Interestingly enough, not all yoga routines are that easy for flexibility and toning, or even for relaxation and meditation. Some can be quite difficult to make it through and require a great deal of training before they can even be attempted.

One of these that I read about is bowspring yoga and the very difficult poses that it involves regarding the bending of the spine and other areas of the body. One unique way that I read it described was being “simple yet abundant.” It’s intended to help with the alignment of the spine and body as a whole, but the spine is never straight during the course of the class or the routine.

With the typical expectation to stretch muscles ligaments and tendons, there is much more to be felt after the completion of a bowspring class, and it can be a very tough response during the first few classes.

Some of the “alignment” principles that are part of the bowspring class include the following:

• The radiant heart – or breathing all into the sides of your ribcage, and this is all throughout it, not simply through the front. It is a deep and intense feeling and much more than would be taken on with basic yoga poses.
• The wings – hard to describe, the alignment of hands and arms help open the shoulders so much that eventually it really does feel like having wings.
• The roots – mostly in the feet, hips, knees, and legs, all grounded to the point that they are like the roots of a tree working the strength of the thighs and gluts.

In the attempt to worth all of these at the same time, it can be extremely intense, more so than any longer routine with multiple poses. I can only admit that this seems more like attempting to combine several of the essential yoga poses in one, and I have yet to be able to accomplish it myself. I’m still learning yoga as I go, but I do find that it is an intense workout that is a helpful process for flexibility, toning, and all working into the limited amount of time I have available many days.