Although the system is designed to be easily comprehensible for any level of student, Bowspring is not easy to practice at first. First and foremost, Bowspring alignment targets 4 areas of the body-mind posture, which tend to be the most habitually misaligned. The 4 key somatic areas of the body-mind in which Bowspring focuses on balancing …
Throughout 2012 I adamantly held to my technical knowledge in alignment and biomechanics, which I had gathered and developed for over 25 years, as I disagreed with Desi’s postural ideas on a weekly basis. For decades I have been in search of an elegant set of alignment principles for a universal ‘optimal blueprint’ for the …
We established Bowspring on January 13th, 2013 and our first main presentation of the new Bowspring alignment system was through the Roots asana sequence, which is the routine that Desi and I practiced intensely in 2012. Yet, it became apparent early in the year that for most students outside of Vital Yoga in Denver, the full Roots …
Bowspring: An Accessible Postural System for Everyone Read More »
In Bowspring, we also consciously place our hands and fingers in specific forms (mudras) and in specific sequence (katas). We mindfully place our feet and toes very specifically in space with moment-to-moment meaningfulness. In walking, we are consciously aware of which foot we lead with, and the length of our gait. We choose which part …
In an esoteric definition, a mudra is the conscious form of the body-mind. A students makes a mudra or purposeful posture by mindfully placing every part of the body into a specific position in space and in geometric relationship with all other parts to create harmony and beauty of the body-mind. The student chooses and …
Simple, repeated actions of our ordinary lives are transformed into elegant acts of mindful beauty to reflect the grand harmony intrinsic in Buddha-Nature/Tao/Spirit. The Japanese concept of the mindful performance of a simple, repeated action in daily life and in more specialized martial arts training is called kata. A kata is a conscious regular …
Bowspring is similar to Zen in its practice of transforming mundane life into a living art. An every day experience becomes the source of one’s artistic expression and knowledge. With the right view any experience can hold a teaching. Anything can be a life lesson. If one considers him/herself a student first and foremost, then …
I am text block. Click edit button to change this text. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo. In Korea, Desi Springer and I spent most of our time outside of the classroom eating Bibimbap and Kimchi at wonderful restaurants, and walking the streets …
The admirable studentship qualities of the Korean and Japanese arise from their ancient Far Eastern culture, which emphasizes harmonizing the collective by coherence among the individuals. The shamanistic philosophies of Korea and Japan, which predate Buddhism and Confucianism, have a view that the Earth is alive with conscious energies (kamis) in the form of the …
Most of the students in Seoul, Tokyo and Osaka Bowspring workshops were women. Collectively, Desi Springer and I shared Bowspring with about 150 women and only 10 men, mostly in their 30’s. Notably, the majority of the students had flat thoracic and cervical spines. Also, many of the women had internally rotated shins. On the …
Somatic Patterns of Korean and Japanese Students Read More »
