Organic energy, which corresponds to an exhale, is an unfolding energy that creates expansion, length and breadth. These energies flow through the body in a series of loops and spirals that help to achieve optimal alignment. There are two sets of spirals, expanding and contracting, that affect the legs, pelvis, arms and shoulders. The goal in performing an asana is to create a balanced flow of these energies that provides both stability and freedom of movement. This balanced action facilitates the natural flow of energy, optimizes flexibility and strength, and brings radiant health and vitality to all parts of the body.
Unbalanced action reduces the benefits of a pose and can even cause injury.
The workshop focused on applying these principles to basic asanas of various types including standing poses, seated forward bends and twists, hip openers, backbends, and inversions. Through repetition we learned how to apply the principles in a particular pose and to see how they remained consistent across different types of poses. For example, in all poses we hugged the muscles to the bones and tried to bring the shins toward each other and thighbones out while taking the heels and top of the thighs back. Similarly, we kept moving the forearms toward each other and the upper arms out while melting the heart forward and keeping the tops of the arm bones up and back. To see what this is like in utthita trikonasana, lower your top arm to your hip after you come into the pose, fingertips on the floor.