Hi all,

For those who take one of my on-going weekly classes, we’ve got a new theme coming up. Additionally, I want to let you know about a four week pop-up class coming up later in March.

New Theme: Satya and Shoulders

Satya is the second of the yamas (moral restraints), which we can find in yoga sutra 2.36. Satya means truth, and living this yama can mean honesty (with ourselves and others), personal integrity, authenticity, and self-expression. Because we all experience the world through the lens of our experience and cultural conditioning, our truths are varied and evolving. If we want to relate satya back to the original goal of yoga, we can say that our practice is leading us to a truth about our deepest Self, that which is beyond ego, personal identity, and conditioning, in the realm of pure consciousness, connection, and bliss. But sticking with the practical day-to-day matters of satya can be a parallel and life-long practice.

We’ll also focus on the shoulders, particularly on the shoulder blades (scapula). These roughly triangular shaped bones that sit on our upper back are connected to our shoulder joint (where the upper arm meets the ball and socket joint) and to our collar bones. The strength and mobility of the scapula play an important role in posture, movements of the arms, and ability to bear weight through our arms (as in plank pose, push-ups, downward facing dog, handstands).

See if this scenario sounds familiar: you sit at a computer, drive a car, load a washing machine, pick up a dog or child, hold a phone in front of you on a regular basis – who doesn’t?? All these activities encourage arms forward, therefore shoulders rounding forward, therefore scapula widening on the back. Having this position as our normal can lead to extra rounding in the upper back and a forward head posture, both things being problematic for our posture and maybe contributing to neck tension or headaches, or even imbalances lower in the body. In order to start correcting this, we need both strength and awareness. Luckily, yoga is great for both of these things!

Try this at home

One way to get your scapula moving is with the 'sag and lift'. On hands and knees, with wrists under shoulders, keep arms straight and let your chest and upper back move towards the floor (sag). Feel your scapula moving towards each other. Then lift your chest and upper back away from the floor and feel your scapula moving away from each other. Do this a few times, intentionally squeezing your scapula together as you sag.

Four week pop-up

This class will run on Wednesdays 10-11:15am on March 22, 29, April 5, 12.

For those who take my Mt. Airy Learning Tree classes, this is right in between the winter and spring sessions, so you can have some continuity. However, anyone is welcome to take this series. We’ll work on whole body strength and mobility, and we’ll use chairs, blocks, and straps to make the practice challenging and accessible.

$50 for the series. Sign up at jmayyoga.offeringtree.com

Contact me with questions and feedback - I love hearing from you!

see you soon,

Jen