BEGINNERS YOGA - WEEK SIX - TAPAS (DISCIPLINE)

Tapas in yoga philosophy is translated as “self discipline”  or internal fire. It suggests that when tapas is in action that heat is generated and burns away impurities  of body and mind rekindling our inner spirit.

Tapas is the willingness to do the work, which means developing discipline, enthusiasm and a burning desire to learn. In yoga it is seen as a commitment to the practice. Holding a posture is tapas, you are restraining yourself from moving and are watching what happens, in this way you build the capacity to tolerate being with strong sensation and develop the skills of witnessing without reacting. The goal of tapas is to stop anything you do mindlessly because you’ve become habituated. When you use your will to overcome your conditioning you free yourself from many unconscious actions that cause suffering. Discipline therefore is a path to happiness.

PRACTICE 3 ROUNDS OF SUN SALUTATION A - DAILY FOR A WEEK (OR BEYOND)

THIS WEEK WE WILL ALSO BE LOOKING AT THE COMMON POSES WE FIND IN CLASS. WE WILL LOOK AT ALIGNMENT AND MORE IMPORTANTLY THE TARGET AREA OF A STRETCH AND HOW THE POSE SHOULD FEEL.

In the pictures below taken from the book ‘Your Body Your Yoga’ By Bernie Clark you will see variations of a pose due to a persons structure. We are all unique when it comes to our genetic make up therefore whilst we can provide a guide for alignment in a pose you only have to look round a room to see how many different variations of that pose there will be.

When you are practicing yoga it is important to honour YOUR body and do what feels right for you. Adjust your body where necessary and never push through pain.

SOME COMMON POSES YOU WILL FIND IN A YOGA CLASS:

downward dog tips:

-Spread your fingers as wide as you can and press firmly through the palm of the hands.

-lengthen the spine as you lift up through your tail bone.

-bend the knees if the backs of the legs are tight. its better to maintain a straight spine than press your heels to the ground. stay for 4-5 breaths. drop to the knees and rest in Childs

Forward folds: whether seated, standing or wide legged a forward fold should come from the hips (rather than rounding through the upper body), keeping the spine lengthened and the core active. when we start to reach for the toes and round the spine we lose the activation.

WARRIOR POSES : WARRIOR 1 AND WARRIOR 2

you will see variations of these poses below. lifting up whilst grounding down. press through the back heel which is grounded. take a bend into the front knee which will be more or less in line with the ankle. if however you suffer with sore knees perhaps leave the front leg straight and activate the muscles in the legs hugging the bones to protect the joints.

TRIANGLE AND TWISTED TRIANGLE:

THE TARGET AREA FOR TRIANGLE POSE IS TO FEEL A DEEP STRETCH UP THE SIDE OF THE BODY AND THE INSIDE OF THE OPPOSITE LEG. BELOW ARE TWO WAYS TO TAKE TRIANGLE. YOU MAY FEEL THE STRETCH IN OPTION 1 OR IF YOU HAVE WORKED THROUGH SOME OF THE TIGHTNESS IN THE BODY YOU MAY BE OPTING FOR OPTION 2. IN BOTH CASES KEEP THE CHEST OPEN AS IF YOU ARE SANDWICHED BETWEEN TWO PANES OF GLASS. LIFTING UP THROUGH THE TOP HAND WHILST ACTIVATING FROM THE CORE. TRY NOT DUMP YOUR WEIGHT INTO THE BOTTOM HAND TAKING AWAY THE ACTIVE WORK FROM THE CORE.