InsIde the asanas 69
sation of stretching, but for others there will not be a sensation of stretching until far past
an appropriate range of motion. For still others these muscles might actually be so easy to
lengthen that they would do better to engage in an eccentric contraction and modulate
the range of motion.
Our choices about how to move through an asana will depend on our starting condition.
For example, if I have very open shoulders, then I might think about internally rotating the
humerus relative to the scapula, while my neighbor with less mobility in the glenohumeral
joint is rolling the arms open as much as she can. Both actions could be functional in adho
mukha svanasana (downward-facing dog pose) because the point of the asana (on a body
level) is not to do it right, but to find the relationship between all the parts of the body that
will let the experience of the asana resonate throughout the whole body—cells, tissues,
fluids, and systems.
The ways we initiate a movement, whether from the bones and muscles or from the
endocrine system or the blood, have a tremendous impact on the quality of the movement.
With practice and skillful observation we can see from the initiation how the movement will
travel through the body and the effect it will have on the body systems. An understanding
of what we are activating to move into an asana will help us understand the nature of the
asana and the effect it has on the skeletal, muscular, nervous, and endocrine systems; the
mind; and the spirit.
The asana is not just the final arrangement of the limbs and spine, but is the full process
of coming into that arrangement. If we look at the process rather than the final product, we
are able to develop variations that increase or decrease the challenge of the asana without
feeling that we aren’t actually doing the asana until we get our head to our knee, our hands
to the floor, or some other concrete goal. We are able to adapt the asana to the individual
so that each person can find a unique embodiment of the asana.
Because yoga practice is fundamentally experiential, the information in this book is
intended to be an inspiration to explore your own body. Perhaps you will understand
more clearly something you’ve experienced as a result of reviewing this material. On the
other hand, some anatomic detail may capture your interest and move you to investigate it
through a pose that is being depicted. In either case, this book will have served its purpose
if it supports you in these explorations.
Please take these ideas as a launching point for discussion and exploration, rather than
as the final word on how to achieve the pose. And then, once you’ve found your own way
in, try it the opposite way!