On Binding in Titibhasana C Variation

This is a dialogue I had with a practitioner. I think this is really useful information and an example of information being matched to the current needs and interests of the practitioner. It is an example of how information needs to be put into context and how learning in Yoga can be based on a dialogue rather than simply being a body of information to be learned.

Thank you L. for your intelligent questions and your consistent attitude of interest and curiosity and your desire to understand and learn.

The photographs that are not of me were taken by me and are of my friend Katya who is a modern dancer, a Pilates instructor and an avid yoga practitioner. I wanted to thank Katya for alowing me to use these images.

I also want to make a note about the pose. The reason I am calling this pose Titibhasana C Variation is that I am teaching the pose with the feet a little wider apart than the classic pose to get a different angle on the pelvic structure. In the variation I am using here the feet are about two and a half feet apart, which is about the distance that would usually be used for Kurmasana if you were sitting, or about the distance that would naturally occur in the hand balancing version of Titibhasana. This angle is well worth playing with and experiencing. I can highly recommend it.

Peace. UpSideDownCarl

===

On Binding in Titibhasana C Variation



L asked: I can't identify the benefits of grabbing your hands behind your back in that pose. When I try to that, I only feel like my collar bones are being compressed. In what direction(s) is the pose going?

Carl responds: It was binding of any kind. It is not always useful but it does not stop people from thinking that it is cool or something. It is sort of silly.



I wish people actually just wanted to do what would be good for themselves but... It is like sun salutations. I know it is more useful for many people if much of the time they replace chataranga and updog with movements that get the same basic work in a way that is less risky for the shoulder joint, as you usually do. This would be far more beneficial. But telling people stuff like that usually does not help them for some reason.



L replied: Hey Carl, Thanks for the information on binding. I know that a good rule of thumb for yoga is, "if the posture doesn't feel right to your body, the posture probably isn't right for you." Usually when a posture does not feel right to me, I can at least identify the work of the pose and understand how it might be a good kind of work for another person. Every once in a while, however, I come across a pose whose benefits remain a mystery. That's how I felt in pose we did on Saturday (the forward bend with arms wrapped around the back). The only thing I felt is that my collar bones were being compressed {editor’s note: this was the case for L when trying to bind not in the initial arm position with the hands on the outer ankle}.

See you soon.

Carl responds: Ah I see. The first option for the arms was actually reaching the arms in between the legs, taking the forearms behind the calves, and the hands to the outside of the ankles. Behind the back was an "advanced option".

For someone who is bendy in that direction it creates some nice flexion for the spine and some deep opening in the pelvic region. For this to happen you have to round your spine enough to get your shoulders behind your legs. If your chest has not moved in between your legs so that your shoulders can be behind the legs then you will be compressing your collarbones. When your shoulders are behind your legs then, when the arms reach behind the back, they are able to help broaden the chest and bring the spine and hip joints deeper into flexion increasing the opening in the pelvic region and the spine. Then, as you move the legs towards straight, you add opening to the back of the legs.

You have done a variation of it while sitting that is perhaps more understandable where you are reaching for the outside edges of the feet from under your calves, or lying on the back in happy baby pose. These poses can be bound also when it is appropriate for a student.



It is basically the same thing except you are standing. But the bind part is sort of for the people who are trying to achieve something. It is a precursor to putting your feet behind your head.

When you can do it like in this picture below what is happening in the shoulders is much less of that compression in the collar bones because the chest has moved far enough in between the thighs for the arms to actually reach around towards the back with the chest broadening and then what you get is more opening in the back of the spine and in the pelvic structure as the torso moves further towards being behind the legs.




L. replied: Carl, Thank you so much for the detailed response to my question.

Carl replied: You are most welcome. Thank you for your dedication as a practitioner.

What follows is a postscript:

Following the dialogue L. and I looked at the pose in person. I had her feel it herself and then I had her see someone else do the pose up close and see what it looked like before the shoulders were in place and then what it looked like with the shoulders in place and the spine more flexed. As a result she had one last thing to say.

"On practicing the pose, with the dialogue in body and mind," L. says. "Although I am a fairly flexible person, the pose in question made me realize that there is a lot of physical territory that I have yet to explore and understand, both physically and mentally. My spine has, or at least almost has, the flexibility required to bind. But my spine is not accustomed to the degree of flexion necessary for binding, and resists moving in that direction. Carl helped me get around that obstacle by having me think of pulling my head through my legs, as opposed to down towards the floor, where my head is in the habit of going. It will take time for my spine to welcome that new direction, but I now have a clearer sense of what my body needs in the pose. What a difference dialogue can make! When I first encountered the pose, I couldn't understand its benefits. It's still not my favorite pose, but now I have a better sense of how to approach it. Doing this pose also reminded me of the large learning curve that comes along with almost any physical discipline. With my dance background, that aspect of yoga is less pronounced for me, which is unfortunate. Few things are more rewarding than a physical "Eureka!", when the body surprises itself and the mind by performing some previously impossible physical task, suddenly and without warning."

And Carl replies: I thoroughly agree that realizing something in your body that you had not realized before is pretty cool and often leads to a whole bunch of other realizations. And it is kind of cool how there is always more of that even when we are very familiar with our bodies. And that action of flexing, otherwise known as rounding, the spine, as long as it is not overdone or done aggressively, is one that can in fact be healthy for our spines. So that new territory is one that might offer you a little bit of new vocabulary for your body and an ability to know when spinal flexion is useful and how much spinal flexion will be useful for certain things. For me it is interesting that it took me a while to realize that this is what you were not getting about the pose. I am pretty confident that the reason is that this was initiated as an internet dialogue, and as soon as we looked at the pose in person it took about 3 minutes to get you to feel a little more of what you were supposed to. It is nice to realize how effective direct communication, in person, one-on-one can be, especially when the subject is about how we are using our bodies. Thanks again for initiating this wonderful dialogue.

Another Parable: The Two Saints and the Hermit on the Island

The Two Saints and the Hermit on the Island

So this is another Indian parable. I like this one. It means a lot more than what I am going to use it to explain. That is the nature of stories that mean something. They express a lot more than you could have by trying to explain things in rational terms because the meaning is open ended. I particularly like this story.

The story is of two Brahmin Saints who are making a journey on a boat. In their journey they come to an island where they find a hermit. He is doing many of the same rituals they perform in their daily observances. They see him performing these rituals and are dismayed at how many of the rituals he has been performing incorrectly and how many of the chants he is pronouncing improperly.

They go about showing him the correct way of performing all the rituals and pronouncing all the sacred chants. After several weeks they show him as much as they can and feel frustrated because of how hard it seems for this Hermit to learn the proper ways of performing these holy rites. However, they feel they have spent enough time on the island it is time for them to move on. So, hoping he has learned enough, they set sail.

But as the two saints are about a mile away from the island sailing off on their next adventure, the hermit comes running up to them in their boat and says: “Please don’t go yet. I am not sure I will remember everything you have shown me. Can you come back and show me one last time?”

The two saints, perplexed and amazed look at each other and say to the hermit: “We were wrong. Go back to your island and do all your rites and rituals exactly how you were performing them before we arrived. You were doing them correctly after all!”

And so the hermit walked back over the sea to shore much relieved and went back to his own methods of practice.

===

The intention with which you perform an action is sometimes more important than the methods or techniques you use in their performance. Sometimes doing something “correctly” is not as important as whether your inner intention is coming from the “right” place. There are many methods and techniques, many correct ways of doing things. If you think you know what is “right” and you see someone doing something differently than how you thought it was supposed to be done, they might be doing something in a useful manner even if it is not the same method you use.

I don’t know if this needs further comment. I don’t know if it needed any of my comments in the first place.

Peace.

UpSideDownCarl