Posts In: prana

Have you ever noticed the subtle shifts in your body as you inhale and exhale? How in the simple act of sitting and breathing, you can be witness to the movement of energy in your body?

Inhale, exhale.

Prana, apana.

Expanding, grounding.

This movement of energy can be felt when moving and being in asana too, and Kraunchasana (Heron Pose) is one of those asana where you can focus on uniting these energies.

Prana vayu is the vitalising force, moving into the body with the inhale. You’ll feel this energy lengthening and vitalising your body. In Heron pose this is felt as the spine lifting, the collarbones broadening.

Apana vayu is the grounding force, moving to the earth with your exhale. You feel this as the softening in your body, letting go, being still. In Heron pose this is the dropping of your sitting bones, tailbone and pelvis towards the earth.

As you consciously work with these two aspects of energy – prana and apana – you’ll be able to feel and observe they way they integrate in your body and breath.

Calming your nervous system, releasing stress in the body and mind and on a more subtle level, helping you move towards a meditational and tranquil state of being 🥰

After months and years of consistent yoga practice, two magical things happen. Things that we’ve felt and experienced, that have kept us steady and calm in life.

The first is a sense of harmony that infuses life, the knowing of being in the right place, doing the right thing, and feeling in sync with nature and the universe.

Secondly the building of resilience that you need to navigate the complexities and challenges of your daily happenings.

It never ceases to amaze us how the combination of moving meditatively, consciously breathing and meditating helps to cultivate consciousness and presence! These qualities that you can embody in practice and carry with you from your mat out into your world.

You can refine these qualities of consciousness and presence with a standing balance that combines a forward bend, a big hamstring stretch and the most delicate of touches on the earth. In Sanskrit it’s called Urdhva Prasarita Eka Padasana, but you’ll know it as standing splits 😊

As well as finding steadiness and ease in this posture, it’s important to focus on stabilising your breath – staying connected to the pure, natural inhales and exhales that help you to be calm and grounded in your posture.

And how does this translate to everyday life? Think about the moments when you can feel your stress levels rise… at these moments, you have a choice. React and let whatever happens, happen. Or choose to feel your body, take a full breath into your belly and find the calm within the storm.

Triangles are considered to be one of the strongest shapes. They can withstand pressure and weight without changing shape, and are used in many of the most iconic architectural masterpieces – think the Great Pyramids, the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre Pyramid.

We also create strong, stable triangle shapes in Trikonasana (Triangle pose). Trikonasana is a standing asana, strengthening the legs and opening the side body. Vibrant and spacious, strong yet cooling.

When you practice Trikonasana in Pitta season, the focus is on being grounded in the shape, which means focusing on connecting to the earth through your feet. Pressing down evenly through your feet creates two strong foundation angles to allow for stillness, expansion and calmness, in both your inner and outer experience.

Creating your own iconic, unique and beautiful triangle masterpiece 🥰

Constantly flowing through day and night, breath moves in and out of the body without us even thinking about it.

Physically breath replenishes oxygen in the body and removes wastes, as well as stabilising the nervous system when we breathe consciously in pranayama practices.

There’s a more subtle aspect of breath as well, an energetic aspect called prana. There are five aspects of prana – pran, udana, vyana, samana and apana – that all have a distinct role in the body.

At times it might feel right to move focus of practice to the function of prana called udana, “the upward moving air”. Udana is our main positive energy, it governs speech and self-expression and assists in developing our consciousness.

Udana is stimulated in the body through backbends, and one asana that can cultivate this energy is Eka Pada Bhekasana (one legged frog pose) 🐸

Physically Eka Pada Bhekasana is about blending strength and flexibility in the body. Creating a shape that is your unique expression of this asana, the heart is open and courageous.

Energetically uplifting, Eka Pada Bhekasana helps to raise the body’s vibration to create lightness, creativity and inspiration ❤️

Our invitation to you is to explore this asana in practice and notice – how does this feel inside? How does my breath feel? Can I observe the upward movement of energy in your body?

In this way you can use your asana and pranayama practice as a tool to access the more subtle aspects of yoga 🙏