The Loops
The Shoulder Loop
The shoulder loop is an energetic, muscular, and skeletal alignment principle that creates stability, strength, and opening in the upper body by drawing the shoulder blades in and up toward the heart. It begins at the upper palate, moves down the back of the neck and upper back, and wraps under the heart, lifting the chest, preventing injuries, and improving posture, particularly in backbends.
Key Aspects of the Shoulder Loop:
Pathway: The loop of energy flows from the upper palate down the back of the neck to the bottom of the shoulder blades and then up the front of the chest back to the palate.
Physical Actions: It involves lifting the tops of the arm bones up and back, anchoring the shoulder blades on the back of the heart, and broadening the collarbones.
Benefits: It releases neck tension, stretches the chest, strengthens the upper back, and provides maximum range of motion for the shoulders.
Usage in Asana: The shoulder loop is essential for proper alignment in backbends like Cobra, Plank, and Chaturanga, helping practitioners avoid dumping into the lower back.
Connection to the Principles: It is a key element of the muscular energy, bringing stability to the joints.
How to Activate the Shoulder Loop:
Open and Grace: Start by lengthening the side bodies.
Engage Muscular Energy: Draw the shoulder blades onto the back.
Refine: Take the heads of the arm bones back, keeping them on the back plane of the body.
Lift the Chest: Lift the sternum and open the heart center.
The shoulder loop is most often used in combination with the kidney loop for lower back support and the skull loop for neck alignment.
The Skull Loop
Skull Loop is a subtle upper body energetic loop that aligns the head and neck by drawing the palate back and lifting the ears, which lengthens the back of the neck and secures the head over the spine. It serves to integrate the upper body after the shoulder loop is established, fostering a sense of confidence, stability, and openheartedness.
Action: To engage the skull loop, the chin is drawn in slightly, and the hyoid bone in the front of the throat lifts up and back, and the back of the skull lifts.
Location: It originates at the upper palate, moves back and up along the skull, moves over the top of the head, and goes down the face back to the palate.
Purpose: It reverses “tech neck” or forward head carriage, creating length in the cervical spine and aligning the head with the shoulder loop, keeping the heart open.
Sequence: It is often practiced after the kidney loop and the shoulder loop to complete the upper body’s energetic alignment.
By bringing the head into alignment, the skull loop prevents the collapse of the upper back that can occur when the head hangs forward, thus aiding in maintaining a bright and open upper body posture.
The Kidney Loop
In energetic alignment principles, it starts in the core of the abdomen near the lumbar spine and moves up the back from the kidneys to the shoulder blades and circles forward through the diaphragm to the navel. It lifts the lower back, expands the mid-back, and strengthens the core.
Action: It involves filling the mid-back (the kidney area) while toning the solar plexus, often described as a puffing or expansion of the back body.
Purpose: It connects the hips and shoulders with strength and suppleness, creating stability and lightness, often used to support backbends like Sphinx Pose or inversions like Handstand.
Sequence: The kidney loop is part of the main five loops of energy, typically engaged after the pelvic loop and before the shoulder loop to support spinal lengthening.
Result: It creates a balance of fiery energy and stability, allowing for deep opening of the heart.
The Thigh Loop
The thigh loop is an alignment principle that refines pelvic alignment by drawing the top of the thigh back and apart, facilitating the inner expanding spiral. It moves from the core of the pelvis, down the back of the legs, and up the front of the pelvis, balancing the pelvic loop and creating upward energy.
Key Aspects of the Thigh Loop (Anusara Yoga):
Primary Purpose: To balance the pelvic loop, create stability, and encourage the widening of the sit bones, thereby lengthening the lower back.
Action: Move the tops of the thighs back and apart, often initiated alongside the spiral loop.
Energetic Pathway: The loop starts at the top of the thigh bone in the core of the pelvis, moves down the back of the leg to the top of the calf, then forward through the top of the shin, traveling up the front of the leg, lifting the knees, through the upper abdomen, back to the pelvic focal point.
Relationship to Other Loops:
Pelvic Loop: While both move in the same rotational direction, the pelvic loop moves the tailbone down, while the thigh loop moves the top of the thighs back—together creating a neutral pelvis.
Shin Loop: The thigh loop works with the shin loop, drawing the shins forward to establish stability from feet to hips
Application:
Standing Poses: In Downward Dog or Warrior I, initiating the thigh loop broadens the back of the pelvis, softening the groins and deepening the hips.
Backbends: Engaging the thigh loop prevents the lower back from over-compressing by ensuring the thigh bones move back.
Effect: Creates a strong, stable foundation, feeling like lengthening of the hamstrings and a slight controlled lift in the knees
The Pelvic Loop
The pelvic loop is an energetic muscular and skeletal alignment action that stabilizes the lower back by drawing the tailbone down and lifting the lower belly from the pubic bone to the navel. It is part of the seven loops, generally activated by the outer spiral to create stability, supporting the core and lengthening the lower spine.
Key Aspects of the Pelvic Loop:
Action: The loop moves from the middle of the lumbar spine (sacrum) down, then forward through the pelvic floor, and up the lower abdomen to the navel.
Purpose: It stabilizes the pelvis, supports the lower back, and counters overarching of the lumbar spine.
Relationship to Other Actions: Outer spiral initiates the loop, drawing the tailbone down and inner thighs apart. Thigh loop: similar in rotational direction, but the pelvic loop brings the top of the thighs forward, while the thigh loop moves them back. Kidney loop: provides the foundation for the kidney loop’s expansion.
Application: It is particularly useful for creating stability in poses that require intense lower-body strength and lower back protection, such as standing poses and backbends. The pelvic loop, when paired with the thigh loop, creates a “hook” effect, enabling a strong, stable, and anatomically safe posture.
The Shin Loop
The shin loop is a muscular energy principle that aligns the lower legs by drawing the heels back while moving the top of the shins forward. It helps stabilize the knee joint, prevents hyperextension, and connects the ankle loop to the thigh loop to enhance leg strength, stability, and posture.
Key Aspects of the Shin Loop:
Action: Draws the heels back and the upper shins forward, engaging the muscles around the shin bone.
Purpose: Prevents hyperextension of the knees and stabilizes the foundation in standing poses.
Pathway: Starts at the base of the shin bone, moves up the calf to the top of the shins just below the knee, then forward through the top of the shin and down the front to the base.
Energetic Function: As a muscular energy principle, it acts like a gear, balancing the ankle loop and creating stability that moves up the leg.
Application: Often used to counteract slumping or over-compressing of the lower back, aiding in postural alignment. This loop works in conjunction with the ankle loop (which lifts the arches) and the thigh loop (which moves the tops of the thighs back) to create a fully engaged, stable lower body.
The Ankle Loop
The ankle loop is a foundational energetic and physical alignment principle that grounds the heels while lifting the arches, creating stability from the ground up. Starting at the base of the shin bone, it moves down the back of the heel and up through the center of the arch to the front of the shin, facilitating muscular energy.
Key Aspects of the Ankle Loop:
Action: Ground the heels and lift the arches to activate the lower leg.
Function: It is the first of the seven energetic loops that helps prevent collapse of the feet and ankles.
Integration: It serves as a base for the shin loop, which moves the upper ankle back and the top of the shins forward.
Benefit: It builds muscle energy, prevents hyperextension of the knees, and provides a sense of grounding and stability.
Application: It is used to root poses, such as Warrior I, and provides a “lightning rod” effect to reduce tension or anxiety. Proper ankle loop engagement is essential for stability, ensuring that energy flows up and down the legs rather than collapsing into the joints.