Embodying Yoga for Bone Density
This is new! A fresh approach for building bone density in yoga!
Learn new and exciting ways to assist the strength and resilience of our bones!
In addition to our normal ways of practicing weight bearing, we learn to consciously bear those forces directionally through the bones. The bones themselves — not just the muscles — are required to wake up, reform and rebuild
It is not just our bones! It is about how we relate through them into the earth!
Pics below will assist your practice.
Did you know that bone marrow is producing osteoblasts? Although it is not the compact bone itself it is critical to the integrity of the bones!
Marrow “flows” within the bone and produces the bone!
What a generous offering! thank you for sharing this session, Patty. What a treat for me! My bones are still singing :-)
Something that comes up for me as I reflect, is that sense of muscles not being the "weight bearing" system. My gravitational relationships are more effectively mediated through my skeletal system, more specifically bone (what do you feel about ligament in the process?) I see this so clearly in the way you go down to go up (yield/push etc) through your bones in all the different shapes in this practice.
When I bring my muscles into the foreground of weight bearing, I get more bracing and propping which feels liken 'bound energy' and not so satisfying. However, when I let muscles be more themselves, juicy and currenting, then I think their connection to the bones through their tendons will feed into the density process. Of course, loading the movement of my bones with added weight amplifies this (and research would agree), but I don't like those strap-on weight things for yoga pracitce!
I love that you started with a balance (and a chair) since for me osteoporosis is a natural process (not to be ignored of course!), but risk of fracture is the big potential problem, so learning to balance skillfully and with vitality through the bones as you demonstrate it so well is so, so helpful. Also, for me, one of the great things about asana practice is the variety of moves we make and the different relationships we cultivate with gravity.
I could go on with all sorts of thoughts, but my last one is when I hear you speak about 'prana' in this context, I do feel that in the marrow, like a really deep resonant 'prana' and this allows me to feel support for the skeleton from its inside, if you will, - does that make sense?
.....it would be amazing if we could practice together some time :-)