The Problem with Yoga

 Yoga is great, don't get me wrong.

No one can refute the obvious benefits, like flexibility, balance and general body awareness. 

Then there's the deeper devotional and philosophical aspects which are also awesome if that's your thing.

But when it comes to complete physical health and movement well being, Yoga is missing a few essential elements.

Firstly, it's missing the Pull.

Hanging

Having evolved from tree climbing primates, we have ball and socket synovial joints in our shoulders that are designed to pull as well as push.

Hanging is in our DNA and our shoulder health depends upon it.

You don't have to be able to rip out 20 chin ups or tie weight plates around your waist, it all starts with simple passive hanging on a bar or a branch or some rings.

Hanging creates space in the shoulder capsule as well as stimulus to strengthen the scapular. Grip strength also increases which is another positive marker of health and longevity.

Yogi's do so much Push in their practice, but rarely any pull which if left unaddressed can create imbalance in the body.

Yogi's benefit greatly from simple hanging protocols. In this video I put Jessie through a series of hanging drills as follows:

1. Passive Hang - 45-60s
2. Half Eagle Hang - 30 seconds each side
3. Full Eagle Hang - 30 seconds
4. Active to Passive Hang - 30 seconds 

Resting a minute between sets, this is a simple way to create space in tight shoulders, stretch the lats, rotator cuffs, pecs & forearms and also offers spinal decompression.

Plus, it just feels good after doing it.

Locomotion

Another feature of Yoga is the fixation to one stationary location, the mat.

Whilst Yoga if often described as "flow", if you look closely there is still a linear sense of alignment to the poses.

One thing I love to do with Yogi's is take their mat away. This can be challenging for them at first, one Yogi told me she "felt naked" without it.

But this opens up more movement possibilities for locomotion flow.

In this video I teach Jessie, a wonderful Yoga teacher at Noosa on the Sunshine Coast, Australia, some beginner Locomotion Flow skills (these are all part of my online Locomotion Flow 2.0 course which has dozens of skills and hundreds of combinations and sequences).

In this video we practice:

1. Role
2. Rotational L-Sit
3. Roll/Starfish
4. Baby Cartwheel

We practiced each skill on its own for 5 reps per direction, then start integrating them together until we finish with the final flow.

Yogi's pick up Locomotion Flow very quickly because they have such terrific mobility and push strength already.

The feedback they usually give me is Locomotion feels playful, light and less linear. As confronting as it is to not have a mat to practice on, there is a new found freedom in the permission to move around more in space.

So, if I can recommend just two things to Yogi's to expand their sense of physical well being, it would be these two elements, Hanging and Locomotion. 

To find out more about by online Locomotion Flow 2.0 course, click here.