Linea Alba with Katie: Yoga Loka, Reno, Nevada, December 26, 2015

The day after Christmas, when I went to sleep about 2AM, I awoke by purposeful alarm at 5:30 AM to go to a yoga class in Reno. The snowy drive was dark and beautiful, and lit by a full moon. In spite of no sleep and slick roads I felt to happy. I'm so in love with yoga.

I got to practice with one of my hometown favorites, Katie Louvat. Among many alignment suggestions, one stood out... the linea alba.

Extending from the sternum to the pubic bone, the linea alba is made up of connective tissue of collagen and elastin fibers rather than muscle fibers and is white in color.    This line is classified as connective tissue both for its structure and its function. It is made up of the same fibers as tendons, which hold muscle to bone, and ligaments which hold bone to bone. It functions to unite the muscles of the abdominal wall. During pregnancy, this line changes from white to dark. All I can say about that is wow..how cool.

The "white line", which on some folks is actually visible, for most is invisible, which is the more interesting aspect to me. The practices of yoga help make the invisible visible, the subtle more obvious, our sacred self more apparent.

I've been playing with the linea alba in all my poses since I was introduced to her by Katie. Planks and thunderbolt become super easy and forward fold are deeper and twists are more satisfying. I'm reminded again how the practices of yoga help me see more clearly the sat chit ananda that the Upanishads speak of. When I do thing my own way, no matter how practiced and no matter how learned can never reveal the depths of Yoga.

Namaste.