospsoas. They are:

Iliacus
Origin: iliac fossa and crest, ala of sacrum
Insertion: lesser trochanter of the femur via iliopsoas tendon

Psoas Major
Origin: transverse processes, bodies, and discs of lumbar vertebrae and T12
Insertion: lesser trochanter of the femur via iliopsoas tendon

Since running (and everyday walking in case you don’t like to run and think this article is not for you) is a powerful sport that calls these muscle into action repeatedly, these muscle can become strong and tight. Depending on who you are, you might find that your tightened iliopsoas pulls your pelvis into an anterior tilt. Or perhaps your shortened hamstrings pull your pelvis the opposite direction into a posterior tilt. This is something you learn to discover for yourself in a private yoga session with me.

So what can you do to help bring these powerful muscles into a state of balance? Yoga, of course! Holding yoga poses with support provides an opportunity for you to encourage muscles to let go. Depending on who you are, this can happen quickly or not so quickly.

A pose I would recommend is Hanumanasana (splits) with support. Take a look at me in this daring variation! While not for the faint of heart, it is very effective. Don’t worry, I have many other options where both feet remain on the floor. Join me for a private yoga class in my Hermosa Beach studio and let’s explore who you are in the pose.

Namaste,
Jules

Supported Bridge with a Block

Not so much. I had one student that told me she gets piercing pain all the way down into her leg when she does this. In fact, she is not the first student to share this with me. For a pose that is loved by so many, I must acknowledge her for speaking up to share her discomfort.

However as a yoga teacher, there is more to do than just listen. In the Leeann Carey Yoga Certification program you learn to inquire and to problem solve. Sometimes you don’t get it right the first time, but you keep at it. Let me share with you what this looked like this morning.

First, I asked her if she would consider doing bridge without the block at all. I wanted to see if it was only the pressure of the block into the SI joints that was causing discomfort, or if it was a holding pattern she had in Bridge in general. It turns out, she didn’t like Bridge so much either. I wasn’t surprised. Mental note….next week’s class will focus on skills useful in Bridge.

I didn’t want to leave her just lying there on her back without an option, feeling discouraged, but I still had a class to tend to, so I had to be quick. Also, keep in mind that this was a one hour class in a fitness club, so my props and time were quite limited. No problem. I asked her to hug her knees into her chest and asked if the resulting stretch alleviated some of the discomfort she had just experienced. She sighed with gratitude, a big “yes”.

I instructed her to a reclined pigeon stretch and asked her if she could stay after class for a few moments. At this point, I was more concerned with her getting some relief from the pain so she could be still in quickly approaching Savasana than her getting the effects of bridge.

Reclined Pigeon with Kitty

After class, we spent 5 minutes discussing some restorative versions of the pose with bolsters, blankets, and straps, as well as some alternative poses she could do in a fitness club without props when the teacher led the class in supported Bridge with a block. We discussed the possible causes of the shooting pain down the leg and explored which movements caused it and which didn’t. She was grateful and left smiling and empowered.

If you are a yoga student who want more great tips like this to grow your practice, contact me for private yoga lessons. I’m in Hermosa Beach.

Jules Mitchell E-RYT
yoga@julesmitchell.com

If you relate to either of these, then keep reading. If you love Navasana, then keep reading anyway and post some comments that will encourage your friends of yoga to become friends with Navasana.

Smiling in Navasana

While every pose has an unlimited of aspects we could study (which is one of the greatest seductions of the yoga practice) today, we will look at one way of accessing the abdominals in the pose. For many of us, either the hip flexors are doing all the work or the low back is doing all the work but we can actually distribute much that workload to the abdominal wall, which is often dormant in the pose.

In the Leeann Carey Yoga School, we always teach that it is easier to awaken dormant muscles in the most basic variations of any pose. As soon as we complicate the pose by adding too many variables, the clarity of learning a skill becomes muddled. In Navasana, a tremendous amount of effort goes into resisting the force of gravity in order to prevent collapsing onto floor. So let’s look at the shape of the pose but change the orientation so gravity can help us rather than distract us. A variation of Uttana Padasana (extend foot pose) is a great option.

Uttana Padasana variation

To begin, lie on your back with your legs straight up, reaching through your heels toward the ceiling. Your arms will be at a comfortable position alongside your body, palms down to stabilize the upper body. Check for a few things here:

• Straighten your legs. If tight hamstrings prevent this, put your heels up a wall at an angle that allows your legs to be straight.
• Stack your heels directly above your sitting bones. (This is a Key Positioning Skill taught at our Foundation Weekend in the Leeann Carey Yoga RYT 200 certification.)
• Bring your legs together – they work more powerfully as one than as two.
• Feel your entire low back (lumbar region) descending with gravity. If you are arching in your low back, lower your legs, lengthen your pelvis away from the rest of your spine and slowly bring the legs up again.
• If the scalenes are hard (anterior neck muscles) soften the force with which the back of your head is connecting with the floor. Your neck should be comfortable and soft, encouraging an unobstructed air passageway.

Now start to notice what is holding your legs up. Can you feel your lower abdominals gently drawing into the spine? Begin to teach your transverse abdominus to awaken and participate in holding the legs up. The action of the transverse abdominus is to compress the abdomen. Is your lower belly bulging out instead? Can you engage the deep abdominal wall and by feeling that gentle compression on the abdomen? Hint: if your low back is arching, this will directly interfere with your ability to access this skill. Lower your legs, lengthen the low back and start again.

At this point you should be in the pose about two minutes or so. Only 3 more to go!

Now let’s bring our attention to our hip flexors. Are they gripping? Reach through the heels more and then some more again. Bring your awareness back to your abdominals and then back through your heels. Your hip flexors shall grip less and the work load should be distributed to the rest of the leg, including the quadriceps, which are keeping the legs straight so you can reach through heels even more. For some of you, releasing the grip in the hip flexors will be natural. But for others, it will take the utmost of will and mental strength to shift the focus of the pose. Keep practicing. You don’t have to get it today.
After 5 minutes, hug your knees into your chest, roll to one side, and sit up. The next time you practice Navasana, apply these skills and feel the transformation in the pose!

If you are a yoga student who want more great tips like this to grow your practice, contact me for private yoga lessons. I’m in Hermosa Beach.

Jules Mitchell E-RYT
yoga@julesmitchell.com

Ligaments are slightly elastic, not nearly as elastic as muscle and don’t have the contractile features of muscle. They should only be stretched a little. Ligaments will return to their original shape unless they are stretched past a certain point either over a prolonged period of time or abruptly.

Consider ligaments to be like taffy. A brief gentle tug will stretch the taffy a little, while a prolonged gentle tug will stretch the taffy much more. But a quick, forceful tug will actually snap the taffy.

Practicing yoga asana can be beneficial to overall joint health and function. Since stiff and hardened ligaments limit mobility, mild stretching at the joints can bring tremendous freedom in movement. But overstretching the ligaments, called hyperlaxity, will actually cause reduced joint stability.

A similar photo to the one below is used in our program Anatomy: Form and Function to examine the abundance of ligaments and other connective tissues and how they affect movement. Join us! Learn to teach yoga.

The LCY method empowers you to teach the students, not just the poses. Discover how to identify which students will benefit from joint mobility and which need joint stability and how to address them all in a group setting.