Ground Your Energy with Two Polarity Therapy Squats, a 1 1/2 minute stretching practice

Squats are grounding, open the hips, enhance energy, can ease back pain, and improve elimination. They are an honored mode of resting and stretching around the world. Two options for squatting are demonstrated here by Amadea Morningstar, MA, RPE, RYT, author of The Ayurvedic Guide to Polarity Therapy with participant Miguel Valencia. They are not recommended for people with knee injuries. If you’d like to play with this one, yet haven’t squatted for years, find a heavy piece of furniture that you can hold on to as you work your way down. Two legs of a heavy table work well – nothing with wheels! If you put a rolled up rug or books under your heels, this also makes the stretch easier. Be with this pose as long as is comfortable for you – a few seconds or 5 – 10 minutes. In his development of Polarity Therapy, Dr. Randolph Stone created a method of movement called Polarity Stretching Postures, described in Dr. Stone’s book, Health Building: the Conscious Art of Living Well. The squat was a favorite of his for health. Another great resource about the Polarity stretches is John Chitty and Mary Louise Muller’s Energy Exercises: Easy Exercises for Health & Vitality. It can be accessed at: www.energyschool.com/cses-published-materials