UNITY YOGA Nelson - Rose Middleton

02/01/2025

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!
Thank you to everyone for the truly fantastic support in the creation of UnityYoga Nelson. You are the best teachers that a yoga teacher can have.

2025 is definitely a year of change for me as I step back from the teacher's mat and take a gap year (I'm not retiring!) - reflect, reset and then return. This poem really encapsulates so much of the emotions felt reaching this point and I hope you enjoy it.

"The Open Door" - Danna Faulds

A door opens. Maybe I’ve been standing here shuffling my weight from foot to foot for decades, or maybe I only knocked once.

In truth, it doesn’t matter.
A door opens and I walk through without a backward glance.
This is it, then, the moment of truth in a lifetime of truth: a choice made, a path taken, the gravitational pull of Spirit too compelling to ignore any longer.

I am received by something far too vast to see.
It has roots in antiquity but speaks clearly in the present tense.

"Be" the vastness says.
"Be without adverbs, descriptors, or qualities.”
"Be so alive that awareness bares itself uncloaked and unadorned.
Then go forth to give what you alone can give, awake to love and suffering, unburdened by the weight of expectations.
Go forth to see and be seen, blossoming, always blossoming into your magnificence.”

I'll keep in touch, sharing the discoveries, surprises and challenges.
Enjoy exploring the other wonderful yoga teachers in Nelson and online - different voices, ways and knowledge.

16/10/2024

Finding neutral - your spine has curves for a reason. Standing in neutral is the place of strength and stability.

The pelvis is the pot out of which the spinal column grows. If the pelvis is tilted, the column is affected. Whatever sitting position you find yourself in right now, just move your pelvis in any direction only an inch and you will notice a direct effect on the column. Try it a couple of times.

To find the neutral position of your pelvis, stand on your nonskid mat in Tadasana. Put your hands around the top of the pelvis, across the tops of the illia, so your thumb is in the back and your fingers come around to the front (Figure 3.19).

Imagine that the top ridge of your illia (which is the spine of the illia) is parallel to the floor. This will take a little practice because this is a curved surface, so take your time. Let your fingers feel the anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS) of the pelvis and your thumbs feel the posterior superior iliac spine (PSIS). When you think you have found the neutral position, your fingers and thumb will be about the same height from the floor. To test if this is truly the right position, press straight down hard. If your pelvis is in a neutral position, no movement will occur. If the position you selected is not the neutral one, then you will feel a movement under your hands. Please remember that this is an art as well as a concrete adjustment, so if you are unable to understand it the first time, don't be discouraged. Try it several times, until you find the position in which your pelvis is neutral.

Another way to verify that your pelvis is in a neutral position is to feel for any tension in the abdomen wall between the ASIS and the symphysis p***s. If you are in neutral, this area will feel soft; if not, it will feel taut.

Pg. 48 From Yogabody: Anatomy, Kinesiology, and Asana by Judith Hanson Lasater

Have you read Yogabody?