How do Camels Breath?

Cindy, my yoga teacher, teaches a kind of yoga called Iyengar. She has also written a book entitled Yoga Your Way, which I use when I'm not at her studio in Asheville (yes, the guru town of Asheville, NC, of which I am the lone native). Her teaching and book are modeled on the method of some famous dude in India (B.K.S. Iyengar) who perfected this format. Cindy goes to the Iyengar Institute in India frequently to study. I am seriously envious because I generally get no farther than the grocery store. Books, no matter the type, tell us as much about the author as the subject. Humans have a fascination with each other's stories and so I skim around the edges of all those descriptions and benefits of poses to see what I can discover about Cindy. Her life seems so exotic compared to mine, but I'm off topic here. Back to the next pose.

Today's pose, Camel Pose or Ustrasana, is a funky little back bend. When I was a girl in my parent's home, I watched TV from the position of a back bend on the living room floor. I marvel at how easy it was for me to pop up, wrists turned backward, feet pushing me higher and it felt so good. I remember how easy it was to breath after doing that. I don't do that now. I watch TV from my couch now.

Fortunately, Camel Pose does not require this complete back bend stance. I will be on my knees, hands reaching for my ankles, neck dropping completely back, literally hanging in mid-air, my spine coiled into my back, my chest open wide. The total time Cindy allows for this pose is thirty seconds. Thirty seconds, then come out of the pose (carefully) and then thirty seconds again. It is enough.

Cindy gives you reminders when you're in the pose. She instructs that while your body is bent backward and your arms are trembling with the weight, to press again into your lower legs and press your hands again into your heels, then lift your sternum higher. There is a reason for this. This action between my legs and my arms creates a sort of stronghold, a structure which supports me in the pose. Once supported I am freer to lift my sternum, coil my spine, and open my chest. I can work in the pose.

Here's what I discover in this pretty awkward position. I've got to breath to stay here. My breath comes rapidly at first. I'm afraid my arms are going to give out before my timer and I'll be in a heap soon. So, I breath. Breathing stablizes me. It slows down the panic, allows me to concentrate, to press my hands into my ankles, press my legs down and be strong again--for thirty seconds.

I have another friend, also named Cindy (must have been a popular name 50+ years ago), and she works in the medical field. She doesn't advise smoking, but she does advise doing what smokers do. "Smokers," she says, "take breaks to breath."

Camel Pose is a breathing pose. That's what I accomplished today, breathing.