Anchor Yourself
We use this cue a lot in yoga practice, but what does it really mean?
We all come to the mat with different movement patterns ingrained in our musculoskeletal system: some of us lean forward habitually, some lean back; some hunker into themselves, others almost exaggeratedly stretch their bellies as they sit and move. Some people move with an air of lightness, as if they could float off the ground; others move ploddingly, as if always struggling against gravity.
Our movement patterns originate in they way our bodies learn to relate to gravity as we first crawl, walk, run, and move through space. They are solidified or altered through our life experiences, injuries, chronic pains, our hobbies, and the jobs we do. There are often unconscious emotional motivations behind the ways we carry ourselves in our bodies.
Asana acts as a mirror to reveal these patterns, guiding us into a new relationship with ourselves and teaching us how to align within and with gravity. The practice of anchoring" is what drives home this connection and a felt awareness of inner stability.
In the literal sense, an anchor is a weight used to hold a boat in place on an ever-moving body of water. It is always with the boat; when the boat is moving, it’s raised and stays close to the vessel; when we want the boat to stay in one spot, we drop the anchor deep down into the depths, allying with gravity to stabilize the position of the boat.
One way to understand misaligned movement patterns (indicated by chronic aches and pains somewhere in the body) is to consider where the anchor is and how they’re relating to gravity. For example, a person who leans forward while walking may be carrying their anchor in their shoulders, neck, and head, forcing the rest of the body to trail along after them. Over time, the magnetic relationship between this anchor and gravity forces their shoulders and neck forward and down, creating constant achiness in these regions.
When we anchor in yoga, the key is to recognize what we’re anchoring to and which parts of the body need to do that anchoring. If we anchor ourselves internally (i.e., keeping the anchor next to the boat), we’re disconnected from gravity somewhat and are able to float freely. If we drop our anchor down to earth, we can feel practically immovable. Neither state is better than the other; what matters is aligning our anchor with our intention in the moment!
If we’re attempting a standing balance and our anchor is habitually in our shoulders, we’ll feel unsteady and have trouble staying in the pose; the anchor is raised, allowing our boat to float freely. To find balance, we must drop the anchor deep down through the standing leg, hips, and core in order to find stability.
The key to anchoring is recognizing the intention of each pose: what is floating up and what needs to ground? The part of the body connected to the floor always needs to anchor, but if most of the body is floating, the core needs some internal anchoring, as well.
In reclined positions, we let the core anchor simply by releasing muscles and allowing ourselves to be heavy; but in bridge, the core needs to float up, requiring the feet, legs, and pelvis to anchor (and when they don’t - when our bodies unconsciously try to anchor from the core or shoulders - we feel compression and pain in the low back!).
When we do seated poses, sit bones and pelvis are the primary anchor - if our anchor is held too much in the upper body, simply sitting upright feels like an internal struggle!
In kneeling poses like camel, turbo cat, or warriors with the back knee down, our legs - including shins on the floor - are primary anchors. In standing warriors, feet, legs, and pelvis are primary anchors, with a bit of lower core anchoring that allows the upper body to float upright with ease. In down dog, the anchor is in the legs, feet, hands, arms, and shoulder-wrapping, allowing the hips to float up. In arm balances and inversions, the primary anchor moves inward to the core and inner legs, while shoulder-wrapping, arms, and hands take over the earth-anchoring responsibility.
Start playing with this idea both on and off the mat: identify which part of your body needs to align with gravity (the anchor) and which is floating up (the boat). Play with consciously choosing to anchor into the body parts supporting you from earth while feeling for lightness and upward movement in the parts that are floating.
In daily movements, bring awareness to what’s anchoring you when you sit relaxed, sit while working or driving, stand, walk, and go up and down stairs - even in the process of sitting down and standing back up! Get curious about how you can redirect your ingrained anchor to better support ease of movement.
As with everything in yoga practice, it isn’t about what you’re doing so much as what you’re feeling. Seek the feeling of anchoring and notice how your movement patterns change!