The benefits of learning your body via a first principles approach
Working from first principles is an approach to learning complex systems and dealing with problems. It's also a cornerstone to releasing creative potential.
With sensational yoga poses, the idea is to break down the body into recognizable, feelable, controllable and reusable components using a first principles approach.
Using this approach, we can apply that same awareness and control to any activity. We can also use it to deal with problems as well as improve qualities like flexibility, strength and body awareness.
When working from first principles it helps to know the change you are trying to create.
Home page, TOC
Some basics for beginners doing yoga poses
Building awareness by moving slowly and smoothly
A sequence of yoga poses for beginners
As a beginner, figuring out where to start
Increase Awareness and Reduce Wobble
Noticing relationships within and without
Better Muscle Control with Less Effort
for Beginners and the Less Flexible
What causes injuries, what you can do to prevent them
Some Benefits of Doing Yoga with a focus on Muscle Control
From why do yoga in the first place, to how to start a yoga practice, and how to modify yoga poses. At the beginning level you could simply focus on getting started, even if it's at home.
Scroll sideways in the list above for beginner related articles.
Dance of shiva can be used as a warmup for your brain, and for your arms. Some basic memorization is involved. It helps you get used to clearly defined positions and movements and trains you to recognize different possibilities.
Learning to connect clearly defined positions to each other
improve balance, coordination, concentration
Forward Movements with Hand Horizontal
for better left/right shoulder balance
Yoga poses could be looked at as a context for learning your body. Learn the basic shape of each pose, how to modify it, and how to counterpose it and even how to sequence yoga poses. From there, you can then use each yoga pose as a way of better learning your body.
Plus Index of Poses by Category
A fixed sequence of breath linked yoga poses
Poses and counterposes for a balanced yoga practice
Building awareness by moving slowly and smoothly
Keeping Your Body In Balance (Or Helping Your Body Feel Good)
Tips for sequencing yoga poses intelligently
The things to know about yoga poses before you do them
For a Balanced Yoga Practice (and For Dealing with Problems)
One way to categorize and group poses is by position, i.e. standing, sitting, kneeling, prone etc. It can be possible to do yoga routines that consist solely of one group of poses, i.e. all standing, or all seated. Or it can simply provide an easy way to find yoga poses on this website.
A sequence standing poses suitable for beginners
A basic pose for practicing body awareness
A Sequence of seated poses, not for beginners
How to get comfortable with kneeling
A sequence of belly down yoga poses
A mixed level sequence of reclining yoga poses
Working towards balancing while upside down
Some restorative poses for when you are too tired for yoga
In this section, the "action" can be a side bend, a twist, a back bend or a forward bend. This can be handy if you want to focus on any of these actions, or if you want to find modifications or substitute postures that have a similiar affect but may be more appropriate for whatever reason.
Stretching (and strengthening) the side of the body
Anchoring part of the spine for effective spinal twists
And Backward Bending for the Hips
Improving hamstring flexibility
A variety of poses for balanced arm and shoulder strength
Using the strength of one part of the body against another
Getting your feet off of the floor without jumping
11 Basic Balance Poses for practicing balance
Improve balance with these fun and simple poses
Stabilizing Your Leg to make balancing easier
Improving strength can be about strengthening muscles. But it can also be about getting your muscles to work well together. When your muscles are active, they generate sensation. If you can feel your muscles activating, you can get them to work together.
Creating Space and Tension
For the Shoulders, Waist, Hips and Legs
Configuring the Body to Be Stronger with Less Effort
When working on arm strengthening yoga poses, it can help to be aware of your ribcage and shoulder girdle. From there it helps to also be aware of your elbows (they rotate!) and your wrists. If you want the parts of your body to work well together, you have to understand the parts!
Yoga pose progressions for improving arm strength
Pulling The Arm into The Shoulder Socket
Stabilizing the shoulder blades first
Shifting weight onto the hands
A first principles approach to learning to lift your body
As with working on arm strength, when strengthening the legs, it can help to learn how to operate your hips, knees and feet/ankles. Another important element when working on leg strength (and leg flexibility) is the SI joints.
Some Body Awareness Tips for Working Towards It
First learning to stay balanced
Strengthen hamstrings (and glutes) with hips extended or flexed
Strengthening the hip flexors with the hips flexed and extended
Finding hip problems and fix them
How to strengthen them in any yoga pose
Using Body Weight, Friction and Pressure
Doing Body Weight Squats Intelligently
Know the change you are trying to create
When working from first principles it helps to have a clear idea of what you are doing, what you are trying to achieve. One way to put it is "knowing the change that you are trying to create." You then can figure out the fundamental ideas and relationships that make that idea realizable, even in the face of constant change.
While learning "the fundamentals" can be challenging initially, it lays the foundation for greater freedom, greater flexibility, the ability to dance with change while at the same time creating the change you desire.
What are the the fundamentals?
Flexibility is not floppiness! You could look at flexibility as learning to be strong in end ranges where one set of muscles is lengthened and their opposing muscles shortened. But, flexibility also includes being able to relax in end ranges.
Learning to control your muscles through a wider range of motion
Interactions of Muscle Control, Proprioception and Joint Lubrication
an overview to stretching effectively
Why It Doesn't Work For Static Stretching (What to do instead)
Stretching to Feel Good and Improve Flexibility
Tips for sequencing stretches and for improving flexibility
(Especially if You Aren't Flexible To Begin With!)
For Body Awareness, Feeling Good, and/or Improving Flexibility
One is that it can help you learn your body
Understanding flexibility so that you can improve it
As with strengthening the arms, when stretching the arms it can be helpful to be aware of your neck and ribcage as well as your shoulder girdle, elbow and wrist/hand/fingers.
For Stretching Chest and Shoulder Muscles
Improving Shoulder Flexibility With Scapular Awareness
Active stretches for Improving Shoulder Flexibility and Strength
Using Yoga Pose Arm Positions to Stretch the Arms and Shoulders
When working on leg flexibility (which includes hip, glute, hamstring, adductor, quad flexibility...) it can be helpful to be aware of the hip, knee, foot and ankle of the leg you are stretching. It can be helpful to also be aware of the SI joints.
Stretches for Improving Inner Thigh Flexibility and Control
AKA bent knee hip flexor stretches
Soleus and Gastrocnemius active and passive stretches
for working towards front to back splits
Stretching the Back of the Hip in Low Lunge and Other Positions
Opening the Fronts of the Hips for Front to Back Splits
Anchoring the quadriceps so that you can stretch them
Psoas stretching can be challenging. Before stretching your psoas (or if your psoas keeps tightening up) you might want to ask yourself why it is tight. In any case, while stretching your psoas, work at anchoring it. Give the muscle a stable foundation from which to stretch. And if you want to release it, maybe try making your hip joints, knee, and even your foot and ankle stable.
Hip flexion, deeper stretching, preventing lumbar shear
Standing Stretch for Psoas Upper and Lower Fibers
Back pain, using the external obliques and spinal erectors
A series of stretches for the Lower Fibers of the Psoas Major
The 12 ribs and the lumbar curve
with Muscle activations and adjustments
Spinal stretches include side bends, twists, front bends and back bends. One idea to bear in mind with the spine is that it is designed to be flexible. So rather than simply trying to maintain "neutral spine", instead learn to feel it and control it and stabilize it where and when necessary.
Standing and seated stretches for alleviating low back pain
Twisting, Sliding and Bending Actions,
Stretch and Strengthen the Sides of the Spine and Legs
Poses that stretch both the hips and the shoulders
Standing and seated stretches for alleviating low back pain
Stretch and Strengthen the Sides of the Spine and Legs
I've always assumed that the meridians are embedded in connective tissue. These are meridians from Traditional Chinese medicine. They provide a Map of sorts, and one very pleasant way to use this map is as a guide to stretching the body. You simply follow the flow of the meridians to guide the sequence of stretches.
Increasing Flexibility, Deepening Body Awareness
Heart, Pericardium, Lung meridians (Front of Arm)
Small intestine, triple header, large intestine (Back of Arm, Neck)
Stomach(front of body and legs)
Bladder Meridian (Back of Body and legs)
Gall Bladder (Side of body)
Kidneys, liver, spleen (Inner Thighs and Front of the Torso)
Yoga poses (and other exercises) as a context for learning to feel and control your body
The idea of this website is to help you learn your body by using yoga poses, stretches and other ways of experiencing your body as a context.
The yoga poses themselves are not really fundamental. They are simply a venue or context for learning to feel and control the things that are fundamental with regards to feeling and controlling your body. Those fundamental elements are muscles, bones, joints and the connective tissue strands that connect them all together.
Since this is our own body we are trying to learn to feel and control, the brain (or more generally our consciousness) is also important to consider.
It's important because it is where the knowing and understanding of these fundamentals is stored and accessed.
Brain aside, how do we go about experiencing our own anatomy?
(And Noticing What is Happening Now)
Basic Principles for Yoga
Basic Principles for Yoga
Creating Tensegrity In Yoga Poses, a Balance of Space and Tension
For when working towards difficult yoga poses
by Creating Space and Stability
How they allow our brain to sense and create change
Tips for overcoming fear in yoga and in life
Learning a yoga pose as the sum of its parts
Tips for Breaking Yoga Poses down into Meaningful Elements
There are ways to operate your body to make it more "feelable". In addition, you can practice feeling and controlling parts in isolation so that you can better feel and control your whole body as the sum of those parts. Scroll sideways in the list above for more details.
Center Your Body and Mind
make learning an enjoyable experience
(And Noticing What is Happening Now)
Another term for being present
by Creating Space and Stability
Increasing Flexibility, Deepening Body Awareness
Feeling Your Body While Standing Still
using your throat as a breath regulator
Becoming your own mechanic
Learning to connect clearly defined positions to each other
Learning how to feel your breath and better control it
Taking a break from thinking
Flicking the switch to access sensation and control
How muscles and joints protect each other
How they our brain to sense and create change
Getting a deeper experience of your body
It's Not Just Contracting Your Muscles
If we didn't have muscles we wouldn't be able to feel our body
Interactions of Muscle Control, Proprioception and Joint Lubrication
Muscles need opposition in order to function
I've used it to deal with pain, improve flexibility and to be present
The Essentials of Learning How to Flow
Another term for being present
make learning an enjoyable experience
Pre-thinking before boarding the river of time
Developing sensitivity and control
the art of doing without thinking
Tuning proprioception for better responsiveness
Modelling it so that we can understand it
It Ain't Thinking, That's for Sure
If so, how? Plus other methods for improving body awareness
Learning to Better Feel Your Body and Control It
By feeling your body and controlling it
Proprioception, control and the importance of knowing
Working within the limits of short term memory
Getting a deeper experience of your body
Muscles need opposition in order to function
Learning How to Apply Effort Effectively to Improve Proprioception
How anatomy can help you to talk with your body
Becoming your own mechanic
Learning to feel is for the lazy (and the intelligent)
Tips for Breaking Yoga Poses down into Meaningful Elements
Respiratory diaphragm anchoring for easier breathing.
Easily Feel your Breath by Understanding Your Breathing Anatomy
Mouth Breathing, Nose Breathing and Regulating Your Breath
Breathing that mobilizes Thoracic Spine and Ribcage
Making Controlled Breathing More Comfortable
while going to the bathroom
Learning to feel and control it
Learning how to feel your breath and better control it
using your throat as a breath regulator
Keeping Your Torso Stationary
Getting your feet off of the floor without jumping
Stabilizing Your Leg While Balancing On It
so that you can stabilize or control it
Stabilizing Your Foundation
Working towards balancing while upside down
Turning balance into a general skill
Finding Your Balance (and keeping it)
Improve balance with these fun and simple poses
alleviating hamstring pain
Dealing with hip pain that occurs near the ASIC
By feeling your body and controlling it
Taking a step back to figure out how to fix a gimpy hip
Along with same side knee pain
Three Simple Actions for Alleviating Hip Joint Pain While Doing Yoga
Heel stabilization for IT band knee pain while squatting
One Possible Approach to Alleviating Joint Pain While Doing Yoga
why it can start start with your abs (transverse abdominis)
Yoga Teachers Get Low Back Pain Too
Fixing pain and poor posture via muscle control, proprioception
Dealing with sitting bone and sacrotuberous pain
In Forward Bending Yoga Poses and What You Can Do About It
Muscle control options for dealing with low back pain
Simple (and comfortable) Exercises for improving posture
spinal awareness for better breathing and better posture
Going from slouch to zero-slouch
Joint lubrication via muscle activation and high speed movements
Understanding the Body In Movement and in Stillness
Responsive and Instantaneous Information Sharing
Creating Tensegrity In Yoga Poses, a Balance of Space and Tension
How joint tensegrity gives us freedom to do tensegrity free poses
How muscles and joints protect each other
How joint tensegrity is maintained
How to keep them lubricated
And how how to overcome them
Tuning Tension for Proprioception and Responsiveness
Optimizing motor control and proprioception
The variable tension geometry of the human body
A first principles approach to "yoga" anatomy
A part of taking a first principles approach is understanding that you can break "systems" down in different ways depending on what you are trying to do. As such, when using anatomy as a guide to feeling and controlling our own body, we can approach anatomy differently than a doctor or massage therapist would. Where they tend to work on other bodies, we are working on feeling and controlling our own body.
A distinct advantage of this approach is that we can learn to access the sensors that are built into our own body. We can thus experience our anatomy directly.
A better understanding of our own body can be the result.
So how does one get started?
Understanding your body via Muscle control and Proprioception
Passive proprioception from stretched connective tissue
How they allow our brain to sense and create change
How muscles and joints protect each other
If we didn't have muscles we wouldn't be able to feel our body
Yoga Anatomy you can Feel and Control
Learn your body by directly experiencing it
Helping You to Better Feel and Control Your Body While Doing Yoga
Using them for Improving Body Control
Muscles need opposition in order to function
Interactions of Muscle Control, Proprioception and Joint Lubrication
It's Not Just Contracting Your Muscles
Why the Brain Turns on the Brakes and How We can Release Them
A proprioceptive reference for better hip awareness and control
SI stability via increased ligament tension
Wifi for Your Spine, Arms and Legs
Using high speed movement to keep joints lubricated
How joint tensegrity gives us freedom to do tensegrity free poses
How muscles and joints protect each other
How pain and proprioception helps keep your joints safe
The Position of Balanced Space and Tension
One Possible Approach to Alleviating Joint Pain While Doing Yoga
Adjusting muscle tension to keep your hip joints lubricated
Taking a step back to figure out how to fix a gimpy hip
Back Bending the hip, using it to help stretch the psoas
A proprioceptive reference for better hip awareness and control
Muscle groupings that can help keep the hip hip joint centered
keeping the hub of the hip joint centered
Three Simple Actions for Alleviating Hip Joint Pain While Doing Yoga
Tips for Dealing with hip discomfort so that they last longer
Anatomy for Stabilizing, Creating Space (and Relaxing) The Hip Joint
How to feel it, use it and keep it lubricated
How to keep them lubricated
Anatomy for Yoga Teachers
Hip Joint stability for Increased Mobility and Control
A hip stabilizer that can help with knee and ankle stability
10 ways a bicycle wheel can help you understand your hip
to counter act a collapsed arch or flat foot
And why they aren't activating in the first place
And using it to deal with pain and improve flexibility
Helping to control the hip or helping to control knee rotation
Controlling (and stabilizing against) knee rotation
Controlling Knee Bend and Shin Rotation (Relative to the Thigh)
why it can start start with your abs (transverse abdominis)
And It's affect on the foot, knee and hip with knee bent and straight
How to strengthen them in any yoga pose
(So that you can deal with problems like knee pain)
Adding Tension to Take out the Slack For More Effective Forward Bending
Improve Hip Control and Shin Control
A small muscle that can help stabilize the knee against rotation
Knee stability while standing, walking or running
Knee extensors and tensioning devices for the overlying hip flexors
In Spinal Forward Bends and Spinal Backbends
Helping to stabilize the SI joints (for nutation and counter-nutation)
Feeling and controlling nutation and counter-nutation
Sacrotuberous ligament tensioning, resisting SIJ shear in forward bends
tensioning the long dorsal sacroiliac and sacrotuberous ligament
Alleviating Sacroiliac Joint Pain
and the Muscles that Connect it to the Legs, Spine and Pelvis
and Other Seated Yoga Poses
Stabilizing the same side Hip Joint and SI Joint
Hip Rotation Anatomy and Biomechanics for Standing On One Leg
So we can do movements like the splits...
How is the lower back stabilized? Why does it matter?
Understanding the low back (work towards a pain free low back)
Yoga Teachers Get Low Back Pain Too
Does Your Low Back Hurt In Forward Bends and Squats?
Muscles that cross and work on the lower back
Redefining it to include the sacrum, SI joints, hip bones, and the ribcage
Anchoring your spinal erectors and using them
Muscle control options for dealing with low back pain
Low Back Pain Fix: hip bone stability while balancing on one foot
Ribcage stability and mobility for more applicable arm strength
Anchoring the Lats and a Co-Stabilizer for the Lower Ribcage
Wifi for Your Spine, Arms and Legs
A Tension Control Mechanism for your Abs
An exercise for the transverse abdominis
Exercises for Activating All Three Bands of the Transverse Abdominis
Using them to Twist and Bend Your Thoracic Spine
for Ribcage Mobility and Control
Using Them To Help Twist Your Ribcage
Improve back rib awareness, mobility and control
Shaping and Controlling Your Ribcage and Your Waist
Ribcage stability and mobility for more applicable arm strength
The importance of the abs, intercostals, spinal erectors and more
A Tension Control Mechanism for your Abs
Training All Three Bands of the Transverse Abdominis
Feeling your Transverse Abdominis so you can train it
to counter act a collapsed arch or flat foot
And Foot Exercises for Fixing Them
Foot, ankle and shin anatomy and biomechanics
for Improving Balance, Proprioception and fixing flat feet
Helping to control the hip or helping to control knee rotation
Heel stabilization for alleviating IT band knee pain while squatting
Anchoring the fibula or stabilizing the outer arch of the foot
Helping to anchor the fibula and shape the foot
Rotating the shin relative to the foot (or stabilizing it)
Lifting the arch of the foot or turning soles of the feet inwards
Anchoring the front of the shoulder blade against upward pulling
Ribcage stability and mobility for more applicable arm strength
Getting a Better Feel for Your Shoulder Blades
scapular stabilization exerises for yoga
Using it to help position your shoulder blades relative to your ribcage
for Improved Body Awareness while doing Yoga Poses
For Shoulder Awareness, Strength and Flexibility
Using it with arms lifted (And controlling it with the arms down)
For Handstand, Chaturanga and Other Arm Supported Poses
Stabilizing the Shoulders from the Ground Up
And other Muscles That Rotate The Shoulder
Pulling The Arm into The Shoulder Socket
The Rotator Cuff, Anatomy Trains and Tuned Tension
And Some Awareness Exercises For Helping You To Avoid It
Differentiating the shoulder and forearm rotator muscles
Stabilizing the shoulder blades first
Improve effectiveness: Distinguishing shoulder, ribcage, arm actions
An exercise for the transverse abdominis
Exercises for Activating All Three Bands of the Transverse Abdominis
A Tension Control Mechanism for your Abs
Training All Three Bands of the Transverse Abdominis
Feeling your Transverse Abdominis so you can train it
Understanding it, stretching it, feeling it and using it.
Hip flexion, deeper stretching, preventing lumbar shear
How the Psoas connects to the 12th ribs and kidneys
The Psoas as a Lumbar Stabilizer
Stabilizing the hip joint to release the psoas
Standing Stretch for Psoas Upper and Lower Fibers
Back pain, using the external obliques and spinal erectors
A series of stretches for the Lower Fibers of the Psoas Major
The 12 ribs and the lumbar curve
with Muscle activations and adjustments
And understanding why it's tight in the first place
With suggestions on how to activate it
AKA bent knee hip flexor stretches
Learn how this hip stretch affects (and is affected by) the knee
Along with same side knee pain
Strengthening the hip flexors with the hips flexed and extended
Opening the Fronts of the Hips for Front to Back Splits
How to anchor your hip flexors so that you can do both
Stretch, strengthen, remedy problems, use
Take out the Slack For More Effective Forward Bending
A look at the hip flexors that work solely on the hip joint
How sartorius functions in hip and knee flexion and knee rotation
Helping to stabilize the hip bone relative to the femur
to counter act a collapsed arch or flat foot
Yoga Anatomy for Back Bending and Forward Bending the Hips
Strengthen hamstrings (and glutes) with hips extended or flexed
for working towards front to back splits
With suggestions for improving hamstring flexibility
Understanding how to use them effectively
Using props in different ways to stretch your hamstrings
In Forward Bending Yoga Poses and What You Can Do About It
To guide your through the 500 odd pages of this website (or to help you find what you need to know easily) it can be extremely helpful to know why you are here.
What's the change that you are trying to create?
If you aren't sure, why not begin by learning to feel your body with the courses below.
Or scroll down for more possible starting points.
Improve knee and hip stability via your sartorius, tensor fascia latae and rectus femoris.
Buy now: $60
Learn more
Get a feel for quadriceps, adductors and hamstrings. Improve knee and hip stability and control.
Buy now: $60
Learn more
Get a taste of coordinating SI joint control with control of your spine, arms and legs.
Buy now: $60
Learn more
Dealing with pain or other problems
If you are trying to deal with some sort of pain or problem then the place to look is at the muscle or joint that is the approximate location of the pain or problem.
As with anything internet related, take it with a grain of salt, and use at your own risk. I should point out here that my methods for dealing with pain involve learning to deliberately activate or relax particular muscles both as a way to try to isolate a problem and to fix it.
Muscles are the fundamental units that drive movement and that actively power the ability for us to feel our body.
Improving flexibility
If you are getting into yoga (or are looking at this website) to find out more about stretching and getting more flexible then it again helps to be specific.
Do you have a particular set of muscles that you want to get more flexible? Here again the central tenet is that of using muscle control to improve flexibility. Check out the flexibility page or edge into the area of interest via the various muscle and joint links on this page.
Building strength
Another potential area of interest may be in strengthening or working towards poses or actions that require strength. As when dealing with pain or trying to improve flexibility, muscle control is again the central tenet. You can look at body parts that you want to strengthen, or you can head to the strength or yoga pose pages to find the poses that you want to work towards.
Dealing with stress
If you are getting into yoga as a means of destressing or dealing with stress then one of the prime exercises for doing that is to focus on breathing.
Breathing is a muscle driven action and you can get similiar benefits to breathing if you focus on smoothly activating and contracting muscles, any muscles, not just your respiratory msucles.
So if you are interested just in breathing, then check out the section on breathing, or double the benefits and work on feeling and controlling your body via muscle control.
To that end (of feeling and controlling your body via muscle control), why not pick an area that interests you? If your stress is from doing things that you don't want to do or have to do, why don't focus on something that you do want to do as part of your destressing activities.
Pick one and start.
I just want a routine to follow
What if you just want a good routine to follow? One good place to start is with Ashtanga. It's a fixed routine. What I would suggest is that once you've learned the poses, start focusing on feeling your body while doing the poses. Muscle control again. Many of the poses from the ashtanga yoga series are covered on this website.
Hmm, how do I learn to sequence poses?
For an overall schema for sequencing poses or stretches, another possible starting point is the meridians. They can be used to guide how you stretch and strengthen.
For more general tips, some of the pages have mini-routines but for an overview of how to sequence without screwing yourself up in the process check out the post on counterposes first.
Is there a way to practice first principles thinking?
If you want a way to practice "thinking from first principles", I'd highly recommend practicing the dance of shiva.
I learned this practice from Andrey Lappa , but I teach it in a different way.
I should point out here that while I've been working from first principles in most areas of my life it was Andrey Lappa who opened the door for me in applying it to a yoga practice.
For a really good foundation in sequencing yoga poses and working on the body I'd highly recommend one of his universal freestyle yoga teacher trainings.
If you are interested in learning to feel and control your body, so that you can use that ability in anything you do, then check out the suite of muscle control courses below.
Courses for Learning your body from a First Principles approach
Improve knee and hip stability via your sartorius, tensor fascia latae and rectus femoris.
Buy now: $60
Learn more
Get a feel for quadriceps, adductors and hamstrings. Improve knee and hip stability and control.
Buy now: $60
Learn more
Get a taste of coordinating SI joint control with control of your spine, arms and legs.
Buy now: $60
Learn more
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