Why Orientating to Udana Prana is a Feminist Act

“I'm probably being silly, but..."

The Predicament of Dobby the House Elf

Most women in our culture today have become so conditioned into subjugating their needs, overriding their feelings to prioritise the comfort of others and making themselves small so others can feel big, that for many of us, our normal modus operandi are to continually soften, accommodate and appease. Being nice takes precedence over being authentic. Dobby's behaviour is an extreme example of fawning - a fear-based behaviour and survival mechanism. It is, however, an excellent example of the same appeasing behaviour society expects women to display in order to come across as non-threatening - to each other and also to men.

Udana Prana - the Bridge Between Inner and Outer Worlds

Udana prana relates to posture, speech and expression. How tall we walk, how much we own our presence and our words in this world. It is perhaps one of the less talked-about pranas, but I find it particularly interesting because of this relationship between how we inhabit our bodies and how we express ourselves. In our fourth class in the Five Pranas series, we explored udana as an upward and outward-moving energy, from the diaphragm up through the throat. A channel of expression into the world, through the breath, the voice and our posture.

Speak up

The patriarchy has done such a good job of casting women in a supporting role to men, that qualities like directness, leadership and a tall open posture are perceived as masculine. There is nothing inherently masculine about taking up the space you occupy on the planet and giving your own thoughts and voice the same credence you do to others’. The right to space is a basic, universal human right, as is the right to speak up when you are not comfortable with the status quo. If you have been told you are confrontational and aggressive for voicing your ideas and concerns, the chances are that, in an effort to be listened to, you have trained yourself to heavily filter your expression and lost clarity along the way.

Udana Prana is a Feminist

As I was preparing the class, I kept coming back to the thought that orientating to udana prana is a feminist act.

Women are trained from a young age to fawn, diminish themselves and their words, to soften, moderate, accommodate, be nice. To be really careful how they come across. This can find expression in our posture, in the shoulders coming forward, in literally making ourselves smaller and taking up less space. It also finds expression in our speech.

“Is it okay if I ask a question?”

“This is probably silly, but…”

"I don't want to put you out, but"

"This is probably really annoying of me but"

Sound familiar? These are some of the ways we modify ourselves and our expression.

For me, udana offers an interesting way to explore where we are blocking ourselves, or where we are blocked. Does the outward version of us align with the inward version? Can we express ourselves clearly, with confidence and courage?

Orientating to udana encourages us to take up space, to fill all the way up to our edges and own our presence. This is where I see the feminist act: in walking tall, claiming our right to take up space and finding the clarity of expression that allows us to speak our truth with compassion and without fear.

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Practice: I invite you to bring to mind three women whom you respect and admire. How do they present to the world? Do they speak clearly and confidently, or do they fawn? Do you think they have a healthy connection to udana prana?

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Three ways to liberate the pathway of udana

In the practice, we explored space and support along the front of the spine, through the throat and up to the soft palate at the back of the mouth. These are three ways to investigate that pathway.

Teachers - use this technique to help students move into their backbend without crunching their neck

Teachers - using the block here can help students to orientate to the support of the back body

1. Place a block behind your head and press your head back

In a kneeling warrior lunge or Warrior One, hold a yoga block behind your head. Press the lower part of the back of your skull directly back into it, allowing the sides of the jaw to move back too. If bringing both arms behind your head isn’t available, you can use one hand behind your head instead.

Notice what happens to the sense of space along the front of the spine and around the back of the mouth. Lift the back of the heart and, if you move into a backbend, keep the length along the back of the neck as you curl back.

Teachers - continued use of the block into full Warrior 1 helps to sustain the functionality of the backbend as the shoulders change position.

When you release the block and reach your arms upwards, see whether you can keep that orientation, as though your head were still pressing into an imaginary block.

2. Be a baby in cobra

Teachers - have your students lift into baby cobra with eyes gazing up, then again with eyes gazing down. Notice the difference.

Bring to mind a baby in tummy time, beginning to lift their head and then press up onto their hands. We can explore that same unfolding in cobra.

Lying on your front, bring your hands beside your breastbone. Let the pelvis sink into the ground so that the heart can lift. Begin lifting the head, chest and shoulders with your gaze looking down.

Notice the difference between lifting the head and lifting the eyes. Looking up too soon can bring the neck into that familiar cranked-back position. Instead, explore how far you can lift without help from your hands, then use the hands for support.

The tailbone reaches down, and the very last thing to lift is the eyes.

Try this a few times, finding the lift while preserving length along both the front and back of the spine.

3. Orientate to the midline in stillness, and around it in movement

Teachers - have your students orientate to the vertical axis in stillness. Bring awareness into the midline and the still point at their centre. Move around that still point when you move. Twists can be great to experience this.

Standing in Tadasana, sense an imaginary midline from crown to tail. Allow the body to broaden around it, from the centre out to the edges. Occupy yourself, right up to those edges.

Have a sense of this midline as a still point around which the body is orientated. Begin making small circles with your torso, moving around that imaginary centre. Circle in both directions, then return slowly enough to land right back in the centre.

You can explore the same orientation as you turn from side to side. Rather than getting caught up in the nitty-gritty of alignment, sense the whole body moving around that central axis.

Three sankalpas to explore

At the beginning of your yoga practice, bring to mind an area where you would like to feel freer. Perhaps it is in your posture, or perhaps it is in the way you speak and represent yourself.

These are the three sankalpas I offered in our 5 Pranas class:

• I walk tall and move from my centre.

• I speak with courage, clarity and confidence.

• I claim the right to take up space.

  
  

If one resonates, give it a moment to settle. You might return to it at the end of your practice, repeating it three times using the same words each time.

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