Kinesthetic Clarity

Don't confuse your students by telling them to relax muscles that are actually working.

By Julie Gudmestad

Yoga uses a wonderful variety of concentric, isometric, and eccentric contractions in asana practice, which makes our muscles strong and well-trained in sophisticated movements. Gravity is always pulling on our bodies, so when we hold poses, our muscles are contracting isometrically to hold our body parts in place so we don't fall to the floor. Just listen to your quads as you hold Virabhadrasana (Warrior) I or II, your shoulders in Adho Mukha Vrksasana (Handstand), or your back muscles in Salabasana (Locust), and they'll tell you how hard they're working.

Your muscles are also working, but in concentric or eccentric contractions, to take you in and out of poses and through the constant movement of flowing sequences. Come back, for example, to Virabhadrasana II. The action of the quadriceps is to extend, or straighten, the knee. Moving into the pose to the right, the right quads are contracting eccentrically (lengthening) as your knee moves from straight to bent. The quads then contract isometrically while you hold the pose, and then concentrically as you straighten the knee to come out of the pose.

On the other hand, when a muscle relaxes, its activity level falls very low. It burns few calories, which is why you'll cool off when resting, and the muscle will feel soft to the touch.

Provide Support to Relax

It's important in yoga pose instructions to be clear that a muscle can't relax when it's working to move, support, or stabilize a body part. In other words, the neck muscles can't relax when they're supporting the head in sideways standing poses such as Trikonasana (Triangle Pose). If you really do want your student's neck to relax in Trikonasasa—if there is a neck problem, for instance—guide her to rest her head at an appropriate height, perhaps on a well-placed table. Only when a part is supported can the supporting muscles let go and relax.

Your abdominals can't relax when they're holding up your torso in Navasana (Boat Pose). Your buttocks can't completely relax as they help lift up your pelvis and tailbone in Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose). And your hamstrings can't relax if your torso is unsupported (your hands don't reach the floor) in Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend), because they're helping support your pelvis and torso against the pull of gravity via their attachments to the ischial tuberosities (sitting bone). To help your student in Uttanasana, put a yoga block under his hands to allow the tight hamstrings to begin to relax.

So, teachers, give some thought to how the pull of gravity affects the weight of arms, legs, head, and torso in yoga poses. Don't deepen your students' kinesthetic confusion by telling them to relax the very muscles that are holding them in the pose. If a body part is dangling in air or held up away from the earth, chances are very good that a muscle is contracting to keep it there.

Julie Gudmestad is a certified Iyengar Yoga teacher and licensed physical therapist who runs a combined yoga studio and physical therapy practice in Portland, Oregon. She enjoys integrating her Western medical knowledge with the healing powers of yoga to help make the wisdom of yoga accessible to all.

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