Yin Yoga Caterpillar Pose and Yin Yoga Forward Fold with modifications

Transcript

welcome my name is Jennifer Wray and in today's video I'm going to discuss the forward fold in the yin yoga practice called caterpillar so caterpillar is a basic forward fold that helps to open the back line of the body where the urinary bladder Meridian lies in the Chinese system it is a basic forward fold but it is one of the more difficult forward folds that we have within the yin yoga style and so I'll also offer a number of modifications that you can use instead caterpillar is a forward fold with the legs extended it opens the back line of the body so things like the Achilles tendon and the hamstring group it also helps to open the musculature that runs up along either side of the spine this is where the urinary bladder channel runs in the Chinese system so to start I bring my legs right out in front of me like so now you can bring your feet out in front of you like so or you could bring the feet a little bit wider it's not so important to have the feet all the way together now notice here that I'm sitting up on something you are welcome to sit directly on the floor as long as you have the forward tilt in the pelvis so with the forward folds we are looking for a little bit of a forward tilt in the pelvis in order to take some of the strain out of the lower back now if your hamstrings are tight chances are the hamstrings are pulling the pelvis backwards into a posterior tilt creating a kind of rounding in the lower back and so sitting up on something really helps to encourage the forward tilt of the pelvis so play around with the height there and then as as you come forward as you fold forward you're welcome to either keep the spine upright or you're welcome to round the spine as you fold if you round forward and drop the head you'll be starting to bring the stretch into the lower back and into the musculature on either side of the spine this is of course where the urinary bladder channel runs now this isn't appropriate for people who are working with already quite a bit of rounding or kyphosis in the upper back so a 10 see to lunch slouch forward this way in that case you'll want to work at lengthening the spine upwards and broadening across the chest now if you do end up folding forward or rounding forward be sure that you don't collapse into the diaphragm right near the lower ribs there's a tendency for students to really drop and collapse right into the diaphragm area and that will of course inhibit breathing now as you come forward you can also support the head you could use something like a bolster so you could place the bolster right out in front of you like so bringing the bolster right to the area beyond the hairline and then from here you would just support it if you're coming down further you could support with your hands like so or even support the head on a blog if you're coming all the way down then of course you could also support your head on your legs and if you have a history of hamstring injury it's probably a good idea to support underneath the knees this is also true if you have some hyperextension in your legs and knees okay so from here I would just place a little bit of support underneath the knees like so and then I would come forward into the forward fold this also helps if you do have tight hamstrings so you could bend the knees really generously here as well so maybe just a little bend or even more so you bring the feet wider keep the knees bent and then four fold forward from here some people find that this helps to access the lower back and just really takes the hamstrings totally out of the equation there are a few other variations that you can use if the full seated forward fold of Caterpillar is not available the first is to simply throw the legs up the wall in legs up the wall pose and I do have a video all about that posture and I'll include the links below that you can explore the other option is to come down on your back so in that case I just come down to my back here I and one leg and I draw the other leg into my body from here I loop the strap on the heel and I extend the leg up towards the sky as I press out through both heels I'm lengthening now the back line of the leg so the heel here is directly over the hip and I lengthen the Achilles tendon the back of the knee and the hamstring so this is a nice option for those folks who can't do the seated for or folding especially if there is a concern about lower back issues this posture is a really nice release for the lower back as well as of course opening the back line of the legs and the urinary bladder channel so from here of course I would do both sides releasing and extending the leg upwards okay so this is a little bit more of a young posture so you may not hold the pose for quite as long as the yen style postures and of course you would practice both sides then once you're done here I go ahead and release I roll to one side and I come up for my next yin yoga posture whichever variation you're in as always you want to take the yin yoga pose for a number of minutes depending on the sensation that you're experiencing never staying as long as you start to feel too much sensation or anything that feels like pain so anything that feels sharp or shooting or electrical these are sensations that are telling you to move out of the posture okay so once you've stayed for a little while maybe increasing the time as you practice you and yoga you can slowly roll yourself back up and then you can take a counter pose by simply placing your hands behind you and lifting the chest up taking a deep breath into the front of the body so that's the yin yoga posture of Caterpillar I hope you enjoyed be sure to leave any questions and comments below and be sure to get over to Jennifer Raycom where you can sign up for my mailing list and I can keep sending you yoga practices and yoga tips thanks again for watching and see you very soon [Music]