Moving the chi in arms, shoulders, chest and back

Dear Anita, for sure you can do this session in your second trimester. With Lizzard pose, be careful it doesn't stretch too much in the belly region and place a bolster under your thighs so the belly doesn't touch the floor. Stay tuned with what you feel, any discomfort adapt or stop the pose. Namaste

Dear Erika, you can do this practice everyday and spent more time on the more stiff side. I hope this helps.

Hi Jose', Thank you for your reply and time. I went through this practice again today and found much less nausea than last time. When I really paid attention today, I noticed nausea in the beginning when rotating my spine over my pelvis to find the balance in the sitting bones. I was rotating to the right. I also get extremely nauseated when doing Tibetans and spinning to the right. I don't know if there is a connection there. The second time I felt very nauseated was after the arm series when we came to sitting. I felt sick just before the heat in the upper mid back moved in.

Thank you for your support! What you are saying absolutely resonates with me and it is helpful to know that the asana is doing what it's supposed to. I am fairly sensitive and your response makes sense. The nausea was less the second time I did your class, so that is growth. Have a wonderful Spring, Morgan

Dear Morgan, Could you let me know in which poses or movements did the nauseousness came up, I might then be able to give you some suggestions. I hope to hear from you.

Dear Morgan, sorry for the late reply. About the nausea, sometimes people have strong reactions to poses, due to what is liberated chi, energy, toxins you can nauseous, get a headache, some even feel sick and want to throw up. Why this is in some and others not I don’t know. It is interesse that it is on the right side mostly. Without being able to tell you why you have this you might discover it for yourself. But in the meantime I would advice you to do the poses that trigger it less often en less amount of time. See if that helps or makes a difference. Then gradually build the time and frequency up, if you feel you are releasing or detoxifying. Good luck and if you have any doubts let me know. Namaste José

Dear Marietje, I will answer this question in English, so others also might benefit from it. This is a common question: should I strengthen or stretch my back/shoulder muscles to release the tension there. The answer is you have to do both. The muscles of the shoulders (Serratus muscles, rhomboides muscles, trapesius) are tensed in most people. These muscles have the function to move the scapula/shoulder blades. In our society we tend to hunchback (due to sitting behind computers a lot), therefore the muscles on the front (pectoralis muscles) are active all the time and therefore getting stronger. The muscles on the back (previously mentioned) are there to keep the chest open. But if the front muscles are too strong, they loose the battle so to say and become stressed out (forming knots, soreness, stifness). So to help those muscles out you need to do two things: Strengthen them: depressing and retracting the scapula. You do this in the following poses: Danurasana (Bow Pose), Plank Pose (on hands or elbows), Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (bridge pose), Ustrasana (Camel Pose), Matsyasana (fish pose) have the arms alongside the torso with the elbows pressing down and the fingers pointed up, Urdhva Mukha Svanasana (Up Dog), Salabhasana (Locust Pose), Bhujangasana (cobra pose). In all these poses it is important that you actively retract and depress the shoulders. Thinking of it I will make a viedo of this. :) To stretch these muscles, you can do all forward bends or shoulder openers. Or do this session: Stress free shoulders and neck, healthy spine and strong belly. I hope this gives you more insight.