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[christodoulou_george]

Hello there Bernie,

This is a question that might several practitioners have.
I have this question because I recently had the idea to do a pose, in a sequence more than once.
The sequence is for the spine and it goes like that:
1. Butterfly
2. Half Butterfly L/R
3. Caterpillar
4. Snail
5. Cat Tali pose
6. Sphinx
7. Saddle pose

So what I did is to put on more Caterpillar (so do it twice with a short savasana in between.

Do you think it is ok?
Do you think that can help release faster my lower back?

Thank you very very much

Looking forward to hearing from you

George, Athens, Greece

[Bernie]

Hi George

More is not better: I am not sure why you want to do more flexion postures in your practice. When I look at your flow you already do Butterfly (flexion), Half Butterfly (flexion), Caterpillar (flexion) and then you do Snail (more flexion!). Yes, you certainly can do the same pose twice with a break in between, but if you are thinking of doing another Caterpillar in this flow, then I would suggest dropping the Snail pose.

I might also suggest that after all your spine flexion and extension postures are done, you may want to finish with a short reclining twist to release any residual tensions along the spine, or move the Cat's tail to the end.

Cheers
Bernie

[christodoulou_george]

Hi Bernie!

First of all I want to thank you deeply for your fast reply!!!!
Thanks for the suggestion ...

The reason that I have put lots of flexion is because I do long meditation sittings. My shortest sitting in a day is 40 mins.
I also have in the past very long meditation retreats and my spine became very very stiff. So that's why I started to do Yin Yoga, believing me that it will help me.
I sure see results, but the last couple of weeks I started to experimenting a bit.
So that's why I asked because you have a lot of experience in this field.

I appreciate your help and thanks once again.


Cheers

George

[Bernie]

Sitting in meditation is a lot of constant flexion already for the hips and a bit for the lower back. You may not realize it but the lumbar does tend to flex when we sit for long periods. Going deeper into flexion as your practice does is not bad, but you may want to make sure you also spend equal time in extensions, twists and lateral flexions.

Cheers!
Bernie