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Power Yoga Walking Meditation It may seem a little obvious of me, but in today's sit down while travelling society where so many people seem to be very ineffective at this skill, I feel it would be a crime if I did not tell you how to walk; or at least how to get much more out of walking than you may do at present. Being one of the most natural physical activities that we do, walking is the ideal activity in which to practice bringing the techniques of Yoga into our daily lives. Here are a few suggestions to set you off "walking back to happiness". Asana:Taking Tadasana for a walk Walking with good postural alignment is going to lessen the shocks through the joints of the body that occur with each footfall, allow you to breath more easily, and thereby enabling you to walk longer/ further/ faster without discomfort, and strengthen the areas of the body in which there is weakness, relaxing in areas where tightness is habitually held. Taking Tadasana (Mountain posture) for a walk try to walk with your legs - and feet (always pointing in the same direction as the knees) – either as parallel as possible, or with both naturally and equally turned out from the hips. Allow the lower back to release as much as possible and drop the tailbone towards the space between both feet. With the pelvis thus aligned let the vertebrae stack themselves upwards in a vertical line with the head at the top, the crown of the head being uppermost. The shoulders can be relaxed with the arms hanging at the sides, palms facing in. Let the arms swing in opposition to the legs (left leg forwards means right arm forwards) as you walk. Move smoothly, going forwards through the space – not up and down! Drushti: Following your nose Keep your gaze soft, without staring at your feet, gaze beyond the tip of your nose either towards the ground, or in the direction of the horizon, in such a way that passing traffic and pedestrians don't disturb your moving meditation. At the same time this allows you to see a wide view through your peripheral vision. You can also look from side to side using the breath to coordinate the gentle twisting movement of the neck; either inhaling as you look to the left and exhale as you look to the right, or inhale looking forwards and exhale as you turn your head to alternate sides. Bandha: Buckle up! Like a power-lifter wears his weight-lifting belt to support his lumber spine, a power (Yoga) walker always wears his invisible internal equivalent. Use Mulabandha (the abdominal lock; engaging the muscles of the lower abdomen), especially during brisk walking to maintain correct pelvic and spinal alignment. Extend the spine upwards and the legs downwards from your centre (of gravity). Maintaining the stillness in the muscles of the lower abdomen encourages the breath to move at the diaphragm and therefore to be more effective at releasing toxins and re-oxygenating the blood so you can keep up a steady pace without becoming fatigued. Pranayama: Out for a breath of fresh air As in your Asana (posture) practice take deep steady Ujaayi (full rhythmic ‘Yogic') breaths through the nostrils, supporting the body’s breathing apparatus with Mulabandha (the abdominal lock) and Uddiyanabandha (the diaphragm lock; lifting the ribcage away from the pelvis). This later technique allows the lung to take full yet easy breaths as the ribcage doesn’t have to continually be pushed open on each fresh inbreath. Just as runners have the 'talking test' pacing themselves by being able to maintain a conversation, yogis set their pace by ensuring that they can breath through the nose with the lips together. Allow your breath to become more powerful as you increase your walking pace gradually. Vinyasa: By the left, quick march Like soldiers are taught to count off as they march, so we can use the counting of our footfalls and matching that with our breaths to move meditatively, with body, breath and mind in harmony. The amount of steps you can comfortably count with each breath will differ from person to person and will vary during you walk as you increase your pace, however try to balance the in and the out breath making them of equal length. If you use an even number of counts (seconds) for each inhalation and exhalation then you will always begin on the same foot. Happy Hiking! |
