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Asana Breakdown with Richard Rosen: UPAVISTHA KONASANA (Seated Angle Pose)
UPAVISHTHA KONASANA (Seated Angle pose)
Seated Angle (hereafter SA) is one of many poses added to the asana storehouse by T. Krishnamacharya (1888-1989. It makes its first appearance in a book he wrote in the mid-1930s, Yoga Rahasya (“Secret of Yoga”), the exact date is unknown for reasons too lengthy to explain in this column. There are no instructions for its practice, simply a photo of Mr Krishnamacharya in the pose.
As its name strongly suggests, SA is a sitting pose that can be counted among the “kona family”: trikonasana, parshvakonasana, supta konasana, and so on. It’s a deep forward bend that to me seems like a natural accompaniment to Baddha Konasana, Bound Angle pose. We’ll have some fun with this pair at the conclusion of the column.
PREPARATION
It’s essential if you’re tighter in the back thighs and hips that you sit on a blanket or bolster lift. If you sit right on the floor, your pelvis will tend to tip backwards, i.e., your tail bone will be closer to the floor than your pubis. To do a forward bend when your pelvis is essentially in a back bend is a really bad idea, especially if repeated regularly over time. How high to sit? As high as needed to bring your pelvis to a relative neutral, i.e., the tail and pubis feel about equidistant from the floor. It’s a good idea then to sit a bit higher, just to be on the safe side. Have a yoga belt within reach.
FIRST STEP
How far should you widen your legs? As wide as comfortably possible, although all current and former ballet dancers shouldn’t overdo it. Press your left hand very firmly into your left groin, you must be directly in the hip crease for this exercise to be effective. Then with an exhale, twist your torso right, increasing the pressure on your left hand if the contact of your thigh seems to lighten on the floor. Remember to never twist from the lower back, all twists are rooted in the pelvis. Here, as you ground the left thigh, think of rolling your left hip point toward your right heel. Press your right hand to the floor beside the hip, hold your torso perfectly upright. Draw the head of the left upper arm bone back into its socket and imagine reaching out from you mid-back, letting the entire left half of your back torso release into the arm. Stay here for at least 30 seconds, longer is better.
Now loop your belt around your right sole and and hold it in your left hand. As much as you can, maintain the feeling that your left hand is still pressing the left groin, that’s your anchor. Very slowly begin to walk your left hand along the belt toward the foot. Keep your elbow completely extended (i.e., don’t bend your arm) and DON’T PULL yourself into the pose! Never force your body to do something it isn’t ready to do. Continue to lean your upper torso back a bit and press your right against the floor.
If you can’t comfortably reach the foot with your hand, don’t struggle to get there. Use the belt to guide your forward. In every forward bend the goal is to maintain the length of your front torso; in fact, calling an exercise like this a forward “bend” is somewhat misleading. Better to call it a forward “extension.” Descend by degrees, i.e., exhale, slide your hand slightly down the belt, stop and lengthen, slide again and so on. Grip the outside of your foot with your left hand. As you do you may notice yourself rounding slightly to the right. This will inhibit your twist. So press your right hand more firmly to the floor, and use this pressure to lengthen the right side of your torso, drawing the left side in.
Hold this twist for at least 30 seconds to a minute. You can lower your torso over the thigh if you have the flexibility. When you’re ready to end this preliminary, DON’T LIFT STRAIGHT UP from the twist! De-rotate first by swinging your torso to the left to the neutral mid-point, then lift up from your tail bone with an inhale. Repeat to the left for approximately the same length of time.
FULL POSE
When you’re back to the upright starting place after having twisted to the sides, then you’re ready for the full pose. Press your hands to the floor on either side of your pelvis and lift your sitting bones off the floor. Imagine your thigh bones dropping heavily down and settle back on your lift, now imagining that you’re sitting more heavily on your back thighs than the sit bones. Rotate the thighs outwardly so your toes point straight up. Try to maintain this position as you descend into the pose. As you do you’ll feel your thighs turning slightly in, resist this with outward rotation.
There are two ways (likely more I don’t know of) to enter the pose. The first is by grasping the big toes with your index and middle fingers, securing their grip with your thumb. I’m not a fan of ths technique, it tends to encourage pulling forward and I’ve already expressed my dislike of that.
So instead, press your hands firmly to the floor between your legs and lift the top of your sternum up and out, lengthening especially between the pubis and navel. When it’s no longer possible for you to maintain this length, when you start to bend forward from your belly, you’ve reached the end of your SA road. It doesn’t matter at all how close your front torso is to the floor. Some students may finish with their torso almost upright. This is still a forward bend.
Spread your palms on the floor and pressure them back toward your torso. Use this pressure to help lift the top sternum even farther up and out. Then pressure your hands back toward your torso and deepen your inner groins. Don’t forget about your legs. Keep them firm, press actively through your heels, try to keep your toes vertical. Continue to imagine you’re sitting more heavily on your thigh bones than your sitting bones. By the way, if you tend to hyper-extend your knees, your heels will lift slightly off the floor. Don’t do that. If you need some help, roll up a couple of wash cloths and wedge them under your knees.
If you intend to hang out for awhile, you can lay your torso on a bolster or other support, as long as it allows you to maintain the length of your front torso. Stay for a minute or so, more if you have the time to spare, and come with an inhale, drawing the tail bone down with a long front torso. Lean back slighty, bend your knees slightly, and use your hands to scoop your legs together. Straighten them forward and bounce your knees a few times on the floor.
FUN WITH SA
Sit in SA. Press your hands to the floor just behind your pelvis and simultaneously lift your heels off the floor, bend your knees, and bring your soles together in Bound Angle. Take a breath, again lean back on your hands, simultaneously lift your heels off the floor and reach out to SA. Be sure the heels touch down lightly on the floor. Repeat 100 times (just kidding, 4 to 5 will do).
Hurry Up By Marti Z
Hurry up
As a mom reading to my little girls, I read a storybook about a woman who was always in a rush. Every morning she would walk her little girl to school, the little 6 year old barely able to keep up with the rushed and measured heavy steps the woman took.
One two three one two three one two three like a metronome keeping track of a military march headed toward battle at PS 76 on boston post road and Adee avenue in the Bronx with rabid urgency to get there get back get back clean the house shop for groceries prepare lunch dinner and plan weekend activities and repeat repeat repeat.
I’m always in a rush
no matter there's no fuss
I check the clock I check the phone
I’m always in a rush
Anyhow, one day the woman who was always in a rush accompanied the 6 year olds kindergarten class to visit a glue factory located a few blocks from PS 76 at the end of a dead end street where weeds grew as high as the fence surrounding an empty lot littered with beer cans, cigarette butts, and mounds candy bar wrappers. While the teacher lectured to yawning kids about how glue was made the woman who was always in a rush darted behind a closed door marked “employes” to see what she could see because her tolerance for standing still with the rest of the class was nonexistent and she needed to see what was next on the tour of the glue factory, get the tour over with and rush back home to attend to her many tasks.
In a rush to get back to the kids and the teacher she made a wrong turn and found herself in a small windowless room with huge tubs of glue lined up against the wall. Thinking this was the fastest route back to the group she tripped over a bright orange “caution” sign hedged against one of the tubs and found herself splat on the floor, her eyes searching for the closest thing to grab onto so she could pull herself up get back to the group, walk back to PS76 on boston boston post road and Adee avenue, kiss the 6 year old little girl goodbye rush off to the hardware store to pick up a new sponge with which to scrub the shower that she had to do after her morning shower because there was NO TIME NO TIME. and get back to PS 76 take the .6 year old girl home offer her a healthy snack and while the the 6 year old girl ate her sliced apples and cheese, carry the laundry basket down to the basement where the two ancient yet functioning washing and dryer machines would launder the clothes she would later iron for 6 year old girl to wear the next day
I’m always in a rush
no matter there's no fuss
I check the clock I check my phone
I’m always in a rush
She reached for the wall behind her and with great effort Peeled herself off the floor, stood up, tried to unstick her feet and rush back to the group but her feet would not budge. With determination she straightened her spine, clenched her jaw and attempted to walk towards the exit sign but her feet remained glued to the floor… Frozen in that spot for what seemed like an hour she was finally able to slowly, slowly, methodically pull first her right foot and then then her left foot from the floor and walk miserably and painstakingly toward the room where the agitated teacher was winding down her lecture to the now unruly group of kids pushing and shoving each other or bopping each other on the head with their notebooks or pencil cases eager to get outside so they could use their outside voices and charge down the block screaming about how dumb it was to visit a glue factory which they did as soon as the front door was opened by the teacher once kids stood silent in two straight lines one boys one girls.
The six year old girl noticed how the mother took a few slow steps, pausing between each step to lift one foot then the other. She watched her, questioning what she was seeing. Her mother was not rushing. The girl ran to embrace her. Her mother wrapped her arms around the six year old girl and her tight lipped grimace transformed into a smile.
In the storybook ending the mother finally realizes that it is good to stop rushing and slow down and the mother and the six year old daughter live happily ever after.
But why was the mother always in a rush? And why is this story still lodged in my brain
I will never know but maybe I can look at my reasons for rushing. Be here now, stay in the present, these phrases are part of my vocabulary but my mind/body disobeys, or rebels or just plain ignores the advice of the mindful meditation practice I claim I have. And in fact I do all the right things. Do yoga, meditate, take walks in nature.
It has occurred to me in moments of clarity that I am afraid to let nature take its course and age as all living beings do. Control freak? Me? Anorexia was my go to when as a dancer I was encouraged to be thin thin thin to not think, think, think to eat when my stomach growled and my blood sugar tanked so I passed out on the Lexington Avenue express back to the Bronx after too many dance classes and not enough fuel to nourish my near skeletal body.
How my own story ends has yet to unfold. Hopefully it will not take being glued to the ground to slow me down. Hopefully I can find another route to stop rushing to slow down my aging body.
My youngest daughter turns 53 today. How did I get so old, how did this body become a bag of bones with false teeth and saggy breasts this body of mine that 53 years ago birthed my youngest child, a little red lobster we called her fair like her father, my other daughter 2 years older with olive skin and dark hair with eyes like two cockroaches a petite brown skin woman said peeking into the hospital nursery with all the other newborns and singling out my first born child, born to the 23 year old mother I was, ignorant, innocent, no clue to what life held
the red lobster came home with me to the fifth floor walkup on barker avenue in the Bronx where we lived, the dark haired toddler, the soon to be institutionalized blond man who was her father, the dog who soon became mad with the man's madness circling the one bedroom apartment and me, the mother who fought to stay sane, sometimes successful, sometimes not but always showing up, the show must go and and did go on and does go on decade after decade year after year month after month and day after day. So what's the rush? Just keep moving. Hurry up.
Who is in this body that spins and swirls and can't sit still, that rules her monkey mind now that the red lobster herself has a spine that's fused and fixed with shiny hardware wired to her bones and this body has a bladder that's stitched up with thread and expertise hands yet missing a uterus which fell between her legs and was scooped out and tossed in a hazards waste bin never to be used again to nourish a fledgling soul or help in the creation of fingers or a brain.
Can I truly embrace her
The comfort list: books, movies, and podcasts for this season
Below are some recent recommendations from some of our yoga teachers on what they’re reading, listening to, or watching lately!
Recommendations from Lynn Ursic
PODCAST
The Grey Area | Sean Illing
A philosophy-minded look at culture, technology, politics, and the world of ideas.
BOOK
This Is Happiness | Nial Williams
This Is Happiness is about stories as the very stuff of life: the ways they make the texture and matter of our world, and the ways they write and rewrite us.
TV SERIES
The Midnight Diner | based on the manga by Yarō Abe [ja], Shin'ya Shokudō
It focuses on a all-night diner in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo, its mysterious chef known only as "Master," and the lives of his customers. Most episodes focus on a particular Japanese dish, often the favorite meal of the character the episode is about.
Recommendations from Kim Lally
PODCAST
The 10% happier podcast with Dan Harris. We could all use a little more happiness!
MOVIE
The new Martha documentary on Netflix - it’s really well done. Regardless of how one feels about Martha Stewart, her ambition and business savvy is inspiring for women and men alike.
Recommendation from Ellen McCoy
PODCAST
I listen to the podcast Modern Love every week. The episode from Nov. 6th is with Bridget Everett reading the essay 'When Your Greatest Romance is a Friendship.' I really enjoy Bridget Everett and what she shared about her show Somebody Somewhere, and her own musings on great friendships.
Recommendations from Laurel Nock
BOOKS
I love The Comfort Book by Matt Haig, it’s like a hug and can be read one or two pages at a time - the stories are very short.
Skills in Action by Michelle Cassandra Johnson also seems appropriate for these times - it’s about the intersection of yoga and social justice.
Nest Community Feature - Rachel Chapple
Chillin in the ATL!
Tell us about yourself, Rachel.
Hello! I’m a Los Angeles Native who transplanted to the Bay! I love to be active and find creative ways to stimulate my mind, expand my spirit and my move my body. I’m honored to be spotlight😁 I discovered Nest Yoga in March while on a journey of healing from Burnout and what an elixir it has been. I love all my instructors - they are talented, leaders and use their expertise and voice to encourage, inspire and delightfully play! Huge thanks.
What is your all-time favorite movie, book, song or artist/artwork?
Poets: Nikki Giovanni, Hafiz & Rumi & the apostle Paul
What do you love most about practicing yoga?
Yoga invites presence….and upon arriving there to be curious and not take what I find too seriously😊
What is your favorite yoga pose?
lol - anything that Andrea, Keisha, Dominique, Maggie, Reba or Jacqui invite me to do….it will lead to pleasantly discovering what my body can do
Practicing my scary for Halloween in pumpkin fields at Fioli House
What is your favorite place to visit?
I love traveling the world & then returning to my comfy home - the Sanctuary!
What is one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
I’m complex, not complicated.
What is your favorite quote, or your favorite piece of advice?
Wow! I have many…”Love Rocks”; “Breathe”
What else would you like our community to know about you?
Wishing everyone peace, love & joy with truckloads of laughter
Feeling beautiful, free & flexible in Aphretta on a gorgeous evening
Richard Rosen's Asana Breakdown: Crescent Lunge
CRESCENT LUNGE
The Crescent Pose is a variation of Virabhadrasana 1. It could be though, since many modern asanas, of which Virabhadra is one, are based on Western exercises, it’s the other way around. The chicken and the egg. The main difference between these two poses is in the positioning of the feet, specifically the back foot. In Crescent the arrangement of the legs is similar to that of a lunge–inner feet are parallel and the heel of the back foot heel is off the floor. In Virabhadra, the back heel is on the floor and the foot is angled sharply forward. With these positionings, each pose has an advantage and a disadvantage. In Crescent with the back heel raised, it’s much easier to square the pelvis with the front edge of your mat, which then allows us to lengthen the spine equally from side to side for a more balanced stretch. The disadvantage is that with the raised heel, the pose has no anchor, which is always the role of the back foot’s heel. As a result it’s difficult to maintain the firmness of the back leg, which may lead to instability. In Virabhadra, the back heel on floor anchors the pose, thereby strengthening the back leg and stabilizing the position. At the same time, with the back heel grounded, it’s more difficult for many students to square the pelvis, which impedes the full lengthening of the spine. In yoga this is known as six of one, half dozen of another.
By the way, do you want to know how to say “crescent” in Sanskrit? I looked the word up in my English-Sanskrit dictionary and found it translates to ardha candra, which also names the Half Moon pose.
PREPARATION
Let’s start with a lunge as a lead-in to Crescent. Have two blocks handy, just in case your hands don’t rest comfortably on the floor. Kneel down near the front of your mat, step your right foot forward and slide your left knee back until you feel a comfortable stretch across the front thigh and groin. In a lunge, always position the front knee over the heel, shin perpendicular to the floor. Now open the right leg slightly to the side so the weight is on the outer edge of the foot, firmly press your right thumb into the hip crease, and imagine the head of thigh bone (femur) descending toward the floor. As you press, grip your thigh and turn it outwardly (laterally). Apply this pressure and rotation for a minute or so, or until you’re confident you can re-create the release and turn without the help of the thumb and hand. Then press your right hand to the floor outside your right foot.
Hug the thigh to your torso, turn your left toes under and get ready to lift the left knee. Just before you do, get a sense of where your tail bone is relative to the floor and “pin” it in place. Inhale, and as you lift and straighten the left leg by pressing the thigh away from the floor, imagine that the lift being opposed by the dropping femur head and the “pinned” tail bone; in other words, when you straighten the back knee, keep your pelvis as close to floor as possible.
Now “glue” your front torso to the right thigh and begin to straighten the right knee. To do this, push back on the left thigh and allow your right leg to “stream away” from that movement. Try to keep your torso glued to the thigh for as long as you can and press the base of right big toe firmly to the floor. When the right knee is straight (or almost so), imagine there’s a string attached from the right femur head to the left heel. As you actively press that heel toward the floor, imagine that it’s pulling the head of the right femur back into the pelvis, deepening the right groin. From this depth, lengthen your lower belly along the right thigh.
Now you’re ready to move back to the lunge. Exhale and slowly re-bend the right knee over the heel, imagining as you do that the right femur head is sinking toward the floor. As the right knee bends, actively resist the left thigh away from the floor. To finish, press your hands down and back on the floor. Use this downward-backward pressure to lift the top of your sternum, the manubrium, straight forward through your arms and at the same time, reach farther back with the left heel. Imagine these two points moving farther and farther apart. If you’re having trouble keeping the left leg firm, try setting yourself up so that when the left knee is straightened the left heel presses against a wall.
Hold the lunge from one to two minutes. To exit, simply bend your left knee to the floor, swing your right knee back beside it, step your left foot forward, and repeat on the second side.
CRESCENT LUNGE
Depending on your stability, you may or may not be able to lift straight from lunge to Crescent. If you are unable, try starting with your hands pressing the right thigh, and use that pressure to help lift the torso. The following instructions will assume you’re lifting up directly from lunge.
It’s not uncommon for students to lift their torso from the lunge thigh by arching up from their lower (lumbar) back, overly compressing the five vertebrae there. This is to be avoided as much as possible. Ideally, the lift of your torso is initiated from your tail bone. If you’re not familiar with this method, try this exercise. First imagine your spine from the atlas, the first cervical vertebra that supports your skull, to the tail bone at the end of the sacrum is a lever, its fulcrum the heads of the femurs. The Greek mathematician Archimedes once said, “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.”
To move your “world,” stand with your feet a few inches apart, inner feet parallel, manubrium lifting and release about three-quarters of the way into a forward bend. Remember in any forward fold, tip from the femur heads, don’t round forward from the belly. The long arm of your lever includes all 24 moveable vertebrae, from C1 to L5, the short arm is made from the sacrum and tail bone. Touch your fingertips to your tail bone and, to initiate the torso’s lift, press straight down on the tail bone. Be careful not to tuck your tail as your torso rises, but rather imagine it lengthening straight down to your heels, then growing out along the floor behind you like a tail from Jurassic Park. As the tail bone descends, lift the back ribs away from the pelvis, keeping the front ribs tucked into the torso. Try this several times, first using your fingers, then without. This is how it’s best to lift the torso not only in this exercise, but in every forward bend.
Back to the lunge, getting ready to lift the torso to upright by pressing down on the short arm of the lever. When doing this, I strongly recommend you not have your arms reached forward. This will double the length of your long lever arm and can put enormous strain on your lower back. When both rising and descending, it’s best to sweep your arms to the sides like a swan dive (or a swan dive in reverse).
Once your torso is upright and your arms stretched toward the ceiling, continue to do what you learned in the lunge. Release your right femur head toward the floor, press your left thigh away from the floor, and reach actively through your left heel. With your arms raised overhead it’s sometimes tempting to further open your chest by pushing the lower ribs forward, taking the arms back slightly, and lifting the bottom of your sternum bone. This may feel like a chest opener but it’s more like a lumbar cruncher. Again, as the tail bone descends, lift the back ribs away from the pelvis, think of lifting the top of your sternum straight up to the ceiling. The image of tail descending and sternum lifting creates a long, happy spine.
With the arms raised overhead, we’re often asked to draw the shoulder blades down the back. There’s nothing wrong with this instruction, it helps to open the space around the shoulders and neck. But there’s a subtle detail that can be added to help lengthen your arms upward. Imagine your shoulder blades are like a pair of circles on your back, the right one rotating counter-clockwise, the left clockwise. Now draw the inner borders of the blades down your back and feed that descent into the tail bone. At the same time, release the outer borders of the blades upward, feeding that action into the outer arms, encouraging their skyward reach. In this way the shoulder blades are held in creative tension, helping both to ground and lift your body simultaneously.
Judging by this picture I have of Crescent, the raised arms are kept parallel to each other. In Virabhadra, we have the option of pressing the palms together. To do this, touch the bases of the palms first, then the palms themselves, finally the fingers. There’s a hand mudra very popular with my students called Kamala Mudra. Press the bases of the palms and the tips of the little fingers and thumbs together, and spread the other six fingers out to the sides so the joined hands appear to be a Lotus, the meaning of the Sanskrit kamala.
If you’re just learning this pose I strongly advise you to keep your head neutral, that is, looking straight ahead. To bring your head back safely requires acquaintance with the imaginary “root” of the neck, a blog for another time.
THE BACK FOOT IN VIRABHADRASANA 1
How does the different positioning of the back foot affect the Crescent-like Virabhadra? Let’s say the back foot is the left. Start with a wide stance facing a long edge of your mat. Pivot on the right heel and turn the foot forward, that is, toes point straight to the short front edge of the mat. Then pivot on the left heel and turn the foot sharply forward, keeping the heel firmly pressing the floor. Now try to square the front pelvis with the mat. Unless you’re fairly flexible, one of two things will happen. One, you can square the pelvis only by lifting the left heel, or two, in order to keep the heel grounded you’re unable to square the pelvis.
First of all, it’s acceptable to do this pose with the back heel lifted, if you’re able to maintain a strong extension through that heel. In a prop-friendly yoga class, the short term solution is to support the left heel on a thickly-folded blanket or sandbag. The long-term solution is to practice lengthening your front groins and deep hip flexors, so that when the back leg hip swings forward, the head of the femur can be pressed back to keep the heel on the floor.
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