Mind-Body Ritual #11: Lordotic Molding

Mind-Body Ritual #11
Lordotic Molding
Position
Lying on bed, padded mat, yoga mat or floor (least intense > most intense).
Intention
Surrender. Allow stagnated energy to flow from the front body.
"I surrender to the experiences of my life."
Breathing
INHALE through the nose
EXHALE through the nose
Practice
Find a medium-sized, thin towel and a larger, thicker towel.
Fold them both into thirds (or half) longways.
Roll them up like a sleeping bag, as tight as you can make them.
Use rubber bands to stabilize each end of each rolled towel (4 rubber bands).
Find an open, peaceful area on a bed, padded mat, yoga mat, or floor.
You will need to experiment with surface and towel thickness to find appropriate intensity of the lordotic molding experience. It should not hurt, it should feel like a stretch with a subtle ache initially that improves over time.
Sit and align thicker rolled towel directly behind your low back so that when you lay back, the towel is placed midway between your hip bones and rib bones (ideally somewhere between L3 or L2 region of lumbar spine).
Practice laying backwards onto the first thick towel and finding the optimal positioning and towel thickness. You may need to roll a different towel or partially unroll. Whatever you do, ensure that the low-back towel feels like a good passive stretch that you can relax into.
Next, place the medium, thin rolled towel underneath your lower neck.
Experiment with the positioning and towel thickness once again to find a nice passive stretch that feels good.
Now you should be laying directly flat, with the thick low back towel roll and the thin lower neck towel roll placed beneath your spine.
You can either keep knees bent or elongate the legs to increase the stretch in the low back.
You can place hands on belly and breath. You can also spread the arms out to the sides with the palms upwards to increase the stretch through the chest.
Breath calmly and intentionally to open up the energy centers on the front of the body, removing blockages from the flow.
Continue this practice for one minute all the way to 20 minutes maximum.
Start small and listen to your body, increasing the length of time over the course of days or weeks to build to 20 minutes.
It is best to perform this mind-body ritual after the body is already warmed up or at the end of the day.
Do not push through pain or discomfort, listen to your body to find proper towel roll thickness, positioning, and environment that enables you to be passive. This is going to take some experimentation, listen to your body.
When practice is complete, slowly roll to your side first, rest there for a few seconds, and then slowly come up.
Lordotic molding enables the compressed energy in the discs and ligamentous tissue to be passively stretched and released. With conscious breathing, this practice can be utilized as its own form of passive meditation. Surrender to the healing waves of life force that want to course through your elongated body.