Hug the midline!

For some time now, I have been practicing Anusara Yoga.  With it, comes a way of experiencing asana through Universal Principles of Alignment™.  When I first entered into my Anusara practice, I was completely flexible and had minimal strength to support my flexibility.  I was always injured.  I kept pushing and pushing into my flexibility, which caused joint problems, especially through my SI joints, shoulders and hips. 

In my experience of life outside of asana, I experienced this lack of strength in various aspects of my life.  I felt beaten down many times.  I became very emotional, and when the hard emotions would come, I felt I had no control over them.  I could describe feeling as though I could bend over backwards as I watched people walk all over me.  Who could blame them?  I was letting it happen.  So, not only was my physical body way out of whack, but my spirit was just as beaten down.  Good thing that my will and my mind had the strength to keep me going.  I knew I was going to persevere…I had so many other times in my life.

When I found Anusara Yoga, I was ready for a new perspective.  I had no idea of what a change in perspective I would receive.  John Friend (the founder of Anusara Yoga) brilliantly created a system of yoga where you apply ordered alignment principles into any pose.  The beauty of this is that the alignment does not change, just because you are in a different yoga pose.  Instead of having to learn a different alignment for each pose, a practitioner practices the principles from a variety of perspectives (which are the various asanas). 

The principles of alignment have corresponding energetic benefits as well.  I began to practice cultivating more muscular energy within my asana.  When I did this, I felt more supported internally.  I noticed that I was not knocked off guard when I would hit a challenging time in my life.  I was able to stand taller with confidence and eventually, no pain in my body. 

In Anusara Yoga classes, you’ll hear a language that is unique, and I might add, a bit quirky.  Phrases such as “inner body bright”, “open to grace”, “root to rise”, and “hug the midline” are commonplace in an Anusara Yoga class.  These phrases and cues take some time to understand and embody from a layer of perspectives.  First, you may hear the cue.  Your brain processes the words, and has to find a way to access it within the body.  Simultaneous to hearing the cue, your mental and emotional bodies may have a reaction that either supports or limits the ability for your body to learn the technique.

One of my (very honest) students, Jill, came to me one day and said, “you know, I really don’t like the phrase, HUG THE MIDLINE.”  It seemed as though each time I would ask her to do this component of muscular energy, her body would fight against it, because it had no idea how to access and embody it.  Hugging the midline is created when you access the strength of your core energy to support the pose from within, rather than relying on the strength of the outermost muscles to hold the pose.  When I would use this cue in class, I would watch Jill have a mental reaction to it, then frustration would surely ensue. 

“Hugging the midline,” I would go on to explain, “means that you not only access the deepest portions of your strength, but you also access the deepest desires and the deepest aspects of your truth.”  When we access our truth, it is not always an easy moment.  Finding truth then requires us to act on that truth, otherwise the uncovering is in vain. 

Slowly, Jill began to soften externally, and redistribute the attention within the asana to find her midline.  Within her practice, I saw her become stronger from a deeper place.  Within her living, I witnessed the shift in her offering of her artistic gifts.  With each practice, I see a deeper clarity shining forth because she is learning to tap into the deepest aspects of herself. 

It is easy to embrace those we love, sometimes, more complicated to learn how to embrace the self most fully and authentically.

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Asana Practice to find the midline:

Tadasana(mountain pose)  Standing with your feet hip distance and grounded evenly through the four corners (inner toe mound, inner heel, outer toe mound and outer heel), Inhale and soften your effort.  On your next inhalation, imagine creating a warm embrace through your entire body, feeling as though your skin hugs the muscle and the muscle hugs the bone.  Keeping that, energetically draw the legs towards one another, without tensing the glutes and outer hips.  Instead, notice the inner shins, inner thighs and pelvic floor engage.  Draw into your midline from all directions, right/left, front/back, up/down.  Notice the inner strength that is accessed, and the softening of your outer body.

High Lunge  From mountain pose, fold forward into Uttanasana (standing forward fold) and step your left foot back into a high lunge.  Your finger tips are framing the front foot, so that you may lift the energy of your torso off of the front thigh.  Isometrically, draw your legs towards your center.  Notice the increased tone through your core, and the strength through your inner legs.  Maintain this support as you inhale, step forward with your back leg into Uttanasana again.  Switch sides.

Uttanasana  (Standing foward fold)  Stay connected through the four corners of your feet, as in Tadasana.  Place a yoga block between your legs (shins or thighs) so that your stance is still hip bone distance.  Squeeze the midline, as if you are trying to pull the sides of the mat towards one another, but no movement is evident.  With your exhalation, send the energy and intention of your breath from the core of your pelvis down your legs into the earth.  Once you have establish your roots, bring your hands to your hips, again, hug the midline, root down and unfold to return to Tadasana.

 ***Perform muscle energy with the emphasis on the Inhalation, feeling the energy of the breath draw into your core.  You will know that your are creating the support of the pose when you feel supported and steady from within. 

***Check out the journaling prompt page, also, for a contemplation on muscular energy/hugging the midline.