Lesson 4 • Tracing the Spiral Line w/ Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana
TRACING THE SPIRAL LINE
WITH PARIVRTTA JANU SIRSASANA
THE SPIRAL LINE
Our work with Spirals breaks the shackles of
linear movements and opens the gates to organic
lines and our real world movement potential. As
we began this chapter, spirals permeate every
facet of reality, from the micro double helix of
our DNA to the macro spiraling metrix of a
Galaxy. Spirals also become the blue print of all
layers of our everyday movement, from the way
we walk, to the way we throw, to the way we get
up and down from the floor, spirals encapsulate
organic real world movement.
This is primarily possible because of the structure
of our Spiral Line Muscle team, a double helix of
support that literally wraps us from head to toe,
enabling us to maintain our center throughout the
dynamic interactions of our lives just like Shiva
Nataraj. We have already looked at the bottom
half of our Spiral line in our exploration of
effortless stances, as we found space and support
by gently pressing the big toe while spiraling open
the thighs. As we engage in our twisting postures,
we begin to explore the rest of this spiral line that
continues over our torso, crossing itself at the
navel region, as well as between our scapulas.
SPIRALS SHARE
To call the spiral line just one team of muscles
might actually miss its greatest attribute, because
although there is strong connective tissue binding
these muscles in a cohesive spiraling group, 85%
of the muscles in the spiral line are shared by
other lines of movement. Almost everywhere you
look in the spiral line, you see muscles associated
with other muscle movement teams— the tibialis
anterior of the front line, the biceps femoris of
the back line, the Tensor fascia latte and IT band
of the lateral line, the external obliques of the
functional line and so on. This teaches us that
spiraling isn’t just ‘another plane of movement’,
it’s all planes of movement, its the very definition
of movement itself. The spiral line is the great me-
diator of all the lines, uniting them to create the
movements of our life.
TRACING THE SPIRAL LINE
Let’s trace the path of this line to feel just how
much of our body it covers:
·
Start behind your right ear and draw
a diagonal line to your left shoulder
blade. Two muscles, the Splenius Ca-
pitus and rhomboid create our first
diagonal connection from skull to spine
to scapula.
·
On the anterior side of the scapula,
the side between the scapula and the
ribcage, the rhomboid interact with the
serratus anterior, which continues the
diagonal tract to enmesh wholly with
the external obliques.
·
The external oblique wraps around the
ribs and dives through the Abdominal
aponeurosis, the fascial connective
tissue at the center of the rectus abdmi-
nus allowing it to unite the left external
obliques to internal obliques on the
right side, crossing to the opposite hip.
‧
At the hip we pick up where we began
our exploration of effortless stances, as
the TFL merges into the IT band at the
lateral condyle of the tibia, bringing us
from the outside of our hip to the out-
side of the knee. The tibialis anterior,
which we saw in our front line, crosses
from the knee to the shin and inner
arch of the foot, wrapping up around
the sole and coming up the back side of
the ankle up to the lateral condyle of
the fibula.
‧
As we saw in our stances, this line
sweeps back behind the leg to the biceps
femoris, which runs us up to the sits
bones, aka ischial tuberosity. The Sac-
rotuberous ligament draws a diagonal
track across the sacrum to the erector
spinae on the opposite side of the back.
We are now on the left side of the back
as we run up towards the finish our
journey at the opposite side of the skull
that we started. Wow!
DOUBLE HELIX OF SUPPORT
As we trace the opposite side it can be noted that
the spiral line crosses itself four times, between
the scapulas, at the abdomen, at the sacrum, and
in the stirrup around each foot. These crossing
points create a double helix of support, a full
body spiral that resembles a spring. And its no
coincidence that when we move with our spiral
line we find that we operate much like a spring.
For example, when we spiral down to the ground
to pick something up, we load this spring with
potential energy that effortlessly lifts us back up.
You might have noticed super heroes landing in
this ‘spring loaded’ position, as it aesthetically
communicates potential energy or power. In
everyday life, though, this spring is also how
we can manage force in our bodies, both at the
macro level in the spiral line of our body, and a
the micro level in the literal spiral formation of
our connective tissue.
SUMMARY & REFLECTION
The spiral line encompasses a network of muscles that facilitate organic, re-
al-world movement, from walking and throwing to getting up from the floor,
by wrapping around our bodies in a supportive double helix structure. This line,
integrating multiple muscle groups, serves as a mediator of all movement planes,
embodying the essence of motion and enabling efficient, spring-like energy man-
agement throughout our activities.
Contemplate the concept of the spiral line as a double helix of support, embrac-
ing your entire body. Consider how the muscles within the spiral line are shared
across different planes of movement. What does this interconnectedness reveal
about the holistic nature of bodily motion? In what ways can this understanding
reshape your approach to movement?
Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana
Anatomy in Action
Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana is an incredible opportunity to surrender the outer form and dive into the deeper layers within. As a hip opening, side-bending twist, there is a lot of temptation to leverage through the arms and work to side bend as far over the extended leg as possible- that might even feel satisfying as it works into stretching tight back muscles. However, often those very muscles are tight because they lack support, not because they need to be stretched. The real magic of this pose lies in tuning into the deep core, feeling how it integrates the legs into the hips and generates a spaciousness through the spine. By focusing on lift and length of the spine, the superficial muscles that once felt tight can release now that they have a deeper layer of support. This is an example of going to the source of the tension (lack of support) rather than the symptom (muscle tightness).
Set-up
From a seated straddle (option to sit on a blanket)
Draw the right heel in towards the midline, bending the knee.
Turn the torso towards bent knee
Place the left hand to opposite knee or thigh and softly scoop the right arm up.
Primary movement (Full body Spiral with lateral spinal extension)
Inhale Gently squeeze the legs together to stimulate the deep core and lengthen the spine. Notice how this gentle strength can be drawn up through the spine to the crown of the head.
Exhale Continue twist to the right while simultaneously lengthening the spine up and over, side bending to the left. Notice how the legs drawing together contributes to your ability to side bend with your whole body and not just the spine.
Keep breathing. Press out through the ball of the left foot and notice if this facilitates more length as you spiral.
Flowing Exploration
From the Set-up
Traction the heel of the extended leg into the floor, drawing down and back, bending the knee— feel this action draw you up and towards the leg
Kick into the leg to extend the knee as rise back up and out
Repeat, tractioning the heel into the floor to engage the hamstring and lengthen laterally into the bend, and then lengthening the leg, pushing through the foot, to float the torso back out.
The arm can lift and float up and over with you as you traction and bend, and then lower as you float out and extend.
Continue through the sequence as many times as feels useful with the option to pause anywhere and breathe.
Shearing Exploration
From the primary movement, turn the top shoulder and heart down towards the floor, and then rotate the heart and shoulder back up to face the side.
Feel free to keep the arm extended, or bend at the elbow with fingertips on the shoulder (chicken wing)
Slowly repeat this, massaging through the layers of tissue on the lateral aspect of the torso.