Binding

Why do we bind in some yoga poses? Well one of the main reasons is that when you get some resistance to go a little deeper, then the muscles can soften around the resistance.

"Binds basically close the loop. You're making contact, and completing the energy chain with your own body," says Kyle Miller, LA based Yoga teacher. Kyle says it's like an 'upgrade' of a yoga pose.

Obviously a lot of these poses are not immediately accessible for most people, unless you've had dance or gymnastic training, and most require considerable practice. This comes down to Tapas which is discipline or self study, (discussed in last weeks blog).

Here's a link to the article Kyle Miller wrote around binds, which includes a link to a couple of Youtube tutorials too.https://www.wellandgood.com/yoga-bind-poses/ .

This is also helpful advise from Yoga Journal. 'If you’re looking to go physically deeper into a pose and increase the effects of rotation, binds can be an excellent way to do this. Binds also offer a different way to explore and experience alignment because they encourage you to make adjustments to make the pose work. These poses allow you to be curious, to play, and to be your own teacher—in other words, they’re fun!'

So, Fun, Play and Effort. There's a bit of a theme running here over the past few weeks for me. I often find myself saying to people. "Never say never". When you remove the narrative that often runs through our minds of "I can't do this" or, "My body won't do that", and just 'Have a Go', is often when those 'light bulb' moments happen.

Obviously, this isn't going to be all the time and we can't always be on this upward

projectory of development. But keeping the Tapas on is key. Tapas literally translates keeping the heat or fire on. Here's the link from my last blog if you're interested. https://yogainternational.com/article/view/yoga-philosophy-basics-the-5-niyamas/

So keeping the heat on and having a regular practice is Tapas. Sometimes the effort isn't comfortable, the association of fire and heat is meant to represent that. I found a few blood spots on my yoga mat today, yoga can be a dangerous sport! (I'll tell you more in class).

Also, here's a link to the half bound forward fold I've been looking at this week.

https://omstars.com/blog/pose-tutorials/yoga-pose-tutorial-ardha-baddha-padmottanasana-bound-lotus-forward-fold/#:~:text=Ardha%20Baddha%20Padmottanasana%20or%20Bound,forward%20massages%20your%20internal%20organs.

In the meantime, we're gonna need a bit of Tapas next week with possible snow on the way!

Have a lovely weekend.

Namaste.