Let’s Torso Twist
It’s no secret that I love crosstraining for dance, especially incorporating yoga asana (postures) into my training so I can truly FEEL the muscles, understand why and how something is moving a certain way and then figure out ways to improve strength, range of motion and ultimately technique. Often people feel stuck in certain movements, but if they feel the same body movement in a different context then they have a stronger sense of what the movement feels like, what’s contracting, what’s releasing and how to translate that into XYZ dance vocabulary. I LOVE to be able to say….”SEE..look! That’s it, you did it…now let’s add in arms and that is the bodywave!” Nothing makes me happier than showing people that they CAN do something they previously thought was impossible.
Torso Twist/Rotation is one of those movements! I had to work so hard to keep my hips stable and keep the movement in the upper body. My hips would turn with me so it ended up being less of a TORSO rotation and more of a whole body rotation. BUT, once I started understanding body mechanics and WHY my hips wanted to move with my torso, I became more self aware and could focus in and feel the parts of the body that were creating the movement, isolate the rotation and ultimately even get more range of motion!
Below is just a short little sequence to help you feel more body awareness in your torso twist. In each of these twisting postures, we want to be sure our spine is long (think crown of your head lifting). We want to feel the twist happening from the obliques and we want to anchor the hips so both hip bones stay centered even though our torso is rotating. Think of the rotation or spiraling of the spine as the hips staying grounded while the torso and shoulders turn in a different direction.
Chair pose will help with balance, lower body strength including inner thighs. Maintain the lower body as you add the twist. A great rule of thumb is to be sure your knees stay on the same plane, if one of them starts moving back that is an indication that you are taking your hips with you in the twist and to back off the twist and refocus your lower body.
The little backbend in the low crescent is a great back strengthener and heart opener to help with the center part of the torso rotation. Be sure to keep your low belly engaged just as you would in a body wave…limit the anterior tilt of the pelvis.
Then finally ending with the challenging, revolved half moon pose. You can always keep your top hand at your hips as a little guide and reminder to keep your hips pointing down towards the floor.
I break all these down, add breath, options and a flow in tomorrow’s short 30 minute yoga class on fcbdU.com Join me at 8am PDT (recorded for later viewing).
Oh and another little tip…try the torso rotation while sitting in a chair. This will help stabilize the lower body and you’ll likely feel the obliques work more than you are used to!
OK so have fun, feel free to comment with questions and if you try out this flow, please tag me in your photos or videos so I can cheer you on!
