He suffers from tight calf muscles the day after football. He has neck pain and earache on occasions and tension headaches

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1 Teaching Homework 21 Case Study 1 M is a 28 year old teacher. He has no previous experience of yoga but has an anatomical knowledge of the body from doing a physiotherapy degree. He plays football and goes to the gym regularly and he cycles to and from work. He is fit with a strong upper body from weight training. Medication and outstanding health issues; None M is committed to a strenuous gym programme but is also aware of the danger of overdeveloping tight muscles and of training without alignment. He would like to establish a yoga practice but is realistic about the time he can commit with this present work and family commitments (20minutes each day and a 1 hour lesson per week) He identified the following areas which he hoped a yoga practice would improve: He has Achilles tendinitis which is particularly painful after football. He suffers from tight calf muscles the day after football He has neck pain and earache on occasions and tension headaches He found driving created a lot of tension in his back, neck and shoulders. I observed M in standing and his natural stance was with the feet tuned out and pronated. He found dorsal and plantar flexion of the foot painful, in fact, the ankle was stiff in all directions. We talked about how that put a strain on the Achilles tendon while playing football in particular. The position of the feet may be a factor in a lordosis in the lumbar spine with a reciprocal curve in the cervical spine. The head was carried forward and he often circled his head as if to relieve tension. These were my observations but M could identify these things for himself. I did not want or feel qualified to prescribe poses but wanted to have these things in mind when I devised a practice. M was happy with this and we agreed on collaborative approach where M s physiotherapy training would marry with my yoga training. We would try, not to treat a condition but to embark on a process of discovery, within the yoga practice, trusting that learning with awareness would produce desirable results.

2 Lesson 1 Learning Intentions Yoga poses should be comfortable and steady : Pantanjali Yoga Sutras Increase proprioception by creating body maps for painful, numb areas of the body by mindful, co-ordinated, exploratory movements and body scanning Become aware of the breath and the body in gravity. Know what it is to ground. Body Scan in semi-supine bringing awareness to the breath, by putting hands on lower ribs and then the upper chest. Then follow the 12point mediation on the body outlined in Reginald Ray s Meditation on the body. Particular focus for M on the weight travelling from the knee to the centre of the heel. 5mins Warm-up for ankles and feet. Inhale in extension and exhale in flexion. Stand and roll through the foot to dorsiflex and plantar flex; evert and invert the foot. Then press all the balls of one foot into the ground and rotate the foot clockwise and ant-clockwise. Do each movement 3x on each side gently, mindfully and slowly. Sit one leg in front and one behind (pinwheel) and gently bend each toe back from the metatarsal joint towards the sole of the foot. On the same side pull each of the toes away from the floor (lateral stretch). Then stand and observe difference in feeling of feet before doing the other side 10mins. I put a cushion under M s foot and he could not extend his foot comfortably. Tadasana: Standing with a focus on how to reverse the pronation by focusing on pulling in below the ankle bone and feeling how doing this with a passive big toe and the focus on weight in the centre of the heel (standing on the talus) let him feel gravity sending force through the leg into the ankle and down through the heel. Uttanasana, Trikonasansa, (Modified by using chair seat) 10mins Child s Pose: M needed a cushion under the hips and feet. He first stretched with his hands on a chair seat, moving from the hips to stretch the spine away from the arms. We then softened the pose and put a third cushion between the thighs and belly and spent time with omnidirectional breathing (Seated cell exploration) (How Life Moves, McHose and Frank) 10mins Supine Twist,-cushion under the legs. 5 mins Seated Breathing (Ujaayi breath) 5 mins Savasana 5 mins

3 Feedback: M felt relaxed and felt more contact with the floor in standing. He felt he had some tools to relax and align the foot and lower leg and would do the ankle exercises daily. Lesson 2 Learning Intention: to bring awareness to lengthening through the front of the spine. To continue work on opening the hinges of the feet. Body Scan : as before. Breath focus in feeling the torso as a cylinder Inhale-. The chest expands in all directions and as the diaphragm moves down the belly relaxes Exhale the reverse and watch the breath till the end of the exhale and then a bit more as the lower ribs relax down. Allow the inhale to happen. (5 mins) Ankle foot and toe exercises as before. Prepare for Virasana by sitting in a chair and bending the lower leg back and stretching the front of the foot, toes pointing away. Then in kneeling turn the toes under (runners toes) and stretch them back. (5mins) Walking: with the awareness of all the toes and rolling through the foot and pushing of through the toes with awareness with the big toe. Done very slowly and gently. Also introduced the idea of pointing the knees in the direction you want to travel. Michael walked in an exaggerated form of his usual walk (rigid ankle, hard heel strike and toes out and then returned to the aware walk to observed the differences.(5mins) Tadasana- focus on feeling the ground and aligning the feet. He did this without my cues. Wall hang (preparation for Uttanasana and Adho Mukha Svanasana and Utthita Trikonasa Buttocks, shoulders and head resting against wall. Feet aligned 12 from wall. Focus on relaxation of face and jaw and peeling from the wall, head shoulders, lower spine, hips. Breathing regular and deep. Bend knees in order to reverse process to come up. Once standing stretch arms up the wall and then come back to Tadasana. Repeat slower and mindfully (3 mins) Adho Mukha Savasana From hands and knees, allow hands to spread and ground, keeping arms straight and pits of elbows facing each other lift knees and straighten legs a little and then come down. Repeat and keeping bent knees lift the sit bones. Transfer weight from foot to foot, noting connection to hip joint and pelvis but keep knees bent to prevent hands taking all the weight and still allowing the spine to stretch (2mins) Utthita Trikonasa (hand on chair) (2 mins). Supta Padangusthasana: Use belt in both hands. Open chest and relaxed shoulders and straight leg aligned and sole of the foot aligned against the wall. Lift leg only insofar as it does not disturb the spine. Variations: leg to the side and across the body (5 mins) Viparita Karani Hips on a bolster (5 mins) Savasana

4 Feedback: A sense that his feet were beginning to open across the major hinges (ankles, heels and metatarsals) and that this was giving him a feeling of his legs being more vertical in relation to the ground. He had a sense of standing more on the centre of the heel. Lesson 3; Learning Intention Awareness of the connection between the thoracic spine and the pelvis. Keeping the connection between the lower ribs and the hip bones. To twist from this centre not using head and arms to pull oneself around Opening. Body Scan. Focus on area between pubic bone and navel drawing in and lower ribs drawing in on the exhale and how this affects lumbar spine. Activating the transverse abdominus 10 mins Experience the four actions of the spine: 1) extension in setu bandhasana (bridge), 2) flexion in uttanasana, 3) rotation in Sage and 4) lateral flexion in parighasana (gate) (15 mins) Focus on Parighasana: M did the variation standing sideways one arm s length away from the wall and placing hand at shoulder height fingers pointing towards the ceiling. Move from the hips to move the body away from the wall. Lengthen entire side of body as you push the wall away. Bring head towards the wall to increase the stretch. Don t let ribs push out and with awareness of the alignment of the feet, grounding and breath. (10 mins) Parivitta Parvakonasana Focus on turning the heart and making the torso strong even if the turn is small rather than turning the head and the body following. (2mins) Janu sirsasana (3 mins) Reclining spinal twist. Do this slowly. Start with both legs standing and allow one knee to open to the side. Observe the point where the other knee has to follow. Gently turn the head the other way Supta virasana using a two bolsters for the back and blanket under ankles. (10 mins) Sirvasana (5 mins) Feedback: M now doing the ankle and foot sequence each day. He feels that he is aware of his feet during the day and often goes through the sequence at work. At the end of this practice he observed how spanning the hands from the hip joints to the lower ribs gave his a sense of strength. He has a sense of standing in gravity and the feeling of, down the back and up the front of the body. He recognised that his previous idea of good posture was pulled away from the floor with the front body opening like a clam shell

5 The soreness in the Achilles is less. He is thinking of playing football next Lesson 4 Learning Intenion. Putting the pelvis firmly on the body map Body Scan. Legs extended. Observed the 5 cardinal lines arms, legs, spine (2mins) Warm Up- The feldenkrais Pelvic Clock exercise with the knees bent. Noticing which hours of the clock were not clear. M was surprised at the level of sensation in the neck from moving the pelvis. We remarked that this was a function of movement travelling through the spine. (15min) Baddha Konasana. Lie in Dandasana, legs up the wall then gently bend knees out to the side and support the thighs. Observe how the spine lengthens. (3 mins) Baddha Konasana in sitting. Visualize the triangle of the sit bones and the pubic bones. Place the weight in the centre of that triangle. Note how this enables you to lengthen in the front and back of the body simultaneously. Link hands and raise palms to ceiling without flaring ribs. (3 mins) Supta Badhakanasana (using 1 bolster and blanket under ankles) 3mins Wide leg forward bend (use bolster and focus on placement of pelvis). Preparing the arms for Adho Mukha Svanasana and Urvha Mukha Svanasana. Stand facing the wall and push the wall away while squeezing the inner arms to the ribs. Feel the difference between pushing the wall away, keeping a straight line from hips to shoulders and pushing oneself away from the wall, overworking the shoulders. (5mins) Surya Namaskar x 3 (5mins) Utthita Trikonasana, Virabhadrasana 1. (5 mins) L Shaped Handstand (3 mins) The same preparation as for Adho Mukha. M s tendency was to muscle in with the shoulders. Visualized a stream flowing down the back of the body carrying the shoulder blades down towards the sit bones which simultaneously flowed down the distal ends of the femur which flowed down to the ankle bones and the talus which flowed down to the centre of the Earth! Viparita Karani (5 mins)

6 Ujaayi Breathing in Virasana (seated on block, blanket under ankles) Savasana Stand and walk observing the effects of the practice. He said he felt more fluid and aware of moving from the pelvis. He thought this could help with football. Next Lesson 5 Learning Intention: To bring awareness and balance to the area between the front and back of the body at the level of the heart. Cueing the body to lengthen when it relaxes rather than collapse. Body Scan. (1 min) Place the bolster horizontally and beneath the shoulder blades. Gradually melt the back over the bolster. Support the head. Breath up and down the front of the spine. Do this with straight legs and in Badha Konasana. Come to cross legs and find the axis of the body by the triangle of the sit bones and pubic bone and then visualize the inferior points of the scapulae flowing down the sit bones as the root down into the earth. Feel how the back can feel supported by the scapulae and the front of the chest can open, collar bones widening. (15mins) Cat stretch in semi supine (pelvis moving the spine) and then Cat/Cow in kneeling (5mins) We located the manubrium or upper sternum, mid sternum or sternal body and thexiphoid process. We located the muscles that fill the hollows between the collar bones and upper ribs on either side of the manubrium the eyes of the chest Bringing awareness to these eyes let them relax back into the sockets softening and broadening the manubrium. In all of the following poses we brought awareness to the heart centre, broadened and lifted the mid sternum so that the manubrium turns upwards and rests back into the body, (10 mins) Tadasana: I placed one palm on M s manubrium and the other on his upper thoracic spine. He brought attention and breath to these areas feeling how the front and back body could be in dynamic balance, moving gently away from each other creating depth and space (3mins) Parvatasana (Arm stretch using a belt and then with arms wide in the belt circle then around the head) (2 mins) Virabhadarasana 1 and 2 (4 mins) Urdhva Mukha Svanasana Adho Mukha Savasana, Bent leg lunge. (3mins) Tadasana on the floor relaxing the eyes of the chest and eyes in the head.(2min)

7 Savasana (5 min) M has a powerful chest and found it interesting but a bit scary to feel it softer and open. He found relaxing both sets of eyes a useful tool to use at work. Next lesson to bring together the visualization we have learnt and revisit foot alignment. Lesson 6 Learning Intention: to revisit the feet and their importance for all standing poses and daily posture. Body Scan 2 min Warm up: In sitting explore the soles of the feet and find the hollow space between the two tendons at the front of the heel which firms when you lift the toes. This was tender for M, a possible sign of tension in tibalis posterior. T. In standing run the middle finger under the arch until you localize this spot and then lift the toes to initiate the lift of the arches. Before each standing poses microbend the knees, lift the toes while pressing the pads of the feet down and have the feeling of lifting off the ground then spread the toes back down. The front of the heel bone lifts up as the arch is raised while the back of heel descends lengthening the Achilles tendon. This is, in effect, standing on the talus and is a tool for centring daily posture and releasing tension in the feet, lower back and neck. The transverse arch is activated by thinking of the pads of the big toe and little toe moving away from each other This is the focus for the following standing poses. (10 mins) Tadasana, Uttasana, Uttkatasana, Utthita Trikonasana Virabhadrasana I, 2 and Ardha Chandrasana. Counterpose: Prasarita Padottanasana (30 mins) M said he felt that he normally lifted himself up from the ground but that he had been unaware of this. He said the standing poses felt very different when his feet were grounded. Bharadvajasana. M did this seated sideways on a chair with a focus on grounding the feet and the sit bones (2mins) Salamba Sarvangasana Modified. Using the feet against the wall to roll up onto the shoulders. (2mins) Halasana modified: taking the feet over to rest on a chair.(1 min) Paschimottanasana resting chest along a bolster and sitting on a block (1min) Savasana observing the breath for the first minute (5mins) Feedback: M said he would use the grounding of the feet throughout the day. He had played football last week and had experienced soreness afterwards but had kept up the foot exercises afterwards and had recovered enough to think of playing this

8 next week. Next lesson thinking about the head and countering the effect of it being held forward Lesson 7 Learning Intention: to rest the head comfortably on top of your body. To begin to feel the connection from the feet to the neck. Body Scan: observing the spaces where does the floor not support the body (3mins) M looked in the mirror sideways to observe where his head was and to exaggerate what happened when he drove, texted, computed and watched tv. Brought awareness to the hyoid bone. The first exercise was a shortened feldenkrais exercise called the magic roller. Lie on the floor, legs extended and with a rolled towel under the neck, rotate the neck to one side. Then using the heels as a fixed anchor point slowly flex and extend the feet coming to feel how this movement conveys energy from the feet to the neck. (10 mins) Even though it was the first time and M s ankle movements were quite stiff, he still experienced an amazing release in the neck. (10 mins) The second exercise can be done throughout the day. Sit in a chair grounded through the sit bones, neutral spine and on an exhale take the ear to the shoulder with a focus on releasing the inner angle, come back to neutral on the inhale. Do the same allowing the head to bend forward and back. Always think of the hyoid bone gently moving back and up become familiar with the sensation of release in the back of the neck.fe (10 mins) Releasing the front of the chest: M held a stick behind him, hands shoulder width apart. I encouraged him to drop the weight of his arms and soften his body while I gently lifted his arms. We experimented to find how far he could stretch without shortening in the neck or pitching the head or torso forward. With attention he could feel the difference between the shoulders moving down and the body lengthening and the opposite. (5mins) Ustrasana against the wall. Knees and ankles supported put the hands on the wall at shoulder height. Think of the back lengthening as them moved the front of the body, from hips to chest up the wall. Focus on not allowing the shoulders to lift. We used the wall to stabilize the hips and gradually stretch the upper back in two directions simultaneously to the heels and to the ceiling. As the back lengthens the hands can come closer to the feet but for now we put a bolster across the feet for the hands to

9 touch. M did this routine 3 times resting in between but did not bring the head back (10mins) Supta Baddhakonasana supported) (2 mins) Viparita Karani (3 mins) Savasana focus on releasing the jaw. Releasing the hyoid bone and surround muscles and then observing the breath Feedback: M felt he could notice when his shoulders were up.and. he felt less fixed in his eyes and neck. Next session to continue bringing awareness to the neck Lesson 8 Learning Intention: To refine awareness of the connection between the pelvis and the neck Body Scan: focus on the five cardinal lines and then the space in the cervical spine and the lumbar spine.(2 mins) Warm up: Assume semi-supine position and hold one knee bent over the chest. Take the knee away from the chest and focusing on the skeleton notice how the movement pulls the shoulder forward. Do this movement allowing the pelvis to roll and then more from just the hip joint and observe the difference. Become aware through slow gentle repletion how as the lower back arches the neck lengthens and flattens and as the lower back flattens the neck shortens and arches. Become aware of parasitic movements M noticed how his shoulders wanted to be involved but how with gentle awareness he could begin to feel that wasn t necessary. Rest frequently and repeat on the other side. Come to standing and walking. M felt the tension in the lumbar curves were released and he was also aware of the connection between tension in the hip and glutes on the left side was reflected in tension in the left side of the neck and the jaw. (15 mins) Tadasana Keeping the focus on the curves of the neck and lumbar, releasing tension in the buttocks and hips. Letting the hips go like dropping a sack of potatoes as Vanda Scaravelli puts it. (3 mins) Bidalasana : focus on the movement of the spine Extending one arm and opposite leg (4 mns) Childs Pose: Breathing the body in all directions (1 min) Supta padanghustasana series: using a belt and with the soles of the feet against the skirting board. Focus on relaxed breathing the cervical and lumbar curves and releasing parasitic movements so the abdominals are doing the work and the hamstrings are gently stretched. (10 mins) Supta Badhakonasana. Spine supported by the bolster and cushions under the thighs (3 mins)

10 Setubanda : Focus was on the breathing and relaxing the eyes into the sockets and then progressively relaxing the muscles of the face, jaw, roof of mouth and shoulders. Letting the weight go into the feet and relaxing everywhere else (5 mins) Salamba Sarvangasana spinal rolling first Halasana (feet on bolster 1 min) Paschimottanasana (1min) Sarvasana (5 mins) Focus as in the Body Scan. Noticing the space behind the neck and lumbar. How are they different? Lesson 9 Learning Intention: to bring together the previous sessions. Focus on body awareness movement with attention. Body Scan: Observe yourself on the floor today and notice how this can be your daily mirror to see how you are holding yourself in gravity. Be kind, notice without judging. (2mins) Warm up : The daily squat to develop the organisation of foot and ankle and lengthen the Achilles and the soleus. Bring together the previous work on the feet and ankles and keep the weight evenly balanced on the base of the little toe and the base of the big toe. Drop the tail bone lengthen in the lower back. First have weight on hands and feet and move one arm to different positions around the floor and feel the connections through the back. Then lower into the squat holding the door frame. Breath into the lower belly. X 3 with rests (10 mins) Sprinters Pose: focus on the ankle and knees as hinge joints (5 mins) Adho/Urdhva Mukha Savasana Focus on bringing together the ideas of the relationship between the manubrium and the upper thoracic spine and also aligning the thoracic,respiratory and pelvic diaphragms. (5 mins) Uttanasana, M now able to support the arms on the seat of the chair instead of the back (2 mins) Utthita Trikonasana using the chair (3 mins) Bharadvajasana (sitting sideways and using the back of the chair to twist) (2 Mins) Dandasana (sitting on blanket) (1min) Janu Sirsasana (2 mins) Supta Virasana (reclining on bolster and blanket under ankles) 3 mins Supta Padangusthasan series feet against the wall (5mins) Spinal Rolls to salamba savangasana (3 mins) Halasana feet to bolster (2mins) Paschimottanasana resting on bolster ( 3 mins)

11 Savasana (5 mins) Observing where the body is held breathing into those areas without expectation. Relaxing the eyes and temples and all muscles of the face and neck. Observe the rhythm of the breath like the waves of the sea. Sitting for 2 minutes in silence Namaste Feed back from M. I have enjoyed the sessions and got more out of it than I thought. Although I have always done a lot of sport and gym work and did a physiotherapy degree. I realize I was not very in touch with my body. The main thing I have learnt is the ability to relax and feel sensation in myself (increased proprioception) and I do not think I will forget to use this. I certainly can notice when tension is building around my head and neck and have some tools to deal with that. I surprised myself how I ignored the problems with my feet and didn t really make the connection between misalignment and stiffness in the feet and ankles and repeated injuries. This is a work in progress but again now that I have noticed I think I will keep correcting myself. I am really pleased to be able to start football again. I use Tadasana throughout the day at work to ground and lose tension. I am much more aware of form in the gym and go a bit easier but with more awareness. I would like to continue learning more yoga and it has been a good experience. My Experience. I really enjoyed researching and practising in order to put M s classes together. I wanted to try things out with him as he was happy to do that so that enabled me to bring together my experience and interest in other body practices such as Feldenkrais, Trager and rolfing. I think that worked on a one to one basis because we could assess and talk as we went along. I am happy that he has learnt to relax and feel his body from the inside as from there he can learn more asanas and breathing. He is very much a doing person who wants to be strong as he has a lot going on in his life and I hope this course has let him be a little kinder and softer to himself My problem was there was just so much I wanted to convey and it was hard to bring it down to the essentials and sometimes I wondered if just doing a more conventional series of lessons would have been better but this way was more interesting for me and M. I would repeat the whole 9 lessons again as I think I packed a lot in. I feel the more I learn the more there is to learn and all I can do is try stuff in my own practice and see if it makes sense to someone else.

12 Resourses Used: Awakening the Spine Vanda Scaravelli Intelligent Yoga Peter Blackaby Guide to Functional Anatomy in Yoga Ray Long Awakening the Inner Body Donald Moyer Meditating on the Body Reginald Ray How Life Moves, McHose and Frank