Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga

FOUNDATIONS

With Founder

Sadie Nardini

2SADIES STYLE:

CORE STRENGTH VINYASA (CSV) YOGA

Hallmarks of CSV Yoga

Each pose multitasks the student so they get more stretch and strength work done within, and between each posture.

We add Deep Core Line muscle activation as well as outer body muscle meridians so the student gains more benefits in less time.

We could say that doing a 60-minute CSV class is like doing 90 minutes of most other styles.

It includes abdominal-strengthening poses and deep belly breathing.

Focus on the students process of drawing inward to seek, and find, their inner core strength on every level.

The poses are designed to release tension from the outer superficial body, and re-activate the inner body muscles to support the spine and joints from the inside out, instead of pressurizing them from the outside in. This Deep Core Line activation makes the poses stronger, yet lighter, since we are not gripping the poses with the outer body, which makes the poses too heavy, and weights the joints and spine.

Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga is both its own style (a unique expression of) Hatha Yoga, and a set of physical and energetic alignment principles, core postures & core philosophies that any teacher or student can use to boost the benefits of their style.

It is a new paradigm of yoga, which does not ask the student or instructor to give up their style of yoga, but rather to add in the core strengthening tools, on all levels, that this style of yoga offers.

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IN CSV YOGA

In any yoga posture, we are not only working the body. There are multiple areas to be aware of:

Physical: Body, Breath, Muscles, Bones, Drishti, etc.

Energetic: Aligning for optimal energy flow of the central nervous system and energetic body as you see it to be.

Emotional: Putting your heart into the poses, dedicating, offering, learning how to deal with reactions, using the Asanas to clear and open your heart.

Mental: Focusing within your mental chatter to hear your inner teacher, turning thoughts to constructive, not destructive, releasing mental negativity.

Spiritual: Your Intention, your Spiritual Philosophy embodied.

Personal: This is lacking in many classes: How to translate the lessons you have learned on the mat into your real-life experience. Students get to know themselves, their patterns and their relationship to the world through their poses.

In order to be the change we wish to see in the world, we first have to know what we want to see changed...and then cultivate the strength to BE it, through all our actions, words and agreements. In order to do this...we have to turn inside and nourish/transform ourselves as much as we offer out.

4MORE ABOUT YOGA

Yoga Is A Polarity Practice: There are always multiple things moving in opposite directions in every pose. The breath moves in and out, the foot presses down but the arch and Deep Core muscles spring upwards, the fingers reach away but the shoulder joint draws in, and the attention moves inward even as we experience the outer body sensations.

Two Way Street:

Energy moves in two directions simultaneously in each Asana: into the Core [Integration, Drawing in], and out from the Core [Expression, Transformation].

We equate the two-way street of physical, mental and energetic attention to Brahmacharya, or containing ones life force, mental focus, muscles and bones so inner strength is built, EVEN AS the same Prana, intention, and body is directed outward, in a full expression and creation of what one is directing into being from the inside out.

5WHAT MAKES CORE STRENGTH VINYASA YOGA DIFFERENT?

BACK OFF TO GO DEEPER

Many instructors focus on the arms and legs stretching, and getting into the next pose quickly [Step forward, Warrior Two], which rushes the expression and locks the body out of meaningful activations through the Foundation and Deep Core Body.

CSV Yoga is committed to bending knees, rounding the back, starting on the floor, and other techniques, to back students off so they can move the spine and pelvis again, and re-activate the deeper core muscles from the earth upward. This ensures that as a FIRST PRIORITY, they are always existing in optimal Spinal Alignment.

CSV Yoga asks that instructors back off the expression to first bring the limbs into service of the spine, not the other way around.

6A CORE STRENGTH CLASS SHOULD INCLUDE:

1. A Core Philosophy. Something Self-centering to inspire the student inside, to find empowerment, inner strength, self-generated possibility and happiness. And from there, to offer something honest and aligned with who they are and what they really need, out into their world through their actions, creations, choices and relationships.

2. A Core Warm-Up, then Core Salutations.

3. A Pace that is at least as slow as the breath.

4. Poses that are supported by the Core Strength, not the joints, shoulders and lower back only.

5. Awareness of the energetic health and movement of the spine, and keeping spinal integrity as a first priority.

6. The Order of Instruction into poses are taught according to the Core Principles of: Foundation, Core, Expression.

7. Wavelike Transitions to open the body and move energy.

8. Signature Core Poses within the body of the class.

9. A Focused and Intelligent sequence leading up to a Super Adventure Pose or moment, then counter-posed.

10. A Fun, Living Energy: I encourage you to include rockin music you love and use your unique voice, knowledge and passions so your teaching is vital and from the heart. You should always be interested in what you are teaching, and even better if you are burning to share. Classes should be less workshop-esque and more like a dance of spirit, from deepest center.

7ASPECTS OF THE CORE

There are many facets of the Core. They include:

1. Spinal Core.

2. Pelvic Core.

3. Abdominal Core

4. Deep Core Line.

Spinal Core:

In ANY yoga pose, after the foundation is properly set, the first priority is to keep the spine in its natural alignment, and not compress it, twist it or pressurize it in any unhealthy way. The spine is the source of our life energy - the spinal cord - and it is the central stabilizer for the entire body, along with the pelvis. We do not, I repeat, NOT want to jeopardize this crucial area, in order to look more advanced in a yoga pose.

In CSV Yoga, the limbs serve the spine, and we do not move deeper into stretches or poses that compromise the spinal integrity.

CSV Yoga designates the entire spinal column, from its base at the pelvic floor to the crown of the head, and supporting muscles as one of the main cores of each asana. When teaching, make sure this area is aligned, stable and supple, as a first priority.

8In anatomy, the core refers, in its most general of definitions, to the body minus the legs and arms. Functional movements are highly dependent on the core, and lack of core development can result in a predisposition to injury.

The major muscles of the core reside in the area of the belly and the mid and lower back (not the shoulders), and peripherally include the hips, the shoulders and the neck.

Major muscles included are: the Pelvic Floor Muscles, Transversus Abdominis, Multifidus, Internal and External Obliques, Rectus Abdominis, Erector Spinae (Sacrospinalis) especially the Longissimus Thoracis, and the Diaphragm. Minor Core Muscles include the Latissimus Dorsi, Gluteus Maximus, and Trapezius.

The Core is traditionally assumed to originate most full-body functional movement, including most sports. In addition, the core determines to a large part a person's posture.

In all, the human anatomy is built to take force upon the bones and direct autonomic force, through various joints, in the desired direction. The Core muscles align the Spine, Ribs, and Pelvis of a person to resist a specific force, whether static or dynamic.

The Pelvic Core:

Action of the Pelvic Floor/Diaphragm:

Note that the Pelvic Floor (to locate: the muscle used when you have to go to the bathroom, but are trying to hold it) is a more superficial aspect of the core. What we call Mula Bandha is often misunderstood to be the Pelvic Floor, but is more accurately a little higher, in the Pelvic Diaphragm. The two areas intercommunicate through Fascia, or connective tissue, however, so engaging the floor slightly can help you draw up to the Diaphragm. It should not be the only thing you activate if you want complete Core power.

The Pelvic Diaphragm activation is one of the most pivotal in yoga poses. Yet, it is often one of the most underused and misunderstood.

9Importantly for our poses, it is the foundation for deep breathing, and all the body and mind benefits from what proper breathing brings. It also activates the Lower Abdominals, providing even more stability for the sacrum, and the Lower Spine in the practice.

It also is the action yogis call Mula Bandha, or the root support, the beginning of a chain of physical and energetic awakenings that move stability and energy up the spine. Without the pelvic Diaphragm activation, your energy will move downward, and so will your organs and blood pressure, causing loss of energy, fatigue, and poor breath control.

The Pelvic Floor should be engaged to about 25% and diaphragm as fully as possible, on the EXHALES during your active poses when you need spinal support. You can work with, or release these actions more when you are supine on the floor, and then release completely when you are in Final Resting Pose.

Lifting the Pelvic DIaphragm muscles supports the internal organs, helps maintain continence for life and improves sexual sensation. The Pelvic Floor is like an LA freeway of muscles that connect the sitting bones, Tailbone and Pubic Bone, with openings for the genitals and anus. The Pelvic Diaphragm is a bowl of muscles higher up, inside your Pelvic Bones. It supports and contains the Uterus, and Abdominal/Pelvic organs.

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Abdominal Core

Within the larger Deep Core Line of the whole body, we specify a central area, including the abdominal muscles, pelvic floor, low back, low waist and pelvic bowl as a focal point of root energy that must be sparked, lit, and stoked throughout the practice in order to maintain optimal alignment and energy flow.

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You can think of the more major, yet still superficial torso muscles as:

Abs:

Rectus Abdominis

Internal, External Obliques

Transverse Abdomens

Ribs:

Also: Internal and External Intercostals, which are in the ribcage, but are a continuation of Internal and External Obliques.

Back:

Erector Spinae along the Spine

Latissimus Dorsi

Trapezius

Rhomboids

Serratus muscles

SCM along the Neck

These, importantly, should not be the main generators of our poses, or we will strain the joints and spine and freeze the breath.

They should remain a secondary support system for the real activation of the deeper muscles like the Quadratus Lumborum, Pelvic Diaphragm, Psoas Major and Minor, and Multifidus muscles along the spine.

Therefore, the abs should remain more engaged and supportive on the exhale, but expansive on the inhale. When the Deep Core Line is activated close to the skeleton, the outer body can now allow the breath to move more freely throughout.

Deep Core Line: The Power of Your Myofascial Meridians

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Going Deeper - The New Core: This Myofascial (muscular and facial) line (or meridian), runs from your feet through your whole body to your tongue. The muscles are interconnected and intercommunicate; if one area is tight, it causes tension along the whole line or in spots.

The photo shown below is called the Deep Front Line or Deep Core Line and also branches out through the arms. It is the source of deepest power and allows the more overused outer body muscles (Superficial Front and Back Lines, Spiral Line) to become too tight and strain the spine & joints.

For more description of these lines, see www.AnatomyTrains.com or the book, Anatomy Trains, both by Tom Myers, a pioneer in muscle meridians and new anatomy.

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Important Deep Core Muscles to have the student activate:

Inner Arch of Foot.

Inner Thighs.

Psoas Major.

Psoas Minor.

Iliacus.

Quadratus Lumborum.

Transverse Abdominis (Bridge from Deep Core Line into Abdominal Muscles).

3 Diaphragms:

o Pelvic (At base of Pelvis inside Bones).

o Thoracic (Breathing Diaphragm--in Ribcage).

o Vocal (In Throat).

Deep Core Lines (front & back) run through arms into chest and shoulder girdle, meeting up with the core line from legs, pelvis & abdominal area.

To teach the Deep Core Activation, do the following in every pose and transition! :

Set the Foundation to allow Deep Core Lines to spring from arches of hands and feet, Mula Bandha, or crown of head, depending on what is meeting the earth.

Back out of the full expression.

Align the legs and pelvis (The Trinity).

Wave long through the spine.

Move towards full expression until you hit your edge.

Breathe and make Space.

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BREATH & BANDHAS

Breath and Bandhas: The Inner Life of Every Pose.

Anatomy of Abdominopelvic Cavities and Thoracic Cavity.

3 Bandhas. Each Has Outer and Inner Aspects:

o Mula Bandha: Low Abdominals and Pelvic Diaphragm.

o Uddiyana Bandha: Uddiyana: Breathing Diaphragm, External Intercostals.

o Jalandhara Bandha: SCM, Vocal Diaphragm.

Linking Bandhas/Breath/Movement:

1) Use Golden Flame Breath Technique.

ALSO: When you breathe, note the following pelvis-to-ribs relationships:

On the inhale, let the ribcage lift and expand away from the pelvis which drops lower away from the ribs.

On an inhale, the pelvis softens and expands as the pelvic diaphragm releases.

On an exhale, the pelvis contracts with the action of the pelvic diaphragm contracting.

The pelvis mirrors the expansion and contraction of the ribs when breathing.

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2) Axial Extension: Lengthening the Spine.

To keep the spine from collapsing as the pelvic diaphragm lets go on an inhale, the Psoas muscle must contract, moving the front of the low back spine in and up, at the same time, the Quadratus Lumborum muscle, a twin to the Psoas in the back, moves the back of the Lumbar Spine in, up.

These dual actions cause the spine to wave long from root to crown on the inhale. On the exhale, apply Mula Bandha to support the spine to stay long as the outer body contracts and expresses.

An instruction might be: Inhale, wave your spine long as you drop and widen the pelvis (or golden flame, or pelvic muscles). Exhale, keep the length but contract and lift Mula Bandha (or golden flame or pelvic diaphragm).

Nose Breathing Ujjayi:

Enabled by recruiting the vocal diaphragm (Jalandhara Bandha) to make a space - called the glottis, as if youre fogging up a window or sighing, then inhaling and exhaling with resistance.

Common Types of Breath in Yoga:

Q: What Breath is Correct?

A: Whichever serves you to stay evenly supported and receiving within your poses!

There is no one yoga breath for all occasions. Choose whichever serves you to dissolve the obstacles of tension where necessary and promotes calm when calm is needed and action when action is needed.

Also, within the breathing technique, such as the most commonly used Ujjayi breath, there is a question of quality. For example, when a student is upright in Warrior 1 or 3, or dealing with the need for both more spinal support and a deeper breath (the heart rate is up), use a more yang, or more strong, loud, active form of the breath. When the pose is more passive, like Pigeon on the floor for 5 minutes, a lighter, smoother, more receiving version of the breath is more appropriate.

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At times in the practice when students are working hard, and need oxygen, its fine to breathe through the mouth. Just return to the nose breathing as soon as possible. (Sinuses are filters for more moist, detoxed breathing, and we lose intra-abdominal support for the spine when the vocal diaphragm resistance is let go). Or, rest in Childs Pose if the practice is getting to be overwhelming.

When resting in Savasana, the vocal diaphragm should be relaxed completely, allowing the student to meditate without trying to control or direct the breath at all. Let the breath be organic.

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FOUNDATION, CORE, EXPRESSION

The order of teaching ANY pose in CSV Yoga is done in 3 parts, and always in this order, for the most effective outcomes and benefits, and to move the student up their Deep Core Line. Once youve moved through these 3 parts, you will circle back again to the beginning, either within the pose or at the beginning of the next transition, and the beginning of the next pose too! At any point, you can return to Foundation and refine the alignment.

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Foundation:

Ground the bony points of whatever is in contact with the floor. For example:

Feet: Three points of the foot: ball under big toe, ball under pinky toe, center of heel.

Hands: Outer ring of palm where all fingers join palm, fingertips. Second knuckles can lift.

Sit Bones: Two points of sitting bones left and right, but also move pubic bone and tailbone toward floor.

Crown: Outer ring of crown. (Make sure you are supporting weight on head with arms or hands, as in headstand.)

Core:

In this case, Core means the pelvis and lumbar spine area. Let the foundation grounding cause an uprising through the Deep Core muscles until they meet the pelvis. Align the pelvis using the following:

Trinity Muscles: This 3-part activation (each counterbalances the other) creates a pelvis that, for whatever pose you are in, is not over-stretching, or constricting the Gateways of the hip joints, nor compressing the sacrum or lumbar curve.

Mula Bandha: (Pelvic Diaphragm - Draws BASE of Spine In and Up).

Quadratus Lumborum: (Moves BACK of lumbar Spine/Draws Low back curve and Sacrum IN and UP).

Psoas: (Moves FRONT of Low Back Spine IN and UP/activates Low Abdominals and lengthens Tailbone).

Then WAVE the SPINE LONG from root to crown, and align the Abdominal Muscles and Bandhas with breath, to keep the energy flowing.

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This is a key teaching of CSV Yoga for use both on and off the mat, because with a proper foundation, you will be more likely to build proper core alignment and then move the pose towards expression to gain the most benefits for each student.

Expression:

Many teachers and students make the mistake of trying to make Expression happen (as in hopping forward in Crow before setting the foundation, or activating the inner thighs and core. It is as ridiculous as sitting on the ground and saying Now! Fly into a handstand! The final outcome, or lightness, or Expression of any pose is only an organic result of the work you are doing underneath it at the Foundation and Core. If you can work this Earth-To-Core duality (Foundation Down, Core Muscle Lines Upward) enough, the outcome will be a transformation and growth within the pose. Remembering this is the key to the most effective teaching.

Once the core energy is drawn into and ignited, and rising, as you wave up the spine it will infuse the limbs, which can then move into full expression. The key of CSV Yoga is that we know that Expression cannot be forced, or gripped into, but is an almost effortless outcome of supreme effort in the foundation/core duality.

We hold the Foundation/Core connections firmly even as we move into Expression: lengthening the ribs, limbs, head. We do not try to rush into poses [example, TRIANGLE: straightening leg first from Warrior 2], to straighten arms and legs or move into more advanced variations to the point that they override the core alignments or inner movement of energy.

In this way, something like lifting the arms in Mountain Pose can be done in one of two ways:

1) In Parts: (from the already overused shoulder, neck and back muscles).

2) As a Whole: (from the foundation pressing, wave up through deep core line, energy hits heart, arms lift).

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We play the edge between self-centering and self-expression so that we remain connected to our stability and inner strength even as we move towards growth and transformation.

Too often, we rush to get a straight leg in Triangle Pose, while the hand comes higher up the leg or the spine curves or takes unhealthy pressure in order to look more advanced.

Foundation to Core instruction also ensures that each student BE more advanced: they will now be going to their proper edge, in alignment, then will work there to create firmness and find center as they begin to move towards the full expression of the asana.

Students may have a slightly bent knee for a while in Triangle Pose (horrors!), but they will be connected, fingertips and feet to the floor, be activating the core, and THEN progress the true edge of their stretch in proper spinal alignment and energetic flow.

This is one reason CSV Yoga classes are felt as so dynamic and empowering by students, because no matter what their level or physical capabilities, they can begin to accomplish a seed of any pose by setting [foundation], draw energy into the [core] and then move into their edge as they [express] without losing that firm connection to the earth, and to themselves.

Where many other styles teach a pose from air to earth [Warrior 2 to Triangle] we teach a pose in CSV Yoga from the GROUND UP: Start in Side Angle Preparation, GROW towards Triangle!

When approaching a pose, think how can I begin from the properly set and activated foundation [fingertips ground down!], and how could we back off the leg and arm stretch at first, in order to access the pelvic alignment. Then once the pelvis and spine are aligned, how can we move towards expression without losing that core connection?

NOTE: See the Core Pose Sheet for more on how to instruct the main poses from earth-core-expression.

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OFFERING THE HEART

I hear this instruction all the time: Open your heart in this pose. But what does that really mean? They are probably asking for one of two things:

1) Get length from the pelvis to crown; make space along the spine.

2) Move into spinal extension, a.k.a: a backbend.

The problem is that too often, students hear this, and go to what I call Thoracic Park, or jut the front ribs out and up. This causes shear pressure on the mid spine, and muscular tension in the back body as a whole. It is also an ineffective way to do a backbend or gain spinal length.

The heart should be thought of not as just the front and center of the chest, but as a ball of energy located in the center of the ribcage. In this way, a student would ensure that the ribcage stays in a Mountain Pose alignment with the pelvis and spine, so any opening or lift would include the whole front, sides and back of the chest cavity, not just wildly blasting out the front, and constricting the back.

To avoid this forward motion, students will want to maintain a natural ribcage placement. This becomes harder to do, as one moves deeper into backbends.

One must counter any back-bending or spinal lift by activating the front low back spine in and up, recruiting the deeper core strength of the Psoas muscle, and if needed, lightly tone the abdominal wall to contain some inner power while still creating length and space between pelvis and ribs even as a backbend occurs.

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When this happens, the whole front of the spine, and with it, the ribcage, will actually move BACK into the body, and UP toward the center of the chest and skull as the long neck and head slide BACK and UP as well, creating one holistic line of movement and supported freedom.

Over the first two Bandhas (pelvic diaphragm (Mula Bandha), and breathing diaphragm (Uddiyana Bandha), rests the heart. We want to expand and lift from the heart without undoing the core connection underneath.

To See This Action In Action:

Kneel facing the wall, in a Camel Pose preparation.

Place your hands on your low back.

Maintain your thighs and pelvis at the wall, and instead of jutting the ribs toward the wall and up, fire your front spine and abs so your ribs move AWAY from the wall, and UP toward the center of your head through the core of your inner body.

Dont drop the head back: Sadies Neck Safety Rule:

If You had an Orange Behind Your Neck, You Never Make Orange Juice in Any Yoga Pose.

Breathe here in a new Camel, and notice that you may be able to take your hands to your heels, and/or backbend more expressively with less low back compression. Take that front-spinal muscular Psoas action into your other backbends, and revolutionize them too.

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THE TRINITY

Trinity Alignment:

There are three steps to bring the pelvis into optimal alignment for each pose, so the hip joints, sacral joints and low back spine all stay healthy and open at all times. Major Deep Core Line muscles to focus upon are:

1. Psoas: Stabilizes Front/Sides of low back Spine.

2. Quadratus Lumborum: Mirror of Psoas in the back - Stabilizes BACK of low back Spine.

These two above actions work together on an INHALE to wave the spine higher. When this wave occurs, the abdominal wall can soften and slide downward as the spine waves upward.

3. Pelvic Diaphragm/Mula Bandha: Stabilizes BASE of spine.

This action is done on the exhale to hold the length of the spine in place as the exhale occurs and the upper body - neck, shoulders and chest relaxes downward.

IN ADDITION to this motion that happens with each breath, the pelvis as a whole in each pose must be properly aligned so as not to compress the hip joints or spine.

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The directions I give when aligning the pelvis in any pose using the three actions of the Trinity (front, back, base) include:

1. Low Back In and Up:

Quadratus Lumborum: engages into the spine and UP towards the back of the ribcage to bring sacrum and low back into a healthy curve. This keeps spine in natural curvature and helps low back not become pressurized by the action of the front body pressing backward into it. Maintaining a lumbar curve at all times also causes openness in the back of the hip joints & sitting bones.

Done too much, it can cause the front hip joint area to compress and also over-compress the low back curve.

2. Front of Low Back Spine In and Up:

Psoas hugs front lumbar spine into the body and up towards the inner ribcage. This decreases lumbar curve and lengthens tailbone as pubic bone draws up. This action protects low back spine from over-curving in the BACK and compression. It opens the hip joints/hip crease area in the front so they dont become compressive.

Done too much, it can cause compression at the front of the spine as lumbar curve decreases unhealthily, and also cause joint compression at the back of the hip joints as the pelvis tilts too far backward.

3. Base Of Spine In And Up: Or pelvic diaphragm In and Up.

As the Pelvic Diaphragm contracts on the EXHALES, it helps create a strong support for the sacrum, pubic bone and bottom of the spine. It helps maintain the spinal length you created on your inhales with the WAVE.

To instruct the pulse of the pelvic diaphragm and, more superficially, the pelvic floor, please refer to my Golden Flame Breath instructions.

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Golden Flame Breath Instruction

I begin my classes with this breath instruction, both to center my students and help them practice developing the skill of pulsing the pelvic diaphragm and getting sensitive to the inner root of the breath and heating from within.

Benefits:

Instantly lights Agni, heats the student from the inside out and fires up the metabolism.

Promotes more energy and detoxification through deeper breathing.

Calms and focuses the mind, busts anxiety.

Brings new circulation to the belly area and releases serotonin, improving digestive and reproductive health.

Tones the pelvic floor diaphragm, which can prevent loss of bladder control, uterine prolapse and other pelvic issues.

How To. This is how I would language to the student: Come to sit on the floor or in a chair. Place your hands on your knees.

Sit up tall, and begin to breathe more slowly and a little more deeply through the nose. You dont need a ton of oxygen here, so dont pump the breath too hard. Keep it slow and easy.

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Bring a little action to the throat as if youre fogging up a window; close your mouth around that valve and pull the breath in and press it out actively (not aggressively). This is Ujjayi breathing, and well add to it a visualization that can help you drop the breath down lower.

Pause for a brief moment after each inhale and exhale.

Close your eyes, and imagine a golden flame sitting in the center and base of your pelvis. Its not touching the floor, but is a few inches higher - or halfway between the navel and floor.

On your inhales, let the flame turn down, warming and torching all the old stuff you want to let go of. Let it soften your pelvis in all directions as if the pelvis is inhaling with the ribcage.

On the exhales, without activating any of the muscles closer to the floor, but using the ring of muscles inside your pelvic bones, try and hug around that flame and lift it up behind your navel, or even all the way up and out on the exhale, detoxing you from the old, and making room for fresh new energy.

Note: especially if this is a new practice to you, or you have had children, the pelvic diaphragm muscles might be elusive at first. Dont worry - they will build in time, and you will begin to feel them, first subtly, then more obviously. At first, you might try squeezing the muscles of the more superficial pelvic floor, like youre trying not to go to the bathroom, but eventually you want to localize the muscular action higher than that.

Do this breath for 1-2 minutes, then move on to the next pose BUT - make sure to use this breath throughout every pose in class, unless the pose is supine and requires a more smooth, gentle receiving breath. Totally release the breath at the end of class in Savasana.

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DO THE WAVE (TRANSITIONAL FLOW)

In CSV Yoga, one hallmark of our style is that we consider every transition between poses as important to align as the poses themselves.

We move slowly through them, often in wavelike, undulating movements. This has four major benefits:

1. Takes the overused outer body muscles more offline, so that:

2. The Deep Core Line of muscles can activate.

3. Creates more skeletal support (true core strength), and releases unhealthy pressure on the spine and joints.

4. Aligns the foundation and core (pelvis and lumbar spine) before coming into full expression of the pose, so the student is more supported and open than if they came into the full pose first, and then tried to re-align. The body is mostly frozen out of movement in the full posture.

You can do the wave, small or more obvious, as you come into any pose, whether its coming up from the floor into a standing pose, a foot stepping forward from dog pose, or kicking up into a handstand, CSV Yoga has a transition for it.

Generally, the transitions are characterized by a specific EARTH-CORE-EXPRESSION movement, each part of which, when done in order and linked together smoothly, creates a wave.

These transitional waves help students to hit many alignment points within one breath or so, without you as the teacher having to explain them all in order, which would take more time than sometimes we want to spend within a flow.

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Once you understand the waves components, you can simplify the instruction to something like Ground down into the (feet, hands, whatever), draw the front pelvis and spine in and up and wave (or roll) up into the pose.

One important thing to note is although these transitions are activated physically through the muscles, they also serve to move the inner body energy, as the pelvic floor [Mula Bandha], low ribs [Uddiyana Bandha] and skull [Jalandhara Bandha] pull in, and help energy rise through the central spinal channel.

The Parts of a Transitional Wave: (ex: From Down Dog into Plank or from Low Lunge to High Lunge).

Ground down strongly into your Foundation: Hands, feet, whatevers on the earth, root them down to activate the arches of hands, feet and/or pelvic diaphragm - all will activate the Deep Core Line upward to support the body from the inside:

Draw energy up from earth thru limbs into the Pelvis & Low Back.

Lengthen through the Tailbone.

Pull up through the Pelvic Floor.

Draw the front Low Back Spine In and Up: Or draw the front and back of your lumbar spine in and up evenly. Usually the front spine must activate more as the low back curve is a weak point that tends to take too much pressure in the poses. The front spine activating more will help to shore it up.

Round your back/Integrate the Low Ribs: Often rounding the back at first as you pull in the ribs & abs, but being sensitive not to strain the low back curve. This can open the mid & upper back that tends to take over every pose, build tension in the back and shoulders.

Offer your Spine and Head long: This opens and lengthens the body so it is supported and long, not still rounded.

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GRANTHIS

Three Resistances, or Three Suns... It Depends!

Something I refer to in classes once in a while are the Granthis.

There are 3 points of energetic alignment to consider beyond the HARA. The Granthis [grun-thees] are classically known as "energy knots", or aspects of one's consciousness that are not yet aware of one's true nature, and thus remain blocked with fear, and ignorance.

The 3 Granthis reside in:

1. Pelvis (Brahma Granthi, or belly knot).

2. Heart (Vishnu Granthi).

3. Head (Rudra Granthi).

We light the Granthis, moving them from darkness to light, from dark sun to fiery suns, from knots of tension to release.

With practice looking honestly at their resistance to living in the light, and being all they can be, the student can begin to see things clearly, and dissolve the fear, insecurity and ignorance that the 3 Granthis represent. Where there is fear around an aspect of Self, muscular tension can appear, until the root cause of the tension is discovered and dissolved.

To unwind the Granthis, or blockage, we use the mind, the intention, the yoga poses, the Bandhas, all the tools at our disposal to catch ourselves when we are allowing fear to rule us, and not move forward.

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To break the cycle of darkness in practice and in life, in the Asana practice, the Granthis must be released in order, from the root to the heart to the head, for optimal energy flow. It is as if one sun catches on fire, and since fire rises, the next granthi will light more easily from the fire below.

Are the Granthis actually knots, like little shoelaces tied inside of us? Maybe, if you consider the anatomy of the nerves, and also think of muscle tension. regardless, they are a great symbolic way to reveal aspects of our personalities and perspectives.

When we can work with them, embrace our shadows and move beyond them into the light, a whole lot more life force and health is available to us. This is true on the physical level when we remove tensions and tightness around these areas, and we can free ourselves on the mental, emotional and spiritual levels, too.

Anatomy Of Granthis:

When we line up the body properly in our yoga poses, we will align the 3 Suns (formerly the 3 Knots) directly over one another. The pelvis, ribcage and head all center over one another in one fluid line of communication. Now the energy can flow from one Sun to the next!

You can teach an entire class inviting your students to imagine these 3 Suns, moving in a stacked line within all your yoga poses. It is a powerful, beautiful way to bring them into inner-body awareness.

The Granthis correlate to the nerve plexuses of the body that dot the length of the whole spine, from pelvic floor to head, so when you teach from the Granthi awareness, you're also optimally balancing the central nervous system.

In this more physical view, tension in the muscles can create a constriction, a stuck place or a knot that keeps the nervous system from running energy properly.

A nerve plexus or plexuses (plural) is a network of intersecting nerves that interestingly, look like a big knot, like a bunch of shoelaces that have gotten tangled in a box!

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They are formed from groups of spinal nerves that serve the same area of the body into one region. There are several plexuses in the body:

1. Cervical Plexus: Serves the head, neck and shoulders Brachial plexus - serves the chest, shoulders, arms and hands.

2. Lumbar Plexus: Serves the back, abdomen, groin, thighs, knees, and calves.

3. Sacral Plexus: Serves the pelvis, buttocks, genitals, thighs, calves, and feet.

Note: (Since the Lumbar and Sacral plexus are interconnected, they are sometimes referred to as the Lumbosacral plexus).

4. Solar Plexus: Serves internal organs.

5. Coccygeal Plexus: Same as Solar Plexus.

The 3 Suns are a way to describe the Granthis once the student sheds the light of awareness on them and activates them through physical movement (Bandhas, breath, Asanas).

Are the Granthis, and the Chakras, for that matter, just another way of perceiving how our bodies, minds and hearts work? My guess is yes.

Once the student is working on dissolving their 3 Resistances, they can use the limbs to express that internal alignment and focus. The limbs also light up, and act as rays, or final expressions of the 3 Suns.

Conclusion: Granthis are another teaching tool to help the student to become aligned, aware and moving physically in a wave from the root to the heart to the crown, applying Bandhas and balanced muscular actions/expression along the way. This will also encourage them to look at themselves to see where they might have limitations on other levels that they can set about transforming.

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THE CORE STRENGTH VINYASA YOGA POSTURE

In CSV Yoga, we often move within the postures themselves from a set, stable Foundation, into Pranic and Physical waves along the spine. This opens tight muscles and unlocks old, stored energy, as well as creates an incredible amount of heat and transformation for the student.

Qualities of a CSV Yoga Pose:

1. Stable, Super Grounded and Aligned Foundation.

2. Active Holistic Core Muscle Meridians (Deep Core Line): The more superficial muscle meridians support core line, not take over for it.

3. Aligned Pelvis, Spine and Head.

4. Expressive Limbs: That may be bent to serve the optimal spinal alignment over the final stretch.

5. Deepening into Further Strength: Muscle tension release and expression as we circle though wavelike transitions, creative cross-training moves and other variations within poses.

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CSV YOGA CLASS MAY INCLUDE:

Core Dedication.

Golden Flame Breath Instruction.

Seated Core Warm- Up.

Core Transitions.

Core Sun Salutations.

Core Flow Sequence.

Core Counter Pose Sequence.

Savasana.

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SAMPLE CSV YOGA CLASS

(Also, See The Core Sequencing Document For More General Ideas About Crafting A Powerful And Effective Class)

Beginning:

Core Dedication: Opening In Easy Seat.

This is a crucial moment for you to set the tone, mood and focal point of your students. We ask that you include the following instructions before beginning the practice, even if you just touch on them:

A Core Dedication: A Real - World Applicable Theme.

Relating back to accessing ones inner strength, self-reliance and independence, capability, true, honest self-expression from the inside out.

Although you can speak in everyday terms, this is a spiritual parallel to the poses you have chosen. What are they practicing on more levels than just the physical, by doing the physical poses? Bring the mind and heart into the practice, along with the body, and you will notice an energetic enrichment of your classes.

Core Connection Through Bandhas.

In easy seat, before or after your core dedication, offer instruction on Mula Bandha, Uddiyana Bandha and Jalandhara Bandhas.

This doesn't have to be extensive or classical...speak clearly: "Keep your pelvic floor muscles lightly engaged, draw your navel in and up gently, slide the skull or forehead back with a long neck..."

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Note that the Bandhas should be lightly activated (25% of maximum effort) during the ENTIRE practice, and only released during Savasana, final rest.

They will help contain the prana within the body, stimulate the central nervous system to communicate more fully with the muscles and organs (always a good thing!), and stabilize the spine. They are also instrumental to supporting the breath.

Build The Breath After Supporting It:

Begin instruction on Ujjayi breathing, AFTER instruction on the core support underneath. The pelvic floor and abdominal muscles, as well as an optimal lower body spinal alignment, will optimize the breath so much more.

Inhale slowly through the nose, expanding from the heart and lower ribs. Exhale into the pit of the belly, contracting the first two Bandhas a little more to tone the belly and solar plexus areas.

Students should know that in order to expand and express more fully, they must do it from their deep inner connection [both in yoga and in life!].

Seated Core Warm-Up May Include:

Seated Cat/Cows to Fists Of Fire to Waterfall Navasana to One Hip Twist.

Rock and Rolls to Navasana to Navasana Pulses.

Hands and Knees Cat/Cow + Variations.

Hands and Knees Lengthen Leg to Core Plank.

Any Other Core Pose except Full Navasana or other Low Back-Loaders [too early for them].

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Core Transitions:

A slow teaching on the spinal waves between poses, which are done in this order:

1. Ground Foundation and Lengthen Tailbone.

2. Access Core by pulling in Pelvic Floor, Navel and Low Ribs to stack over Hips and Ribs.

3. Lift and Express through Spine, Heart, Head and Limbs without losing Core Connection.

Core Transitions Include:

1. Down Dog to Plank Waves:

Lift heels, integrate legs into hip sockets.

Curl tailbone forward as navel draws in.

Lift low ribs so back body curls up.

Then wave heart forward, shoulders over wrists to plank pose.

Head pulls up in line with spine.

2. Now with Navel active and Hips Aligned, Exhale and Reverse that:

Hands press lift through heart.

Low ribs, navel, and pelvic floor pour back

Into dog pose, supporting lower back.

Lengthen through spine, head, arms, legs from the core connection at the navel. Repeat this movement 3 - 5x before moving to the rest of the series.

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After The Core Transition Teaching, You Are Ready For

Core Sun Salutations: Do 2 - 3 rounds before branching out into your own sequences.

Inhale, reach up in Mountain Pose.

Exhale, fold forward.

Inhale, pull up from the pit of the belly, wave.

Spine halfway up.

Exhale. Downward Dog. [Later, to Chaturanga, but right now, give them the traditional core strength transitions. This move to Dog first also gives an extra transition to strengthen and heat them up more].

Inhale, wave to Plank Pose.

Exhale smoothly to High or Low Chaturanga:o High = lowering only a couple of inches to strengthen arms & abs in alignment & not drop between the hands.o Low = hovering at elbow height, no lower, ever, to stay

in the muscles and out of joint pressure.

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Inhale, curl Tailbone and heart to Up Dog.

Exhale, use arms and core to transition back to Dog Pose in a back-protecting wave.

Inhale, right leg lifts into down dog splits. Square toes, leg, hip to the floor. Activate navel, stretch longer through the bones from there.

Exhale, knee into chest, Core Plank. Knee in and up through a rounded back, so navel power can lift the torso and hips higher. Shoulders over wrists.

Inhale, Down Dog splits [repeat with Core Plank times 3, on third one, hover and hold, lift them higher, use navel strength and space beneath the lifted torso to step right foot forward lightly to the right thumb. [Not "step to center" or "between the hands", as this takes the foot and leg off alignment with the hip joint and causes knee strain and instability in the pose].

Come to Fingertips, Breathe.

Next exhale, wave up: lift into navel as Tailbone curls, and Low Ribs. The inhale unfurls the Heart, Head and Arms up into a more well-aligned High Lunge.

Inhale into chest, reach higher, exhale, Fists of Fire Lunge, slowly draw fists to outside of Hip Bones as if through molasses. The exhale tones the Navel back and Tailbone down, stretching Abdominals, Iliopsoas and Quads. (Note: you can bend the back knee on each exhale to get more Pelvic movement or keep it straight for more Iliopsoas stretch...or both).

Inhale, reach up, energize [repeat fists of fire lunge 3 - 5x].

Exhale hands plant to the mat.

Inhale to Dog Pose.

Breathe here.

Next Inhale, Wave to Plank.

Exhale, Chaturanga.

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Inhale, Up Dog.

Exhale, Down Dog [use navel!!!]

Repeat on left leg from Core Planks into Fists of Fire Lunges.

Return to Dog Pose, Vinyasa. Return to Dog Pose.

1 - 5 Shakti kicks [feet together, ground fingertips and integrate arms into body, low or high kicking of heels into Sitting Bones on the exhales].

On the last kick, Exhale, as if hopping up and over something in the middle of the mat to curl the Tailbone, engage core strength, press palms down strongly and hop lightly between hands.

Inhale, wave to a Flat Back, Exhale, fold.

Inhale, wave up to Mountain Pose, rooting tailbone, lifting navel, ribs.

Exhale, hands to Namaste and then (this is the core sealing Mudra): bring your fists into the low belly, draw it in, and up (or fold again).

After 2 - 3 Core Sun Salutations, Build your Sequence, Bring the Students' Focus Back To:

Their Foundation, their Core, their fullest Expression without disconnecting from the first two.

Other focal points that move the student to and from the Core: engaging the Bandhas.

Aligning the 3 Suns/Granthis. [More on these below].

Using the Core to help support and open the pose.

Focus on Breath. (Inhales lighten, and fill the pose, plus expand the heart. Exhales deepen, ground and express the pose, contracting the Belly/Core strength).

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That the intensity of the poses, and all the work they do on the mat, is serving to strengthen them and make them more resilient to life's challenges outside of the studio as well.

Setting the Drishti (gaze) on a natural point during each pose so they can also turn their attention inward.

Paying attention to the Inner Body and its Energy - it moves in waves with the application of Spinal Waves, Bandhas and Breath, as well as paying attention to the outer body sensations and intensity during the practice. This mirrors the yogis ability to experience their outer world but exist from an inner strength simultaneously.

Give them added value by going a bit past their edge, while still maintaining the discipline and containment of the energy of remaining core - connected, integrated, and in alignment. Encourage them to try something more from their newfound inner strength.

There are many other Core Strength Vinyasa Signature Poses you might want to add to your class. Refer to the Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga Core Poses sheet for more detail and more poses.

Core Sealing Sequence:

Please end your class with a short but powerful abdominal sequence that might include:

Full Navasana, Core Pulses, One Hip Twist, Goddess Navasana, Scissor Twist, Low Navasana, Supine Goddess Curls.

Four-part core strength kicks leg lifts and lowers, hands under seat.

Can end active poses with:

Low Navasana with arms, head, legs lifted, hands make fists, hold, breathe....inhale through the nose...and exhale through the mouth, releasing everything with a sigh!

Then Counterpose by: [or choose your own] stretching arms overhead in Bridge or Wheel.

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Twists, Happy Baby.

Hips on a yoga block, feet as wide as mat, knees knock inward, legs bent. Two minutes here for lumbar traction and sacral release.

Knees hug in, roll knees in circles to release Sacrum and Low Back.

And of course, sweet Savasana.

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A NOTE FROM SADIE

Hi there,

Thank you for digesting all of this information! These seeds that you plant will reveal themselves to you over the course of years. So go easy, apply what you can, and watch them each grow in time.

One of the primary physical aims of yoga is to heal, strengthen and balance the body on all levels. When we do this, spiritual, mental and emotional harmony can also occur.

For me, personally, the aim of my teaching is to share tips and tools Ive found through experience that can help students move from outer expectation and coping, to inner reliance and strength. This is the beginning of INdependence, and the end of limitation, lack, fear and unnecessary suffering.

Most of all, I bring my own truths into the classroom, express myself as fully as I can, and offer the questions to the students so they may embark on their own inner inquiry, and find their own answers, in their own ways.

As you process through all of the concepts and information contained in this manual, I suggest that you keep one thing in mind: Your teaching will be most effective if it comes from a deeply personal sense of truth. Your students lives will be most positively affected if they learn to access their inherent inner strength and personal truth (not yours!), and find the courage to move that truth out into the world through their creations, actions, words, and choices.

If you can use your truth to open a safe space, one that does not presume that your truth is their truth, and leaves the questions there for them to each answer, each in their own way, you will have done your job as a spiritual leader.

If you can help them maintain open lines of communication in the body, reduce stress and strain, point them in the direction of center, and then trust that whatever they find there will be exactly right for them, you will become a true teacher, and not a dictator of dogma.

We all share a common core: of balance, peace, wisdom, integrity, clarity and love. Empower your students to remember that which they already are...and then free them to be honestly and powerfully who they need to be from there.

This will change the world, one personal world at a time. Namaste.

Sadie