Richard's Asana Breakdown: ADHO MUKHA VRKSASANA

ADHO MUKHA VRKSASANA (downward facing tree)

popularly called Handstand, Arm Balance

adho mukha = having the face downward (mukha = mouth, face)

vrksa = tree

We might think this pose comes to us from modern Western gymnastics, as do some other poses, like hanumanasana, the pose named after the beloved monkey chief in the Ramayana, Hanuman, which of course is the splits. But no, there is some traditional precedence for this pose, possibly back to the late 17th century. I say “possibly” because, as is typical with the old texts, the instructions are sometimes vague and can be interpreted in more than one way. Here are the instructions from the Gheranda Samhita (3.39):

Fixing the palms of the two hands on the ground, raise the legs and head up in the air. The sages say this vajroli mudra conduces to the awakening of kundalini and long life.

Notice first that this exercise is grouped with the mudras or “seals,” and isn’t yet considered an asana. What do you think? Is Gheranda talking about handstand? Or is it a pose more like Full Boat (paripurna navasana) with the hands on the floor slightly behind the pelvis? 

I’ll assume that you’re not yet able to balance freely and need to support your heels on a wall. If you don’t already have a wall for your asana practice, be sure you choose one that has nothing hanging on it in the practice area. 

PRELIMINARY EXERCISES

In inversions like Handstand and Headstand it’s quite common for students just learning the poses to sink onto their lower back, creating an unpleasant compression and making balance slightly more difficult. What’s needed is some compensatory work with the thighs and tail bone. This exercise may help.

Stand with a block at its narrowest width between your thighs midway between your knees and the base of your pelvis. Roll the block back (inwardly rotate your thighs) and three useful things will happen: the back of your pelvis will widen, the front of your pelvis will narrow, and your front groins will deepen (to make a V shape on your front torso with the two hip points and the pubis); but one thing you don’t want will also happen: your tail bone will poke out from behind your pelvis, compressing your lower back.  Now reverse the rotation of your thighs and roll the block forward (outwardly rotate your thighs), and everything will reverse: the back of your pelvis will narrow, the front widen, and the front groins will flatten; but now the tail bone will lengthen toward the floor. 

You have to be very careful here NOT to tuck your tail. Think of it lengthening downward and stretching back along the floor like a kangaroo tail. Now very slowly go back and forth between the two extremes, getting a feel for what happens with each rotation. Then, when you feel ready, roll the block back and, at the same time, lengthen your tail bone down, AS IF you were rolling the block forward. The inner thighs and tail resist each other. Stand for a while with the block and continue to feel the inward rotation of your thighs as they’re met by the downward stretching tail. This is what will protect your lower back in Handstand and help to bring you into better alignment. 

Now bend forward to standing forward bend. Bring your hands to the back of your pelvis and spread the buttock muscles away from the midline of the sacrum. Repeat three or four times, then slide your hands to your outer hips and soften them as much as possible. From here slide your hands along the outer thighs until they’re opposite the block and press your hands very firmly to squeeze the block. Of course your outer thighs can’t physically do this–that’s the job of the inner thighs–but in yoga these miracles are always possible with a vivid imagination. Then continue with that inward press of your hands to slide them down to the outer ankles. Hook your thumbs around the inner ankles, fingers around the outer and pull up. Imagine you’re trying to lift yourself off the floor (let me know if you succeed, I’ve been trying to do that for at least 30 years). Further imagine a line of energy flowing up along your inner legs to the inner groins. These two lines then pass through the pelvis to the sacrum, where they fan out to your hips and the whole circuit begins again, down the outer legs, up the inner. Repeat three or four times. Then reach a hand behind your legs and slowly draw the block out, feeling how that imparts an inward rotation to your thighs.

Now step back into Downward Facing Dog (adho mukha svanasana). Swing your torso slightly forward, as if moving into plank, and roll your upper arms outwardly. Ideally this will widen your shoulder blades, and at the same time, shift your weight to the little finger sides of your hands. Now, resist the undersides of your arms away from the floor, and maintaining the width of your shoulder blades, push straight back on your thighs and draw the torso straight back from the arms. At the same time, press the outer arms inward as if being bear hugged around the shoulders, again without losing the width of the shoulder blades. This is the action you’ll want to re-create in Handstand. Speaking of which ...

ADHO MUKHA VRKSASANA 

Now go to your wall, fold into standing forward bend, and press your hands to the floor a few inches (but no more) away from the wall. Step one foot forward (usually it will be that your dominant leg), this is the kicking leg, while you keep the other straight, this is your swinging leg. Students often bend the swinging when kicking into the pose, which reduces the power of your kick. So keep the swinging (back) leg very strong and straight, and as you swing it up, with an explosive EXHALATION (be sure not to hold your breath), forcefully kick off with the kicking leg. If this is your first or an early attempt, don’t try to spring into the full pose right away. Take a few practice hops always keeping the swinging leg long and strong. Don’t be discouraged if this attempt fails, it’s very common for it to take a few practices sessions before success. There may be a fear factor involved that’s preventing you from getting all the way up. This is quite common too; if this is the case, maybe put a bolster on the floor between your hands, it will offer at least an illusion of a soft place to (crash) land. 

Don’t be surprised, when you finally achieve the pose, if your heel thumps hard against the wall, rattling the whole house. As you gain proficiency, you’ll get a better feel of just how much force is needed from the kicking leg to bring your heels lightly to the wall. Re-create the inward turn of your thighs, countered by the lengthening of your tail bone toward the heels, the widening of your shoulder blades, and the inward firming of the outer, upper arms. Bear your weight on the bases of the index fingers, being careful not to let your weight fall heavily on the bases of your palms, this will have an unpleasant effect on your wrists. 

Initially stay up for maybe 10 seconds, letting your head release downward. Then step one foot lightly down to the floor and immediately come into a forward bend. Stay for 10 to 15 seconds and come up with a long front torso on an inhale. Gradually increase your stay in the pose, aim for 30 seconds first, and then a minute. 

BEGINNING TIP

Go to an open doorway and do a forward bend with your back against one inner side of the door frame. If your hands don’t easily rest on the floor, support them on blocks. Then walk your feet up the inside of the opposite frame, until you’re more or less at a right angle. Press your heels firmly against the frame, and feel how this firms your back to the frame as well. This image of a firm back while kicking up at your wall may help you achieve the pose.

BALANCING TIP

Set your hands in position a few inches away from the wall and kick up. Now lift your head and brace your crown against the wall (you may need to come down and adjust the placement of your hands if you’re too close or two far off the wall). Once you’ve done this, lighten the pressure of one of your heels on the wall. Wait a few seconds, and if you still feel balanced, take that heel off the wall, reaching it very actively to the ceiling. Then return that heel to the wall, and do the same with the other. If both of these experiments are successful, then try both heels together. Continue pressing your crown to the wall, reaching actively through your heels. 

Richard's Asana Breakdown: PARIVRTTA TRIKONASANA

PARIVRTTA TRIKONASANA (par-ee-vrit-tah trik-cone-AHS-anna) 

parivrtta = to turn around, revolve (from pari, “around,” + vrt, “to turn round”)

trikona = three angle or triangle (from tri, “three,” + kona, “angle”)

Revolved Triangle Pose 

Revolved Triangle isn’t a traditional pose, which to me is a pose that existed before the turn of the twentieth century. I’ve managed to trace this pose back to a book written by T. Krishnamacharya, who’s generally regarded as the “father” of modern yoga, the guru of four of the twentieth century’s most revered teachers, the first teacher of modern Ashtanga Yoga, K.  Pattabhi Jois his son, T.K.V. Desikachar, his first female student, Indra Devi (nee Eugenie Peterson), his brother-in-law, B.K.S. Iyengar. Titled Yoga Rahasya (Secret of Yoga), it was written around 1937 but not published until 1998. We can assume then that the pose was conceived slightly earlier, though probably not prior to about 1920. There’s a very interesting story regarding the YR, if you want to read it, scroll to the end of the asana breakdown. 

Just an aside on the spelling of parivrtta. For English speakers unstudied in Sanskrit, it looks like there should be a vowel–maybe an “i”–between the “v” and the following “t,” something like this: parivritta. You may in fact see this spelling in popular books and magazines. But in fact the “r” of vrtta is a vowel (there should be a dot under the “r” to indicate that, but this word processor doesn’t have that capability), called for obvious reasons, an r-vowel. Sanskrit has two r-vowels, long and short, and a very rarely used l-vowel. Now on to the breakdown. 

There are several ways to enter the pose. The way I was taught more than 40 years ago was to begin with parshvottanasna, Intense Side Pose, or more precisely from half that pose with the hands and arms free.

1. Step or hop your feet about a yard apart, slightly less than that makes the pose slightly easier, farther apart makes it slightly more challenging. If you’re tighter in the hips and legs, it’s advisable to position some kind of a lift under your back heel, a thickly folded blanket, say, or an inch thick foam block, or ideally a sand bag. Put your left foot back, heel elevated on the support if you’re using one, angled fairly sharply in, right foot forward, turned so your toes point directly at the front edge of your mat. If you feel somewhat unstable, widen your stance side-to-side. Bring your hands to your hips. Have a block on the inside of your right foot, standing at its tallest height. 

2. Exhale and turn your torso to the right, squaring the front of your pelvis with the front of your mat. If you’re not using a support under your left heel, you may feel that in squaring the pelvis the left heel lightens on or lifts slightly off the floor. Since the back heel is the anchor in all wide-leg, two-sided standing poses, there are two things you might try to anchor it more firmly. First, draw your pubis to your navel to elevate the front of your pelvis, then press firmly back on the very top of the left thigh. Second, if this helps but doesn’t solve the issue, consider that support recommended above. Once in the ready position, inhale, lean back on your shoulder blades, lift actively through the top of the sternum, and press firmly down on the left heel. Keeping 50 percent of your awareness in that heel, and maintaining the length of the front torso, descend the torso half way to the floor. Be sure you angle forward from the groins, not the lower belly. 

3. Ideally, most of your weight is on the left heel, and hasn’t shifted onto the ball of your right foot. If it has shifted, lift your torso slightly, re-affirm the left heel, and return to half way. Imagine that your legs are being pulled straight back to whatever’s behind you, and keep drawing the front of your torso out of the depths of your pelvis in the opposite direction, toward whatever’s in front of you. You may find that your outer right hip has a deep-seated dislike of letting go, and to make it obvious it curls up toward your right shoulder, shortening the right side of your torso, maybe even swinging slightly out to the right, shortening the right side of your torso, and more to the point, your spine. Remember that for a successful twist, the is ideally evenly lengthened front to back and side to side. The solution is to slightly bend your right knee,  burrow your right thumb deep into the hip crease, and with your hand spread across the outer hip, push slightly in and slightly back. As you do this, be sure to keep the base of the right big toe firmly pressing the floor. Then in your imagination, draw energetically up along the inner right leg from the ankle to deep inside the right groin. 

4. Now with an exhale, begin to rotate your torso to the right, bring the left hand to the block (right hand on the right hip), pressing it firmly with the palm. It’s essential when doing this, that you allow your left hip to release slightly to the floor, so that your pelvis is tilted to the left. The pelvis should always rotate with the rest of the torso in a twist. Come to what you judge to be about three-quarters into the twist and stop. Imagine what happens when you twist a dish towel. It will thicken and so shorten. This same thing often happens to your belly, obstructing the twist. In response, inhale, de-rotate slightly, actively press back on the top of the right thigh, lengthen your belly, and then exhale and rotate again. Do this every few seconds for the first 15 seconds or so in the pose. Then hold as stably as possible for 15 to 45 seconds more. 

5. If you feel relatively comfortable, you can lower the block, but only to a height on which you can press your left palm firmly. You always want to be sure you’re pressing your palm to some surface, whether a block or the floor, and not your fingertips. With pressure of the palm on some surface, re-create that same feeling with your left shoulder blade against your back, then lean back slightly.

6. If you’re feeling unstable, it’s probably best to keep your right hand on the hip. Alternatively, you might perform the pose with one side against a wall, right side with the right leg forward, left side left leg. As you twist, lean your hip against the wall to stabilize yourself. However, if you feel safely anchored, you can raise your right arm straight up. Usually students bring their arms perpendicular to the floor, but this should done only when the torso is parallel to the floor. The arms are always arranged perpendicular to the shoulders, not the floor (this is also true for Trikonasana). Inhale to reach the arm up. Then imagine you’re facing a wall (you can actually do this facing a wall) and press the right hand imaginatively into imaginary resistance. Just as you did with the press of the left hand and its shoulder blade, press the right shoulder blade firmly to your back. Then with both shoulder blades pressing your torso, lean back for an upper torso back bend. Be sure not to lean from the lower back, imagine the tail bone lengthening away from the pelvis to keep the lumbar long. 

7. This pose is often pictured with the head turned to look up at the top hand. First of all, if you have ANY issues with your cervical spine, look straight forward, DO NOT turn your head. If your cervical is healthy and want to turn your head to the right, you first must be able to elongate the cervical spine evenly, side to side, front to back. DO NOT turn your head if you’re unable to do this; rather, look straight forward and work on proper neck alignment. If and when you rotate your head, your chin should ideally be close to the top shoulder. After all this, if you’re fairly comfortable and anchored, you can lower the block’s height, keeping it high enough so the palm can press it. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can even move the block to the outside of the right foot. After 30 seconds to a minute, to leave the pose, first de-rotate the torso to the starting position and lift up with an inhale. If your back heel is supported, turn both feet forward, and step or hop them together, DO NOT shift forward onto the front foot. If you’re back heel is unsupported, simply reverse the feet. Repeat with the left leg forward for the same length of time. 

BEGINNER’S TIP

Sometimes it’s not possible to easily use a block to support the bottom hand. If this is the case for you, position a chair outside your right hip with the front edge of the seat facing toward you (be sure that at least the two front chair feet are on your sticky mat, to prevent the chair from sliding). Exhale and twist toward the chair, but keep your torso fairly upright and bring just your left hand to the seat (you could also brace your right hand against the top of the chair back). Wait for a few breaths, and if comfortable, lay your left forearm across the seat. If your chair seat has the right proportion, and has an open space between the seat and bottom of the chair back, grasp the back edge of the seat and pull the chair to you, bracing the front edge of the seat against your outer leg.

Now if you have trouble with your neck in the pose, and if you have a yoga chair, position it in front of you, with the back of the chair closest. Pad the top edge of the chair back with one or more blankets, and when you move into the pose, lay the bottom side of your head on the support. 

Once upon a time, maybe 1,300 years ago, the Alvars were a group of Vishnu devotees living in southern India. The name alvar means “the one who dives deep into the ocean of the countless attributes of god.” One of these devotees, Nammalvar (“my Alvar”), was born into a princely Indian family and given the name Maran. He was, to say the least, a very strange baby, he wouldn’t eat or make a sound or respond to his parents’ words. Distressed, his parents left him at the feet of the local Vishnu idol, hoping the god would intervene. The child, abandoned, got up,  settled into the hollow of a nearby tamarind tree, and entered a state of deep meditation. Because of this behavior, it was thought that baby Maran was born enlightened.

Maran probably would have spent the rest of his life meditating in that tree by himself, but he was discovered by a wandering pilgrim who got the boy to speak for the first time in his life. The poetry that was bottled up inside him all those years came pouring out, more than a thousand hymns to Vishnu, the last word of one hymn serving as the first word of the next, which thus made one continuous poem. Here’s an example: 

The Paradigm 

We here and that man, this man,

and that other in-between,

and that woman, this woman,

and that other, whoever, 

those people, and these, 

and these others in-between,

this thing, that thing, 

and this other in-between, whichever, 

all things dying, these things, 

those things, those others in-between, 

good things, bad things, 

things that were, that will be, 

being all of them, 

he stands there. 

His considerable talent for poetry now unleashed, Maran, now Nammalvar, apparently produced over the years a considerable body of beautiful work, something like a thousand hymns. It was so beautiful though that after his death some people feared it would replace traditional teaching, so they tossed it all it a river where, except for just 10 hymns, it was lost to the world. 

Or so it seemed. One day, one Natha Muni (Lord of Silence) heard a band of wandering singers recite the 10 surviving hymns of Nammalvar, and as we would say today, went completely bonkers. He asked one of the singers who the poet was, and was told it was Nammalvar. Then Natha Muni asked where he might find the rest of the poetry, and was advised to go to Nammalvar’s home town where he might possibly find someone who could give him more information. So off he went and once there found an old holy man who instructed Natha Muni to sit under Nammalvar’s tamarind tree and recite a prayer in praise of the poet 12,000 times. It’s hard to say how long this took Natha Muni to finish, probably anywhere from a couple of weeks to a few months. 

But in the end it worked, and Natha Muni had a vision of Nammalvar, who asked him, “Why are you chanting this prayer again and again?” Nathamuni answered, “I want to know all the hymns you wrote.” As a reward for his devotion Nammalvar taught him not only his own 1000 hymns, but the 3000 hymns written by the other Alvars that had also been lost. He also told Natha Muni that “A great acharya [i.e. teacher] will appear in your line.” After he returned to his own home, Natha Muni became a great teacher in his own right, and authored a book on Hatha Yoga, the Secret of Yoga (Yoga Rahasya), that like Nammalvar’s poetry was eventually lost. 

Now jump ahead now nearly a thousand years, to 1888, and the promised birth of that “great teacher” in Natha Muni’s lineage. His name was T. Krishnamacharya, and as an adult he not only changed the course of Hatha Yoga forever. In 1904, at the age of 16, Krishnmacharya made a pilgrimage to the very tamarind tree where Nammalvar recited his poetry and Natha Muni had his vision. There, he too had a vision, this time of his long dead ancestor Natha Muni, who recited to him the lost instruction from the Yoga Rahasya. This book, though not well known today, provided the “seed” for Krishnamacharya’s evolution as a yoga teacher, and though only published recently in English is truly one of the foundation texts of modern Hatha Yoga, along with Iyengar’s Light on Yoga. Want to see a copy of this book? You can order it from the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram at 

http://www.kym.org/bookstore/productlisting.php?cid=2

The teenager’s experience was remarkably similar in certain key features to Natha Muni’s: tired and hungry when he reached the temple grounds where the tree grew, TK fell into a swoon and had a “vision” of Natha Muni, who taught him the long lost text of the Yoga Rahasya, the “Secret of Yoga.” 

I suspect for many people, the story seems fantastical, and the question immediately comes to mind: did TK really receive this book from Natha Muni? There are plenty of supporters who vigorously insist that he did. A Doctor Varadachari, writing in the YR’s Preface to the first English edition published in 1998, affirms “there is no reason to entertain uncertainty about its authorship,” that it was “God’s will that a descendent of Nathamuni alone should ... discover the work.” But eight years later David Hurwitz, in Yoga Beneath the Surface, a book of interviews he did with one of TK’s longtime students, Srivatsa Ramaswami, presents a different view (presumably with the approval of Mr Ramaswami): “The Yoga Rahasya of Nathamuni is a work by Krishnamacharya inspired by his devotion to the ninth-century yogi Nathamuni.” It seems fairly safe to say that, whatever the back story, ultimately TK authored the YR. 

Richard's Asana Breakdown: NAVASANA

NAVASANA (nah-VAHS-uh-nuh)

nāva = boat

The Sanskrit nāva is cognate with the Latin naus, ship, from which we get words like navy, astronaut, and nausea, which originally was a word for seasickness. 

There are two versions of Boat in Light on Yoga (hereafter LoY), ardha (are-duh), which means “half,” and paripurna (par-ee-POOR-nuh), which means “full” (purna by itself means “full,” pari is an intensifier, I supppose then paripurna means “full to the brim”). As you may know, most of the 198 poses in the book are given what might be called “difficulty ratings,” on a scale, oddly enough, from 1 to 60, the former assigned to Mountain Pose (tadasana), the latter assigned only to one pose, the antepenultimate, Tiriang Mukhottanāsana, a standing backbend in which the practitioner rounds back and holds her ankles with her hands. Don’t expect this one in the breakdown any time soon.

The Half Boat is rated 2, which makes it seem just one notch up from standing upright. Many of my students may quibble over this rating, at least if it’s held for more than about 15 seconds. The description of Full Boat follows right on the heels of Half, so it has no separate section of its own, and as a result it has no rating. 

There are actually two traditional Boat poses, both found in the 18th century Hatha Abhyasa Paddhati and the 19th century Shri Tattva Nidhi. One, Naukasana (nauka means “small boat or “ship”) looks very much like our Half (as illustrated in a 19th century drawing). The difference is that while our Half is performed in LoY with the hands clasped on the back of the head, the practitioner in the older pose has his palms under his buttocks, and so is resting on his forearms. This would seem to make the pose somewhat easier (rating 1½?). The other, Tiryan Naukasana,  looks (again from its drawing) something like a shoulder stand with the torso and legs raised to about a 45̊ angle relative to the floor, which gives this pose its name; tiryan means “oblique.” I don’t know if this was ever done, but the former pose could move to the latter and vice versa. From Nauka, the practitioner could roll back onto his shoulders, lift his torso and legs to the proper angle, and support himself with his hands on his buttocks. 

Such a sequencing of our two Boats is also possible. In LoY, both Boats begin in Staff Pose, but let’s make it slightly easier and start in Ball Pose (kandukasana) instead. Lie supine on the floor, then with an exhale, curl up into a tight ball: firm your belly, lift your head to your knees, and wrap your arms around your shins. Ideally you should be resting on your sacrum with the rest of your back torso away from the floor. 

1. While you continue to squeeze the left thigh to your belly and hold your head to the knee, let go of your right leg and with an inhale, stretch it out, aligning the big toe with your right eye (Quarter Boat?). Press through the heel and base of the big toe, and hold for 15 to 30 seconds, depending on your seaworthiness. When time is up, exhale and draw the right thigh back into your belly. 

2. At this point you have two choices. For more challenge (and who doesn’t want more challenge in their life nowadays?), maintain the Ball, and take few breaths before repeating on the left. For less challenge, deflate the Ball and release your torso, head and feet to the floor. Take a few breaths, and then re-inflate. In either case, repeat what you did with your right leg with your left. Try to hold for same length of time you did on the right. Once you’re back in Ball, you again have two choices, maintain or release, prior to doing the complete pose. 

3. Now you’re ready to launch your Half Boat. From Ball, inhale and reach out through your heels and again align your big toes with your eyes. Ideally your belly is firm but not hard. There are various ways you can deploy your hands and arms. In LoY, the hands are clasped on the back of the head. If you do this, you can do one of two things: press your hands firmly against the back of your head, which provides some support for the lifted torso, or again for more challenge, just rest them lightly in place. You could also start with firm pressure and gradually lessen it. 

You could also stretch your arms (oars?) out toward your feet, more or less parallel to the floor and each other. Again hold for 15 to 30 seconds, breathing as normally as possible, then sink to the floor. 

4. Of course you could also enter the pose as described in LoY. Sit in Staff Pose (dandasana), clasp your hands on the back of your head, exhale, and roll back onto your sacrum. No other part of your back torso should touch the floor. As you roll back, simultaneously lift your legs into position and hold for your preferred length of time. 

Now for Full Boat

5. Sit in Staff Pose (dandasana). Press your hands against the floor (or blocks) beside your hips, and apply some backward pressure too, as if you’re trying to slide them behind the torso. Use that downward-backward pressure to firm the shoulder blades against your back and lift the top of your sternum straight up. 

6. Maintaining the firmness of the shoulder blades and the length of your front torso, lean slightly back onto your tail bone, so that you’re sitting on the “tripod” composed of the tail and your two sit bones. Be sure not to simply slump back. 

7. We’ll enter the pose in stages. 

a. Bend your knees, touch your feet to the floor, and hold onto the backs of your thighs just above the knees. 

b. Inhale, and lift your feet a few inches off the floor. Pull your thighs toward your torso, but at the same time, press your thighs into your resisting hands, so the thighs are held in place between those two pressures. This will further assist the lift of the front torso. 

c. Now maintaining the balanced pressure between hands and thighs, inhale and lift your shins parallel to the floor. This may be as far as you can comfortably sail for the time being. Hold for 15 to 30 seconds and release. After a few breaths you might want to repeat. 

d. If you want to go farther, inhale and straighten your knees, try to raise the feet sightly higher than your head. Press actively through the heels and big toe mounds. 

8. For the full pose, inhale, release your thighs and reach your oars out beside your legs, parallel to each other and the floor. Widen equally across your upper back and chest. Bring your sternum toward your chin and soften your throat. Breathe easily. However far you sail, again hold for 15 to 30 seconds and sink onto the floor. That taste of salt is probably coming from your sweat. 

9. There’s actually an exercise that looks a lot like Full Boat but is grouped with the seals (mudra), called Vajroli Mudra. It makes Full Boat slightly easier. It’s described in the 18th century Gheranda Samhita at 3.39 (a different version of this mudra is described in the Hatha Pradipika, it’s NOT the one you want). The torso and legs are arranged exactly as they are in Full Boat, but the hands are pressed to the floor slightly behind the torso, fingers pointing forward. It’s said to “awaken Shakti and bring about long life.” It’s certainly worth a try. 

Sequencing the Boats

As mentioned previously, we can sequence these two poses to add to their challenge. Start in Staff and move into Full Boat. Slowly release your torso onto the sacrum, rounding your back,  and at the same time, lower your legs to bring the big toes opposite your eyes. Stay in Half Boat for a time that suits you, and then with an inhale, lift back to Full Boat. You can do this several times if you like, holding each position briefly, a sort of yoga sit-ups. End in Staff. 

Beginners’ Tips

For many beginning students, the Boats are closer to 60 on the difficulty scale than 2. Don’t despair, props can help. For Half Boat, lie with your shoulder blades on a yoga block or bolster. When you curl up, maintain your contact with the support. You can also or instead support your feet by simply pressing them on a wall, or resting them on some prop. You can start this way, just to get a feel for the pose. Then gradually, over time, rest your torso and/or legs more and more lightly on the support, until one day you’ll be able to sail away from the sup-port and out to sea. 

For Full Boat brace a solid chair against a wall and pad the front edge of the seat with a blanket. Then sit a little in front of the chair and lean back against it. From here you can work with your legs as described previously, starting with your feet slightly off the floor and proceeding from there to your capacity. Again, over time, rest more and more lightly against the seat, until you can do without. 

Advanced Tip

Want more challenge? OK, perform the Boats with a sand bag held to your chest with crossed arms. Alternatively, do the poses with 2 pound ankle weights wrapped around your ankles. 

Richard's Asana Breakdown: MĀLĀSANA II

MĀLĀSANA II

(muh-LAHS-uhnnna)

Garland Pose

mālā = wreath, garland, rosary. Note the Sanskrit spelling of the rosary-type “mālā” has two long a’s, and shouldn’t be confused with “mala,” with two short a’s, which means “dirt, dust, impurity.” This pose is named for the way the arms are “wreathed” around, or almost around, the torso. 

One of the principal schools of the yoga tradition is Mantra Yoga, the central practice of which, no surprise, is the recitation of mantras. The Sanskrit word for this repeated uttering of a mantra is japa (“whispered, muttered”), the practitioner is called a jāpaka or japa yogi. While sometimes the practice calls for just a few repetitions of the mantra, other times the number of repetitions can run into the hundreds, thousands, or in extreme cases, millions. The jāpaka, who’s intently focused on the right pronunciation of the mantra and its meaning, obviously needs some simple way to help her keep track of her repetitions without distracting her attention. And so she uses a mālā, the Hindu equivalent of the Christian rosary. 

The word mālā names any wreath or necklace, but it’s mostly associated with a necklace-like string of beads that’s used to help jāpakas keep track of their recitations. Each round of the recitation begins and ends at what’s called the head or guru or Meru bead, an uncounted bead on the string usually distinguished from the others by being slightly larger or tasseled or both. For each repetition the jāpaka moves one bead along the string.

Nowadays 108 is the number of beads most closely associated with the mālā. But through its long thousand year history, we find references to mālās with a range of numbers of beads, from the mid teens to the mid 80s, though some have more than 108. For example, there’s a reference in a 10th century CE text, the Paramārthasāra (Essence of Supreme Truth), to a mālā with 244 beads (v. 78). Some of these numbers are relatable to 108, such as 18 (108 stripped of its middle zero) and 27 (one-fourth of 108), while others have no particular relationship at all (e.g., 15, 30, 50). Remember then that though 108 beads is very common for a mālā, it’s not the only number possible. 

B. K. S. Iyengar teaches two versions of Malasana. Usually if there are two or more variations of the same pose, the more challenging version has the higher number (e.g., virabhadrasana II compared to virabhadrasana III). But with Malasana the first is far more challenging for the average than the second. The version described here is closer to what he calls Malasana II, and is suitable for experienced beginning students. 

1. Stand in Tadasana with your feet hip width and parallel to each other. Then bend your knees into a full squat, with your buttocks sitting on your heels. If it’s not possible for you to comfortably squat with both heels on the floor, or to squat for more than a few seconds without feeling pain in the legs and hips, raise your heels on a sand bag or thickly-folded blanket. 

2. Open your knees wider than hip width and, exhaling, lean your torso between your thighs. Lengthen the sides of your torso by releasing your inner groins deep into your pelvis. Bend and widen your elbows, and lay your hands on the floor so they’re wider than your feet. Squeeze your inner thighs against the sides of your torso, and work your shins into your armpits. Press your arms back against the shins to further lengthen the sides of the torso. Take a few breaths. 

3. Then on an exhale round your back and release your head toward the floor. With an another exhale, slide your hands back along the floor and grip your heels or the backs of your ankles. Stretch the entire back of your torso and neck, compressing but not hardening your belly and front throat.

4. Stay for 30 seconds to a minute. With each inhale, expand your back torso; with each exhale, release the inner groins and deepen the pose. Finally let go of your heels/ankles, lift your head and torso with an inhale, and with a last inhale straighten your knees back into standing forward bend (uttanasana).

5. Can’t squat? Take a sturdy chair, secure it on a sticky mat or brace it against a wall, and sit down as close to the front edge of the seat as you can without falling off. Separate your thighs to a right angle, and point your feet in line with the knees. Inhale, lift the top of your sternum straight up, the exhale and lower your torso between your thighs. If your knees collapse inward, join your palms together in front of your chest, and with your elbows against the inner thighs (as close to the groins as is possible for you), press your thighs back to a right angle. To exit the pose, follow the instructions in item (4) above. 

Benefits:

Stretches the ankles, calves, thighs, groins, and back spine 

Strengthens the muscles of the fronts of the legs 

Stimulates the abdominal organs

Improves digestion  

Contraindications:

Students with serious ankle, knee, or low back injuries should avoid this pose, or work on a chair as described in (5) above. 

 Modifications & Props:

Many beginners will have a difficult time gripping the heels with their hands. Before you squat in preparation for this position, lay a strap on the floor just behind your heels. When you’re ready to take the hands back, reach for the strap. Walk your hands along the strap and closely to the heels as possible. Then pull the strap firmly forward against your heels. 

Variations:

As mentioned, Malasana I is a more challenging variation of Malasana II, as described here. For Malasana I, perform steps 1 and 2 as described above. Then with an exhale, instead of reaching for your heels, sweep your hands around behind your back and use one hand to clasp the fingers or wrist of the other. Come out of the pose as described above. Good luck.

Beginners’ Tip: Beginners often have difficulty in this pose, both with the squat and bringing the torso through the legs, because of tight groins. Here’s a good exercise to open the groins and improve your squat. Sit on the front edge of a chair seat (make sure the chair is either fixed by a sticky mat or braced against a wall). Separate your legs so that the thighs make a right angle, with your pubis at the apex of the angle, and point your feet in the same direction as your knees. Grip the sides of the chair seat with your hands, inhale your buttocks slightly away from the seat, and slowly with an exhale lower yourself into a squat. Now, with your left hand still gripping the seat, bring your right elbow to the inside of your right thigh. Push the thigh with the elbow as you turn your torso to the left. Sink the right groin deep into the pelvis, and lengthen the right side of your torso. Stay for 30 seconds to a minute, then return your right hand to the seat, and repeat on the left. To come up, push your hands against the seat and, with an inhale, sit back up on the seat. 

Advanced Tip: Advanced students can challenge themselves further in this pose by squatting with their inner feet touching. 

Richard's Asana Breakdown UPAVIṢṬHA KOṆĀSANA

UPAVIṢṬHA KOṆĀSANA

(oo-puh-VEESH-tah cone-AHS-anna)

upa a preposition or prefix to verbs and nouns, expressing “towards”

viṣṭṣha ṭ be spread

koṇa ṇ angle

āsana seat, sitting

Seated Spread-Angle Pose

Whenever we do a seated forward bend, as this pose is, it’s essential that the pelvis begin in a neutral position, that is, the pubis and tail bone should be equally distant from the floor. Very often, when a student who’s a bit tighter in the backs of the legs, groins, and outer hips sits directly on the floor, their pelvis will tilt backward so the tail bone is much closer to the floor than the pubis. Forward bending when the pelvis is more or less doing a backbend is a back injury in the making. Be sure then, if need be, to sit on a blanket or two to bring the pelvis to neutral.

1. Sit in daṇḍṇ āsana (Staf ḍ f Pose). Lean your torso back slightly on your hands and lift and open your legs to an angle of about 90 to 110 degrees, depending on your flexibility. Firm your thighs, reach out through your heels and stretch your soles.

2. Firmly press your left hand into the left groin, right where the thigh joins the pelvis. Imagine that the back thigh is anchored to the floor (or your blanket support), and with your hand turn the thigh outwardly (laterally) so the center of the knee cap like an eye looks straight up at the ceiling.

3. Exhale and rotate your torso to the right, bracing your right hand on the floor outside the hip. As with all twists, the movement is rooted in the groins. So as you continue to firmly anchor the left thigh bone, think of lifting the left hip point over the thigh and aim it at the right heel. The pelvis, in other words, should rotate with the rest of the torso. Make sure you’re not twisting from the lower back. Imagine your tail bone lengthening (but not physically dropping) toward the floor.

4. Then maintaining the anchor, inhale and reach your left hand out to hold the right foot. Keep the torso more or less upright and the left arm fully extended. If you need to round forward to hold the foot, it’s better to use a strap. Whether you have the foot directly or are using the strap, keep your left arm fully extended and draw your left humerus head (upper arm bone) back into the shoulder socket. Then imagine your arm is reaching out from the spine at the mid-back, between the shoulder blades, and that the entire left half of your back torso feeding into your left arm.

5. There’s a tendency in this twisted position for the side twisted toward to shorten and, concurrently, the side twisted away from to overstretch. In any twist, we want to lengthen the sides of the spine as evenly as possible. If need be then, try to open the right side here and bring the left ribs into the torso. Use the firm pressure of your right hand to the floor to encourage the right side’s length.

6. Hold for 30 seconds to a minute. DON’T lift straight out of the twist. Swing your torso to the left to neutral between the legs, and lift then on an inhale. Reverse the directions and repeat to the left. Again be sure to exit the twist by first swinging right to neutral.

7. Now for the full pose. Press your hands against the floor just in front of your pelvis and lengthen your front torso upward through the top of the sternum (manubrium). To help with this lift, imagine your hands still firmly pressing on the thigh bones. As B.K.S. Iyengar said, and I paraphrase, you’ve got to go down to go up.

8. Now, angling forward from the groins, exhale and begin to walk your hands forward along the floor, pushing the floor away from you as you do. Carefully monitor the space between the pubis and navel. When you feel it start to diminish, stop, back off the forward bend a bit, reaffirm the lift of your sternum, then try again to angle forward. Be sure to continue lengthening your front torso so as not to hunch into the forward bend. Draw your shoulders away from your ears and maintain the width across your upper chest.

9. As you descend, your legs may start to roll in. Try to keep the two kneecap “eyes” looking straight up at the ceiling by turning the legs laterally. When you reach what you feel to be the limit of your forward bending capacity, think of pulling the floor back to you and use that pressure to again lift your sternum. Every now and then with an inhale, lift out of the forward bend slightly, draw your belly out of the deepest part of your pelvis, and with an exhale lower back down to the forward bend.

10. Stay in the pose for a minute or more, then walk your hands lightly back toward your legs and, with an inhale, lift your long front torso by drawing your tail toward the floor. Slightly bend your knees, slip your hands under your thighs and scoop your legs together. Bounce your knees on the floor a few times.

Benefits

Stretches the insides and backs of the legs

Stimulates the abdominal organs

Strengthens the spine

Calms the brain

- Contraindications: If you have a serious low back injury, sit up high on a folded blanket and keep your torso relatively upright.

- Modifications & Props: If you intend to stay a bit longer in the pose, you might lay a bolster or thickly rolled blanket on the floor between your legs, its long axis perpendicular to your torso. Be sure to have enough height so that you can rest comfortably.

- Beginners Tip: Upaviṣṭha Koṇāsana is a difficult forward bend for many beginners. If you have trouble bending even a little bit forward, it’s acceptable to bend your knees slightly. You might even support your knees on thinly rolled blankets.