Tadasana (Mountain pose)

When I first began to practice asana, in the back of my mind were a couple of central questions with possible answers: “What is yoga? Is it just the postures?; “What is the purpose of the asanas?” Are they a physical practice designed for fitness or to entertain, or to prepare the body for ‘spiritual practice,’ i.e., meditation?”

In class, my teacher would loosely encourage us to study the Sutras. And, in part, she answered my query, for from time to time, she would briefly discuss how asana was used to prepare the body for pranayama, meditation, and the raising of kundalini energy, but we never explored asana beyond the physical practice.

Occasionally, I would ask my questions of a visiting teacher who I hoped might be more knowledgeable or better able to satisfy my curiosity, but, in truth, I never received a satisfactory answer until I travelled to India and met with Dr. S.V. Karandikar, M.D., Director of Kabir Baug Yoga Darshan, a well-known and well-respected therapeutic yoga institute in Pune.

When I first asked my questions of Dr. K, getting him to open up took some prodding on my part. He answered abruptly: “The whole world is on the path of evolution, but none of us is there yet; we are all half-baked. Saints are on the same path, just a little ahead of the rest of us. Yoga is a means by which the individual can get ahead of the pack.” I continued to press for more detail, so that I could better understand his response, and thankfully, Dr. K began to explain his theory of yoga and human evolution.

Many would agree that our rapid evolution as humans accelerated when we began to stand upright and walk. As a western trained medical doctor and yoga specialist with a background in ayurvedic medicine and yoga philosophy, Dr. Karandikar is well equipped to comment on the subject: “Tadasana and, in fact, well most of the standing postures, help perfect the human nervous system, which speeds us along on our evolutionary path,” he claimed. Of course, I had to ask him, “How exactly does this happen?,” to which he replied, “It is the revealed through the biped walking reflex.” So, I pushed for more explanation, and he continued: “Walking involves an elaborate system of movements and counter movements (all subconscious), which keep us upright and going in the desired direction.” Dr. K then further described how the interplay of these two forces moves energy up the body and is responsible for the development of our big brain and the evolutionary distance we have from our quadruped cousins, whose walking reflex is so different and less evolved.

How does Dr. K’s explanation inform our knowledge of Hatha Yoga? I have heard many times that the term “Hatha” is made up of two Sanskrit words: “Ha” meaning sun and “Tha” referring to the moon. To the ancient yogis, these were the two great energies of the universe, celestial bodies influencing all matter, including the human body. According to this view, Hatha Yoga is the interplay or balance between these two forces. Alignment in asana is the physical manifestation of this balance, of this union; when alignment is achieved, one experiences the yoking, the bliss which is “yoga.”

Once Dr. Karandikar had finished my check up, he wrote out my yoga prescription. It forbade me to practice the traditional Sirsasana (headstand) and Sarvangasana (shoulderstand). Instead, I was to practice Dr. K’s Cervical Traction and a pose I had never heard of before called Rope Jacket as well as Rope Sirsasana, some arm and shoulder movements with ropes, a standing twist and, of course, Savasana. I was allowed to continue with my backbends, but I had to strongly restrain my lower ribs from pushing too far forward, and I had to also tuck my pelvis.

After only two weeks of daily practice, I suddenly realized that I had not had a headache for several days and they were soon to become a thing of the past.

My headaches were, most probably, the result of muscular tension attributable to my poor, improper posture. Although all the poses in Dr. K’s neck routine played a part in eradicating my headaches, my finding proper spinal alignment through Rope Jacket was the key to my recovery.

I had heard the term “alignment” spoken of in nearly every class I attended at Kabir Baug, but it wasn't until I experienced Tadasana after practicing Rope Jacket for twenty minutes every day for a month, that I began to correct my poor postural patterns for good.

When I finally “got” the feeling in Tadasana, I no longer had to rely on remembering all the details of the pose to “get it right.” Instead, I used a combination of basic detail and the feeling of balance and centredness. I was able to take that knowledge and transfer it to all the postures I now practice.

When I mentioned this insight to one of my yoga colleagues , she suggested that the yogis who were practicing asana in order to experience the “yoking,” fully understood these principles; they made the connection to the physical body and then confirmed this through their experience in the asanas. To help their students to practice “yoga,” they needed to give them detailed instructions. Unfortunately, many of these students made the instructions into rules, insisting that they must be obeyed, and in time misrepresenting and obscuring the original purpose of the detail.

How Tadasana through Rope Jacket helps one make the connection to yoga:

The main reason why Tadasana is the single most important pose in Hatha Yoga is that understanding Tadasana helps one to find the alignment, “yoga,” in all postures, particularly the standing and inverted poses. When in Tadasana, it may seem as though one is just standing in place and not doing much at all; however, bringing the body into proper alignment in this posture is, in fact, hard work.

Rope Jacket: The Basics starting with Tadasana

Although Rope Jacket is part of Dr. K’s upper back and neck routine, this series promotes total spinal alignment, top to bottom. The change in alignment comes, not just from the traction of the ropes, but from the experience of a well-aligned Tadasana after the ropes are removed. Once Tadasana has been understood in this way, one can achieve the same level of awareness in all asanas as well as in one’s daily activities. With practice, this sense of alignment, balance, and centeredness becomes second nature, a part of us, who we are.

What we see in Rope Jacket is a body standing in Tadasana with ropes placed on the shoulders and arms in various ways. It is normal to assume that what we see is all there is to the posture. However, as in most other yoga poses, this is not the case. What we don’t see is what is going on in the nervous system as the body is brought out of its habitual, poor conditioning to be returned to its natural healthy and properly aligned stance.

Rope Jacket: The Routine

This sequence informs the practitioner of the postural adjustments required to correct poor posture, even more so than any of the other routines, which is why it is one of the essential series for upper back and neck health.

Upon finding alignment, one can maintain open awareness rather than narrow focus, with full attention to the whole body. Rescan the entire body as a whole, then each component separately: feet, calves, quads, sacrum, ribs, shoulders and head; keep the awareness active; make sure that each area is in place and awake, that it hasn’t moved out of alignment. Stand with full attention for a moment and experience the pose. Then, repeat the scan.

Rope Jacket opens, conditions, and informs the upper body of correct alignment, which helps to correct the underlying cause of much neck pain. More importantly, it can also be used to gain a direct experience of the feeling of Tadasana, which can then be transferred and applied to many other yoga poses. Note: Not all standing poses have a direct influence on the biped walking reflex. The poses which can influence it the most are those in which the feet, pelvis, and shoulders are kept straight forward, e.g., Tadasana, Virabhadrasana 1, Trikonasana, Parivrtta Trikonasana, Ardha Chandrasana, and Prasarita Parsvottanasana.

A Practitioner Makes the Connection:

The letter and photo below arrived unsolicited in my mailbox recently. I don’t know this person or what style of yoga he practices, but he has made the connection between alignment, walking, and yoga. Further, he has understood that this “new” alignment and walking position will need to be practiced often to become “second nature.” It takes time and repetition to establish a new pattern. The old pattern will remain, and one easily reverts to it, especially when tired.

Subject: Learning to Walk (letter)