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Supine Pelvic Tilt: Knees Dropped to Side, Head Turning Opposite Direction: Image
We culminate the opening you receive from these two separate stretches in Supine Pelvic Tilt by combining them. You will enjoy how it feels to practice the two movements together, moving the body as in a dance.
Position: You are still in Supine Pelvic Tilt position, arms extended to the side through shoulder level, feet together on the floor.
Technique: Drop the joined knees to one side, turning the head in the opposite direction.
Return the knees and the head both back towards the center.
Continue moving your knees and head on through the center so that the knees drop to the other side of your body, your head again turned away from the knees.
Make these movements in a fluid motion, having your body flow smoothly from side to side, gently rolling, turning.
Tips: With the head and knees going in opposite directions, you increase the stretch you receive in the head, neck, chest, and abdominal areas of your body. Move slowly, feeling the relaxation that comes.
When you are ready to stop, return to the center and be still.
Breathe.
Mind/Body Power: Again, observe yourself. Ask yourself the same questions: how do I feel in my body now? How is my mind, my emotion, my breathing?
Have you changed from how you felt when you first lay down on your mat to begin your routine? Self-observation is a strong mind/body tool. When we acknowledge positive change within ourselves, we reinforce the healing process.
Gem of Synergy/Truth:
Within the human energy anatomy, there are two significant clearing houses we travel through, within the evolutionary journey of our soul. One is the throat chakra and the other is the solar plexus chakra. There is nothing which happens physically for us that cannot be explained energetically, and by this I mean explained in the language of mystical science. Intuitive spiritual science, whatever you what to call it or think about it, we are speaking of and dealing with the energy essence of life.
The routines given for us to practice in yoga come from the sensitive, the yogi, the healer, who feels this energy and looks for ways to help us move through this world, living in density, being spirit. Don’t stress yourself about what you feel or do not feel. Just go with it. Be open-minded. Be willing to allow into your life an experience of a concept which sounds different.
The chakra information presented is from my esoteric studies, healing work, and personal experiences. Take it only as that, for I want you to look within yourself to see what you feel, what you find.
What are you going to allow to be what defines your journey in life? What you know in your inner heart as Truth or what every external tells you to be Truth? This is the wake up call of today’s spiritual movement. The old and the standard philosophies, doctrines, organizations, institutions do not give us the answers we are seeking. There is MORE. We know it.
So, back to why this sequence works. It works to help us physically because it works energetically on these two clearing house chakra centers. Do you need to know what this means to enjoy the results? No. I offer this Gem to encourage those interested in esoteric writings to explore further.
There are many, myself included, who have written on energy/matter/space. As for me, I’ll write about it until there is no breath in me. Why am I writing what I’m writing now? I want to hit the mainstream. What I’ve discovered, what I’ve found will work for you without your belief in anything esoteric. Why? These mind/body modalities are energy based, and when you open yourself in body, in mind, and in spirit, you find your own way in to Wholeness.
Wholeness is Oneness. Mankind is a species like every other species of life, linked in every way, responsible to and for one another, being called upon to learn to live in harmony as a group. There is no separation within us; we just think there is. One day, faith tells us, we will know as we are known. The process of life is teaching us who we are as humanity, individually and as a unit. The mind body modalities help us to meet life’s challenges, offering us ways to seek comfort and joy in the journey.
Bottom line: The above sequence, relaxing the head/neck/throat and relaxing the solar plexus/abdomen, works energetically to help us with the clearing process that takes place in these two chakra energy centers.
We stabilize the above stretches done in Supine Pelvic Tilt, with a symmetrical pose, a pelvic lift. This asana (yoga pose) is named, Setu-bhanda Saravangasana, the Bridge or Pelvic Lift. We will practice a simplified version, suitable to most body types, fit or working towards health.
Pelvic Lift: Modified Bridge – Image
Height of the Lift: As you begin to lift your pelvis, pay attention to how you feel in your lower back. If back issues are a part of your life, only lift slightly. If this is not the case, lift higher. It is far better to do less in any yoga pose than to push and sustain injury.
Position: Begin again in Supine Pelvic Tilt. Move the feet closer in towards the buttocks. Judge the correct placement of your feet as follows: you want your shin bones perpendicular to the floor as you lift, with the weight directly down from the bent knees, forming the thigh and shin bones into a right angle. If your feet are too close to your buttocks, your knees will feel uncomfortable. If your feet are too far away from your buttocks, you will feel strain in your thigh muscles.
Have a teacher or friend check you, if you feel uncertain as to your own judgment, or place a floor length mirror beside you so you can see for yourself.
Technique: Lift slowly, on your exhalation. The tail bone tucks slightly, moving your pelvis with your lift, to honor the natural lumbar curve in your back. If your lower back feels uncomfortable, adjust the position of your pelvis by lowering the height of your lift. Alignment matters here, not height.
Lift your pelvis up, one vertebra at a time, directing your weight into the back of your upper body.
Tips: This gives the upper back a wonderful massage and brings a feeling of opening in your front body. The belly softens, your navel moves easily, rising and falling with your breathing. Your chest opens.
The Neck in Pelvic Lift: How your neck feels is significant to your movement in the pose. If the muscles in your neck are very tight, go especially slowly in your lift and in your placement of weight into the upper back body. Gentle stretching is helpful. Overdoing is harmful.
Repeat Pelvic Lift several times.
To come back down, release from the upper back downwards, replacing each vertebra on the floor, again honoring the natural lumbar curve by keeping the pelvis tucked as you lower.
Rest between your repetitions, observing what you sense, how you feel.