Will Doran – The Yoga Coach

Anusara Principles and Practices
for Aligning With the Divine

When I discovered Anusara Yoga I found it to be a perfect fit for my spiritual and physical yoga practice.  All my life I have been drawn towards Spirit and self discovery; my practice was moving me more into my heart and I was seeking a way to integrate my spiritual life with a desire for a healthy body and life style.  Anusara’s emphasis on expressing beauty from the inside out by “flowing with Grace,” and its deep roots in a life-affirming Tantric philosophy, taught me to take the practice of yoga deeper, turning all of life into a yoga practice. Finding Anusara made me feel like I came home to the essence of what a yoga-based life practice should embody.  The yogic skills my teachers have taught me have been a true inspiration; now I am honored to work with you and share my knowledge of Anusara principles and alignment. 

The 3 A’s

These central elements of Anusara—Attitude, Alignment and Action—are principles that set the stage for the physical practice of yoga, as well as our daily life.  They create optimal health and vitality through setting a clear intention, mindfulness and optimal action; they are to be cultivated in each pose.  Being fully present to reality as it unfolds in the moment we use the 3 A’s for integrating heart, mind and body.  We learn to set our intention—on and off the mat—so as to create openness, beauty and flowing action through our body.  From this state of receptivity and positive mindset the body is ready for optimal physical alignment and the heart becomes a powerful force. The work on the mat then becomes the foundation for the rest of our daily life interacting with the world in which we live and create relationships.

• Attitude
  • Setting the foundation through intention and meaningfulness
  • It is the power of the heart as the force behind every action and expression in asana
  • It empowers inner transformation and spiritual fulfillment
  • It empowers our aspiration to reawaken to our divine nature and the celebration of life
  • Steady, consistent awareness that leads to self-knowledge and appreciation
• Alignment
  • Alignment of the body for optimal expression, tuning the instrument
  • The mindful awareness of how various part of ourselves are integrated and interconnected and how posture reflects our attitude from the inside out
  • Knowledge of technique
  • Inner and outer body connectedness
• Action
  • The grand pulsation of contraction and expansion in the body as a play of opposites
  • Using minimum amount of effort to maintain integrity of pose using heart, muscle, mind
  • Symmetry and interconnectedness between inner and outer body
  • The natural flow of energy in the body, which provides both stability and joyful freedom
  • Outer physical expression of inner intention

The Universal Principles of Alignment (UPAs)

The Universal Principles of Alignment (UPAs) are guidelines for working with our attitude and alignment of the body that produce an optimal integration and expression of our intrinsic goodness and physical health.  They help us align with the flow of Shakti’s power flowing through us and towards a  consciousness of the Supreme in which all things are connected.  The UPA’s give us attitudinal and physical tools for using the mind and body to expand self-awareness of the pulsations of inner and outer consciousness. Additionally, each principle has an elemental nature and quality to be explored. These are outlined in the table below:

Principle (UPA)               Pulse               Element         Quality    

1. Open to Grace               Expansion          Sky                Spacious                    

• Muscle Energy              Integration          Earth             Magnetism                   
• Inner Spiral                  Expansion           Water            Expansion                   
• Outer Spiral                 Integration           Fire               Re-commitment       
• Organic Extension         Expansion           Air                 Unity                 

The following are key points adding insight to the nature of the Universal Principles of Alignment.  Each principle invites the next to arise and be applied in a consistent and sequential patterns in all poses; they are the way in which we play with the pulsations of vibrating consciousness  (Spanda) in the body; they provide an applicable practice by which all the energy of intention and alignment can be directed towards a heart-mind-body-spirit connection that creates radiance and delight in the act of being.

Open to Grace and Set the Foundation

• We offer our practice as prayer, devotion, and receptivity to the Highest
• We open the mind and the heart to express inner fullness and brightness
• Attentive to the moment and our experience we connect inwardly and to the community
• Opening sets the physical foundation of body and the energetic foundation of practice
• Stepping out of the need to control all aspects of being we experience presence to life
• We make space for the current of returning to wholeness and connection to Spirit
• Initiating action: Setting an intention to be spacious and receptive
• Pulse:   Expansion
• Quality: Spacious

Muscular Energy

• It is the inward pulse that draws in and condenses energy: spirit to matter
• The inward pulse draws from the periphery to the focal point, sides to the midline,

from the skin to the bone

• Activates Inner Spiral
• Is performed before Organic Expansion so as to balance action and create integration
• Cultivates Awareness and calms the nervous system by creating stabilityand integration
• Gathers more within the self countering spaciousness
• Heats the body
  • Initiating action: Drawing energy from the periphery to one of the three Focal Points (see below): 1)core of the pelvis,  2) bottom of the heart, 3)  roof of the mouth
  • Pulse:   Integration
  • Quality: Magnetism

Inner Spiral / Expanding Spiral

• Widens the back of the body, both in the hips and the upper back/shoulders
• Broadening the back connects us to the universal
• Creates space and a softening water element quality
• Turns the front of the feet, legs and pelvis inward toward the midline
• Moves the inner edge of the feet, legs and pelvis (tailbone, sitting bones) backward
• Associated with the action of the thigh loop: Inner thighs back, wide and apart
• Starts at the inner edge of the feet and progressively widens as it spirals up the legs and ends at the outer sacrum
• Fires the multifiti along the spine and softens the pelvic floor
• In asymmetrical poses Inner Spiral is strongest in the back leg and precedes Outer Spiral in the front leg
• Initiating action: Muscular Energy drawing in and up from the periphery
• Pulse:   Expansion
• Quality: Expansion

Outer Spiral /  Contracting Spiral

• Narrows the back body, both in the hips and upper back/shoulders
• Narrowing the back pushes us into the front body
• Toning the front body brings us into our personal power
• 3 main aspects of Outer Spiral
  • turns the legs and pelvis outward
  • moves the inner edges of the legs and pelvis forward
  • draws the sides of the pelvis, legs and feet together toward the midline
• Runs from the sacrum down through the legs to the little toe side of the feet
• Stretching the legs up
• Decreases the lumbar curve
• Lifts the heart, belly up and in
• Puts muscle onto the bone
• Aligns the feet, legs and pelvis
• Follows Inner Spiral and initiates Organic Expansion,
  • Initiating action: Scooping the tailbone
  • Pulse: Integration
  • Quality: Recommitment

       Organic Energy

• Expands away from midline, from the focal point to the periphery
• Inside-out extension expanding from the core lines to the surface of the skin
• Connects and roots you back into the earth
• Physical and emotional benefits:
  • Lengthening out
  • Opens the joints
  • It is expansive and creates a spacious extension outward
• Initiating action: Expand out from the active Focal Point out to the periphery along core lines; expand away from the midline.
• Pulse:    Expansion
• Quality:  Electric

Three Focal Points

Muscular energy and organic energy draw into and expand from one of three Focal Points within the body, located at1) the core of the pelvis, 2) the bottom of the heart/top of the diaphragm, and 3) the center of the upper palate.  These focal points are the key places of power in the body within any given asana, pose. They are the place in the body into which Muscular Energy collects and pools, and from which Organic Energy extends out creating the pulse of contracting stability and channeled extension. They are located along the central energetic meridian through the body (nadi) in which life force (prana) flows through the spine from the pelvic floor up to the crown of the head.  In any given pose, only one focal point is active. This is determined  by which one is nearest to the most weight-bearing part of the pose: standing poses would be in the pelvis, down dog would be in the heart and in headstand it would be the upper palate. 

Seven Pairs of Energy Loops

Proper physical alignment comes from awareness of how energy is optimally directed throughout the body to create an inner connectivity and an outward radiance.   Anusara teaching guides us into an awareness of seven energetic loops on the horizontal plain of the body that work in conjunction with the inner and outer energy spirals on the vertical plain addressed above.  The seven energy loops—which work in pairs on each side of the body rising upward from the heels through to the skull—move in distinct patterns (see the diagram below) to create a stable physical foundation and freedom of movement in a flowing and organic manner.  Working with these lines of force helps the body move into its most satisfying and health-inducing form, the optimal blueprintunique to each individual.

7. Skull Loop: draws the chin in and lifts the head adding length to the spine. Connected to the extension quality of Organic Energy.  

6. Shoulder Loop: lifts the heart, opens and broadens      the chest while dropping the shoulder blades down. Helps to create Muscular Energy.  

5. Kidney Loop: lifts up the lower back elongating the     body while drawing the lower belly in. It facilitates expansiveness and opening to grace.  

4. Pelvic Loop: drops the tailbone and draws the     abdominal muscles in. Facilitates the formation of Outer/Contracting Spiral. 

3. Thigh Loop: counter balances the pelvic loop and      moves the upper thighs back and in while creating the      upward flow of energy into the core of the body.  Facilitates the formation of Inner/Expanding Spiral.  

2. Shin Loop: takes the upper ankles back and the top of     the lower legs forward. Helps to create Muscular Energy.  

1. Ankle Loop: grounds the heels and lifts the arches. Helps to create muscular energy.      

Balanced Action

The dynamic interplay of opposites—between effort and ease, engagement and expansion—creates a balanced alignment, both physically and energetically.  Balanced Action occurs when there is a harmonious flow of energy in every limb and throughout the torso.  It allows for every part of the body to participates evenly in the expression and performance of the posture as an integrated whole.  This balanced action is considered to be the secret of yoga’s power to create radiant health for it also includes the fully-present mind and inner wisdom of consciousness. Understanding the dynamic flow of opposites and balanced action has a calming effect on the mind and facilitates understanding the deeper aspect of our integrated physical and etheric energetic self. 

            Balanced action also is a key factor in exploring the delight of being which is, in essence, aligning with the Divine.  At the deepest level our life is an opportunity to work through the challenges of being human and find the inner connection to our divine source.  This is a balance of effort and ease, or more poetically, dancing with the Divine.  Yoga philosophy recognizes that our challenges are also opportunities for growth and deepening our connection to spirit.  The asana poses become a playground for exploration of our strength and equanimity when we face the challenges as they unfold and cultivate a calm and attentive mind.  Our work on the mat then becomes directly relevant to our day-to-day life; we are more present in the moment and are more capable to place our challenges in the proper perspective.  Eventually our practice become an aspect of the divine dance of delight, called lila, in yogic terminology.  Essentially, all life becomes practice and an opportunity to be present and mindful to the pulsation of Supreme Consciousness in all aspects of life.

When applied, the knowledge of the above principles can transform your physical practice into a vibrant expression of freedom of movement and an expression of pure grace and joy.  Optimally all of our life becomes a practice of aligning with the Divine.