Over the last 6 months I’ve been slowly chipping away at an online training course on Fascia in Yoga and Movement with Tom Myers. Tom is one of the leading experts in understanding fascia and how it applies to movement.
Tom had many tips but one of the most simple and interesting ones was encouraging yoga teachers to try doing yoga the wrong way. What he meant by wrong was actually about doing things differently – specifically trying to change patterns of how we move and position our body.
In yoga we often have a strong focus on alignment of the body position for many reasons. Sometimes it’s about finding safe positions to avoid injuries. Other times it’s about finding deeper stretches and in many cases it’s about guiding people into better body awareness – in a way to become aware of our default patterns, and change them.
But, ironically, as yoga teachers we can become stuck or rigid in our patterns of teaching body awareness. And we all know the saying:
If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.
That couldn’t be more true with fascia. The more we sit or move in the same patterns (even when those patterns are about body awareness), the more fascia holds those patterns and the harder it is to change them.
When we use the same patterns of moving or fitting into a position again and again and again, we are less likely to change fascia. And we are also undermining our ability to develop body awareness. The more something becomes more familiar, the less you have to think about it, the less aware you are.
So back to Tom’s original suggestion…try moving your body differently. I would take this one step further to say try moving organically.
What does it mean to move organically?
Well try thinking about this definition from the Cambridge Dictionary:
happening or developing naturally over time, without being forced or planned by anyone
So when you are trying to move differently the next time you do yoga, try not to overthink it, instead just let your body shift with gravity or push against gravity. Another way to think about it – is imagine moving underwater and feel how the water pushes and pulls against your body.
And remember to move slow – because it will allow you to notice subtle things and because it will help you notice things that are not right for your body before you move into a position of pain or injury.
And if you need some inspiration, watch this video of Simon Borg-Olivier of Yoga Synergy as he flows through a range of spinal movements while standing on a rocking sailboat (better with the sound off).
