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A New Yoga Experiment: The “Life Salutation”
Hatha Yoga, which I consider the most complete and deepest body-mind training system available to the general public, has a major flaw: very little work on the “pulling” muscles. It’s all “push.” There are rope-based Yoga systems I’ve seen film of that remedy this lack of brachiating exercise (the practitioners look SO much like little monkeys, scampering up poles and ropes!) but in general…almost nothing.
And this bothers me. And has for a long time. About a week ago, I may have discovered a solution.
The search for a simple, basic, but complete movement pattern, the sort of thing that can be done simply in the “atomic” sense (like “a sentence a day to a book a year”) has buzzed in my mind. WHAT IS THE MINIMUM that kick-starts the entire system?
Assuming one has the equivalent of a pull-up bar, I want to suggest something.
- Start with a Sun Salutation. Commit to doing one in the morning, one at night. Make it a part of your “five minute miracle” routine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPjppcOquE4
- Now. That is 1/2 of what we’ll call a “Life Salutation” just for the sake of a label. To complement this, do a wide-grip pull-up on the bar, followed by a leg lift. You have just worked grip, abs, and pulling muscles (bicep and back)
- Finish with another Sun Salutation.
To repeat, the “Life Salutation” is a Sun Salutation preceded by a hanging pullup/leg lift combination. This works both…