WAC Magazine

November/December 2013

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Getting Fit By Matt Queen, Yoga Instructor Finding your perfect pose L U K E R U TA N To best realize yoga's benefits, we must feel our way Establishing a focal point helps turn your attention toward the feel of a pose. S ince arriving at the WAC, I've been asked one question perhaps more than any other: Is this how this pose should look? We all like to understand whether we are doing a pose properly, but this question has a fundamental flaw. Poses are not supposed to look. They're supposed to feel. Every day, our eyes take in an astonishing array of visual stimuli, but they are not great at understanding movement patterns and positions unless they've been highly trained. The central nervous system uses sensory receptors called proprioceptors found deep in the body's tissues—e.g., fascia, tendons, ligaments, muscles, and joint capsules—to gain information about how we move. Proprioceptors give a constant stream of information to the nervous system that triggers signals to the muscles and brain to move us. Your central nervous system literally feels itself moving through your body's actions. When we live a seated and sedentary lifestyle, we turn off proprioceptors, shut down motor neurons, and send the nervous system into a state of amnesia about how to move. In essence, we inhibit our bodies' major systems, which rely on movement for their functioning. The quality movement patterns of yoga restore 20 | Washington Athletic Club Magazine | NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2013 this lost function. Movement is life, and the movement patterns of yoga enhance our lives with long-term and sustainable benefits. Movement nourishes us, improves our bodily systems, and allows us simple joys such as playing on the floor with our children and grandchildren. Each yoga position has a point of focus for the eyes called a drishti. It is a place to hold your gaze so that you turn your attention to the work of feeling. This is one of the many tools we use to support and deepen our neural connection to our proprioceptors. We facilitate this connection by paying keen attention to how we move into positions, how we move out of positions, and how we do the work of the poses themselves until our minds are absorbed by the action. The mind-body component is key to yoga, and it's where the greatest benefits can be found. As a yoga instructor, I aim to help members realize the most benefit possible from their time in the studio. Sometimes that means helping you forget how a pose looks and reminding you to instead focus on how it feels. The more you work at it, the more benefits you'll realize. —Matt Queen has been teaching yoga for close to 20 years. He has studied in India and offers group and individualized training at the WAC. Contact him at mqueen@wac.net.

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