I am packing up my things and heading West soon. More details to come after I arrive. This is going to be fun!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Classes Starting Spring 2010
CobraBalance classes will be starting soon in Leavenworth, WA. We will meet outside, will have several slack lines, and begin in the early evenings. Special discount: class prices are half-off for river guides.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
THE COBRA
Imagine the cobra rising from the snake charmer’s basket. Its back is wide with its hood raised. The most amazing thing about the cobra is its ability to ascend using the muscles along its spine. The cobra is the perfect symbol for what becomes possible with a healthy, integrated spine: graceful, floating movements and fierce, mysterious power. An iconic spiritual animal guide, Cobra is the true teacher of CobraBalance.
The cobra has appeared as a teacher in much of Eastern symbolism. It was worn above the third eye, on the crowns of ancient Egyptian royals. In India it is a symbol of the Naga cult. In Kung Fu, there are many different schools drawing on the wisdom of animals and mimicking their movements. You may have heard of Crane style Kung Fu, Drunken Monkey Kung Fu or even Cobra style Kung Fu.
The cobra has appeared as a teacher in much of Eastern symbolism. It was worn above the third eye, on the crowns of ancient Egyptian royals. In India it is a symbol of the Naga cult. In Kung Fu, there are many different schools drawing on the wisdom of animals and mimicking their movements. You may have heard of Crane style Kung Fu, Drunken Monkey Kung Fu or even Cobra style Kung Fu.
MY STORY
At age eleven. I began fighting competitively in traditional martial arts tournaments. By age seventeen, I was at the top of my game. Around that time, at a shiai (a tournament held exclusively for our school), I experienced something that could only be described as transcendent. I became Cobra.
My fellow competitors and I were fighting outside in the shadows of a hot August afternoon. This was at a time when my sensei (teacher) permitted me to fight the young men in our dojo (school). This added for me, as a young woman, an extra sense of honor and excitement. I was one of the few women at the school permitted to fight men in tournaments. Already successful through several of the day’s matches, I moved up the rankings as a finalist. Now, in the last match, I fought for first place.
Exhausted from the heat, I pushed myself beyond any limits I had ever experienced while fighting. Everything moved in slow motion and I could feel my body coming into perfect balance. I experienced my body in the form of a cobra balancing in a smooth rocking motion and ready to strike at any moment.
Reacting automatically to my opponent’s movements, I delivered the quick kick to the head for which I had become infamous, a strike as quick as the cobra’s poisonous bite. I won the match, but more than that, I had had a mystical insight. It was not until years later that this experience of Cobra would open up new wisdom for me. Balance was essential for my success as a fighter, but more, CobraBalance would eventually save my life.
Martial arts practice and teaching was an important aspect of my identity into my mid-twenties. Then, peaceful pursuits like yoga and dance drew more of my attention. Frankly, I was tired of being hit. The many injuries I had ignored over fifteen years as a fighter were beginning to manifest as chronic joint pain.
As I reinvented myself as a peaceful warrior, the mystical experience I had in my youth stayed with me. Yoga brought me an inner stillness comparable to the slow-motion calm I felt as a fighter. Dancing with shamanic healers and in tribal rites taught me that through conscious movement, there was a way to heal my body, my mind and my spirit simultaneously.
In 2006, I began dancing frequently at Gypsie Nation gatherings, a sacred space for ritual ecstatic dance. I had also been studying Alexander Technique with Nada Diachenko at the University of Colorado Dance Program. Then, during one of Gypsie Nation’s ecstatic dance rituals, I had an incredible breakthrough. The training I had undergone in the Alexander Technique meshed with all my previous studies and culminated in a magic moment.
During the dance, once again, I became Cobra, but this time I understood what the experience meant. While undulating in a rhythmic sway, I became aware of my spine; I began to experience fine muscle control ordinarily relegated to the autonomic nervous system. In this moment, the experience of Cobra was not just a strange, mystical hallucination brought on by heat exhaustion and adrenaline at a shiai, but a state of awareness that I could develop in myself and help others experience.
Shortly after this second breakthrough experience of Cobra, I would have the opportunity to use all I had learned to heal myself. It was as if the universe was forcing me to a test. I am living proof that the CobraBalance system works. On January 1, 2008, I had a ski accident that rearranged my life. At first, I did not know the accident was serious. I skied the rest of the day, only feeling a crunch in my neck when I reached to grab the ski poles dropped in the “yard sale” wreckage.
The next day, limping around downtown Missoula, Montana, I suddenly felt I was having a stroke. The worst headache of my life went through me like a hot poker and the right side of my face drooped and twitched slightly. From that day onward, I experienced excruciating headaches twice daily that lasted about three hours each. A doctor diagnosed me with cluster headaches and prescribed heavy, painkilling drugs that made me zombie-like. I could not even leave my apartment to do my own grocery shopping.
After over a month of the debilitating headaches, the pain was so severe that I thought about taking my own life. It is still shocking to imagine how quickly one can go from being a healthy athlete to a home-bound patient. I knew I had to try something other than the traditional prescriptions if I was going to survive, so once again, I decided to fight.
Frustrated by formal American medical practices, I sought out acupuncture, chiropractics, and returned to my Alexander Technique instructor, Nada Diachenko. A second x-ray showed that I had moved two of the vertebrae in my neck slightly askew. The stress on my neck was affecting neural pathways. Over the next two months I resisted taking painkillers as often as possible and used the principals of Alexander Technique fused with my earlier practices of martial arts, yoga and dance to heal myself.*
The results saved my life. Now, CobraBalance incorporates what I have learned into a system that may help you.
*The hands-on help of several healers was invaluable to my healing practice. If you are struggling with a serious injury, do not underestimate the help of experts. I was blessed with a team of healers: chiropractors, massage therapists, an acupuncturist, a physical therapist, and of course, private sessions with my Alexander Technique instructor, Nada Diachenko.
---------------------------------------
PART 1, PRINCIPALS:
My fellow competitors and I were fighting outside in the shadows of a hot August afternoon. This was at a time when my sensei (teacher) permitted me to fight the young men in our dojo (school). This added for me, as a young woman, an extra sense of honor and excitement. I was one of the few women at the school permitted to fight men in tournaments. Already successful through several of the day’s matches, I moved up the rankings as a finalist. Now, in the last match, I fought for first place.
Exhausted from the heat, I pushed myself beyond any limits I had ever experienced while fighting. Everything moved in slow motion and I could feel my body coming into perfect balance. I experienced my body in the form of a cobra balancing in a smooth rocking motion and ready to strike at any moment.
Reacting automatically to my opponent’s movements, I delivered the quick kick to the head for which I had become infamous, a strike as quick as the cobra’s poisonous bite. I won the match, but more than that, I had had a mystical insight. It was not until years later that this experience of Cobra would open up new wisdom for me. Balance was essential for my success as a fighter, but more, CobraBalance would eventually save my life.
Martial arts practice and teaching was an important aspect of my identity into my mid-twenties. Then, peaceful pursuits like yoga and dance drew more of my attention. Frankly, I was tired of being hit. The many injuries I had ignored over fifteen years as a fighter were beginning to manifest as chronic joint pain.
As I reinvented myself as a peaceful warrior, the mystical experience I had in my youth stayed with me. Yoga brought me an inner stillness comparable to the slow-motion calm I felt as a fighter. Dancing with shamanic healers and in tribal rites taught me that through conscious movement, there was a way to heal my body, my mind and my spirit simultaneously.
In 2006, I began dancing frequently at Gypsie Nation gatherings, a sacred space for ritual ecstatic dance. I had also been studying Alexander Technique with Nada Diachenko at the University of Colorado Dance Program. Then, during one of Gypsie Nation’s ecstatic dance rituals, I had an incredible breakthrough. The training I had undergone in the Alexander Technique meshed with all my previous studies and culminated in a magic moment.
During the dance, once again, I became Cobra, but this time I understood what the experience meant. While undulating in a rhythmic sway, I became aware of my spine; I began to experience fine muscle control ordinarily relegated to the autonomic nervous system. In this moment, the experience of Cobra was not just a strange, mystical hallucination brought on by heat exhaustion and adrenaline at a shiai, but a state of awareness that I could develop in myself and help others experience.
Shortly after this second breakthrough experience of Cobra, I would have the opportunity to use all I had learned to heal myself. It was as if the universe was forcing me to a test. I am living proof that the CobraBalance system works. On January 1, 2008, I had a ski accident that rearranged my life. At first, I did not know the accident was serious. I skied the rest of the day, only feeling a crunch in my neck when I reached to grab the ski poles dropped in the “yard sale” wreckage.
The next day, limping around downtown Missoula, Montana, I suddenly felt I was having a stroke. The worst headache of my life went through me like a hot poker and the right side of my face drooped and twitched slightly. From that day onward, I experienced excruciating headaches twice daily that lasted about three hours each. A doctor diagnosed me with cluster headaches and prescribed heavy, painkilling drugs that made me zombie-like. I could not even leave my apartment to do my own grocery shopping.
After over a month of the debilitating headaches, the pain was so severe that I thought about taking my own life. It is still shocking to imagine how quickly one can go from being a healthy athlete to a home-bound patient. I knew I had to try something other than the traditional prescriptions if I was going to survive, so once again, I decided to fight.
Frustrated by formal American medical practices, I sought out acupuncture, chiropractics, and returned to my Alexander Technique instructor, Nada Diachenko. A second x-ray showed that I had moved two of the vertebrae in my neck slightly askew. The stress on my neck was affecting neural pathways. Over the next two months I resisted taking painkillers as often as possible and used the principals of Alexander Technique fused with my earlier practices of martial arts, yoga and dance to heal myself.*
The results saved my life. Now, CobraBalance incorporates what I have learned into a system that may help you.
*The hands-on help of several healers was invaluable to my healing practice. If you are struggling with a serious injury, do not underestimate the help of experts. I was blessed with a team of healers: chiropractors, massage therapists, an acupuncturist, a physical therapist, and of course, private sessions with my Alexander Technique instructor, Nada Diachenko.
---------------------------------------
PART 1, PRINCIPALS:
THE ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE
In short, the Alexander Technique brings awareness to how we balance our heavy heads on top of our spine and how we may take conscious control over muscle contractions that would otherwise be left to our autonomic nervous system. It is not a series of postures or exercises. Rather, it is a process of developing awareness that can be used in any posture or movement imaginable. An Alexander Technique instructor would likely give the directions: “Let the neck be free, to let the head go forward and up, to let the back lengthen and widen.”
CobraBalance incorporates the fundamental principals of the Alexander Technique with several other systems, but does not seek to teach the Technique in and of itself. Instead, CobraBalance serves as a complementary system that easily fits with and draws from the Alexander Technique. It ads muscle strengthening, balancing and stretching moves to an Alexander Technique practice. The best way to learn the Alexander Technique is through sessions with a certified AT instructor. Resources are available online at AlexanderTech.org
CobraBalance incorporates the fundamental principals of the Alexander Technique with several other systems, but does not seek to teach the Technique in and of itself. Instead, CobraBalance serves as a complementary system that easily fits with and draws from the Alexander Technique. It ads muscle strengthening, balancing and stretching moves to an Alexander Technique practice. The best way to learn the Alexander Technique is through sessions with a certified AT instructor. Resources are available online at AlexanderTech.org
STRENGTH
The typical Western body image of strength is one of a muscular upper torso. Think of the strong man depicted in a cartoon and you will have an image reflecting a cultural stereotype of “strength.” Strong biceps and shoulders are the body parts most focused upon by muscle bound men at the gym. Eric Levinson, physical therapist assistant at Wardebrg Health Center, taught me leg and hip exercises that helped me to recover from one of my injuries, one very common among skiers, a torn ACL. He explained that these leg stability exercises were the hardest ones to convince his male patients to do because most of the male athletes preferred to increase their upper body strength instead of working the lower body. Upper body strength is easier to show off in sleeveless t-shirts, while a strong lower body, essential for balance, may go unnoticed under jeans.
The typical strong upper body shape is like a V, much like the hood of the cobra. However, unlike the top-heavy weightlifter, the cobra is a well-balanced animal and has the lower body strength necessary to make its puffed up chest much more than a showy bluff. Without balance between upper and lower body strength, the cobra would not have the strength to rise up from its basket.
Interestingly, an Eastern perspective on body strength focuses on the lower half of the body. Visiting martial arts masters have commented on the top-heavy muscularity of American muscle men. I have seen very small, old men easily topple young, “strong” Americans using an unseen strength rooted in the lower half of their bodies. The Eastern martial artist’s strength is typically more developed in the lower half of their body, the legs and abdominal region, especially in the area where chi resides, known in Chi Kung as the Tang Tien. Visualize this lower body strength as the inversion of the upper body’s V.
CobraBalance seeks to bring balance between upper and lower body strength, creating something like an X as the ideal model for the body. Master Tatsuo Shimabuku, creator of Isshin-ryu karate, explained that crossing the X made for the best, most powerful body dynamic, weather crossing the body to block a punch or coming to the center from where one may explode outward into a strike. Adding to Shimabuku’s teachings, the center of the X is the balance point of all planes: horizontal, vertical, and beyond the tangible, it is the equilibrium point of stillness, akin to the aware state one experience during Zen meditation. Between each CobraBalance move, we come to the center.
The typical strong upper body shape is like a V, much like the hood of the cobra. However, unlike the top-heavy weightlifter, the cobra is a well-balanced animal and has the lower body strength necessary to make its puffed up chest much more than a showy bluff. Without balance between upper and lower body strength, the cobra would not have the strength to rise up from its basket.
Interestingly, an Eastern perspective on body strength focuses on the lower half of the body. Visiting martial arts masters have commented on the top-heavy muscularity of American muscle men. I have seen very small, old men easily topple young, “strong” Americans using an unseen strength rooted in the lower half of their bodies. The Eastern martial artist’s strength is typically more developed in the lower half of their body, the legs and abdominal region, especially in the area where chi resides, known in Chi Kung as the Tang Tien. Visualize this lower body strength as the inversion of the upper body’s V.
CobraBalance seeks to bring balance between upper and lower body strength, creating something like an X as the ideal model for the body. Master Tatsuo Shimabuku, creator of Isshin-ryu karate, explained that crossing the X made for the best, most powerful body dynamic, weather crossing the body to block a punch or coming to the center from where one may explode outward into a strike. Adding to Shimabuku’s teachings, the center of the X is the balance point of all planes: horizontal, vertical, and beyond the tangible, it is the equilibrium point of stillness, akin to the aware state one experience during Zen meditation. Between each CobraBalance move, we come to the center.
DYNAMIC STRETCHING
If you balance on one foot on an unstable surface, you will notice your foot wobbling: a back and forth motion of muscles contracting on either side of your foot and leg to create the necessary weight and counter balance. Your body instinctually knows how to balance and your muscles will counter-act each other, creating an active tension between muscle groups. Similarly, when you prolong a yoga pose, you will feel different muscle groups pull against one another as the stretch deepens.
Dynamic stretching is muscle pulling against muscle during a stretch. You deliberately flex a muscle while stretching it. The simultaneity of flexing and stretching can bring awareness to subtle changes in how the muscle is used, quicken the impulse to react with a flexed or relaxed muscle, and enhance the effectiveness of your stretch. Perform dynamic stretching while the muscles are warm.
Dynamic stretching is muscle pulling against muscle during a stretch. You deliberately flex a muscle while stretching it. The simultaneity of flexing and stretching can bring awareness to subtle changes in how the muscle is used, quicken the impulse to react with a flexed or relaxed muscle, and enhance the effectiveness of your stretch. Perform dynamic stretching while the muscles are warm.
BALANCE
My earliest sensei (teacher), Richard Norris, instructs his students always to practice every movement, drill and stretch, on both sides of the body. We do not want to be like hermit crabs, with one large, strong claw, and the other weak. To be a great fighter, and to be a great athlete in almost any discipline, it is important to develop ambidextrous skill, the ability to use both sides. Michael Gelb, writer and expert on the Alexander Technique, suggests one learn to juggle as a means of enjoying and deepening the benefits of an Alexander Technique practice.
My own experience has taught me that the body always seeks equilibrium. Most of our human bodies are built along lines of symmetry, with our spine as the center point. If we injure one of our limbs, there is often a counterbalance made in the body that can induce secondary injuries and pain as the body tries to compensate for the initial injury. Such pains and injuries directly relate to a loss of balance within the body. Rather than wait for the injuries that will occur when the body is chronically out of balance, we can use our CobraBalance practice to bring the body back into equilibrium.
One may come into balance emotionally, spiritually, mentally, and physically. By initiating balance in the physical body, other states of balance will follow.
My own experience has taught me that the body always seeks equilibrium. Most of our human bodies are built along lines of symmetry, with our spine as the center point. If we injure one of our limbs, there is often a counterbalance made in the body that can induce secondary injuries and pain as the body tries to compensate for the initial injury. Such pains and injuries directly relate to a loss of balance within the body. Rather than wait for the injuries that will occur when the body is chronically out of balance, we can use our CobraBalance practice to bring the body back into equilibrium.
One may come into balance emotionally, spiritually, mentally, and physically. By initiating balance in the physical body, other states of balance will follow.
FINE MUSCLE CONTROL
Fine muscle control is what makes it possible for you to stand up and not fall over. Your body is constantly seeking to balance itself. This process is relegated to the autonomic nervous system, a part of your brain, spinal cord and nerves that make things like balance, sneezing, hunger, etc, happen without you having to think about it. By continually challenging ourselves to balance in different poses, we can develop a keener awareness of fine muscle control and make more skilled, conscious use of those muscles.
BALANCE POSES
We come to balance from two approaches, an external and internal approach. The idea of an internal/external approach to balance is comparable to the internal and external styles of martial arts taught in the West. Internal styles focus on the flowing movement of energy using the mind and concentration, while external styles focus on the doing, the physical body of muscle and bone which make the moves. Eventually, the internal and external paths will meet in the middle, in the center, which is CobraBalance.For an internal approach to balance, we use the Alexander Technique, Chi Kung and creative visualization to release patterns of holding in the body that, if unchecked, prevent us from reaching a natural state of equilibrium. Externally, we put our body into the prescribed balance poses repeatedly until our muscles strengthen and our body feels the balance necessary to hold the pose. As my sensei would say, perfect practice makes perfect. We start with easy poses on flat ground and increase the challenge gradually to non-stable surfaces such as a sandy beach, a Bosu Ball and, ultimately, a slack line.
MOVE HEALING ENERGY
While doing CobraBalance to relieve pain or heal an injury, touching different pressure points with your hands can help direct energy along meridians of the body.* The stimulus of touch and concentration can help reconnect the flow of chi between the contact points. Simultaneously, it will engage the sensory nerves in the touched areas, enhancing body awareness. Increased activity in the synapses of the brain makes a more direct, conscious connection between the brain and the repair site. For those of you who have used a biofeedback machine on an injured muscle, this is a similar experience. Awareness of the repair site via touch makes the healing process become more conscious, allowing you to take control of functions that would be otherwise relegated to the autonomic nervous system.
*Reiki practitioner Eileen Lindbuchler has helped me identify the points of contact to use during specific CobraBalance exercises and poses. The best way to learn how to use these pressure points is to attend a CobraBalance class.
*Reiki practitioner Eileen Lindbuchler has helped me identify the points of contact to use during specific CobraBalance exercises and poses. The best way to learn how to use these pressure points is to attend a CobraBalance class.
VISUALIZATIONS
As you are guided through the following exercises and poses, corresponding visualizations will be suggested to you to help you release tension and move more freely into balance. Many ancient mystical practices use creative visualization to move energy on subtle levels. For example, Chi Kung practitioners can move chi up the spine after many practice sessions of seeing the chi move in their imagination. The body responds amazingly to what we imagine. One example of this you will use in CobraBalance is the imagery of roots given in “TREE POSE” (below). Imagining the roots coming from your feet really does make it easier to balance. Why do visualizations have such a powerful effect? Neuro-scientists have not yet fully explained this mind-body connection. What matters is that it works.
MOVE CREATIVE ENERGY
When one is using the body most efficiently, with perfect balance, and what Alexander would call proper “use,” there is an increased flow of energy through the body. Eastern systems might call this energy chi. Others might call it life force energy. It is important to recognize how balance (developed through proper body use) affects our lives beyond our physique, and affects the movement of subtle energies.
At my desk working on a creative project, I notice a correlation between my energy level and the use of my body as I sit. When I am conscious about releasing holding patterns of tension that reside in my neck, or back, or hips, I notice energy rises freely up along my spine. I can use this energy to manifest my creative projects.
I visualize this energy rising from the base of my spine and springing forth from the crown of my head like a geyser or a fountain. If I want to bring more energy and awareness through my body, I can visualize this fountain as I walk down the street or go about my day. You might be amazed how much spring this can put in your step! In this instance, the practice of CobraBalance and the Alexander Technique go beyond the work done in the dance studio, the gym studio, or the dojo. It is a practice to use throughout the day, especially while in line at the grocery store!
The idea of creative energy rising through the spine is nothing new. Ancient yogic practices sought to draw kundalini energy up the spine and depicted the energy with the symbol of two intertwined snakes. (Another great image of Cobra as teacher.)
At my desk working on a creative project, I notice a correlation between my energy level and the use of my body as I sit. When I am conscious about releasing holding patterns of tension that reside in my neck, or back, or hips, I notice energy rises freely up along my spine. I can use this energy to manifest my creative projects.
I visualize this energy rising from the base of my spine and springing forth from the crown of my head like a geyser or a fountain. If I want to bring more energy and awareness through my body, I can visualize this fountain as I walk down the street or go about my day. You might be amazed how much spring this can put in your step! In this instance, the practice of CobraBalance and the Alexander Technique go beyond the work done in the dance studio, the gym studio, or the dojo. It is a practice to use throughout the day, especially while in line at the grocery store!
The idea of creative energy rising through the spine is nothing new. Ancient yogic practices sought to draw kundalini energy up the spine and depicted the energy with the symbol of two intertwined snakes. (Another great image of Cobra as teacher.)
INHIBIT FALSE JOINTS
Through the Alexander Technique, I learned the importance of an accurate body map. This is a way of saying; I know where my joints are and know how my body was built to move. Surprisingly, many people do not use their bodies as they are meant to function because they do not have an accurate body map. Over years of misuse, we lose a sense of our body mechanics and run the machine into the ground by stiffening where we are meant to bend, and bending at “false joints.”
For example, when I am not conscious about how I use my body, I do not let my head bend and swivel from the atlanto-occipital joint, the place at the very top of the spine on which my skull rests. Instead, I tighten at that joint and bend my neck from joints further down my back. My body was not built to bend chronically at this point, to replace the more efficiently used joint. An inaccurate body map results from an ongoing pattern of misuse. The result, if I do not re-program myself back to more efficient use of my body, will be a dowager's hump.
Another common false joint results from a confusion about bending from the waist. We are built to bend in the hip joints and the knees. When the hip joints stiffen, the lower vertebrae flex instead. These delicate joints of the spine are used to compensate for the big, sturdy joints of the hips. Chronic bending of the lower back instead of the hip joints is a false joint that will result in back pain. While practicing CobraBalance, we try to bring awareness to how we are using our bodies and inhibit the use of false joints.
For example, when I am not conscious about how I use my body, I do not let my head bend and swivel from the atlanto-occipital joint, the place at the very top of the spine on which my skull rests. Instead, I tighten at that joint and bend my neck from joints further down my back. My body was not built to bend chronically at this point, to replace the more efficiently used joint. An inaccurate body map results from an ongoing pattern of misuse. The result, if I do not re-program myself back to more efficient use of my body, will be a dowager's hump.
Another common false joint results from a confusion about bending from the waist. We are built to bend in the hip joints and the knees. When the hip joints stiffen, the lower vertebrae flex instead. These delicate joints of the spine are used to compensate for the big, sturdy joints of the hips. Chronic bending of the lower back instead of the hip joints is a false joint that will result in back pain. While practicing CobraBalance, we try to bring awareness to how we are using our bodies and inhibit the use of false joints.
MOUNTAIN POSE
Before any balance pose or muscle-building pose, every movement should originate from a relaxed, aware state. Tadasana in Sanskrit, or mountain pose, is a simple pose in which we can bring awareness to how we are using our body and where we might be holding tension. In this pose, we will practice the Alexander Technique: Releasing the head from the spine…
TREE POSE
Imagine your feet spreading over the earth and sending roots downward, gripping the earth and giving you stability.
STAIRS
The basic movement of walking up and down stairs will lead to more advanced movements like crane pose and leg dips like those used in physical therapy programs.
ABHYANGA
A yogic practice of cleansing the body, abhyanga is a body massage with sesame oil and a rough cloth or fiber mat.* This use of CobraBalance brings the practice home into your daily life. After your shower or bath, start at you feet, increase your circulation by moving strokes with your cloth towards the heart. Bring awareness to how you are using and balancing your body. You will need to bend and reach. Move into monkey pose as you perform abhyanga. Stay relaxed in you joints. When you pick up one foot to scrub it, can you balance softly?
Use this time to practice Cobra Balance a little bit each day. When you dress, can you balance on one foot? As you practice, you will improve by simply paying more attention to how you go through these basic motions of scrubbing and dressing.
*For a more detailed description of abhyanga, see Deepak Chopra’s book, Perfect Health.
Use this time to practice Cobra Balance a little bit each day. When you dress, can you balance on one foot? As you practice, you will improve by simply paying more attention to how you go through these basic motions of scrubbing and dressing.
*For a more detailed description of abhyanga, see Deepak Chopra’s book, Perfect Health.
SPINNING
Sufis spin. The esoteric health practice of the Five Tibetans calls for spinning. Spinning requires balance and concentration. As a fighter, one of the most challenging yet dangerously successful moves I mastered was the spinning back kick. The simple act of spinning, when done regularly, can bring us back to our center whenever we need it. Besides all of this, it is fun! When it comes to balance, kids know best. That is why they are the greatest spinners of all.
HULA-HOOP
To hula-hoop, we need to be loose and flexible in the spine. Try it as a warm up and go for as long as you can. Experiment with different directions and bring awareness to your joints as you move the hoop up and down the different areas of your torso, neck, arms and legs.
A MORE ADVANCED PRACTICE
After skillful practice of the above poses and exercises, balance further develops by adding the challenge of an unstable surface. Try balancing on wet sand, which slowly sinks and molds around your bare foot. A Bosu ball is also a great tool available at many gyms and sporting goods stores. The ultimate challenge is to practice CobraBalance on a slack line. Similar to a tight rope, the slack line is a long piece of tubular webbing rigged between two stable objects, usually two trees. For detailed instructions on how to set up your own slack line, visit slackline.com
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