Dancing with Gravity in Asana

An increased awareness of the effects of gravity can help you figure out which muscles to use and which to release in order to move more deeply and more safely into a pose.

- Judith Hanson Lasater

When my children were very young and seated in a highchair, they would deliberately drop pieces of food—one by one over the edge of the tray, each time delightedly watching them fall to the floor. By the time my third child reached this stage, I had changed my perspective. Instead of being annoyed, I told myself that she was just “experimenting with gravity.” That always made me smile.

When you practice asana, you are constantly experimenting or dancing with the force of gravity and its effects on a pose. If you are to understand how to practice, and certainly how to teach, you must be aware of how gravity “chooses” which muscles are working, and which are not, in each asana, and why this is so. This understanding is what I call movement literacy, and it is the guiding principle of my online and in-person course on experiential anatomy.

Movement literacy is based on the understanding that the body is an orchestra and movements are the music it creates. When you can see, feel, and understand the specifics of the body’s movements, not only do you become a better practitioner, but you now have the tools to help your students practice more safely and even potentially to help them eliminate pain when they struggle in an asana.

Here is an example: Both Supta Padangusthasana (Reclining Hand-to-Big-Toe Pose) and Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend) are forward bends. Both poses are practiced by flexing the hip joints. But there is a big difference in which muscles are creating each asana. In Supta Padangusthasana, you begin by lying supine on your mat. To practice the pose, you exhale as you flex your hip joint, bringing your thigh toward your trunk. Your leg comes straight up, moving against the force of gravity the whole way. Finally, catch your big toe or hold on to your outer ankle or lower leg, depending on your flexibility.