The Octopus

1/8/23

Happy Sunday folks!

I hope you had a lovely week. I know that I had a nice upswing in my healthy habits with the start of the New Year, and I've also seen those habits falter quickly. Can anyone relate?

(In case you're curious, my resolution this year was "no dessert inside the house." I made it through the first week, but I'll keep you posted on how it goes.)

I had a really nice moment with a student this week at one of my in-person classes in Hendersonville. After class, she came up to me to share something exciting she'd felt in her practice. The background is that she had shoulder repair surgery a few years back, and the surgeon told her she'd never have a normal shoulder again. 

In our talk, she remarked how puzzled she was about something. When the practice started, we had hands clasped behind the head while lying on the back. This position brought her shoulder restriction clearly to the surface. Tingling, stretching, taught resistance... a generally uncomfortable but manageable cluster of sensations.

After that opening pose, we came up to sitting and did hip and foot focused work for the rest of class. When we returned to the opening position again to end our class, her shoulder sensations were 100% gone. Why? Why would working on her hips and feet change the sensations in her shoulder? This was her question for me.

This is not a rare tale. It's actually a beautiful example of something very simple--the octopus!

Right now, you're probably thinking, "Ok, Tucker has finally lost it!" Please allow me to elaborate. The octopus is a metaphor I learned from my teacher to describe how restrictions show up in one area but are related to another. Imagine the head of an octopus in her shoulder where the surgery was performed and the tentacles reaching throughout her system to affect the other parts (like the hips and feet). 

Even better yet, imagine that the octopus head is centered in the feet--an injury from childhood or a longterm issue caused by standing with the hip cocked to one side for example. The tentacles of the octopus grew over time throughout her system until they wound their way around her shoulder and pulled tight. Then she had an injury that led to her aforementioned surgery.

So when we turned our work to the hips and feet in class, it very well could have addressed the root issue that caused the shoulder issue in the first place. If this makes sense or if you feel a bit lost, either way check out this week's Tucker Talks where I break this concept down a bit further —> https://vimeo.com/791224319/50fe9da734

As always, I hope you know that if you ever have any questions or concerns about your practice, my teaching schedule, how to sign up for classes, or using your class pass, you can reach out to me any time at info@tuckeryoga.com.