Five Postures in Five Minutes on a Roller
In today’s world, in both East and West, finding the time every day for a complete yoga session of an hour or more is often a luxury we can’t afford. Our daily practice, if we practice at all, must be something more abridged and condensed but still have the benefits of the stretching, lengthening, limbering, and adjusting that a good yoga session can provide. Even if we could find an hour every day for yoga practice, most of that hour would probably be better spent just relaxing, slowing down, and laying back on our bed or a recliner and allowing our depleted energy stores to be replenished.
Lazy Man Yoga is a style that can provide the benefits of a yoga practice in a short period of time and in a way that won’t draw on our depleted energy stores. Here are five postures that can be performed in five minutes. They all utilize a firm back roller that gives support, focus, and leverage to the postures. Each position requires a minimum degree of effort or exertion. Gravity, the weight of our body, is the force behind these positions. The attitude to cultivate is one of surrender. Surrender to the roller, surrender to the force of gravity, and surrender to the position itself to let it work its magic. This is a wise and mature approach to a yoga practice without the imposition of too much effort, exertion, strain or will power. We are learning to relax and to let go in both the performance of the more active and physical aspects of yoga and during those times when we stay very still and consciously relax.
A back roller four to six inches in diameter should be used. This could be a good, firm foam roller or, like the one shown here, with an inner hard cylinder covered with rubber or some cushioning to make it safe and comfortable. The roller should be hard enough, and firm enough, to give good support, to resist sliding away from under the practitioner, and even deliver some manipulations and adjustments. In this basic, first position, the roller is placed beneath the hips while the legs are bent with the feet on the floor. Let your spine sink towards the floor. Allow your knees to fall towards each other and your spine will start to sink and elongate. This is simple physics. This position by itself will gently, and in a therapeutic way, help open every vertebral joint from the top of the neck to the bottom of the spine. This is the simplest and maybe best way to enjoy an effective inversion and traction technique. Take a minute or two to experience its effects. Roll on the floor those areas of your back that feel tight, achy, and strained. Roll your back from side to side on the floor. Use the floor to massage and manipulate the spine and surrounding tissues.
Stretch out, as shown in this photo, with the roller placed at the back of the hips. Let your arms and elbows fall towards the floor with your hands above your head. Feel the stretch in the front of the body and especially into the deeper pelvic regions. The deep hip flexors (iliopsoas) muscles get a gentle, effective stretch and lengthening. It is all done supported on a roller and through the force of gravity. There is really no need for effort or exertion. Relax into the position, let the roller press up into your hips and sacrum. Gravity does the rest. These deep hip flexor muscles, the iliopsoas, are often considered the most important structural muscles in the body. They determine how our hips, low back and thighs will arrange themselves and largely determine the structure our body will take. We may harbor a great deal of tension and shortening in these muscles and any position that feels too uncomfortable to perform should be avoided or at least postponed till the body can be more at ease in the position.
Here a six-inch in diameter foam roller is being used. The knees come up with the legs resting against the lower abdomen. Surrender to the position. This will give traction to the low back, the lumbar region, but notice, as you continue to sink into this position, that the entire spine starts to enjoy an opening and a lengthening effect.
Straighten your legs out and extend them up. Find the best point of balance for yourself where your legs will point up, while a roller supports your hips and where little or no exertion is necessary. You are learning to relax and surrender in these positions and you will take that same attitude with you when you practice a complete relaxation afterwards. Feel some stretch in the back of the thighs, into the hamstring muscles. Sense how the back is being stretched, lengthened, and opened in this position. It is all done with hardly any strength or exertion, essentially a Lazy Man Yoga where gravity, the position, and the roller do all the work.
Here the roller is placed beneath the hips (as it has been throughout these postures, it hasn’t really moved). Arms are above the head with elbows and hands resting on the floor. The chest opens. The feet come together and are drawn towards the body. Let the knees fall out by their own weight. Sense the stretch and opening deep into the pelvis. Rock slightly from side to side to deepen the stretching into the pelvis.
Each of these five simple and roller supported positions can be held for up to a minute or more but often a minute is enough. Flowing easily from one position to the next is recommended. Even though we may be devoting only 5 to 10 minutes to these sessions, it will be more than enough to obtain great benefits and will prime the system for what comes next.
Lie back on a comfortable bed or recliner and completely let go. Feel the effects of the stretching and limbering you have just experienced. If you have a half-hour or more, indulge yourself with deep rest and relaxation. It can be one of life’s greatest pleasures and the best way to heal yourself and save your life.
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Get a Spinalroller just like the one used in this 5 minute Lazy Man Yoga routine at YogaTools.com