Do you move well? Are you using all or most of your joints every day? Do you feel freedom in your movement? Are you in control of your body? If the answer to one or more of these is no, then I have a suggestion.
Pawanmuktasana is a series of simple yoga postures that that can be practiced by people of any age, health and fitness level. The series reconnects us with our body and our breath, improves our health and refines the functions of the nervous system.
Pawanmuktasana can have profound effect on several levels:
Joints
Our joints’ main function is movement and it is only movement that keeps them in good shape. Pawanmuktasana series moves all joints in the body, in their natural range and in all anatomically possible directions. This never happens in daily life, nor in sport and recreational activities. The poses in the series improve lubrication in the joints. They revitalise the tissues and protect them from degeneration due to excessive pressure, friction or dryness, as well as stimulate nutrition and elimination of waste products from the joints.
Muscles and nervous system
It is important to understand that it’s our nervous system that controls muscles and movement. Each move we make requires a great deal of integrity, coordination and cooperation between the central nervous system, the nerve pathways and the different groups of muscles involved. Through practicing Pawanmuktasana regularly we develop coordination of the various muscles used simultaneously, in proper sequencing and intensity. We also become aware of which groups of muscles are contracting, which are being stretched, which are being used to keep the body steady and still. Basically, we rediscover our body. What’s more, we enhance the body–mind connection and improve control of our body.
Venous and lymphatic circulation
Regular practice of Pawanmuktasana keeps the muscle pump that moves the blood in the veins in shape and massages the veins and lymphatic vessels. The poses stimulate blood and lymph circulation, in this way allowing adequate nutrition and elimination to take place in the whole body and hence improving immunity.
Prana
In all Eastern systems, a life force is animating everything that is alive. It has different names – prana, chi or qi, lom but the essence of all is the same. In yoga the idea is that improper distribution of prana causes all diseases. It is at the joints that the flow of prana is easily impeded. Serious obstruction of the flow in a specific area leads to various disorders. Pawanmuktasana series promotes the circulation of prana along each pathway throughout the body.
Subconscious patterns
Interestingly enough, Pawanmuktasana can make use of the feeling of boredom. Oftentimes, motions that are boring indicate a movement in which we “space out” and thus reveal a site of unconscious chronic tension or weakness. The specific posture at the point of trauma or injury often holds a chronic trigger for the mind to go unconscious. By bringing to consciousness the feelings held in the body posture, we can release these subconscious patterns.
Even though the movements in the Pawanmuktasana series are easy and accessible for everyone, they can have profound effects on the body and the mind. Doing these yoga postures regularly brings each part of the body back to life.
Let’s move well
Join my Monday yoga class next term to try that for yourself. We will be including the Pawanmuktasana series in every class and in addition each week we will be focusing on bringing more mobility to a different part of the body. We start on Monday, January 10th at 12 pm. Classes take place online, via Zoom. You can check out the prices for the term here. You can book by sending me an email at info@warmhands.uk or through the contact form on my website.
See you there!
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