My mom has been complaining about an ache in her right hip. She is strong like ox, very active, biking, hiking, kayaking. A regular 65 year old rockstar. She has barely any padding in her knees and hips. The joints make bone-scraping-bone grinding sounds when she moves out of alignment. She has a strong external rotation of her right femur bone, which is also forward in the hip socket and too close to the midline. In this quick sesh, we apply the Universal Principles of Alignment of Anusara Yoga to make it all better. At least for today. Better than Vitamin I.

Here is our  laborious 13 minute yoga therapy session on Labor Day. We do 4 poses: cat-cow, lunge with blocks under hands, standing forward bend and tadasana. Go mom.

Sometimes on the path of yoga we wonder about our investment. This immersion cost  $X. What will I get out of it? What is embodied knowledge of the Universal Principles of Alignment worth to you and to those you are able to impact. Can you help your mother out of pain? That is worth something. Can you teach your child the body awareness you are only now just learning? That is worth something too. Whenever I invest my awareness in the UPA the payoff is beyond what I could conceive of previously. The bar is raised as to what integration actually can be.

For the Ayurveda Geeks, here is the rest of the story. She has a Pitta Vata constitution with the typical upward outward energy. Her inner body is super tight.  I gave her turmeric to take three times daily, Kaishore Guggulu to take twice daily, juicing green lemonade (kale, celery, lemon, apple, gingerroot) for breakfast. All for the anti-inflammatory effect. I also prescribed Mama Gena’s School of Womanly Arts to move some juice in the other direction. Another sequence of poses we are also using include, lying down knees bent, cactus arms working with Open to Grace – inner body fluid; Bridge prep, & table pose.
For those who want to really be able to help people on and off the mat, check out the Ayurvedic Living Course.