Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign hello and welcome to Deep in your yoga practice. I'm your host, Lauren Leduc, the founder, owner, lead teacher, trainer at True Love Yoga in Kansas City, Missouri. And today we're going to talk about this concept of spring awakening in conjunction with the myofascial spiral line. And if you've never heard those words before, don't worry about it. I'll explain the best I can in layman's terms today, and then I'll also invite you to come join me for a workshop if you're in Kansas City, to actually explore these lines and connect them to this sense of release and awakening that comes with the season of spring. So I have a whole episode on the. The myofascial system from a couple of months ago. So if that is something you're interested in, I would definitely go back and listen to that. But essentially, it is this connective tissue that connects and protects the whole body, that runs through absolutely everything in your body. So you can think of an orange. It has the peel around it that's kind of like our skin, but then it has this inner peel around the big orange. And then when you take off each segment, each segment has this peel around it, and you can see that same fibrous tissue going within the segment of the orange as well. It's really similar with us and our fascia. It also holds a lot of sensory information. So it's a big sensory system in the body that connects and protects pretty much everything, bones, muscles, organs, et cetera. So if we're going a little bit deeper into fascia, which is something that we are continuing to learn more and more about, it is very cutting edge in its research. We can look to experts like Tom Myers. And Tom Myers wrote the book on fascia, but particularly about these fascial lines in the body called anatomy trains. So these lines are called anatomy trains. The book is called Anatomy Trains. It's dense, it's super interesting. And again, I'm giving just like a general layman's overview of this one particular anatomy train or line today. So you can think of an anatomy train as a continuous band of connective tissues in the body that encases or encapsulates different muscles. So the cool thing about this is you might be strengthening, relaxing, massaging one muscle in the body, and it will have an effect somewhere that seems seemingly totally unrelated because they're in the same line or they're in the same anatomy train. So it's really a very cool way to see how everything truly is connected in the body. It brings this anatomic anatomical sense of unity rather than the body being kind of divided into these different parts. So for the spiral line, it spirals around the body and kind of meets this beautiful double helix shape. And it helps integrate movements from the feet to the head and connects opposing sides of the body. It's also a major core stabilizing line in the body. It helps us with single leg and single arm movements. We use this line of fascia all the time to walk, to run, to throw. And it includes key areas like the outer thighs, the it band, your obliques, or the sides of your abdominals, the shoulders and the neck. And again, it all spirals around. It is pretty wild how all of these areas work together. So this line is so important for functional movement. Again, twisting, stabilizing during any asymmetrical activities. So walking and running are ones we use a lot, and maintaining balance and general and particularly in standing poses. So when it's restricted, it can lead to some compensations in the body, like poor posture, tight hips, rounded shoulders, and pain, maybe even chronic pain. So it's an really important line in the body to keep healthy if we can. And I think to me, creating some space in this area, strengthening and creating space as well, reminds me of spring. Spring is about releasing stagnant energy of winter to make some space for growth and releasing tension. And the spiral line creates physical and energetic freedom. To me, there's something about like moving in the transverse plane or twisting in yoga that just feels so cleansing and refreshing and renewing, and this coincides with that spiral line in the body. Something to remember about fascia as a sensory organ is it doesn't just store physical tension, but it also stores emotional energy and tension. So this spiral line can literally hold stress, and it can hold stress from life's twists and turns. I know for me, pretty much, pretty much as soon as I start feeling stressed out, my upper back just gets knots all through it, particularly in the area of, like, the rhomboids. And this is part of that spiral line. So it's typically me not really going with the flow. Imagine that. So releasing this tension can help free us emotionally and mentally and create space for renewal, creativity, inspiration, fresh beginnings, just like spring. Speaking of spring awakening, again, this is a season of growth and renewal and new energy. I like to relate it to a couple yogic concepts, one being Santosha or. Or contentment. So that is, I've talked about this concept before on the podcast, but it really is this mix of radical acceptance of the present moment as well as gratitude. So really being aware of what is real, what is present around us, and being grateful for it, which allows us to be aware when these new opportunities, new energies, new creativity comes up. Because we're already present, we're already grateful. And it's like telling the universe. Yes, more please. And also of prana. So other concept is prana, or life force energy. So in the spring, we're inviting this fresh initiative, growth based energy in, just like we see in the plants, just like we see from the sun shining more strongly and brightly and longer. We also get to experience, I think this sense of awakening.
[00:06:52] You could even consider this spring season to be more like the new year than what we consider the new year to be on the Gregorian calendar. This is truly the awakening initiative, growth based time. And I think that when we're awakening or being open to awaken these new possibilities within us, we also really need to tend to our physical bodies. Because if they are holding tension, if they are holding stagnant old energy, if they're carrying constant pain, it makes it very difficult to be grateful, to be accepting, to be present and open to new, fresh energy. So that's why I'm tying in this spiral line with this spring awakening. So I'm gonna talk about some yoga poses to help awaken the spiral line. I'll also say in my upcoming workshop, we will be working with myofascial release techniques. So that's mostly using myofascial release balls, sometimes blocks and blankets and other props, almost like a massage release. Tension points through this line, but we can also use yoga postures. So I'll talk about some of these. So anything that promotes spiral engagement is great. You can think of revolved triangle pose or Pravrita trikonasana opening the spiral line, revolved chair pose or Pravrita utkatasana. We can also get into a couple heart opening poses such as Anjane asana, especially with like a beautiful side bend or twist can really get into these areas. And standing balances like Garudasana eagle pose is such a great way of exploring the strength and stability that the spiral line provides. We can also awaken to this line not only through myofascial release and through different yoga postures, but just through our everyday awareness of movement. So that means being aware of walking and our arms swinging in opposite directions. It means being aware of when we twist and turn in our everyday lives and can create, can we create more balance? Are we always twisting to our right, for instance, in the car, to reach for something how can we balance that out a little bit more? Are we always putting our purse on one shoulder? Can we put it on the other one as well? How can we find more of this sense of balance in our everyday life? We can also connect to this line through our breath and energy flow. Any deep diaphragmatic breathing is so good it helps soften and hydrate the fascia, supports the core and the stability and mobility of the spiral line. And along with that, I always recommend this deep inhale, letting your belly expand, letting the diaphragm do its thing and exhale, allowing the diaphragm again to do its thing as the belly softens inward so you can think of inhaling, bringing beautiful new energy in exhaling, softening, letting go of anything that isn't serving, including physical tension. So there are so many great ways to connect with this line and to connect with this awakening of spring and I want to invite you to my Revive My myofascial Release for Spring workshop at True Love Yoga. It is Sunday, March 16, 2025 from 12:00pm to 2:00pm And I'll share hands on guidance for myofascial release techniques of the Spiral Line, a gentle flow practice and restorative Shavasana that helps embody this theme of spring renewal using the spiral fascia line. We'll also use some guided journaling and community connection as well to set some intentions for this new season to let go of what no longer serves us and to invite in this fresh this fresh new energy for growth and renewal. It's 35 but we offer a discount for our True love yoga members. $5 off with the code workshop and I'll also give you 20% off RAD myofascial balls. Those are the ones I use in my myofascial release practice, but I'll also have a bunch of tennis balls so you're welcome to use those as well for completely free along with the workshop. So again, thank you for listening. I love talking about yogic anatomy and energy and how what we do on the mat relates to what's going on off the mat, whether that be in our own lives, in nature or in both. And I love this role of the spiral line in releasing tension and fostering this sense of renewal for this brand new season. And I love this connection between spring energy and the body's readiness to release and make space for new strength, new growth, new softness even. I encourage you to maybe try some of the suggested techniques I gave at home. I'd love for you to sign up for the revive workshop again March 16th to really embody and experience these concepts within yourself. I'd love to say, as we awaken to spring, let's embrace the opportunity to refresh our bodies and minds and spirits together. We're so powerful as a collective, and I think the more intentional we can be, the more potency and power we hold to sway this world into a more peaceful, beautiful place. Thank you so much for listening. Om Shanti, Om Peace.
