Emma Lovell Yoga

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Category Archives proprioception

An embodied practice

Posted on September 18, 2015 12:16 pm by Emma

‘A lot of our days are spent with just the hands and the face, and if we are not careful, this behavior becomes ingrained.  In other words, we drop out of the felt sense of the rest of the body and become ‘just faces and hands’.  This is happening more and more as we become so deeply immersed in a digital world which prioritizes eyes , ears and hands….It’s no wonder the world is becoming more and more heady and less and less body.’  Body Intelligent Meditation  Ged Sumner.

Remember this guy?

Homunculus

This week’s class has been about bringing us back into our bodies as a whole, rather than the bits we are aware of most (see image above).  I recommend reading Ged Sumner’s Body Intelligent Meditation book for a further understanding on embodiment and coming into the body as a whole, and for numerous meditation exercises on being present in the body.

Here‘s a nice article by Bo Forbes on the importance of embodiment and interoception (a sense of what’s happening inside our body) in yoga:

‘What’s the relevance of interoceptive awareness to our health and well-being? It turns out that many illnesses—anxiety, depression, gut disorders, eating disorders, and more—are diseases of disembodiment. In these illnesses, awareness becomes skewed. In chronic pain syndromes, for example, we tend to predict what we’ll encounter, and to remain there ruminating about it.’ Bo Forbes Interoception: Mindfulness in the Body. The Continuum of Embodiment

 




The eyes

Posted on September 14, 2015 8:56 am by Emma

‘…our bodies are casted not only by what we do, but by what we don’t do. For example, many of us have “casted” the ciliary muscles of our eyes through exceptionally high amounts of close-looking (computers, smart phones, iPads, books, the walls of our homes, offices and classrooms) and exceptionally low amounts of looking to great distances.’  Katy Bowman.  See full article here for further explanation.

 

Here are a few exercises you might like to try to improve muscle weakness around the eyes and to help eyes strain.

 

tibetan eye chart

For generations the people of Tibet have used natural methods to correct visual weakness and improve their eyesight. Chief among the methods employed has been the use of certain exercises which have proved useful over long periods of time. The figure on this chart was designed by Tibetan Lama Monks to give the necessary corrective exercises and stimulation to the muscles and nerves of the optical system. The eye Muscles focus similar to a camera shutter. The purpose of these exercises is to strengthen the eye muscles to improve vision. Practice a few minutes morning and evening and see if you notice its effects.

How to Use the Chart

These exercises are to be done without eyeglasses or contacts. Do each movement for 30 seconds while in a sitting position, spine straight and do not move the head side to side. Move only the eyes.

1.) With the palm of each hand cup both closed eyes to relax them.

2.) Move the eyes clockwise around the outer circle of dots

3.) Repeat this movement in a counterclockwise rotation

4.) Move the eyes back and forth between the dots at 2 and 8 o’clock

5.) Repeat this movement back and forth between dots at 4 and 10 o’clock

6.) Blink the eyes briefly and finish therapy with the palming same as exercise #1

Repeat exercises as desired being careful to avoid strain.

Source:  http://www.wellnesshour.net/tibet.htm via here.

 

Here’s a couple of exercises from this article in Yoga International:

1. Palming

 Rub your hands together for 10 to 15 seconds until they feel warm and energized. Then gently place your hands over your eyes, with the fingertips resting on the forehead, the palms over the eyes, and the heels of the hands resting on the cheeks. Don’t touch the eyeballs directly, but hollow the hands slightly and allow them to form a curtain of darkness in front of the eyes. Close your eyes, breathe deeply, and relax. Envision the eyes absorbing the darkness like a sponge, while also welcoming healing warmth and energy from the hands. Invite the eyes to grow soft and spacious, and enjoy this break from visual stimulation. Continue this palming action as long as it feels soothing—for just a few seconds or up to five minutes. When you are ready to emerge, gently remove the hands from the face and slowly open the eyes.

This palming technique can also be done after the eye exercises that follow to further rest the eyes.

2. Eye Rolling

 Sit upright with a long spine and relaxed breath. Soften your gaze by relaxing the muscles in your eyes and face. Without moving your head, direct your gaze up toward the ceiling. Then slowly circle your eyes in a clockwise direction, tracing as large a circle as possible. Gently focus on the objects in your periphery as you do this, and invite the movement to feel smooth and fluid. Repeat three times, then close the eyes and relax. When you’re ready, perform the same eye-rolling movement three times in a counterclockwise direction.

 

As with all movements in the body, variation is key- try to vary your focus by spending some time looking at the furthest thing you can see in the distance, watch sunsets, sunrises, the horizon.  Give your eyes a real break and test your proprioception by practicing a sun salutation with your eyes closed, try a balance with your eyes closed and notice the difference.




Centre

Posted on June 4, 2015 8:18 am by Emma

via here

reaching the centre

in yoga practice

you try to reach that centre inside your body

from which it is possible to expand…

in yoga, with listening, with attention

with the clarity that comes from the practice

slowly slowly slowly

you touch the spot from which you can expand

into the ground and into space

 

Challenge your centre

‘To stabilise your body around neutral, and in particular your core, limits movement in the spine whilst also limiting…full movement potential.

How can we know where centre is if we don’t know where the boundary or limits to our centre are?’  Gary Ward, What the Foot?

 

<h3 class='artwork-heading'>Robert Kinmont 8 Natural Handstands</h3><p class='artwork-info'>1969/2009<br>nine silver gelatin prints, Ed.10<br>21.5 x 21.5 cm Courtesy Alexander and Bonin </p><h3 class='artwork-heading'>Robert Kinmont 8 Natural Handstands</h3><p class='artwork-info'>1969/2009<br>nine silver gelatin prints, Ed.10<br>21.5 x 21.5 cm Courtesy Alexander and Bonin </p><h3 class='artwork-heading'>Robert Kinmont 8 Natural Handstands</h3><p class='artwork-info'>1969/2009<br>nine silver gelatin prints, Ed.10<br>21.5 x 21.5 cm Courtesy Alexander and Bonin </p>

Handstand images from Natural Handstands.




Posted on May 19, 2015 2:08 pm by Emma

‘There’s a simple movement that we’ve all been doing since the beginning of time. It is nature’s way of restoring full muscle function and length to a muscle and it is much more effective than stretching. It is called PANDICULATION. One could say that pandiculation is like a “software update” for your brain: it “re-boots” the brain’s sensation and control of the muscles every time you do it.

If you have ever watched a cat or dog as it gets up from rest you know that it arches its back, then drops its belly and curves downward lengthening its legs, back, and belly in a full body “yawn.” Animals aren’t stretching. They’re pandiculating. After it does this simple maneuver, it jumps off the couch and goes running off to play. Do you remember when you used to do that? You’d wake up, gently tighten your arms and legs inward, feel a yawn coming on, and then reach your arms above your head, then reach one leg down and then the other. You would first contract your muscles, then lengthen them, then completely relax.

There are three elements to a pandiculation:

  • A voluntary contraction into the muscles…
  • Followed by a slow lengthening…
  • And a complete relaxation.

This action, much like a pleasant yawn, re-sets both muscle length and function at the brain level; it “reminds” our muscles that they don’t have to stay stuck in a contracted state.  Pandiculation “turns on a light” in the sensory motor system and improves proprioception, which helps you sense your own body more accurately. When you contract a muscle tighter than its present contraction rate, the brain (the command center of the muscles) receives strong sensory feedback, which allows it to “refresh” its sensation of the muscles. By slowly lengthening from that initial contraction, the brain can then lengthen the muscle past the point of its former, tighter length and into a new, fuller range. The result is a more relaxed muscle and greater voluntary muscle control and coordination.’ From here

 




Posted on April 30, 2015 2:46 pm by Emma

Sensing your own body is more complicated than you realize

Proprioception

‘Close your eyes and touch your nose. If everything is working properly, this should be easy because your brain can sense your body, as well as its position and movement through space. This is called proprioception.’  Full article here

Interoception“Proprioception is when you hold your arms out, close your eyes, and you can touch your nose. If you just hold your arm out and close your eyes, how do you know you have an arm? The internal subjective experience of an arm: that’s interoception. It generally goes along slower pathways.“ Source

Interoception

‘Proprioception is when you hold your arms out, close your eyes, and you can touch your nose. If you just hold your arm out and close your eyes, how do you know you have an arm? The internal subjective experience of an arm: that’s interoception. It generally goes along slower pathways.

Interoception connects differently in the brain, it’s much more associated with consciousness.’  From here

Dissociation

‘There’s a real skill to be in the body and it’s really hard work and it’s often our mind likes to do things quickly and there’s this quick default assumption that our body is there, and often it’s not often there as much as it could be.’

Click here to listen to the full podcast with Steve Haines.