This week in Jill's class we will work on "crossing the line" - the midline of our body, that is.

Many people associate a yoga practice with "opening," most often associating this opening to the front of the body. But in order to open the back body, we have to be able to close the front body. We need to be able to both abduct (open the shoulders and legs away from the midline) AND adduct (pull them towards or even across the midline) in order for these joints to be well balanced and happy in movement. A great pose to work on drawing the arms and legs across the midline is Garudasana or Eagle Pose.

Garuda was the mount of the god Vishnu in yogic lore. He had the head, wings, talons and beak of an eagle and the body of a man. He was so powerful ("radiant as a thousand suns") when he was born that the gods begged him to reduce his size and energy so that they wouldn't feel threatened. When we enter eagle pose, we start by reaching outward and then pull ourselves inward, crossing the legs and arms and drawing inward as we stand on one foot. The symbology is meant to remind us that we are spiritual beings who are larger than life and we often diminish ourselves - cramming ourselves into identities and definitions that don't always serve us or burying parts of ourselves that we deem somehow out of bounds. Sometimes we even do this willingly - so that others will feel less threatened by our inner power - in an effort to blend in, belong, or be accepted. When we release the pose, opening back up, it serves as a reminder that we are more than that diminished, crammed-in experience. That we each have an inner light that deserves to shine brightly into the world.

In order to get into this tangled-up shape, we will approach it with some lovely somatics threaded throughout class in addition to some novel activations of the inner and outer hips and shoulders. I'm always seeking new ways for you to experience familiar poses so that your practice always feels fresh, interesting and new.