Arms: Fascia Lines with Movements, Gentle to Medium, Mindful Yoga, Nancy Rosenberger

In this class, Nancy introduces the lines of fascia that run through the arms, as described by Tom Myers in his theory on "Anatomy Trains." Specifically, we cover the Superficial Front Arm Line, Superficial Back Arm Line, Deep Arm Front Line, and Deep Arm Back Line with reference to muscles and fascia. These arm lines connect with fascia and muscles in chest and back. Each line is followed by yoga poses and movements that warm and hydrate that fascial line. Fascia are elastic and plastic; yoga is particularly good at maintaining and increasing the plasticity of the fascia. Fascia take the shape that we ask them to through our posture and movements. These may be asymmetrical, twisted, or causing strains in some way, and through yoga, we can slowly re-shape the fascia by moving in new ways. Thanks to Tom Myers, who has written extensively about the fascia and their importance, as well as Karin Gurtner, who has developed practices to enhance yoga movements specifically for fascial lines. Also thanks to Ada Limon whose poem "It's the Season I often Mistake...birds for leaves" brought birds into our practice, and reminded us how very like bird wings our own arms are. Nancy Rosenberger is a Kripalu-trained, 500-hour yoga instructor who also studies Qi Gong with Peter Wayne. She is dedicated to a yoga that is both physiological and mindful.