Prep for Astavakrasana

Preparing for Astavakrasana with Side Angle Pose

Why you should never do Side Angle Pose with your elbow on your knee.

I am not a fan of doing Side Angle Pose with your elbow on your knee. I prefer putting your hand on the floor or on a block. There are always exceptions and I understand that for some people that may be the best variation.

See how the lower shoulder is collapsed as I rest my weight into that elbow instead of lifting up off it?

However, the primary reason I don’t recommend the bent elbow version of this pose is because when students put their elbow on their knee in Side Angle, there is a tendency to collapse into that bottom shoulder.

They can be made aware of that and they can learn to press their elbow into their knee and open the chest and collar bone on that lower side, but that action is often not taught. It is much more natural to press down into the bottom hand when it is on the floor or on a block. But still, that action of opening the bottom chest needs to be demonstrated and taught.

If you are doing a gentle yoga class and you are just moving through some basic poses, then there might not be a reason to go any deeper into Side Angle Pose than elbow to knee. But if you are doing a more progressive form of yoga where poses build on each other, then it is important to see and use Side Angle Pose as a gateway to more complex asanas.

Let’s take Astavakrasana, for example. In order to be able to approach this arm balance, you will need to develop the flexibility to get your shoulder under your bent knee.  The entry into Astavakrasana comes from a pose called Eka Hasta Bhujasana which looks like this:

Eka Hasta Bhujasana, which means One Arm Leg Press Pose. You can see that I have to hook one of my legs over my shoulder.

This work begins in Side Angle pose where we work to get the bottom hand to the floor outside of the bent knee.

Notice the relationship of the knee and the shoulder. This is considered the full pose with the bottom hand on the floor.

When you take your hand to the floor, make sure that you do not allow your front thigh to drop below horizontal. Keep from doing this by pressing down on the outer edge of the back foot and lifting the inner back thigh away from the floor.

In the beginning, your hand may be on the tall side of a block, which is about the same height you would be in if you had your elbow on your knee.

Compare the height of the shoulder to the knee in this version of the pose with the picture of me with my elbow on my knee below. They appear to be practically at the same height. If the elbow rests on the knee, there is too big of a change to go from there to hand on the floor. But with your hand on the tall block, it is a gradual process of stretching to get the hand to the middle level of the block, to the lower level of the block and to finally getting the hand to the floor.

Performing this pose by placing the elbow on the knee prevents you from exploring your capacity to go deeper over time. This is a modification of Side Angle Pose. It is not the full pose.

But over time, you lower the block to its medium height and then to its lowest height until you can finally you put the hand on the floor.

The shoulder is getting lower as the flexibility in the hip increases.

If you look at the relationship of the shoulder and the knee full Side Angle Pose, you can see that they get very close together when you can get your hand to the floor.

The shoulder is getting even close to the knee.

No matter what stage you find yourself in Side Angle Pose remember to maintain the geometry of a straight line form back foot to top hand, front thigh parallel to the floor and front shin perpendicular to the floor.

If you are looking to improve your flexibility and range of motion then you can see why you would want to work towards the full version of Side Angle Pose. It is this flexibility that is necessary to do poses like Astavakrasana.

Astavakrasana, or Eight Crooked Places Pose.

Other postures that build on the flexibility of Side Angle Pose include: binding in Side Angle Pose, Bird of Paradise, Lizard Lunge, Revolved Side Angle Pose, Crow, Tortoise, Seated Wide Leg Forward Fold, Revolved Seated Tree and probably others that aren’t coming to mind right now.

Wide Legged Forward Fold to Tripod Headstand (Prasarita Padottanasana to Sirsasana II)

The transition from one pose to another requires the ability to do the two postures individually.  It is also important to understand how the actions of one pose are developed and then get carried on to the next.  There is a progression in learning yoga poses. 

Wide Legged Forward Fold is typically learned beforeinversions because it gets the head lower than the heart preparing the body forinverting.  The placement of the head andhands in Prasarita Padottanasana sets the foundation for Headstand II.  A couple of important points in this standingpose are the straightness of the legs due to the engagement of the quadricepsand the ability to hinge at the hips and elongate the trunk to get the top ofthe head towards the floor. 

The Straightness of the Legs.

This is often a point of confusion for students who havebeen taught to soften their knees in standing poses.  This may be a good cue for gentle yogaclasses where the aim is to breathe and move and where the poses are notbuilding upon each other but are done for their own sake.  But, if you are interested in a progressivepractice that teaches you to do more complex poses, then the basics need to belearned.  In straight leg poses the legsare meant to be straight, which is not locked out and hyper-extended – that isa different problem!  In order tostraighten the legs, the quadriceps muscles need to be engaged which in turndraws the knee caps up into the thigh. You can tell if your quads are engaged if, when you grab your knee capwith your fingers, you cannot wiggle it from side to side.

If you look at my legs in Prasarita Padottanasana,

Wide-Legged Forward Fold

in the Wide Legged transition between the Forward Fold and Headstand,

and then in Sirsasana II itself,

there is never a point where my legs are bent, or my knees are “soft”.  This engagement of the legs does two things: it allows me to bend and hinge only at the hip joint and not at the knees and low back, and it keeps my awareness focused on balancing my body parts by knowing where they are and what they are doing in space.  And it allows me to balance!

Try this:  Find abroomstick or a yardstick, dowel or even a baseball bat and place it on yourpalm or the finger tip of one hand and, without gripping it with your fingers,see if you can balance it.  Chances arethat you will be able to, at least for a little while.  Now, imagine that the thing you are balancinghad a joint in the middle that was soft and wiggly.  Would you still be able to balance thestick?  The answer is no, because the toppart would fall in the direction of the bend and you would have no control overit.  Engaging your muscles is exertingcontrol over your body. 

Check out this handstand video clip.  Notice how straight her arms and legs arefrom the forward fold into the handstand. There is only a slight bend in the leg she uses to hop up: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/119908408816084757/

So the first skill we will work on this month is tostraighten and strengthen the legs.  Wewill work on this in Triangle, Pyramid Pose, Warrior III, Half Moon Pose andStanding Hand to Big Toe Pose.

Next week we will work on Tripod Headstand.  Then, before you learn to lift from Wide Legged Forward Fold into Tripod Headstand, you will learn to come down from Tripod Headstand into Wide Legged Forward Fold. First we will do this one leg at a time, without falling out and then with both legs at the same time.  After that, you will be ready to learn to lift up from Prasarita Padottanasana into Sirsasana II. 

Urdhva Dhanurasana

Urdhva means upwardfacing and Dhanurasana means bow.  That would make this pose Upward Facing Bow Pose.  However, it is more commonly called Wheel (even though the Sanskrit word for wheel is Chakra – go figure).  Regardless of what we call this pose, it is a big back bend. 

To prepare for Urdhva Dhanurasana we need to open our shoulders, upper back, front of the hips and front of the thighs.  If these parts of the body aren’t open enough, we might feel pain in our low backs, wrists or neck.  The hips and shoulders are the most moveable parts of the body.  But, if they don't have their optimum range of movement, then the wrists, elbows, neck, knees, ankles and low back can take the strain because they are often asked to move more than they should.

Often students will ask me how they can stretch their wrists because that’s where they feel the most pain when they do Wheel. Often the site of the pain is not the cause of the pain and this is true with the wrists in Wheel.  If you are feeling pain in your wrists during Wheel, or other poses where the hands are part of the foundation, the reason for the pain is most likely because of restricted movement in your shoulders.

This month, we will explore opening your shoulders, and hips as we work on Wheel.  You’ll learn to recognize where you are stuck and where you should spend some time in your home practice to improve your ability to do Urdhva Dhanurasana.

Here are some exercises to do for your yoga homework to improve your Wheel.

Are your shoulders tight? Do your wrists hurt when you do Wheel?

Set up for Wheel with your head and forearms touching the wall.  When you come up into Wheel this way, it gives you a sense of direction. The idea is to move your chest towards the wall. If your chest is far from the wall, then your wrists will be bent at an acute angle. (Your wrists are not meant to be bent at an angle less than 90 degrees!) Have someone take a picture of you in Wheel and see how far your chest is away from the wall. When you look at a picture of yourself in Wheel, you should look more like an upside down "U", and less like an arc of a circle. If your chest is far from the wall and you look more like an arc of a circle, then you need to do some stretches to open up your shoulders.

To improve the flexibility in your shoulders do this stretch everyday:

Cow Face Arms. Extend your right arm straight up to the ceiling. Bend your elbow and pat yourself on your back with your right hand, dropping it down behind you from above. Take your left arm and swing it up behind your back, trying to reach your top hand with your bottom hand. If you cannot connect your fingers together, dangle a belt down from the top hand and grab it with the bottom hand. Do this three times on each side, holding for 10 to 20 seconds each time.

Cow Face Arms with a belt. If your shoulders aren't open enough for Wheel - you will probably need a belt to do this pose.

Are your hips tight? Can you keep your heels on the floor in Wheel?

To improve the flexibility in your hips do this stretcheveryday:

Thigh stretch at the wall.  Slide your left shin up the wall and bring your right foot forward into a lunge position.  Can you get your left knee to the wall with your hips level?  Make sure that your knee is behind your hip and straight down, not in front of your hip and slanting out to the side.  Do this every day, three times each side, holding for 20 to 30 seconds at most on each side. 

Pigeon Thigh Stretch at the Wall. If this is hard to do and be in good alignment, then your hip flexors are probably hard for you to keep your heels down in Wheel.

It would be nice to take a "before" picture at the beginning of the month and an "after" picture at the end to chart our progress. What do you think? Are you in?

This is not your mother's chair yoga

Visvamitrasana with a chair.

Sometimes I've had people walk out of class when I ask them to grab a chair as a prop. But this is not for the kind of chair yoga that most people think of. In the Iyengar style of yoga which I study and practice, a chair is used to help support the body as you open into greater ranges of strength and flexibility. Check out this way of entering into Visvamitrasana using a chair. Elevating the pose off of the ground by using a chair makes the pose that much easier and more accessible. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Three pre-requisites for Visvamitrasana and one modification.

There are three poses that are essential to be able to do well before you attempt Visvamitrasana.  The first one is Triangle with your hand on the floor, the second one is Side Angle Pose with your hand to the floor and the third is Side Plank.Triangle pose is the first pose that students learn that stretches the hamstrings.  At first it is hard to get the hand to the floor, but over time, as your flexibility improves, it may become possible.  However, don’t sacrifice the opening of the chest to get the hand to the floor.The second pose is Side Angle Pose.  While it is not necessary to be able to do Side Angle Pose with your hand on the floor, in order to do Visvamitrasana it is.The third pose that is important is a good strong Side Plank.  Work on your ability to hold Side Plank for a minute.  Make sure that the chest is open in Side Plank the same way it is in Triangle and Side Angle.If Visvamitrasana seems impossible, there is a “Half” version.   This is where you start from a kneeling position.  You can even place the raised foot on a wall for better stability.Here is a sequence for Visvamitrasana.  I will be using elements of this in class this month.

Reclined Hand to Big Toe Pose, leg straight up and out to the side

Seated Side Stretch

Triangle

Side Angle

Bound Side Angle Pose

Gate Pose

Revolved Seated Tree

Side Plank

Half Visvamitrasana

Full Visvamitrasana

Parivrtta Parsva Konasana

Parivrtta means revolved, turned round or back.
Parsva means side or flank.
Kona is an angle.

This is revolved side angle pose. It is a deep twisting posture that forms the foundation of many other twisting poses such as Parsva Bakasana, Side Crow and Eka Pada Koundinyasana I, a twisting arm balance.  As we play with this pose this month, we will see where it leads us.

Parivrtta Parsva Konasana, is related to Side Angle Pose with a twist.  It is a harder pose than Revolved Triangle Pose because of the position of the bent knee.  The bent knee locks the hips in and makes the twist start down low in the back. In Revolved Triangle Pose, the twist is more evenly spread over the length of the spine. It is for this reason that Revolved Side Angle Pose can be therapeutic for the low back.  But, it is also a caution to allow the spine to twist organically and not to try to force the twist.  We will use Revolved Triangle as a prep to come into Revolved Side Angle Pose.

The nature of twisting poses is that they change energy.  If you are feeling stuck and lethargic, twists can help you get unstuck and energize you.  On the other hand if you’re feeling wound up, twists can release energy and calm you down.

The thing about twists, however, is that when we run into difficulty in this pose we literally run into our self. Our own body gets in our way. How do we sit with the energy of that? What does it bring up for us? Does the judge or critic show up? Do we get mad or frustrated with ourselves? Do we try to use our arms for leverage and try to force ourselves into some external, or preconceived idea about ourselves? This is the interesting, inner work of the pose.

Pay attention to your breath while practicing Parivrtta Parsva Konasana.  We generally use and exhalation to come into a twist and an inhalation to come out of one.  But, notice your breath while you are in the pose.  It will be a little more restricted , but can you still breathe easily?

Hanumanasana or Split.

The feature pose this month is Hanumanasana, or a yoga split. The pose is named after Hanuman, a monkey god from the Hindu epic, the Ramayana.  We will be discussing Hanuman’s story as we work on our splits.  Hanuman is a devotee of Prince Rama whose wife, Sita is abducted by the demon king Ravana. Hanuman makes an enormous leap across the Indian Ocean, from the Southeastern tip of India to Sri Lanka, in order to rescue Sita from Ravana. His devotional leap is memorialized in this yoga posture.

Hanuman

It seems that yogis are divided into 2 groups over this pose, those who can do the pose and those who can’t. The first group generally likes it. Not so with the second group. Groans will be heard from those who don’t like it whenever this pose is being practiced in class. Notice I said practiced and not performed. One of the keys to any pose is practicing it, not coveting it and not avoiding it. Hanuman didn’t care how he looked as he stretched his legs to Lanka to rescue Sita. And since he did rescue Sita does it matter whether he took one leap or several?

This first week, in Hanumanasana let’s just take a good look at where we are in the pose. It doesn’t matter if all your split is a runner’s stretch (back knee on the floor and the front leg straight). In fact, you will still be reaping the benefits of the pose as long as you work honestly where you are.  Remember, one of the signs of an advanced practitioner is one who knows how to modify his/her pose.

Stages: Working where you are.

Stages: almost there

According to “Light On Yoga” this pose: …helps to cure sciatica and other defects of the legs. It tones the leg muscles, keeps the legs in condition and if practiced regularly is recommended for runners and sprinters. It relaxes and strengthens the abductor muscles of the thighs.”  Let’s practice this pose together for a month and see what happens.

The Pose of the Month for April 2019

Bakasana

Baka means Crane, although we typicallly call it Crow Pose.  Some students think that Crow is with the arms bent and Crane is with the arms straight.  I've only known it as Crow.  In the beginning it is hard to straighten your arms.  (As you can see in my photo.)

Crow is often one of the first arm balances you learn after Caturanga and Handstand.  “Arm Balances are the perfect poses to practice persistence in the face of challenge, as well as non-attachment to the fruits of your labors.” ( Julie Gudmestad, YJ, July/August 2002.)

Alignment – Skeletal:
How is the body lined up in space?

• The hands are place on the floor shoulder width apart, wrist creases pointing straight ahead.

•  The knees are pressing against the outer arms, high up near the arm pits.

• The back is rounded and is higher than the buttocks.

• The inner edges of the feet are touching.

• The arms will be bent at first and eventually straightened

Actions – Muscular:
What do you do while you are in the pose?

• Press the inner knees against the arms.

• Isometrically squeeze the inner arms towards each other.

• Press the inner edges of the feet together, everting the feet, this will also help with squeezing the knees.

• The belly button is pulled back into the spine, engaging the abs.

• Lift the kidneys towards the ceiling.

• Extend the neck and keep the head as high as possible.

Drishti, (or Focal Point):

• Straight ahead, eyes on the horizon.

Images:

• Feel a cat tilt in your back.

• Inner thighs hold you in pose, this comes from squeezing your inner thighs together and everting the feet.

Modifications:
To lessen for beginners or injuries:

• Malasana is a good indicator of a student’s ability to find this shape and a good warm up for the flexion of the hips required for this arm balance.

• Tripod Headstand is a good place to start for an arm balance.

• Lowering into Caturanga and raising up into High Plank helps build the necessary arm strength for this pose.

• Lolasana, with or without blocks, strengthens the arms and abs for this pose.

• Navasana helps strengthens abs.

• Find the shape of the pose lying on your back. This will enable you to find the foot placement and allow them to feel how the knees squeeze.

• Use a block under the forehead to be able to be on your arms and feel what the rest of the body is trying to do while you are in the pose.

• Use a block under the heels to feel how to keep the body compact, heels and buttocks close together.

To intensify:

• Once you can balance on your arms, begin to try to straighten the arms.

• Bakasana push-ups strengthen the arms and train the body for transitions.

• Bakasana to Sirsasana II and back to Bakasana.

Effects:

• This asana strengthens the arms and abdominal organs since the latter are contracted.

• Counters osteoporosis because it is a weight bearing exercise.

• Strengthens the balance reflex and thus helps prevent falls.

Pregnancy:

• Not recommended – strong abdominal contraction is required.

Contraindications:

• Pregnancy

• Wrist issues

Sequencing:
3 poses before – to prepare:

Adho Mukha Svanasana, High Plank, Malasana

3 poses after – to release:

• Adho Mukha Svanasana, Uttanasana, Urdhva Mukha Virasana

3 poses after – to go further:

• Sirsasana II, Eka Pada Sirsasana, Eka pada Bakasana

Personal experience:
This pose took me a long time to come to terms with.  First there was the feeling of falling on my face, which I did.  Then I could do the pose but couldn't stay in it.  Then came the period where I could reliably get into it and hold it. Crow is definitely about strength, but it is not just arm strength.  Most of the strength comes from your adductors: your ability to hug your knees into your outer arms.  Then comes the drawing in of the navel to the spine and the engagement of the pelvic floor.  The arm strength is more subtle as you have to find the balance, like a see-saw.  There has to be the same amount of weight in front of the wrists as behind them.  It is this delicate balance that helps you find the pose.  Perfecting Crow gives you a sense of independence and self-confidence.