Take Action In Flying Pigeon

Take Action in Flying Pigeon

Asana and the 5 Powers of Consciousness

EKA PADA GALAVASANA

TAKE ACTION IN FLYING PIGEON

Interesting about seeking and incorporating a yoga practice is that the entry point is quite different for everyone. There are many reasons you may be drawn to certain aspects of the practice, and they may satisfy you for some time.  What usually happens though is an unfolding you don’t expect. The purpose or reason you went to your yoga practice shifts the more you delve into what it has to offer. It’s not uncommon to be drawn to the physical (the asana) first, but as you continue to have the desire to learn and the willingness to take action, your relationship with your yoga practice will change and deepen.

In today’s video, Matt demonstrates how to take action in Flying Pigeon, but when you examine it through the lens of the 5 Powers of Consciousness, your perspective opens up.

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WHAT ARE THE 5 POWERS OF CONSCIOUSNESS?

If you study with Matt in any of his yoga teacher trainings or immersions, you’ll gain access to these teachings, which come from ancient Tantrik Yoga philosophy.

Christopher Wallis, author of Tantra Illuminated, outlines the 5 powers of consciousness:

  1. Consciousness/Awareness: Cit-Śakti
  2. Bliss: Ānanda-Śakti 
  3. Will: Icchā-Śakti
  4. Knowledge: Jñāna-Śakti
  5. Action: Kriyā-Śakti
  6. Freedom (encompasses all 5): Svātantrya-Śakti

Each on their own have profound meaning, but it’s important to understand that they all exist within each other.

For today, we’ll look at Flying Pigeon primarily through the lens of Action (Kriyā-Śakti), but there is no action without the discussion of Will (Icchā-Śakti) and Knowledge (Jñāna-Śakti). It’s not that the others are not present, but we can start to gain some insight into the system as they apply to what it means to take action in Flying Pigeon Pose.

WATCH THE VIDEO

TAKE ACTION IN FLYING PIGEON: ASANA AND THE 5 POWERS OF CONSCIOUSNESS

FLYING PIGEON PREPARATION

Hip opening is one of the key components of Flying Pigeon, and this is what Matt demonstrates in today’s video. Matt guides you through the Chromatic Yoga process by layering postures that will prepare your hips and facilitate your ability to “take action in Flying Pigeon.”  

Keep in mind, however, that the action takes place throughout the entire process. The fact that you have the will to do it, that you take the time to learn more about how to do it, and then actually show up to practice—these are all part of taking action. Looking at it through the lens of the 5 powers of consciousness, you might become more aware of your reasons for wanting to do the pose and of how you respond to the process. 

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THE 3 STEPS TO FLYING PIGEON

In the first step, Matt starts you off by practicing a hip opener at the wall, and he begins to pattern your ability to evert your ankle. This knowledge can change your experience of Flying Pigeon altogether. When you add in the aspect of balance, it can be challenging to open your hip to the required degree without your foot wanting to naturally invert as a result, which may cause it to slip off your upper arm.

Without balancing, you still begin to position yourself similarly to the peak posture. For example, you get to practice just how close you need to bring your shin to your armpit, along with leaving space between your foot and tricep.  

The third step is the “preparatory peak pose.” Here, Matt offers the option of practicing Flying Pigeon in a shape similar to Boat Pose. This again helps with patterning.

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MAKING SENSE OF IT ALL

Within this system, the understanding is that in order to take action, there is an awareness that there is some desire (will) present to pursue a particular action. If will is present, the acquisition of knowledge must follow. What’s intriguing about understanding all of this is that the pursuit of a particular asana is done with the removal of the part of the ego that wants to prove, for external validation, that it can be done.

Bliss, as discussed in Tantra Illuminated, helps you be simply appreciative of the exploration, no matter the outcome of achieving the posture. Being conscious of this experience is also Bliss.  

Making sense of it all requires much more than barely skimming the surface. Matt’s next immersion, Power of Bliss, will take you on the journey of understanding.

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Article by Trish Curling

Videos Extracted From: Chromatic Yoga 15-Hour Immersion

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Arm Balances: Protraction Action

arm Balances: Protraction

Finding Ease and Lightness in Arm Balances

 

ARM BALANCE STRENGTH BUILDING

Most who practice yoga have come to realize that the practice requires a certain physical strength that doesn’t necessarily coincide with the image of strength in our head. Every yogi has seen a physically in-shape gym goer walk into a yoga class and struggle in his/her first down dog. The reason for this is because there are tons of muscles in the body, and all of them have a purpose. The ones you see on the surface are called the superficial muscles, and their job is primarily to create big movements like swinging a baseball bat, jumping, climbing, etc. While many Yoga postures and transitions require the use of these muscles, the Deep muscles or stabilizing muscles are often most used. In this video, I go over the muscle groups that I find are most important for the majority of arm balances.

Serratus Anterior

The muscles I speak of in this video are the Serratus Anterior, and the 4 layers of abdominals (rectus abdominis, external obliques, internal obliques, and transverse abdominis). Serratus Anterior is incredibly important for many arm balances because it creates stability in the shoulder blades and moves the body away from the ground. In the “Handstand Strength Training” video I give exercises in plank pose to help students develop the strength of this muscle. When this muscle is fully engaged in plank the body is further away from the ground. The same is true in arm balances. Further from the ground begins to feel lighter and easier, and as mentioned in the video above, your wrists will feel better as well. The reason you feel lighter and more at ease when the Serratus Anterior is fully engaged is simple- all muscles have an easier time contracting when they are fully shortened. Think of your bicep muscle; isn’t it easier to hold a weight in your hand when your hand is closest to your shoulder vs halfway down at the “holding a tray” position. Part of this is the relationship to gravity but even if you changed the angle of your body that would still be the easiest position for the muscles to be engaged. This is the same reason why it’s easier to do a little tiny pull-up vs going through the full range of motion from straight arms all the way up to bent arms. If you are looking to build strength in the Serratus Anterior I suggest checking out either “The Breakthrough” or “The Chakras and The Elements”. Both immersion focus on strength building for arm balances. 

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Arm Balances: The Core

The four abdominals have multiple functions including flexion (rounding) of the spine, twisting, side bending, stabilizing, and compressing/lifting inner organs (primarily the transverse abdominis). Depending on the pose, many arm balances require one or more abdominals to engage because of the shape, and because they have the ability to make the midsection more compact. The more compact you feel, the lighter you will feel because all the extremities tend to pull in closer to the center of gravity when the abdominals engage. What I am not going over in this video is the important role that your legs play within all arm balances. I will be releasing another video on Youtube soon showing you how the legs relate to the core. If you are interested in finding out when that video goes up, subscribe to my newsletter and I will let you know. Developing strength in the abdominals has long been a part of the fitness industry, but until recently it was purely for visual purposes. Most people associate having a six-pack with health, but the reality is that it’s more important to have core intelligence than strength. A little strength and a lot of awareness go a very long way, much further than a lot of strength and little awareness of how to use it. Developing strength through applied actions such as doing handstand, crow pose, or exercises that produce greater intelligence in your body is what I focus on in my handstand and arm balance practice. As a result not only do I feel strong in my asana practice but my back feels great, and I am able to apply the awareness to other activities that require body intelligence. For my favorite core strengtheners you click here, or if you are looking for free ways to learn, simply search youtube for how to strengthen the 4 muscles of the core (searching each muscle separately). Anyone who offers an application for the strength and not just the exercise is likely thinking along the same lines of “muscle intelligence” vs strength. Remember you want to know what the muscle does intellectually and know what it feels like in your body. That combination will make it easier to apply later on to your practice!

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Plank at the Wall

Taking plank at the wall is one of the best ways to truly develop proprioception for protracting the shoulder blades. As mentioned in the video protraction is when you push the shoulder blades apart from one another and they move around your rib cage. This is an activation of the serratus anterior muscles which tend to require strengthening for most people. At the wall, you can focus on the action without the requirement of strength.

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Flexion of the Spine

Flexion of the spine in arm balances requires the muscular activation of the rectus abdominals, obliques, and likely the deep core muscles. While it is possible to do arm balances with the core completely relaxed and still hold the postures, it tends to be easier with the recruitment of them. To develop strength in your core, I highly recommend my top exercises on the Handstand Training video. 

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Crow With Protraction and flexion

Putting the two actions together might sound complicated but the two actions actually go hand in hand. Protraction makes spinal flexion easier to access and vice versa. I recommend first trying this in plank posture. If you haven’t yet watched the two blogs on Chaturanga, this is the best place to start integrating protraction into your arm balances. After you’ve worked with chaturanga, if you feel confident balancing crow then you can try applying these actions.

First Awareness, Then Strength.

It’s easy to try and jump ahead and go straight to our most challenging arm balance posture and try to apply new actions to it. This approach is okay but if you find that you are not getting it or not feeling a difference, it’s likely because your body needs to develop an awareness around the action itself before it can build strength. We need to create the feedback loop in our body from thought to action to sensation and back again. Once that feedback loop is established, strength can be built through repetition.

Thanks for joining me here. I hope these tips help with your practice and/or your teaching. Please share your comments, questions, or requests and I will get back to you.

-Matt

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When You Subscribe, You Will Get Instant Access to

  • the Technique Pack: 15 yoga pose breakdowns
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