I began my day with this simple yoga set for the spine for many years - sure it got boring, but different music every day helped. Today, as I flex back and forth, I feel how stiff I've become, how I need to loosen, to take care of this Sushumna, central column, spine, place where all the nerves, nadis, meridians flow. I feel the weight of what I carry as I rhythmically flex, especially when I get to the 'shoulder shrugs,' eh, let the tension go, let it go...
Each day is new, life is strange, but it keeps going. Perhaps I shall still be sitting on my mat, flexing my bent old spine when I am a centenarian, shrunken, withered, wrinkled, but ever so wise :-)
Thinking of you, I got out my old scanner with the crack in the lid, started it up, scanned these sets at least 3 times to get a clear image. My friend who was in her 30s and had pain in her back that was finally diagnosed as arthritis and had physiotherapy sessions let me teach her this set one afternoon when our then younger children were in school and she marveled at it. A few weeks later after doing the set daily she asked, 'Why don't Physiotherapists teach these exercises? This flexing really works, really helps.'
Are we as young as our spine is flexible? It's okay, I won't go into 'yoga teacher mode' and lecture on the spine. Let's just say that all of the billions of nerve cells in our bodies are connected to our brains through the braid of nerves running through the spinal column. If nothing else, keep this central part of your body flexible, in motion, healthy...
Kundalini Yoga: Guidelines for Sadhana (Pomona, California: Kundalini Research Institute, 1974), p.45-6. For another layout of this set, see Basic Spinal Series, and scroll to the end to read a description of Mul Bhand (root lock) and Maha Bhand (great lock).
Thank you for sharing this, Brenda.
ReplyDeleteI have always wished that I could stretch like a cat...
ReplyDeleteYoga is a gift ... thank you.
ReplyDeleteMB, Narrator, Mary, hope it's useful, somehow... this is a jewel of a set, really. Very simple; very effective. Besides helping to alleviate back pain through an amazing set of sequential exercises for the spine and neck, it gives a boost of energy, too.
ReplyDeleteIf I can manage it time-wise, I'm starting my day with this one again.
I've been doing this daily for about 10 years now. My life has changed to a much deeper level of awareness - clearly in part due to the kundalini yoga. Now I'm doing this: http://openfarmtech.org/weblog/.
ReplyDeleteI was at a full moon kundalini class at the beach last month and we did this set. It was amazing and when we opened our eyes the blue moon was right over the ocean.
ReplyDelete