TRACTION IN YOGA
As we saw from the definition above, traction requires external force. Mechanical force is applied to the body. This force can come from weights or pulleys.

So, can we use traction in a bodyweight movement? The answer is no. We cannot traction in yoga, because there is no external force.

​Often it is said that reaching the arms tractions the spine. But this is not the case. The shoulders actually get there stability from the spine and do not move the spine. Any reaching with the arms is called shoulder elevation, essentially engagement of the upper trapezius, rhomboids and levator scapulae. 

Even if two people pull on the arms and lifted leg in Balancing Stick, this will still not traction the spine. This is because the joints that would be receiving the force of the pull are the wrists, elbows, shoulders and the ankles, knees and hips. These are not the spine. 

SUMMARY
​While the language of traction makes sense for the evolution of yoga, actual traction is not possible in a bodyweight movement. (The small caveat to this the use of gravity in very specific circumstances.) Traction requires external force. 

However in postures where traction is taught, like Balancing Stick for example, the spine cannot traction because there is nothing pulling on it. Any movement of the body which makes the spine look like it is getting longer, is not actually the vertebrae separating.

​There is not a scenario in which "natural human traction" without external force is possible. Even Hippocrates needed a contraption to traction the spine. 
​
Source: 
​Ralph E. Gay, Jeffrey S. Brault, CHAPTER 15 - Traction Therapy, Editor(s): Simon Dagenais, Scott Haldeman, Evidence-Based Management of Low Back Pain, Mosby, 2012, Pages 205-215, (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780323072939000155)

Yoga is constantly being defined. Nearly everyone in the yoga world seems willing and eager to tell you what yoga means. This is often paired with judgement about all the things yoga is not. The person defining it usually assumes that they are correct and that anyone who doesn't agree with them is incorrect. So really, what is the definition of yoga? 

There is no singular definition of yoga.

Anyone who tells you otherwise is actually suggesting what yoga means to them, not what yoga means.

Yoga is a vast concept, which has moved across time, place, culture and context. ​As a practice, yoga can be material or transcendent, literal or figurative. It can be religious or secular. It can be a practice to cultivate the body or a practice to destroy it. For the Classical Yogis, yoga is the goal. For the Jains, yoga is a problem. Yoga is exercise for some practitioners today. For others, it is offensive that anyone considers it to be exercise. 

Historians on yoga explore how the meaning of yoga has always been in flux. It has always evolved and been defined then redefined. Foxen and Kuberry write 
"the fact of the matter is that ‘yoga’ is a very basic and generic type of word” and
“yoga practices (the entire spectrum of them) have continuously changed and evolved in
tandem with the culture around them” (Foxen & Kuberry 2021, p. 5). 

Do you think about the definition of yoga? Do you feel strongly that it means a specific thing? We will all certainly have personal opinions on yoga. But we should not mistake our views on what yoga is as the one definition of yoga.

​Anyone who defines yoga is not defining yoga. They are defining what yoga means to them. 

In this blog series, we will explore the difficult tendencies of the mind as taught and described by various traditions of meditation. ​

Buddhism suggests that there is suffering, and suffering arises from desire. This desire is referred to as thirst or craving. If we all have desire, and therefore suffering, where does it come from? 

In Buddhism, desire comes from greed. 

We can want any number of things. Cravings are endless. There might be sensory desires like foods or drinks, experiential cravings like entertainment or travel, or egoic desires like fame or power. These can be linked to each other-- a meal that makes us feel like a king or queen, for example. In this case, there is sensory craving alongside a sense of power or stature.

The teaching on greed and desire suggests that it does not matter what the object of craving is, it is craving itself which is the root of suffering. We have to eliminate desire to eliminate suffering. We cannot simply eliminate the objects of our desire. 

Let's look at some textual passages. In the Buddha's Final Nibbana, it states:
​
When one gives, merit increases; when one is in control of oneself, hostility is not stored up; The skillful man gives up what is bad; with the destruction of greed, hatred and delusion he is at peace.* 

If greed is the problem, instead one should give. This gets at the idea of cultivating the opposite, which is also found in the Yoga Sutras:

When one is plagued by ideas that prevent the moral principles and observances, one can counter them by cultivating the opposite.

Cultivating the opposite is realizing that perverse ideas, such as the idea of violence, result in endless suffering and ignorance--whether the ideas are acted out, instigated, or sanctioned, whether motivated by greed, anger, or delusion, whether mild, moderate, or extreme.**

​The idea is to cultivate the opposite of greed or desire. If we do so, we will realize that greed only results in suffering. 

​What are some ways we can cultivate the opposite of greed and desire? 

Sources:
* Mahaparinibbana Sutta, D II 72-168 in Gethin, R. 2008. Sayings of the Buddha. Oxford World's Classics: Oxford, pp. 78
** Yoga Sutras 2.33-34 in Stoler Miller, B. 1995. Yoga Discipline of Freedom. Bantham Books: New York  
Gethin, R. 1998. The Foundations of Buddhism. Oxford University Press: Oxford
​

The Buddhist meditative tradition teaches that there are five hinderances of the mind. These are mental factors or states that exist and arise in the mind. These qualities prevent the practitioner from making progress in meditation. 

The five hinderances, as taught in Establishing Mindfulness (Satipatthana Sutta)* are: 1) sensory desire, 2) hostility or ill-will, 3) dullness or lethargy, 4) agitation or worry, 5) doubt.

It is the practice of mindfulness that allows us to recognize these qualities in the mind. The practitioner recognizes when they are present and when they are not present. Through practice, if and when these qualities are abandoned, the practitioner knows they will not arise in the mind again. 

The practice of mindfulness consists of sitting in contemplation and establishing mindfulness. There are four phases: mindfulness of the body, feelings, mind and qualities. Within the explanation of the last section, qualities, is the explanation of the five hinderances. 

It is taught that if one is able to live in recognition that there are these qualities, one can be aware as they come and go without holding onto them. 

Source:
* Satipatthana Sutta, M I 60 - Sayings of the Buddha, Rupert Gethin, pp. 147-148.

Through our research and practice, we have found confusion regarding the names and positions of two seated postures: Swastikasana and Siddhasana. 

Swastikasana is left untranslated as "Swastika", or understood as Auspicious, Good Luck or Twisted Cross Pose. Siddhasana is called the Siddha's or Adept's Pose, or Success in Meditation. 

Up until the 1970s or even later, Swastikasana was typically a seated, cross-legged position with the feet intertwined between the legs. This instruction is given by teachers of the Ghosh lineage such as Buddha Bose and Gouri Shankar Mukerji. It's also found in texts of hathayoga that predate the twentieth century.

​

In 84 Yoga Asanas, Gouri Shankar Mukerji instructs Siddhasana as follows:

​"Sit on one heel, blocking the anus. Hold this heel in place with the other heel. Inhale. Now close all apertures on your face with your fingers. The right thumb on the right ear and the left thumb on the left ear, right forefinger on the right eye and the left forefinger on the left eye, left middle finger on the left nostril and the right middle finger on the right nostril, right ring and small fingers on the mouth (halfway) and the left ring and small fingers on the other side of the mouth. Thus all openings on your face are blocked with your ten fingers" (p. 59). ​

Given this history, there is great confusion over the name of the posture at the top of the page.

While some call it "Good Luck", we suggest it should not be called that given the fact there is a posture consistently performed as Swastikasana, Good Luck, that is different in shape.

The straight-leg version pictured above is a new posture if we look at yoga's history beyond the last few decades. For this reason, we would suggest it should take on a new name.

There seems to be an endless focus on the arms in yoga postures. This comes in the form of discussing which finger position or grip is the most effective, whether or not the elbows are straight, or what the shoulders should look like. 

This is usually not useful. Unless we are talking about an arm pose like Crow or Plank, it will not help us to focus on the hands, elbows or shoulders. Here is why...

The majority of postures are about the spine.

​The arms do not move the spine. The muscles that move the spine are the muscles that move the spine: abdominal and back muscles. So if we are trying to move the spine, it won't help us to focus on the arms. 

TWO COMMON MISUNDERSTANDINGS 
There are two common misunderstandings at play here. The first is that the spine can change length. It can change shape, but this is not the same as the spine itself actually growing longer. 

The spine is a fixed length. There are vertebrae and discs that make up the spine. The spine itself cannot lengthen. One side of the spine can lengthen, but it does so by the other side of the spine shortening. This is what we do in backward and forward bends. In a backward bend the front of the body does get longer, but that's because the back gets shorter. 

If we want to change the position of the spine, we have to do so one side (front, back, left, right) at a time. 

The second misunderstanding is confusing shoulder elevation for spine length. In the picture above, the spine is no longer than with the arms down by the side. It is only that the shoulders are elevated, or to say it another way, the shoulders are shrugged up by the ears. This is trapezius engagement. With the arms overhead and the trapezius engaged, it may look like the spine is longer, but in fact it is an optical illusion. It is just the arms and the shoulders that have moved.

Often, it is said that reaching with the arms will help bend the spine. But reaching with the arms moves the shoulders. Some shoulder muscles, namely the trapezius and the rhomboids, do attach to the spine. But they get their stability from the spine in order to move the shoulder blades. These are not muscles that change the shape of the spinal column.

​To put it simply, the spinal muscles move the spine. The arms, shoulders and hands do not. In spinal postures, do not worry about lengthening your spine or using your arms. Try to put your focus on the muscles that move the spine. 

Join us for the Strong Woman Reba Rakshit book club! Since March is Women's History Month, we thought this would be the perfect time to read Reba's story together. Then at the end of the month we will discuss the book and topics related to women in yoga. Join us March 30th for a free, online book discussion. You can register below. 

Strong Woman Reba Rakshit is a biography of a yogi and circus star set in the 1950s. She was a student of Bishnu Charan Ghosh and a woman who dared to dream. She had immense courage and steely determination. She was a stuntmaster who worked shoulder to shoulder with men to give her country its first ‘strong woman’.

Over the month, we will pose questions and points for reflection. If you choose to read the book, feel free to share your thoughts and send us your questions. On social media, tag or mention Ghosh Yoga and use hashtags #ghoshyoga and #strongwomanreba ​

If you don't have a copy, they are available now. 

Book discussion RSVP: forms.gle/ufwRs1uqiFHXLrmm7

Half Moon Sidebend
Many of us struggle to effectively engage this muscle in Half Moon Sidebend. 

The reason is that we place too much focus on the arms, or rely on gravity to pull us over to the side. Neither of these approaches will help, and they will only draw us further from the engagement we want to bend the spine to the side. 

Try practicing Side Plank before you do Half Moon Sidebend. See if you can focus on the side of your abdomen and gain awareness of this muscle.

Then stand up and do Half Moon Sidebend. Notice the strength and engagement required to functionally bend your spine to the side. It feels like pulling your right or left ribs down toward your pelvis while relaxing the opposite side of your abdomen. 

Half Moon Sidebend is not a passive movement. Find the awareness in your abdomen and notice how both your strength and depth will improve. 

Happy practicing! ​

We recently took the new book Strong Woman Reba Rakshit to places and people connected with Reba's life in North Kolkata.

Of course, we brought a copy of the book to Ghosh's College! This is where Reba learned yoga and practiced for much of her career.

In 2023, Ghosh's College celebrated 100 years! What an iconic piece of North Kolkata's history. 

We also traveled to Peary Charan Girls' School, which is just down the road from Ghosh's College. This was where Reba studied as a young girl. It is one of the oldest schools for girls in India, and still in operation today. 

It is also thanks to the current Principal of Peary Charan, for finding the old school records of Reba and her sister in the registrar. 

We were excited to learn that the school has now named one of the groups of students after Reba! We gave a few extra copies of the book to be stored in the school library. 

We also visited Das Gupta booksellers, a personal favorite shop. Over the years, this bookstore has helped us tremendously by finding books for research or pointing us in the right direction. 

We are ever grateful for the human connections and had a blast bringing Reba's story (at least in book form) back to her home.