Set up with two blocks in a stair step orientation (one higher than the next) and angle a bolster vertically from the floor over the blocks. Sit on the floor just in front of the bottom edge of the bolster and lay back allowing for as much of the spine to be supported as possible. Legs can be bent or straight, whatever is most comfortable. When in doubt, aim for symmetry over asymmetry (pictured here with feet together, knees wide in Baddha Konasana Bound Angle Pose). Let arms relax off to the side and stay for 5-10 minutes.

Tips and Modifications:  

• No bolster? You can roll up a blanket and use that beneath the spine, or just use the two blocks - highest one under the head and the lower one beneath the shoulder blades. 
• Low back or neck feel congested? Place a blanket under the sit bones to help lengthen the low back or under the base of the skull to help lengthen the neck. 
• Chest feeling overstretched? Place blankets under the forearms to create arm rests.
• ​Planning on staying a while? Consider an eye pillow to put over the eyes to block out ambient light and a blanket to cover the body. When you aren't moving it can be surprising how quickly the body cools down. When the body is cold, it's very hard to relax. 

Note: this pose can be used in place of a more traditional Savasana for those who do not want to lay flat on their back because of things like pregnancy, reflux, or stuffy nose/post nasal drip. This is also a shape that can help if falling asleep/snoring is an issue during Savasana. 

Bolster Twist: 

Lay bolster down horizontally and place belly button down on top of bolster. Head can be supported by stacked hands (as shown in photo), supported by block or blanket or turned onto one cheek​ (aim to switch to other side of the face about halfway through the hold to even out the sides of the neck). Legs stretch out and relax. Stay 2-5 minutes.  

​Tips and Modifications:  

• No bolster? You can roll up a blanket and use that beneath the belly.
• Bolster placement can move slightly up or down anywhere onto the belly as low as the hip crease, try moving the bolster around to find what feels best.  

​
Supported Bridge:

Lay the bolster down horizontally and sit on the front edge of the bolster with knees bent and feet on the floor. Slowly "crab-walk" the hands to the floor behind the bolster gently guiding the elbows, shoulders and head to the floor behind the bolster. Press down into the feet to lift the hips and adjust the bolster underneath the sacrum (a flat-ish triangular shaped set of fused vertebrae at the base of the spine, just above the tailbone.) Knees can stay bent or straighten out along the floor. Stay 2-5 minutes. 

Tips and Modifications:  

• Low back discomfort? Keep both knees bent or try only straightening one knee out at a time. Also putting a blanket under the sacrum so the low back is lower to the floor can help.
• No bolster? You can roll up a blanket or a block and use that beneath the sacrum.  

​
​Savasana: 

Laying on the floor place bolster horizontally beneath the knees. Let the body get heavy and be supported by the floor, and rest. Stay for 5-20 minutes. 

Tips and Modifications:  

• Feet pushing into floor in an uncomfortable way? Put blocks under the bolster to elevate. 
• Back of neck congested? Place blanket under head. 
• ​Planning on staying a while? Consider an eye pillow to put over the eyes to block out ambient light and a blanket to cover the body. When you aren't moving it can be surprising how quickly the body cools down. When the body is cold, it's very hard to relax. 

                                                                      -xxx-

While the shoulder is the most mobile joint in the body, the realities of everyday life can cause the surrounding muscles to become stiff and painful. Whether it’s due to the hunch over your computer, phone, steering wheel, or garden - most of the everyday shoulder movement is minimal and can create patterns of tightness where we want to be open (like in the chest) and weakness where we want to be strong (like between the shoulder blades). To bring back happy and healthy shoulders, and following along with my “Around the World” series, here is my mini sequence for “around the world for the shoulders.” Enjoy! ​

​Cow/Cat: 

Starting on all fours, place the hands beneath the shoulders and the knees beneath the hips. Spread the fingers and root down into every knuckle and fingertip. Cow: On an inhale pull the chest forward and up, allow the belly to drop as the crown of the head and tail lightly tilt up. Cat: On an exhale push down into the earth and round the spine towards the sky, crown of the head and tail drop towards the earth. Repeat on the breath. Work to keep the hips over the knees and the shoulders over the wrists. On the inhaled cow position the shoulder blades squeeze in and up towards the front body (retraction) and on the exhaled cat position the shoulder blades spread away from the spine opening the back chest (protraction). ​These movements can help to create space along the chest, between the shoulder blades, and down the whole length of the front and back torso. Repeat for 30 seconds to 2 minutes. 

​All Fours Backstroke: 

Starting on all fours place the hands beneath the shoulders and the knees beneath the hips. Spread the fingers and root down into every knuckle and fingertip. Reach the right arm out and up towards the sky - keeping both arms straight begin to backstroke the right arm towards the back of the mat, across the floor, forward and back up - drawing a large circle. Work to move through this slowly enough to notice where there might be tightness and try to pause for an extra beat in those spots.This movement brings the shoulder blade up and down the back, when the lifted arm is reaching towards the front of the room the shoulder blade lifts and "wings" off the upper back in upward rotation and as the top arm circles around and back the shoulder blade moves into the midline and down towards downward rotation. This movement also can create space along the sides of the neck, the front of the chest, the top of the shoulder, and between the shoulder blades. Repeat several times and then switch sides. ​​
​
All Fours Twist: 

Starting on all fours place the hands beneath the shoulders and the knees beneath the hips. Spread the fingers and root down into every knuckle and fingertip. Reach the right arm out and up towards the sky and on an exhale thread the right arm across the floor underneath the left armpit. Try to get as much of the right arm, from the shoulder to the fingertips, on the floor the right side of the head comes to the floor (or a blanket) and keep the hips more or less over the knees. Left hand can adjust to push the floor away. This pose, like cat pose - protracts the bottom arm's shoulder blade, creating space in the upper back. The top arm pushing the floor away helps facilitate chest opening (and deepens the protraction of the bottom arm's shoulder blade) as well as increases the spinal twist. Twisting is also one of the most potent ways to stretch the muscles along the length of the spine. Hold for 1-2 minutes then unravel to switch sides. ​

Anahatasana (Heart Melting Pose): 

Start lying belly down on the ground. Stretch the right arm to the right at about 90 degrees to the body palm down. Gradually, use the left arm push the left side of the body to roll over onto the right side of the body (the right arm will now be directly behind the body still at 90 degrees.) Let the head relax to the floor, and if it doesn't, use a blanket for support. Legs could bend towards the chest, like a fetal position to help hold the torso in this position, or the bottom leg could stay straight while the top leg steps to the floor behind the bottom leg, knee bent (as pictured). No need to roll all of the way over. This shape can be a quite potent chest opener even just in it’s starting position so proceed slowly, be sure the breath is moving freely and give your body time to give feedback on the shape before moving deeper. ​

Give these poses a go and let me know how your shoulders feel! 

-xxx-

Supta Padangustasana 3 (Supine Hand to Big Toe Pose 3):





​​
​* I know, I know - why go from  Supta 1 to Supta 3, and not chronologically to 2? In this variation of Supta 3, it’s actually a closer segue! This pose moves the opening to the outer hamstring, IT band and glute muscles.

Coming from Suptapadangustasana 1, pass both ends of the strap into the left hand and direct the right leg about 10 inches to the left. If you pictured your right leg on a clock-face, it’s going from your 12 O’Clock to your 10 O’Clock. It should be just enough of an angle that the right hip feels light on the floor, but not so light that it has lifted off of the floor and begun to twist over the left hip. Pull back on the pinkie toe side of the foot a bit more vigorously, as it will want to sickle away from the torso more than the big toe will. While keeping the right leg straight, direct the right hip towards the left heel and gradually encourage the right foot towards the left armpit. Stay 1-2 minutes.
​
​Other ways to do this pose:

• Feeling pinching in the lifted leg's hip? Use free hand to lightly traction lifted thigh away from hip crease. 

Figure 4:


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​





​* This shape brings the opening back towards the outer hips, but usually a bit deeper into the back of the glutes/external rotators than Suptapadangustasana 3. This version is particularly useful for those with knee issues or low back injury/disfunction.

From Suptapadangustasana 2, Draw right leg into midline and bend the left knee, stepping the left foot to the floor. Cross right ankle (just above the foot) over the left thigh. Right hand and arm thread in between the two thighs, left hand wraps around the left thigh and hands clasp behind left thigh or left shin. Use the clasped hands to pull the left leg closer to the left shoulder and resist the right knee away from the right shoulder. Stay 1-2 minutes.

Other ways to do this pose:

• Hands not connecting? Use the strap between the hands to make the arms longer.
• Head tilting back so chin is popped towards the ceiling? Put a blanket or towel under the head so that the chin can drop slightly down towards the chest.
• Arms getting tired? Set up about shin distance away from a wall, cross right ankle over left thigh then step left foot onto wall for support AND/OR have a block or two under the left foot for similar support with less intensity.

Supported Bridge:

​
* My students have heard me say this a thousand times: This is the MVP “most valuable pose” these days in my book. With the amount of sitting inherent in daily life, plus all of the propulsion we do (walking, running, cycling) the fronts of the hips are usually severely tight and there are very few passive positions that allow for lengthening these tight areas. Supported bridge is just the ticket! This is probably the pose that I use and give as homework the most right now.

With a block nearby, set up laying on the floor, both knees bent. Feet and knees about as wide as the hips. Push into the feet to lift the hips and slide the block under the sacrum (a flat-ish triangular shaped set of fused vertebrae at the base of the spine, just above the tailbone.) Both knees can stay bent, or one leg can straighten and drop down towards the floor. To deepen perhaps the other leg bends and pulls back towards the torso. It is possible to straighten both legs in this pose, but be very mindful of the low back as it can get compressed in this position. Stay 1-2 minutes each side.

Other ways to do this pose:

• Low Back Tender? Try a lower height or softer support under the sacrum, like a rolled up blanket or towel. Keeping both knees bent may also help to keep the lower back happy in this pose.

Repeat all poses on the left side and let me know how your journey around the world with your hips went! 

Three years ago today I got a call saying my father was dying. He was half a world away in Jakarta, and dying. I almost didn’t answer the phone… my father never called me from Jakarta, only messaged. But I did, I answered the phone. And my father was dying. My mind raced as I tried to make sense of the information coming my way - there is nothing more they could do. “There’s no time for you to come here. He might be able to hear you… say your goodbye. We’ll let you know when he’s gone”.

This all happened in the entryway of the high-end gym where I taught yoga. People walking by to get their smoothies recoiled from my tears. This was sudden, I had phone calls to make. I had to get subs for my evening classes. I had to inform my partner. I had to inform my family.

Fifteen minutes later I was on the T on my way home and got a text saying he had passed, “I’m sorry for your loss.” My jacket was zipped all the way to the top, scarf wrapped around my quivering face, sunglasses on to spare those around me the tears spilling down my face. My partner, somehow managed to find me on the T (he has a knack for such things). He sat next to me and scooped me into his arms as I weeped.

The next several days were a blur of grief, anger, and confusion. My father was a half a world away, there was nothing I could do. I make a living teaching yoga. If I don’t teach, I don’t get paid. My father died on a Wednesday (US time, early Thursday in Jakarta), I was back teaching yoga on Saturday. While the studio owner, managers, and many teachers knew about my loss, I chose not to say anything about losing my father to my students. I am their teacher. It’s not their job to take care of me. Honestly, teaching helped. Listening to and watching my students move and breathe allowed me to be the version of myself who hadn’t just lost her father. While I was teaching I got to be the version of myself who is an adept and skillful teacher, someone who is in service of those in front of her. That is until their resting pose, Savasana. The moment I settled my class into Savasana, to be with themselves, I was forced to be with myself. To recognize and sit with my still raw, broken and wounded self. Tears freely streamed down my face.

The following week I returned back to my teacher’s class to practice. When I was focused on aligning my bones and using my muscles in an effective and efficient manner, I felt adept and skillful. I felt relief from my circumstances. I was feeling my body move and breathe, I was in the present moment. I was no longer the version of myself deep in grief. Then Savasana. The moment I settled into stillness and closed my eyes, my chest began to hurt, and tears freely streamed down my face.

The purpose of a yoga asana practice is to create a vessel that is strong and supple. A vessel that can be resilient and functional in everyday life. A vessel that eventually can be still with itself in whatever state it is in, and abide in that stillness. What I learned three years ago was that while my teaching and yoga practice gave me space and respite from my grief, it also gave me the strength to then move through my grief. To be resilient and to abide in my given circumstances.

                                                                                xxx
To learn more about my father, Michael N. Heffernan - listen to a piece WBUR's Remembrance Project did on him the Spring after he died, here. 

 When I was a freshman, or maybe a sophomore in High School, I remember being in one of my Language Arts classes with my favorite teacher, Norm Vandal. Norm was the type of teacher that lulled students into a sense of security by entertaining the class. He recounted crazy stories, like the one about the time he got stuck on his tin roof butt-naked in the middle of summer and had to figure out how to safely slide his way down before his neighbor drove by. His storytelling was so vivid and full of tension, the entire class would be in hysterics. Just when we thought we were getting away with murder by listening to a funny story during class time, he would masterfully weave his story back into a lesson. Like a chef sneaking vegetables into mac & cheese, he was teaching us without us realizing he was teaching us. He was truly masterful. 
On the day in question, I cannot remember what book we were talking about, but I do remember the look in Norm’s eye when he asked for a volunteer.  His eyes caught mine—he smirked knowingly. This wasn’t the first time this had happened (nor would it be the last) if I didn’t raise my hand, he would “volunteer” me anyway. So, I played along. He asked me to stand. I did. Then with a flick of his hand he said “Go.” 
I puzzled… “…go?” 
“Go.” He repeated. 
“…” I blushed - “But… where?” 
“HA! There you see?!” He bellowed gleefully. “Why didn’t you just go? Why do we need the answer—why can’t we learn to love the questions?”
At some point during his lecture that followed, I curled my way back into my seat. Despite my momentary embarrassment, for not getting it *right,* what Norm said that day stuck with me. “Learn to love the questions,” he said. “They are so much more interesting than the answers! Like balancing on one leg - questions are alive and full of possibility… answers are stagnant, finite, even boring.” 
But… I liked having the answers. Up until that day, having the answers worked pretty darn well for me, I was a good student, I made good grades, I relished in having an answer and in getting that answer *right* - what was so wrong with having the answers anyway, what’s so bad about being boring?
But like many a good lesson, “learning to love the questions” kept coming back. As I grew and eventually became a yoga teacher, I found myself gravitating back to that linear way of thinking: there is a *right* way to practice and a *right* way to teach, and I wanted, even needed, to be *right.* To be the best. Now, several years and thousands of hours of teaching later, I realize that Norm was right all along. Answers, while comforting, are not only boring but inadequate. Yoga is the practice of being in the present moment, and the only truth about the present moment is that it is always changing. So we as yoga teachers and as yoga practitioners need to be willing to inquire within to keep up with that ever-changing state of being. Instead of being caught up in what is right and what is wrong, can we learn to love the questions, to embrace the questions: 

• How does this make me feel? 
• What is my body craving? 
• How is my breath? 
• How can I better satiate this body in this moment?
• What makes me feel alive? complete? nourished? 

On any given day those answers can and will be different, so what if we chose to learn to love the questions? 
                                                                            xxx

* This blog post was originally written for Down Under School of Yoga as part of their Voices: Path of a Teacher Series. 
 

Earlier this week I posted a quote from renowned yoga teacher Donna Farhi - “an authentic yoga practice is anything that nourishes an individual so that they can truly befriend themselves.” And I have to be honest, my yoga practice does nourish me - it makes me feel whole and full but I am afraid to admit that I am still not quite there on befriending my body. 
​
So, real talk time: As a yoga teacher, I tend to be pretty tight lipped about my private life. This blog has been mostly focused on asana, technique and philosophy. But lately, I’ve been doing a lot of self inquiry, and as I am always on a quest to be more fully me in my teaching… I think it might be time to open up a bit and allow for some public vulnerability. 

I don’t want to fight with myself anymore. I don’t want to shame my body anymore. Ever since I hit puberty, I have spent so much time and energy quietly worrying about my body, its size, the size I wish it was, and the things I should be doing to make my body be the way I want it to be. All the while I claim to be “body positive.” I don’t talk about getting a “bikini body” in my yoga classes, I cheer on friends and strangers alike who are outwardly accepting of their bodies, even enjoying their bodies just as they are. I like their photos, share their articles and say to myself, “How wonderful! That’s so awesome for them!” I have had many a conversation with students who come to me with their own hangups about their physical body, and I with compassion, explain that it’s not about the shape or size of the body but what it is capable of, what makes you feel alive and full and happy that matters. 

I was a fraud. I was talking the talk, but not walking the walk. I was faking it, til I made it. While I believed all of these things, I only believed in all of these things for other people… I could never be like that. I could never be happy with the way I look until my waist got down to a certain number or my weight dropped back to my lowest adult weight (which by the way I only got there twice, once after my first major breakup and I couldn’t eat without crying and the second time was when I was going to the gym 5 days a week and on a heavily restrictive diet). I had been asking others to befriend their bodies when I myself had not done so myself. 

Although I am not over-weight or unhealthy, I told myself that I don’t belong because I don’t into fit the stereotypical “yoga teacher” mold, I convinced myself that if only I were smaller I’d have more students come to my classes, that it was normal to skip meals and weigh myself everyday and to punish myself by starving or running on the elliptical if the numbers on the scale didn’t adjust to my liking. Publicly I had been teaching my students about self-acceptance, self-care and self-love while internally I had been waging a long held war. 

A common theme in my teaching comes from the Bhagavad Gita: “you have a right to perform your prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to the fruits of your actions.” I often paraphrase this idea in my teaching and ask my students to be interested in the actions behind the pose they are doing rather than seduced by the outer shape of the pose. Now, I am trying to take a page our of my own book and am asking myself - can I be more interested in actions of my body, what makes it feel good, how it wants to move, what food fuels it in a pleasing and effective way? 

I know this is just one step on my road towards less disordered thinking towards my body (I am an imperfect human after all) but just like yoga, it will have to be a practice. So, here’s my pledge to you and more importantly to myself - I am going to practice yoga in the most authentic way I can and work to be more interested in nourishing and befriending my body just as it is and to be less interested in its outer shape.   

ps. If you are struggling with some of these same thoughts and feelings, this book did a lot to help me as I've been working through these issues: 
Body of Truth: How Science, History, and Culture Drive Our Obsession with Weight-- and What We Can Do about It

As I've written about before, the linking of Plank, Chaturanga, Upward Facing Dog and Downward Facing Dog together is a complex series of poses that Flow practitioners do hundreds if not thousands of times over the lifetime of their practice.  The last two blog posts have focused on the specificity of Upward Dog and Chaturanga individually, today I'm writing about the transition between the two, which can be just as culpable for injuries if practiced haphazardly as either pose on it's own.  

The goal in this transition is to catch the shoulders at elbow height in Chaturanga, keep the shoulders and elbows absolutely stable as the feet move, nothing else until the feet are set for Upward Dog.  This allows for the 90 degree angle required of Chaturanga to transition to the 180 degree angle that Upward Facing Dog requires without over stressing the lower back or the rotator cuff muscles.  

The easiest way to start to learn this transition is to involve our handy-dandy blocks and to utilize the knees during the transition.  

Have your blocks set up on the highest height, shoulder width distance apart just in front of the hands.  Set yourself up in plank, fingertips about an inch away from the blocks and lower yourself down into Chaturanga.  Keep your pelvis lifted and tailbone heavy as you tap your knees to the floor, lift the feet, point the toes and then lift back up into Upward Dog by straightening the elbows and lifting knees and thighs off the floor.  Remember this transition is about moving the feet and keeping everything else about your Plank/Chaturanga as stable and still as possible until you're ready to move to Upward Facing Dog.  Take note of your blocks - did they wiggle or fall over during your transition?  Try to keep them as still as possible! 

Next step would be to continue using the blocks, to be sure the shoulders and elbows are taken care of in Chaturanga, but this time keep the legs lifted and straight.  This transition requires a LOT more dexterity in the feet.  This dexterity and intelligence starts with the correct foot position in plank.  Make sure the ball of the foot is on the floor (you'll know the ball of the foot is on the floor if you are able to lift and spread your toes apart while in plank).  If you aren't on the balls of your feet, you won't have enough power in your legs to push your feet back from the curled position into the pointed toe position.  When you land in Chaturanga, push backwards through the balls of your feet until you come towards your toes, then flip over onto the tops of your feet, inhale up into Upward Facing Dog.  On the exhale lift the hips and drag the feet in towards the hands flipping back over the toes into Downward Facing Dog.  

Here's an overhead view of the foot transition - note the feet are hip distance apart but the outer ankles stay hugged into the midline throughout (no sickling). 

A few notes about learning this transition - 

• it's easiest to start on a hardwood or tile floor wearing socks, practice this transition back and forth several times so your feet/ankles get used to the feeling and you begin to build up some muscle memory.  It is normal to have some cramping in the feet and/or exhaustion in the feet when you are starting to condition them to do this work.  Take breaks but keep at it, practice and all is coming! 
• if your feet sickle (bow out away from the midline) you are at risk of injuring the tendon that runs on the outer border of the ankle. Try this transition with a hips distance wide (lowest height, medium width) block between the inner borders of the feet from Plank through to Downward Dog and try to keep the held in without dropping it the entire way. 
• your mat matters.  If it's too thin or sticky you will have a very hard time (thin mats curl up as you pull the feet in, very sticky mats fight you every step of the way).  I've tried a LOT of mats over the years and my favorite one for this transition, for all around use, and happens to be what I'm using in these videos is the Manduka Pro Lite. Full disclosure, I am an Ambassador for Manduka, but even if I wasn't, I would still recommend this mat.  I've had it for seven years (long before I've been an Ambassador) and it's still serving me well.  
• last note, everyone's skeleton is different and might affect whether or not this transition makes sense. I have heard that those with "goddess feet" (a second toe that is longer than the big toe) find this transition painful, and sometimes impossible to do.  Some practitioners get over it, and are able to flip the feet despite this skeletal difference, others decide to forgo this transition and simply tap the knees down and point both feet simultaneously.  Remember it's not about the pose (or the transition) necessarily, it's about being skillful in your choice to practice what makes sense and leave out what doesn't.  

Here's the transition in full, no props, just me and my mat. 

Happy transitioning yogis! 

                                                       -xxx-

Plank: (cat while helpful, not necessary) Place the hands shoulder width distance apart, fingers spread open with every finger and knuckle joint planted evenly.  Align shoulders slightly ahead of the wrist creases (about half an inch).  Plant down through the balls of each foot and reach back through the heels strongly (ball of the foot is the protrusion just above the arch of the foot and below the toes).  Lift through the hips and thighs as you drop the tail bone heavily between the legs.  

Chaturanga is plank but with the elbows squeezed into the midline and bent to a 90 degree angle.  For many students the strength this pose requires eludes them and things start to go south.  Rather than suffering through a haphazard and potentially injurious Chaturanga, here are a few ways to modify this powerhouse of a pose.  These modifications will help you build strength in a measured way without inadvertently injuring yourself in the process.  ​

​



​Straight legs with blocks: Set up in plank with two yoga blocks on the highest height shoulder width distance apart and about an inch in front of your hands.  Align the shoulders ahead of the wrists about a half an inch and firmly plant the balls of the feet into the floor.  Thighs lift so that the hips are about as high as the shoulders but drop the tailbone heavily between the legs so the low belly feels taut.  Keep the actions of the thighs, feet and tailbone as you exhale bend the elbows.  Squeeze the elbows in towards the midline of the body, so the upper arms graze your sides.  Have the blocks catch you at elbow height.  All of the actions in the thighs, feet and tailbone should be the same as when you were in plank.  

PS. If your pelvis hits the floor by the time your shoulders hit the blocks, you probably need to walk your feet a little closer to your hands and really commit to the thigh lifting, heel reaching back actions as you are lowering. 

If your shoulders hit the blocks but your butt got left up where it started in plank, usually you need to drop the tailbone more and think of lowering your body as one straight line rather than "diving" forward with just the shoulders and chest.  ​​

Once you've gotten the hang of practicing with blocks you can try moving them off to the sides of your mat so you can still see them as you're lowering but they won't be there to actually catch you, allowing you to hone your proprioception so you can begin to consistently catch yourself in Chaturanga. 

Happy Chaturanga-ing!!! 

xxx

Cobra - Start laying on your belly, big toes pointing straight back.  Place your hands beneath your shoulders and squeeze your elbows in towards the midline of your body.  Root down the tops of the feet and start to push the hands into the floor peeling the front of the torso away from the floor.  Keep the elbows into the midline and roll the heads of the upper arms back and down away from the ears.  Hips and thighs maintain on the floor.

PS. Cobra tends to be a stand alone backbend as opposed to one you "flow" through like Low Cobra or Up Dog.  Mainly because it requires a different hand/shoulder alignment than the other backbends so it doesn't really lend itself to following Chaturanga.   


​                                                          xxx