Amrita 6: Asana through the ages - Magazine - Page 33
very powerful: “I often hear students telling me that the flow
we practise is very simple, but because I’m asking them to
move so slowly during the transition, they feel it the next day
similarly to a gym workout.” She also likes to use visualization
to help students engage with their bodies, for example, turning their palms up in Virabhadrasana II (warrior 2) and imagining someone is pressing down on their hands. “In this case
we are using the power of the mind to build strength. It’s all
about the intention: you can stay still passively and breathe
or pay attention to the muscle groups which help you hold a
posture and really engage with them”.
It seems strength, be it of the mind or body, continues to
play a part in our yoga practice. A
REFERENCES
Biel, A., 2014. The Trail Guide to the Body. 5th Edition ed. Boulder: Books of
Discovery.
Elson, L., 2018. Understanding & improving core strength
Farhi, D. & L, S., 2017. Pathways to a Centered Body. Rangiora: Embodied
Wisdom Publishing.
Government of British Columbia, 2016. [Online]
Harvard Health Publishing, n.d. The real-world benefits of strengthening your
core.
Kwon, Y. & Kravitz, L., n.d. How do muscles grow.
Laskowski, E., 2018. Is body weight training effective as a strength training
exercise?
Leonard, J., 2020. How to build muscle with exercise.
Powers, S., 2008. Insight Yoga. Boulder: Shambala .
Singleton, M., 2010. Yoga Body. Oxford: OUP.
Yoga Journal, 2017. Warming Trend. [Accessed 22 September 2017].
CHARLOTTE COUSE HAS been practising yoga since the 1990s and has tried most styles. She did her teacher training in the Sivananda
tradition at ashrams in Austria, the Bahamas and India, and is now an experienced yoga teacher with Yoga Alliance Professionals. Since training
as an acupuncturist, she has been drawn towards Yin Yoga. She has also worked as a journalist and has an MA in creative writing.
www.yogaallianceprofessionals.org
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