Why you
need to curve or lean forward slightly and
how to verify that the position of your backbone is beneficial (8)
1 All of the descriptions in this text are relevant to being seated in
a cross-legged position that’s as near to a completely developed cross-legged
position as you can experience comfortably in your present physical condition,
except where a rudimentary seated position that’s not cross-legged, or being
seated on a chair with your feet supported on the floor like when you’re
standing or a position of kneeling is described.
2 Standing your backbone upright and curved or leaned forward slightly, -
Causes the muscles beneath your thighs and
hips and at the back of your body to exert more effort than they exert
ordinarily to support your body upright.
That causes the ends of your thighs at your knees to press downward so
that more of your weight is supported beneath the ends of your shins at your
knees -
And
allows the muscles at the front of your body to rest more than they rest
ordinarily when you support your body upright.
Then the muscles of your abdomen and chest are comparatively free to
support your breathing and your breathing becomes more free and thorough than
your breathing can be when you’re walking, standing or seated on a chair.
Any excessive muscular tensions that there
might be in your abdomen and chest will subside, and –
Your gathered legs, hips and backbone will
move minutely into a more integrated and vital position while you remain seated
still.
3 To be seated in a beneficial cross-legged position, you need to -
Curve
or lean forward far enough to cause more of your weight to press the ends of
your thighs at your knees downward firmly on the upper sides of your ankles and
feet beneath them.
If
you don’t curve or lean forward far enough -
Your ankles and feet might not rotate minutely, the upper side forward,
lower side backward, -
But
might rotate in the opposite from the natural directions, -
And the joint of one of your knees might
twist and sprain. Chapter 5 regard Support describes
how your legs become injured when you’re seated cross-legged if you don’t curve
or lean forward far enough to press your knees downward firmly.
Additionally if you don’t curve or lean
forward far enough or if you lean backward, -
The edges of the vertebrae in the inward
curves of your backbone will press together excessively, and your shoulder
blades will press your backbone excessively, and –
Your position will become rigid and harmful.
Chapter 5 describes how excessive pressures develop between the
vertebrae in the inward curves of your backbone if you don’t curve or lean forward
far enough or if you lean backward while you remain seated still.
You won’t make those mistakes accidentally
because curving or leaning forward far enough to be comfortable in a
cross-legged position is natural and leaning backward in a cross-legged
position is not natural or comfortable.
4 Don’t curve or lean forward so far that your breathing cannot be free. Curving or leaning forward far causes the
muscles of your abdomen and chest to become rigid.
If you curve or lean forward far while you
remain seated still, you’ll exert excessive effort in the muscles that support
your position upright, your breathing won’t be free and you won’t be able to
stand your backbone upright and curved or leaned forward nearly effortlessly.
5 In addition to curving or leaning forward far enough to press the
ends of your thighs at your knees downward firmly on the upper sides of your
ankles and feet beneath them, you need to -
Curve
or lean toward one side far enough to press the end of your shin as near as
possible to your knee downward firmly on your ankle and foot –between your
ankle and heel- of your opposite leg beneath it.
This ensures that your shin that’s supported on your ankle and foot
–between your ankle and heel- of your opposite leg beneath it will not rotate
in the opposite from the beneficial direction, and -
Helps
to balance the positions, muscular effort and rest of your gathered legs, hips
and backbone and -
Causes your cross-legged position to progress
toward a more developed position while you remain seated still.
6 Don’t twist the upper levels of your body when you curve or lean
toward one side. Your shoulders should be located equally
distant from your knees. One shoulder should not extend forward or back farther
than the other.
Don’t curve or lean toward one side when you’re seated on a chair nor
when you’re kneeling.
Don’t lean on your arms nor support more than
a small part of your weight on your arms while you remain seated still to
benefit from the position of your body.
Leaning on your arms or supporting more than a small part of your weight on
your arms while you remain seated still interferes with your breathing and
straightening your backbone and causes any excessive curves that there might be
in your backbone to increase.
7 You might be concerned that some of the muscles that support your
body upright ordinarily seem to not exert effort when you curve or lean toward
one side. When you curve or lean toward one side, the
muscles at the side that you lean -away from exert more effort than they exert
ordinarily or they stretch beneficially. And the muscles at the side that you
lean -to exert less effort than they exert ordinarily. The muscles at the side
that you lean to might seem to not exert any effort.
When
you’re seated in a beginner’s cross-legged position, your legs, hips and
backbone are gathered into mutually supporting positions that support your body
upright more thoroughly than you support your body ordinarily. The improved architecture of your legs, hips
and backbone engages improved combinations of your muscles to exert effort to
support your position and rest. Leaning toward the side to press the end of
your shin at your knee downward firmly on the upper side of your ankle and foot
–between your ankle and heel- of your opposite leg beneath it in a beginner’s
cross-legged position, ensures that your ankles and feet won’t rotate in the
opposite from the beneficial directions, and causes your ankles and the ends of
your shins at your ankles to rotate minutely, the upper side forward, lower
side backward.
Similarly
when you’re seated in a developing cross-legged position, leaning toward the
side that’s beneficial causes the ends of both of your shins at your ankles to
rotate minutely, the upper side forward, lower side backward.
When you’re seated in a developing
cross-legged position with one foot supported on the upper side of your
opposite leg, leaning toward the knee of your leg that’s uppermost compensates
for the imbalance of the positions of your legs, and ensures that the end of
your shin at your ankle that’s supported uppermost won’t rotate in the opposite
from the beneficial direction because that would cause the knee of your leg
that’s uppermost to twist out of joint.
The combined positions of your legs, hips and
backbone in a beginner’s cross-legged position and in a developing cross-legged
position feel balanced and stable when you hold all the parts of your position
still.
8 After you have placed your legs, hips and backbone in a beneficial
position, -
Maintain your position still as long as your
breathing is free and your position is comfortable.
Don’t remain still to benefit from the
position of your body before you have placed your body in a beneficial position.
An experience of simple yoga begins when you
have gathered all the parts of your body together to support a beneficial
cross-legged position and you’re maintaining that position still.
Do every action that’s described as a
main concern of simple yoga as well as you can, one action following the other
without hesitation. Continue to maintain each part of your position in place from
the time that you placed that part of your position for the duration of that
session of remaining seated still.
If you don’t maintain the position of your
body still after you have placed your body in a beneficial position it’s
possible that you won’t experience any benefit.
9 You can stand your backbone upright and curved or leaned forward slightly
nearly effortlessly for a relatively long time when you’re seated in a
beneficial cross-legged position. When you’re seated in a beneficial cross-legged
position your weight is distributed on 3 bases of support. All of the muscles
that support your position upright ordinarily when you’re walking and standing exert
effort to support your position when you’re seated cross-legged.
You can stand your backbone upright and
curved or leaned forward nearly effortlessly for a comparatively shorter time when
you’re seated on a chair with your feet supported on the floor like when you’re
standing. When you’re seated
on a chair your weight is distributed on 2 bases of support. Comparatively few
of the muscles that support your position upright ordinarily when you’re
walking and standing exert effort to support your position when you’re seated
on a chair. This is described in Chapter 5 regarding Support.
10 You can verify that the position of your backbone is beneficial by
curving or leaning forward far enough so that the inhalations of your breathing
can be effortless.
Chapter 1 describes how to verify that the
position of your backbone is beneficial in the context of the main concerns of
simple yoga. Although the description of how
to verify that the position of your backbone is beneficial in Chapter 1 is brief
the description is sufficient for you to practice simple yoga after you have
read Chapter 1.
This
chapter describes how to verify that the position of your backbone is
beneficial in the context of the structure of your physical position and some events
that occur inside your body while you remain seated still.
11 To measure how far to curve or lean forward, -
Contract
the muscles of your abdomen inward to exhale, – Exhale thoroughly by contracting the
muscles of your abdomen inward by their own strength.
Curve or lean forward slightly farther if that helps you to exhale. Don't contract the
muscles of your abdomen inward by pressing your abdomen with your hands.
Then relax the muscles of your abdomen to inhale effortlessly.
Allow the muscles
of your abdomen to relax and expand outward so that you inhale effortlessly.
If you curved or leaned forward slightly farther
when you
contracted the muscles of your abdomen inward to exhale,
then you might stand your position more upright slightly when you inhale.
You can maintain the
position of your body upright in this way beneficially as long as your
inhalations can be effortless and your position is comfortable. As long as your inhalations can be effortless
means that -whenever you want to verify that the position of your backbone is
beneficial –and you contract the muscles of your abdomen inward to exhale -if the
following inhalation is effortless you can be confident that the position of
your backbone is beneficial.
12 It’s easier to remain seated still in an upright position after you
have rested the muscles that support your body upright.
Rest before you remain seated still if
you can when the muscles that support your body upright are already tired or
tense. Lie on your back on a firm and comfortable rug or mat with your legs
extended outward for a while. Elevate your head and knees with a small firm
cushion or small roll of cloth if you can. If you cannot rest completely lean
your back on a backrest for a while until the muscles that support your body
relax to some degree. Leaning of a backrest for more than a short time causes
tensions in the muscles that support your body and in your abdomen and chest.
If some of the muscles that support your body
upright are already tired or tense before you sit still you need to ensure that
those muscles relax soon after you begin to sit still.
If those
muscles don't rest soon enough after you begin to
sit still the muscles of your
abdomen and chest will become tense. Then your
breathing won’t be free and you won’t be able to support your body upright with
a small muscular effort.
13 Don’t continue to remain seated upright to benefit from the position
of your body after the muscles that support your body are too tired to support
your position nearly effortlessly, or when you cannot inhale effortlessly.
If the muscles that support your
body upright become too tired to support your position
nearly effortlessly your body will become uncomfortable even
when your position is correct. Then
the muscles at the front of your body will exert more effort to support your
position than they exert ordinarily and you will exert increasing muscular effort
to breathe.
If
you continue to remain seated upright after the muscles that support your body
have become too tired to support your position nearly effortlessly, or when you
cannot inhale effortlessly, then some of the muscles that don’t exert effort
will become dormant, and any excessive curve of your backbone that has
developed will worsen. Accumulating tensions of the muscles of your
abdomen and chest will compress some inner organs and interfere with some functions
of your body.
Continuing
to remain seated upright after the muscles that support your body have become
too tired to support your position nearly effortlessly
can be a cause of no seated position being comfortable after a short time. That can be a cause of not experiencing
progress in the development of your cross-legged position.