This is the only time to be twisted!

At this phase in your life when you are going through peri/menopausal symptoms, it is OKAY to feel twisted. I have been through it myself, thoughts of 'life not being fair', 'why me', 'had enough of this' While I empathise with you, and tell you it is OKAY to feel bitter and twisted, I would rather tell you 'practice twists because I know you WILL feel better when you do'!

Yeah that's right, this blog is about your channel of energy, your spine and the importance of twists!

****DO THIS! ****

Close your eyes, visualise yourself!

You are standing.

Tall with a straight back.

Head held high.

Palms on your hips.

Breathing calmly with your heart beaming.

Now answer this: When you imagine yourself like this, how do you feel?

Unsure and Fragile

or

Confident and Capable.

Just imagining yourself standing tall, if you feel confident and capable, you would feel even better with actually standing tall and having a strong back. Your spine plays a big part in how you hold yourself. Your posture makes you feel ALIVE and UNBEATABLE!

The spine is the central axis that bears the weight of the body and holds the head. It is also responsible for moving the weight of the trunk and the body down to the legs. The spine is such a complex piece of anatomy with so many nerves and little and big bones because it has so many functions to perform. It is like an information super highway in the body.

The ancient Yogis understood this even before all the anatomy and biology books and lessons were on offer! They learnt this by observing nature and animals in nature and the asana postures evolved from that. This is why keeping the spine supple is one of the main goals of yoga.

Actually the main goal of ancient yoga is to reach a higher level of consciousness but to be able the do that, you need to be able to sit in meditation for hours on end. And to be able to sit for long periods without being distracted by pain and numbness, you need a strong spine and supporting muscles i.e. the back.

This is not a clever spine image. This is just a pic of me from the weekend waiting for summer!

Lets quickly look again at the role of the spine:

It gives your body structure and support, that we know. It allows you to move about freely and to bend with flexibility.

The spine is also designed to protect your spinal cord. The other very important role that the spinal cord plays is that it is a column of nerves that connects your brain with the rest of your body, allowing you to control your movements (super highway!).

We need this communication channel and connection between brain and rest of the body through spine to work perfectly. The three primary channels of the spinal cord are to send motor commands from the brain to the body, send sensory information from the body to the brain, and coordinate reflexes.

We've looked (just scratched the surface) at the importance of the spine anatomically.

Now, lets look at the spine and its importance in Classical yoga. In Yoga the spine is the main channel of carrying energy from a dormant state, upwards into a higher conscious living state.

The dormant energy (kundalini shakti) resides in the base of the spine. Kundalini is the divine (feminine) energy that can be awakened and cultivated through the power of yoga practices to lift up through the spinal column and up which leads to spiritual liberation.

Yee haw! Quick burst of energy!...NO doesn't work like that

This might be a bit confusing to understand. It is not like energy is going to go up the spine in one hit when you practice yoga like the 'strike hammer game' at a carnival!

It happens with decades of practice, tapas and expansion and even then it might not happen.

The practical understanding of this that might help you in your day to day life is that this channel of energy is a pathway to live your life with more awareness.

The more yoga you practice you are able to move from living instinctively, thinking just of fulfilling basic needs of life like food, shelter, safety, clothing (baseline) and rising up into more compassionate, awareness filled, intuitive way of living (heart space).

So here we have it, the spine from an anatomical angle needs to be strong and fit so we can experience movement efficiently and from a spiritual perspective we need the spine free of blocks to allow energy to flow more effectively to enable us to live with more awareness and vitality.

When we don't move often and exercise the spine to make it stronger, we start to feel stiff and stagnant because of the blocked energy in the spine. Twists play a big part in removing these energy blocks and keeping the spin supple and the back healthy.

Benefits of twists:

Detoxification

Click here to see me explaining how the twists work on Instagram

Do this experiment at home or take a look at me doing the experiment (takes you to Instagram).

Take a damp cloth or sponge, soak it in water so its soggy. Then wring/twist it with your palms. What happens? All the water squeezes out from the cloth.

In the same way, twists squeeze out stagnant blood from the organs and allow fresh blood to replenish the organs and with it oxygen and other nutrients. This helps to keep the nerve endings of the spine stay fresh and healthy. The stale blood flushing out is also a detox for the organs in the body.

Massage

It is impossible for us to physically massage the internal organs. But with certain asanas this is possible for example, to massage organs like the kidney, the pancreas, the colon.

Stimulates Vagus Nerve

The Vagus nerve is a nerve in the body that passes through the belly, diaphragm, lungs, throat, inner ear, and facial muscles. It manages the central nervous system and is responsible for the stress response system in the body. When you are stressed and in flight/fright mode, the sympathetic system is active and getting the vagus nerve active means you move into a rest/digest mode with the parasympathetic system being active.

When practicing twists you activate the Vagus nerve so that you are more in control with your stress responses.

Tone the core

Twisting the torso means you are stretching and twisting muscles in the core. This means you are working on the obliques and overall posture by creating length and strength through the spine.

Improve stability and balance

Strong core means better balance and stability when moving around, something we really need as we get older. Core stability then helps with a stronger back.

I personally believe that a yoga class without a twist is rather incomplete.

In our classes we always practice a variety of twists after sun salutations usually do

Parivritta parasvakon asana - twisted side angle. We also practice twisted triangle, twisted half moon. But those are all advanced asanas.

Here are some simple asanas you can practice on your own.

1. Seated Twist at work.

At your desk, hold on to the back of your chair and twist to look towards the back. Start with the right and then move to the left.

2. Supine Twist.

Lying down in your bed or on the mat, hug your right knee, place your right foot on your left knee and twist to the left. Then try it on the right.

You can practice along with me in our Facebook group Yoga coaching. We focus on asanas that activate and bring the spine alive and are known to generate energy and bring vitality. A strong and supple spine is synonymous with being youthful the yogis knew that. I will explain the science behind twists and benefits of these asanas as we practice. A replay is available for 7 days if you cannot attend live, that you can also use to deepen your practice from the comfort of your own home.