Arm Stretching - Elbow Extension.

Muscles involved: Biceps brachii

Instruction:

Stand before a mirror stretching the elbow and force the pronation of the forearm with your other hand to further separate the points of insertion of the heads of the biceps.

Commentary:

This exercise might look simple, but the biceps does not require more demanding stretches, as it works well within the regular ranges of motion, and rarely encounters abnormalities in its mobility – which  are much more frequent with many other muscles.

Arm Stretching - Overhead Arm Hyper Extension.

Muscles involved: Triceps brachii

Instruction:

Either standing up or sitting down in front of a mirror, flex the elbow to the end and raise the arm by flexing the shoulder, while using the opposite hand to push the elbow backward.

Commentary:

There is a tendency to rest the helping arm on the head as a kind of lever, which could force the cervical vertebrae. While this help could be useful if it is done correctly care must be taken not to adopt poor postures with the neck.

It is imperative to flex the elbow maximally (hence the hyperflexion in the name), yet it is not uncommon to see people who, as they push farther back, the elbow joint is progressively relaxed and extended, taking away from the stretching of the triceps. This is where a help from a training partner can be worthwhile – all he or she has to do is ensure that the elbow remains totally flexed and push gently on it toward the back. It might be more comfortable to receive assistance if the partner sits on a bench.

Arms Stretching - Preacher Bench Passive Arm Extension.

Muscles involved: Biceps brachii, brachioradialis

Instruction:

While on the preacher bench, hold the bar with a supinated grip (palms facing upward), lean your elbows against the pads and let the arms extend until they reach the point of maximum extension.

To finish, do not simply return the weight up by flexing the elbows, but rather get up from the bench completely, so that you are more comfortable and it is less compromising for the joints.

Commentary:

Remember, this is a stretching exercise and you should not load the bar with too much weight. The extension should be slow and controlled, because otherwise the joint could be damaged at the bottom of the movement; perhaps not the biceps itself, but the olecranon, the joint capsule, the humeral artery or certain ligaments.

For those people who find that the regular bar (~ 8 to 10 kg) is too heavy, look for a lighter bar, but never use dumbbells because it would be much harder to maintain full supination of the forearms, which is necessary for stretching the biceps.

Arms Stretching - Hanging From a Bar With Supinated Grip.

Muscles involved: Biceps brachii, brachioradialis

Instruction:

With arms externally rotated and forearms supinated (the palm of the hand facing backward), hang suspended from a horizontal bar. Relax the body during the few seconds that the stretch lasts and then return to the ground in order to “release” the muscles.

Commentary:

This is exactly like the starting position for performing “chin-ups” for the back and biceps. And it is precisely this pair of muscle groups, the back muscles and the elbow flexors, that are being stretched during this exercise. The only things to note are knowing how to relax the body and not to maintain a constant tension in the arms, which would prevent them from being stretched, and use only the forearms and hands to support the weight of the body.

As an alternative, you can try to hold on to a lower bar and keep the feet on the ground, but then progressively take all of the body weight off the feet until your whole bodyweight is hanging, even if your feet may still be touching the ground.

Arm Stretching - Arm Hyperextension With Support.

Muscles involved: Biceps brachii, brachioradialis 

Instruction:

Standing up, with your back toward a fixed support of approximately shoulder-height, with the elbow extended and the arm internally rotated (the thumb pointing inward), rest the back of the hand on the support and lower the trunk until you can feel the stretch around the biceps.

Commentary:

Again, it is not enough to simply extend the elbow in order to stretch the biceps, you also have to move the shoulder to separate its points of insertion. This exercise, if performed slowly, manages a good stretch of the biceps. In fact, from among the exercises designed to stretch the biceps individually (without assistance) this is one of the most effective. Due to the position of the arm and the movement that we perform, the anterior portion of the shoulder is also stretched.

Arm Stretching - Fixed Arm Torso Rotation.

Muscles involved: Biceps, pectorals major 

Instruction:

Standing beside a wall or a door, raise the arm laterally until shoulder height, with the palm of the hand turned so that it touches the frame of a door or the corner of a wall. The elbow remains extended. Relaxing the arm and the pectoral region, rotate the torso in the opposite direction of the extended arm.

Commentary:

This exercise is performed in a similar way to that for the pectoral region, but now the elbow must remain extended in order to achieve a good stretch of the biceps. The person executing this movement must know how to feel the tension in the muscle that is being stretched, the biceps brachii, otherwise, the tension might be somewhere else, performing the exercise incorrectly. In such a case, the person should modify the posture and begin the stretch again until he achieves the desired objective.

Arm Stretching - Back Arm Lock!

Muscles involved: External and internal rotators, triceps

Instruction:

You can perform this exercise either standing, or seated on a back-less bench. Raising one arm over and behind the head while the other goes behind the back from below, try to grab the fingers of both hands behind your upper back.

Commentary:

With this exercise, the mobility of the shoulder joint is easily determined. Advanced stretchers will have no difficulty joining their hands, and some may even reach the forearms. Novices should use some help in order to improve. A training partner can be very handy, standing behind the person doing the stretching and pushing gently upon the elbows in an effort to bring the hands closer together. With each repetition, try changing the position of the arms in order to balance the stress upon the structures being stretched.

Arm Stretching - Vertical Arms Extension!

Muscles involved: Latissimus dorsi, teres major, finger flexors (flexor digitorum superficialis and profundus and flexor hallucis longus), flexor carpi ulnaris, long and short palmar muscles

Instruction:

While standing, preferably in front of a mirror, raise your arms above your head, with fingers interlaced and palms facing upward. Just stretch as if you are trying to reach the ceiling.

Commentary:

This exercise also involves the flexors of the hand. Unlike some previous exercises, this is an exercise that can be performed by people of advanced age and those with certain physical disabilities, depending on the type and degree of the disability. These two groups of people can omit interlacing the fingers if it presents a problem.

On this exercise, some people tend to stand on the tips of their toes, trying to stretch even more parts of the body. While not harmful, it may prevent the person from concentrating and thus compromising his or her stability.

Ardha Chandrasana II (Balancing)

Essence of Yoga!

It doesn’t matter how beautifully we do a posture or how flexible our bodies are, if we do not have the unification of the body, the breath, and the mind, it is difficult to say that our practice falls within the definition of Yoga.

Liver / Gall Bladder Meridian Stretch.

Triple Heater / Heart Protector Meridian Stretch.

Kidney / Bladder Meridian Stretch.

Heart / Small Intestine Meridian Stretch.

Stomach / Spleen Meridian Stretch.

Lung / Large Intestine Meridian Stretch.

TCM!

sacroiliac (SI) joint!

The sacroiliac (SI) joints, the points where the pelvis and sacrum meet, can be the source of great discomfort when out of balance or inflamed. Although pain and stiffness can be caused by a number of reasons, when a student tells you they have diagnosed SI pain, take heed.  Many poses, including backward and forward bends and twists, can make matters worse.

Sacroiliac Joint Anatomy

A joint is where two bones come together. The sacroiliac joint is where the sacrum bone and the ilium bone join one another.

The sacrum is located at the base of your spine. It is composed of five vertebrae that have fused together during development to form a single bone roughly the size of your hand. When you view the sacrum from the front, it looks like a triangle with its point facing down. When you view it from the side, you see that it curves, concave in front, convex behind, and that it tilts, so its top end is well forward of its bottom end. Protruding from the bottom end of the sacrum is the tailbone (coccyx).

Each half of the pelvis is composed of three bones, the ilium, the ischium and the pubic bone, that have fused together during development. The topmost bone (the one that forms the pelvic rim) is the ilium. The sacrum is wedged between the left and right ilium bones. On the upper part of the sacrum, on each side, there is a rough, rather flat surface that abuts a corresponding rough, flat surface on the ilium. These surfaces are called auricular surfaces. The places where the auricular surfaces of the sacrum and ilium come together are the sacroiliac joints.

The sacrum bears the weight of the spine. The SI joints distribute this weight so that half goes to each hip and, from there, to each leg. As gravity wedges the triangular sacrum firmly down between the inclined auricular surfaces of the ilium bones, it tends to force the ilium bones apart, but strong ligaments prevent them from moving. This wedging action and the resistance of the ligaments combine to form a stable joint.

Some of the ligaments that stabilize the SI joints cross directly over the line where the sacrum and ilium meet. Those on the front are called the ventral sacroiliac ligaments, and those on the back are the dorsal sacroiliac ligaments. Other strong ligaments (the interosseous ligaments) fill the space just above the SI joints, holding the ilium bones firmly against the sides of the upper sacrum. The normal, tilted position of the sacrum places its top end forward of the SI joints and its bottom end behind them. This setup means the weight of the spine tends to rotate the sacrum around the axis formed by the SI joints, pushing the top end down and lifting the bottom end up. The sacrotuberous and sacrospinous ligaments are ideally located to oppose this rotation by anchoring the lower end of the sacrum to the lower part of the pelvis (the ischium bones).

The auricular surfaces of the sacrum and ilium are lined by cartilage. The joint space is completely surrounded by connective tissue and is filled with a lubricating fluid called synovial fluid. Like other synovial joints, the SI joints can move; however, their range of motion is very limited. For example, trained chiropractors, physical therapists and other professionals learn to feel the PSIS tilting back slightly relative to the sacrum when a standing person lifts one knee toward the chest as if marching. This rocking action is thought to aid in walking. However, according to one anatomy text,

The sacroiliac synovial joint rather regularly shows pathologic changes in adults, and in many males more than 30 years of age, and in most males after the age of 50, the joint becomes ankylosed (fused, with the disappearance of the joint cavity); this occurs less frequently in females.¹

In other words, with age, the sacrum and the two ilium bones often merge into a single bone. This might explain why some orthopedic surgeons do not believe in SI joint injury. Perhaps they have operated on adults, seen with their own eyes that the sacrum is completely fused to the two ilium bones, and concluded that even the slightest dislocation of this joint is impossible. This may well be true in people whose joints have fused, but that leaves out the rest of us, more women than men, who, through heredity or lifestyle (including yoga), have retained mobility in our SI joints.

Tibetan Buddhist Chakras!

The Tibetan Buddhist Theory of Chakras

Tantric Buddhism (or Vajrayana) broke off from the Indian Tantric one at a very early stage.  Hence they developed a rather different version of the chakras.  Tibetan Buddhism acknowledges four (navel, heart, throat, and head), five, seven, or even ten chakras or "channel wheels"; each with a different number of "spokes" to its Indian Tantric counterpart.  The navel chakra for example has sixty-four spokes, the heart chakra eight, the throat sixteen (the only one to agree with the Hindu scheme), and the head or crown chakra thirty-two.  There is also, as in Laya-yoga, an elaborate system of correspondences.  Note that in this system it is the head-centre, and not, as in many Western interpretations of Hindu Tantra, the Perineal or the base, that is associated with the body and physical consciousness.  The throat centre represents a more subtle state of consciousness, the dream state; and the heart centre the refined of all, deep meditataion, dreamless sleep, the peaceful deities and the Clear Light.

Standing Forward Bend!

Meridian n Cylinders!

Body Cylinders

There are a large number of muscles in your body. Is there a way to think about them or visualize them in a way that makes them easy to understand? Of course. Here’s how.

Think of your body as eight cylindrical tubes, four stacked on top of each other, or sixteen half tubes. In your lower and upper body, there are tubes on the front, back, outside, inside and on the four angles in between. Each of those eight cylindrical tubes contain muscles in groups that go from your feet into your trunk and head, or from your arms into your face or trunk. Well, it just so happens that each of those tubes is also exactly where the meridians are in TCM! So each major muscle group is concomitant with one meridian in TCM.

AnteriorAnterior LateralLateralPosterior LateralPosteriorPosterior MedialMedialAnterior Medial

Meridian Movement Patterns!

Kinetic Movement Patterns

There are eight directions you can move into when the muscles of your body contract and shorten. Specifically in your lower body: forward, backward, turning left and right, twisting and untwisting. In your upper body: pulling down, pushing upward, lifting, lowering, hugging, striking back, pressing, and opening. These are called kinetic patterns. They are very helpful when analyzing movements in different sports or performances and therefore provide clues as to which muscles to strengthen and stretch.

While one muscle group on one side of your body is lengthening. the muscles on the other side are shortening. These pairs of muscles are called balancing muscles. For example, contracting and shortening the muscles on the back outer side (posterior lateral) of your lower body causes you to jump up into the air, while the balancing muscles on the front inside (anterior medial) of your lower body cause you to squat.

Gall Bladder Turning Outward	Liver Turning Inward
Lung Throwing	Large Intestine Catching
Stomach Advancing	Pancreas Retreating
Heart Hugging	Small Intestine Striking Back
Brain Twisting	Sexual Untwisting
Pericardium Squeezing	Skin Opening
Bladder Jumping	Kidney Sitting
Appendix Pulling Down	Thymus Pushing Upward

Spiritual perspective everyday!

16 Spiritual Fitness Traits

MMG	High Personality Trait (when being my best)	Low Personality Trait (when not being myself)
Gall Bladder	DevotionalI sanctify others' lives.	Self-disloyaltyI am indecisive for myself.
Liver	FreedomI am exempt and live freely.	CodependencyI am overly helpful to others.
Lung	TruthI have a feel for justice.	OppressionI am overly bossy.
Large Intestine	FairnessI strive to be fair.	ObsessedI can't control my obsessions.
Stomach	Belief in Higher PowerI have a sense of a higher power.	AddictionMy life centers around my addictions.
Pancreas	PeacefulI prioritize being peaceful.	DamningI am preachy and condeming.
Heart	Unconditional LoveI love faultlessly.	SlothI am heedless and avoid intensity.
Small Intestine	EquanimityI affirm others and myself.	UnaffirmingI am self-denigrating and overly cautious.
Brain	TrustI am civil and trustworthy.	LustfulI am overly covetous.
Sexual	GraceI give blessings and am courteous.	EmptyI feel that few care, nor do I.
Pericardium	EthicalI have fair judgments.	JudgementalI sentence others unfairly.
Skin	ConscionableI relate to others with conscience.	UnconsciounableI have no remorse.
Bladder	HopefulI am honest and hopeful.	GreedyI have money problems.
Kidney	CompassionateI understand others.	ChastisingI scold others about their faults.
Appendix	IntegrityI am true to my word.	CastigationI am intolerant.
Thymus	Sisterhood-BrotherhoodI am forgiving.	Self-ServingI am envious.