It has been a long time between postings. We have still been out there practicing our yoga together and here is something we are thinking about in our current sequence.
The video below shows our practice of trikonasana in three variations.
Fundamentally the major actions are the same in all three variations. It is just that as I progress to 'closer to the ground' options I make sure I bring my back leg pelvis around.
Bringing the back leg pelvis around means I am progressively bringing the pelvis more towards the front leg.
Hand on back leg pelvis to show I have turned it more
If you practice this way you will feel how bringing your pelvis around helps to 'free up' the front hip joint and you can move your torso more freely.
In each of the variations I am doing many key things, ones I will mention here are:
I start this one from gadjastan (elephant stance). This puts my hips in external rotation (they are rolling out).
I turn the 'front leg' foot out some more to match the rolling out of the front thigh.
I turn the whole back thigh in, allowing my pelvis to come with me as it needs so that I don't feel strain on my inner thighs and so my front thigh is not struggling to roll out.
I 'stretch the ground' with my feet.
I lift up and out over my front leg with my torso in a way that my spine is not drooping to the floor and my side waists stay long.
I let me bottom hand go down wherever it goes to without drooping the spine to the floor.
I keep my pelvis where it is and turn my navel, ribs, and chest towards the sky.
I reach up with my top hand if that feels comfortable.
I put my head and neck in a comfortable position.
I do a gentle backbend along my spine.
As I progress from one posture to the next my legs stay in place but I start to allow my pelvis to turn even more, which allows me to place my bottom hand further down my leg as it pleases.
Hand on sternum to show I am thinking about lengthening the spine
In the final variation I do a 'wrap'. Most people will not be able to do this wrap. Often they will try to take their bottom hand underneath the front leg by bringing their whole spine forward and so end up losing the alignment of the spine in this position. If you watch the video you can see that when I wrap and bind I do not go into a forward bend of the spine. In the video I touch my sternum so you can see that I am emphasising lengthening rather than shortening of the front of the body.
Happy and safe practicing. It is better to practice with a teacher present.
I had several questions about hamstring lengthening this week and this post has three videos to demonstrate some of the ways to help! You won't see any of the usual suspects.
Hamstring stretching or lengthening?
The truth be told, most people ask me how to stretch their hamstrings. It is I who always jumps in and reminds them that I will give them tips on how to relax and lengthen their hamstrings but I won't give tips on stretching them.
The thing is, these people know how to stretch their hamstrings. They have invariably been doing stretches for a long time. The problem is the stretches generally don't help them to feel better movement.
The postures and advice I give are mainly around helping them feel better movement without feeling like they are stretching, such as I am doing in the photo below.
Standing balance with leg raised and straight
In positions like the one shown I am actively trying to keep my leg straight while drawing it towards my chest. It does not feel like stretching at all. It feels like the back of my leg and bottom is lengthened.
When I do postures like this I am cultivating a relaxation response in my hamstrings (known as reciprocal inhibition. Basically, I work the opposite muscle groups to help relax the ones that I am trying to lengthen. Have a look at this post for some cool graphics: http://www.bandhayoga.com/keys_recip.html.
It feels like a lot of work in the standing leg, front of raised leg, and tummy. Most people miss the tummy activation in this posture, which tends to cramp you in the front of groin. Which leads to the point below.
Active positioning for spinal lengthening
In postures like the one shown below I am doing very important spinal lengthening and hamstring lengthening work. It is basically the same position as the standing balance shown above, but just lying down.
Active positioning to improve hamstring lengthening
The key difference (in terms of effort) is that I am obliged to use tummy muscles in a way I am not obliged to in the standing variation.
I am using my active core to send a message to my spinal muslces to relax as well.
Importantly, I am actively bending forward in my spine using tummy museles in a way I can still breathe into the tummy. If I tighten my tummy by tightening everything and shifting to chest moving breathing then I won't get the same relaxation effect.
Many people are limited in their forward bending because their lower backs are really tight as well as their hamstrings (and their hips).
The active movement in the core that you cultivate in this position is important and will help lengthen the spine and it is why I put the lying down sequence first in the videos below.
Try to remember the feeling in your tummy that you generate in this position (of it being firm but in a way you feel you can still breathe there) when you do the postures in the other videos.
Remember, better spinal movement is more important than being able to touch your toes.
As an aside, many observers wonder why I am not holding my foot when I do postures like the one above. And it is, I suspect, because of the focus on the sensation of stretching as opposed to the sensation of lengthening.
Holding the foot, the way most people tend to (which is to just grab the foot and pull the leg) generally means the muscles do not need to work and you lose the potential benefit of a relaxation response. Pulling tends to switch you to a sort of suffering and grimacing associated with tearing yourself apart!
It would also feel like I was not doing much work if I held the foot in that way because the big muscles that were working (including the core core muscles) have switched off.
The truth is most people cannot even grab their foot with their leg straight because their hamstrings (and lower back and hips) are too stiff. And so most people would probably be using a belt or towel or rope.
And then you have to ask yourself if you cannot bring your straight leg close enough to your chest to be able to hold it without a belt then should you really try to straighten your legs in positions like paschimottanasana and all the other seated forward bends? In my classes I encourage people to come into all seated bends with bent knees to lengthen the front and back of spine first and only then to slowly lengthen the legs on the condition the spine does not distort.
Lying video and key actions
The first postures to try are in lying because they oblige tummy activation (in a way you can feel the movement of the breath).
In general:
front thigh (coming close to chest) is rolling out (your knee looks like it is turning away from midline);
press down through the grounded thigh and keep it straight. Reach through the inner thigh;
keep the front knee straight. That is one of the main points--to keep is straight. It does not matter how close to the chest it comes. That will be a good indicator of your available active movement and something for you to contemplate when trying this posture in other relations to gravity;
as you move through the variations keep the whole back of the pelvis and sacrum touching the floor.
you will be doing sit-ups here so this is a good core strengthening sequence. If you feel strain at all in your neck you are doing the sit up incorrectly and you need to learn how to do sit ups without your neck feeling strained.
First position (lying parsvottanasana)
Lying down, draw straight leg towards face. Do a sit up and reach as though you are trying to touch the toes (but don't actually get them).
You need to actively lengthen the side hip area of the raised leg down towards the heel of the leg on the ground. The pelvis and hip tends to hike up on that side and squash the side waist. If you need to, put the web of your thumb in your groin to help actively lengthen that side waist. You should feel this as an action of rolling that thigh out.
Second position (lying trikonasana variation)
To get into position I bend the knee, take the thigh out to the side, ensure my whole back pelvis is still on the floor, and then straighten the leg from there. The pelvis of opposite side will tend to raise up if you try to get to the ground so be mindful of this.
Note, to make it real trikonasana type posture I need to add spinal movement and turn from bottom of spine to top away from the leg out to the side then do a little lengthening movement (not clearly shown in this video).
Again, keep that raised thigh actively rolling out. I am still trying to straighten leg and draw it towards my face but out to the side.
Third position (lying parivrtta trikonasana)
A tricky one and tough to capture on the video.
I bring the raised leg back to midline. I really need to make sure that the hip does not hike up here. Put a thumb in your groin if that is the sort of thing that might happen to you.
Keeping your pelvis on the floor, take that raised leg across your body. It will not go very far.
From there, you are still in a sit up, you can try to do a twist from the bottom to the top of spine, turning towards that leg.
It is not shown here but you could try a little spinal extension (lengthening from the front surface of your spine.
I could have positioned my arms better in this posture but was focusing mainly on spinal movement.
By the end of these postures you should sense your tummy very active! That will have helped lengthen the lower back and help you for the next series of postures in standing!
Standing balance video and key actions
In the standing balance video you see I do take my foot (after I have done the active postures first).
However, when I take my foot I straighten the leg out slowly without distorting my spine. I also press the foot and hand into one another so that the leg is active and not being passively pulled (this triggers another relaxation response).
In general:
raised sitting bone feels like it is scooping underneath you and lengthening in the lower back;
raised thigh is rolling out;
keep standing leg foot pointing straight ahead;
remember your core activation from previous postures and find it here.
Posture one
Watch the leg stays straight. Watch the raised leg hip does not hike up. Keep trying to feel as though you are smoothing your side hip down to the ground.
If comfortable you can try the assisted posture, shown below, by bending the knee, drawing thigh to chest, holding foot and pushing foot out as you draw in with the hand, keeping thigh and chest together slowly start to straighten the leg. If you have trouble in the lying sequence with getting your leg straight and past 90 degrees then you will not be able to do this and best to work with just holding the knee to chest and pressing shin to hands and hands to shin until you can start to slowly straighten the leg without thigh coming out from the chest. Be patient.
Position two
As you did with lying, bend the knee then turn the knee out to the side but still in front of you. As you did with the lying version do not let the pelvis move with you. Keep scooping the bottom under. Then try to straighten the leg. If it will not straighten then put the toe tip on the ground. From there try to straighten the leg and raise it.
You want to keep rolling the thigh out and scooping the bottom under.
This is really much harder than it looks as you will see if you try.
If you feel ok with the active version you can try and draw knee to side-front chest. Keep scooping hip under. From there you could try to keep knee and shoulder close and then slowly start to straighten. If knee comes out from shoulder then you have gone too far. Be patient and wait with knee in shoulder until the leg is almost straight when you can let it move away from shoulder a little.
Position three
The leg comes back to the front here. I need to be particularly careful the hip does not hike up. Then I rotate the spine from bottom to top, maintaining length through both side waists.
Standing postures
You can then try these positions in their more traditional forms; parsvottanasana, trikonasana, parivrtta trikonasana.
I have linked these postures without chaining my foot position at all. The thigh positions remain the same. The pelvis position does change when you move to trikonasana, but the lower back position does not (it remains lengthened). The pelvis position is a subtle change and it is just the top side pelvis that opens lightly to the sky. This opening does not cause a shift in the leg positions.
It is really tricky to do these postures all linked together without changing the foot positions and without falling over. You will need to keep your legs and feet very active.
Watch for your bottom sitting bone trying to stick out. I keep a light feeling of it scooping under to keep the length of the lower back.
The end
Phew, this has been a long post!
We have been working on some variations of this in class. Remember these videos are intended for my students so I can position and correct and answer questions. It is better to learn from a teacher you are physically present with than the internet.
Have fun. Stay safe.
Much metta,
Samantha
www.yogacafecanberra.blogspot.com
www.yogacafelk.blogspot.com
Here I want to show you how I practice trikonasana and maybe give a few reasons why.
First, my main focus in all of my postures is that I have an internal feeling of freedom and lightness. This is both a physical feeling and mental one. I tend to let my body adjust itself from there.
But when you are newer to yoga sometimes you have to focus on specific parts and narrow your focus of attention. Over time the skill is in narrowing and broadening and being able to shift and integrate and come to some point of non-thinking mindfulness. I still work at that.
But back to the topic at hand, which are just some thoughts on the relationship between what you do with your pelvis and how that affects movement at the hip and what you see at the thigh in a pose like trikonasana.
I made a video as that is the best way to explain. Have a look and then I have written some commentary below.
Set up
I set my front foot up along an imaginary mat so that the outer edge of the front foot is parallel to the outer edge of that imaginary mat. My back foot ends up toe down then heel down (mindful and slow movement) so that an imaginary line (lots of those going on in yoga and you get the sense of how yoga can train your sense of position in space when you consider all of the internal imagining and feeling that is going on) exists from the front heel towards the heel or back half of the back foot. My foot is at an angle. Other people do different things with their feet. I try to figure out where my knee feels comfortable.
With my front heel set like that I can try to grip the heel inwards. That contributes to a feeling that the thigh rolls out. You will feel some firmness around the outer hip joint.
Front thigh rolling out. Knee looks more like it is pointing towards outer edge of foot.
This rolling out is what I wanted to focus on in this post. There is obviously a lot more going on in trikonasana.
If you know what you are doing you can actively just think about rolling your thigh out and it will happen. I show this a few times in the video how I can roll the thigh out or let it roll back in.
The front thigh rolling in, with knee more over the inner edge of foot. I avoid this in trikonasana.
Ultimately, the thigh bone sort of makes an imaginary line that is going more on the outer side of my foot rather than on the inner edge.
Relationship of moving back pelvis to what happens in front hip joint complex
In the video I move my hand to touch the front of back pelvis. Then I start to move that back, as many people do in an effort to get their pelvis pointing to the side.
You can see what happens to my front thigh if I do that though. I rolled my pants up so you can see clearly what happens and where the knee starts to point.
What happens to front thigh when I try to take back pelvis back. This is what I avoid in trikonasana.
Most people will also start to feel some stretch along the inner thigh as well.
The act of moving the pelvis back is going to have an impact on what happens at the hip joint.
In this case you start to get thigh rolling in at the front hip rather than the rolling out that we are looking for.
So what?
So what I say is don't worry about where you think your pelvis should be facing.
Most people will ultimately have their pelvis in more of a diagonal facing position--how diagonal is up to your own body.
Front thigh rolling out. Back pelvis comes around. Pelvis neither pointing straight to front nor directly to side. It is in a happy place in between.
I tend to instruct bringing the pelvis around a little so that you can get good activation in the front hip joint complex and so you do not feel the sensation of stretch in the front inner thigh.
Roll your back thigh in.
Then, activate your legs by stretching the ground with your feet (trying to push the feet down and away from one another).
Feel that your lower back is free. Feel that you are firm but calm.
You could stay there or you could start to move actively from your spine to turn towards the sky. I turn while lengthening and not squashing the spine.
I reach my fingers as far away from the centre of my chest as possible.
Inside I am singing and smiling and feeling like I am doing something but happy and calm and free.
This is how I practice. This is how I try to help you feel in class.
Join us for Canberra Outdoor Yoga classes each week of join me for retreats in Sri Lanka where I teach principles of active movement, free spinal movement, and generally helping your body sing from the inside so you move happier and healthier.
Do not do anything that hurts. Remember, these posts are mainly intended for my students as practice notes. It is best to learn from an actual teacher and not from the internet.
Trikonasana is one of the basic standing postures in yoga.
Cultivating good activation in the muscles around the hip of the front thigh will help you move gracefully into some other fun poses that have their foundations in the triangle posture.
In this post I show a fun transition out of trikonasana that will help develop some balance and focus skills.
Watch the video then take a look at the individual positions in the photographs below.
Lifting not sinking
It is hard to tell from watching (which is why I do a lot of demonstration and adjustment in class) but I work strongly in these transitions to cultivate a 'lifting' not sinking feeling out of the standing (front) hip/leg.
There is a strong action of external rotation of the thigh in the front leg.
External rotation of the front thigh in trikonasana is when you sense the inner thigh rolling up towards the sky/ceiling so the kneecap looks more like it is pointing more straight up or even slightly more towards the outer front foot (rather than dropping in over the inner foot).
You should feel a corresponding activation around your side/outer hip/butt area.
This can be easier to sense for many people if you bend the knee slightly, generate the action, then slowly start to straighten the knee.
If you can make sure you cultivate this external rotation in trikonasana then the transition to the balance will be easier.
If you move slowly you will notice there is a slight tendency for the standing leg thigh to want to roll in and the side of your hip move out slightly. This leads to a feeling of 'dip' in the hip.
As you transition, counter this by bringing your awareness to the outer/side hip and try to either:
roll the front thigh out
move the front hip more to the centreline of the body
push down strongly through the heel of the standing foot (while lengthening and gripping the toes)
The back thigh, throughout, is rolling in.
Trikonasana
Start in trikonasana.
Ardha Badha Trikonasana
Go for an arm bind if comfortable. Mine easily wraps around my back to catch my thigh but yours might just be behind your back. Don't worry where it goes, it is more important there is no discomfort.
Niralamba Ardha Chandrasana (with arm bind)
Niralamba means unsupported. In this case it means you do not have hands on ground.
I try to maintain the external rotation in the standing hip as I lean forward. I press strongly through my heel. I keep leaning forward until my toes naturally start to grip--a good sign that the balance is coming! My back leg comes up easily due to the shift of balance. To get it higher I have to use active movement.
Raise elbow
I bring fingertips to shoulder. Stay steady!
Raise body
Ok, starting to get tough here! Raise the body! This is the trickiest transition in my opinion. You have to keep absolutely stable in that standing hip.
Release bind and straighten arm
Once you are here it is now relatively easy just to release the arm from the bind and extend it out.
You did it!
As Dora (the explorer) would say: You did it!
Of course, you can always keep that back toe tip down as lightly as possible and do the spinal/arm actions with toe tip just touching. You still need to maintain that lift out of the hip though.
Have fun practicing. Try your best but without an attachment to the outcome. Without strain. Without stress.
Oh, probably you will feel something deep in your butt after this sequence. Yeah! It's working.
I don't recommend learning from the internet. Come to class if you can!
This is a mini-sequence we will be working with in our current 9 week sequence. It is such a good training tool I will likely be teaching it in our retreat in Sri Lanka and in Bali as well (www.artofliferetreats.com).
This sequence is part of a Yoga Synergy style sequence taught by Simon Borg Olivier and Bianca Machliss.
Here is Trikonasana with active spinal movements. You can see the movement has been initiated from core stabilising muscles as you can see the tummy muscles in action. This is not a 'sucking it in tightly' type of tummy firmness.
Trikonasana comes in many forms. In this post I share some tips on using active spinal movements to come into one variation. I make a particular point of not sinking into the front hip. You will see that my active spinal movements create postural firmness in the tummy. Perhaps watch the video first, then take a look at the step-by-step instructions. We all have different bodies. This is the way I teach in class and is mainly intended for my yoga students so I can talk about the posture and discuss how these actions fit their bodies. When practicing move slowly and don't do anything that hurts. Feel like you are doing something but without stress or strain.
Video Sequence The video shows me coming into the posture dynamically from a hypothetical top of mat (if I used a mat but who needs one for a pose like trikonasana especially!).
Step-By-Step Instructions
Below I have broken down some of the main actions. They are not all of the actions. I do quite a bit more subtle movement in my own practice. I look for freedom, lift, and length. I move away from squashing, pain, and strain.
1. Lengthen lower back and open front of groin
I give the instruction to move the sitting bones down, top of pelvis back. I look for a feeling of length in the lower back (subtle) as well as opening of the front of groin. 2. Spinal forward bend
Here I maintain action 1. Then I try to move forward from my spine around the level of my navel without letting my hips move back. I am basically trying to do a sit up in my tummy in a way that I can still feel the movement of the breath there. It is something I have posted about previously. 3. Lean forward and step back
Maintaining all previous actions, I lean forward so my front toes start to naturally grip then take the other leg back. I am careful not to drop into my front hip, stick my butt out, or arch in my lower back. 4. Open front of groin, lengthen lower back
Once I take toe and heel down I make sure I have maintained the length in my lower back and opening across front of groin (sitting bones down, top of pelvis back). 5. Front thigh rolls out
I check the action of the front thigh. It is rolling out. I could also make sure my front heel is out and the outer edge of my front foot is pointing straight ahead. From there, I try to move my heel inwards without it moving. This will help activate outer hip muscles to assist in rolling the thigh out. 6. Back thigh rolls in
Allow the back pelvis to also come around to the front slightly so the lower back feels comfortable. Roll your back thigh in. Feel the inner thigh working. 7. Stretch the ground with your feet
Push your front foot down and forward and your back foot down and backwards, as though you are stretching the ground with your feet. You should feel the legs become very firm. When the legs become firm, the spine should start to feel light. I am always looking for lightness in my spine. 8. Lower ribs move subtly back
I move the lower ribs subtly back into my middle back so the middle back feels light and long. 9. Navel turns towards top pelvis
I turn my navel towards my top pelvis. Importantly, I keep my back thigh rolling in. 10. Lower ribs and chest turn to sky
Keeping lower ribs in, I start to turn the rest of my spine up towards the sky. 11. Arms reach
I take an arm up and and arm down. My arms are in line with the front of my chest. 12. If going deeper, keep front groin open
It is possible to go lower to the ground. However, I move slowly so that I do not sink into my front groin. I need to keep strong actions of rolling that front thigh out and the sitting bones down and top of pelvis back. If you start to sink or your butt starts to mutt out or your lower back starts becoming archy then these are signs you might be collapsing in the posture. 13. Neck in a comfortable position
Once I have the rest of the spine in place, I decide where my head and neck will be most comfortable and move them there. This could be looking down. Happy and safe spinal moving! www.yogacafecanberra.blogspot.com www.yogacafelk.blogspot.com www.artofliferetreats.com
Moving to trikonasana from ardha chandrasana variation
In my own practice I do not come into postures the same way all of the time. Aside from moving actively, I think it is important to enter and leave posture in different ways so that you don't fall into habitual patterns.
In this sequence I enter trikonasana from a sort of unsupported ardha chandrasana and then come back to ardha chandrasana again.
The way I move requires and helps enhance stability around the ankle, knees, and hips.
If you cannot balance like this now, it does not matter, you can slide your foot along the ground.
Watch the video first to see movement in action then take a look at the step by instructions with a few key points highlighted.
It was raining as I took this video so it is a bit cloudy but we take our practice as it comes when we practice outside. In this video take I also almost overbalanced at the end but not all practice is perfect so I put this one in rather than other ones where I made no mistakes.
Now, see some of the step by step instructions below.
They are, of course, not all of the key points for this posture, but some that I am flagging in my current classes.
It is important to realise that I am rolling my front thigh (balancing leg) out in all postures and rolling my back thigh (or raised leg) in.
Establish length and stability around the lower back
From behind
I do this by moving sitting bones down, top of pelvis back, to lengthen my lower back.
At the same time I begin to initiate some spinal forward flexion in a way that makes my tummy firm but so I can still feel as though I can feel it move when I breathe.
It is important to appreciate that I firm my tummy before I even take my back foot off the ground.
Weight transferring to standing leg without sinking into hip
Transfer weight while maintaining lift
It is important to make sure you feel lift out of the hip and leg that you are transferring the weight to.
Throughout this process you need to stay lifted out of that hip joint.
Firm tummy, long lower back, and staying lifted out of the standing leg hip joint are some of the real fundamentals of these postures and the transitions.
Leaning forward and lifting back leg Maintaining all previous actions I lean forward, and keep leaning forward until it feels quite natural for that other leg to come off.
It is really important to emphasise I am not dropping into that standing hip here.
If you look at the picture you can see that I have tummy muscles active but not sucked in. That would make me tight and immobile in my spine.
Reaching the back leg out and down
The back leg keeps going out. I keep leaning my torso forward. I keep all actions I initiated in the beginning.
At this stage I am in more danger of sinking into my standing leg hip. I need to stay lifted.
Practically that means I need to keep sitting bones down and top of pelvis back, keep the thigh of that leg rolling out, and avoid jutting that hip out to the side. It is tricky but will keep you feeling light and strong in the posture.
Leg lowers, they straighten, then active spinal twist
From there I maintain all the work around the lower back, tummy, and hips and lower the raised leg to the ground.
I stretch the ground with my feet (as though trying to separate my feet without them moving anywhere). This activates my legs.
I don't take my legs too wide. Who cares? I also don't take my hand to the ground. Not necessary. Of course you can if you want to but make sure you maintain the important actions you have been cultivating.
The key spinal movement here is to perform an active twist from navel up. You can see my tummy muscles have been working but, again, they are not sucked in, which would stiffen my spine and make the active spinal movement impossible or difficult or certainly very rigid.
Bend knee, lean forward, come back in reverse
From there I make my way back to ardha chandrasana.
When you work well from your hip (lifting and not sinking) and from your tummy (firm but calm) you find that you do not need that leading hand to come to the ground.
In fact, you begin to find it is a bit of a nuisance on the ground and you feel better and more lifted with it off.
I took this video standing on a metre high block so there was no where for me to put my hand but most of the time I don't put it down anyway.
Putting your hand down to the ground will make it more likely you drop into your hip. For me, one of the main purposes of this posture is to help develop some stability around that hip joint. I think it is better to keep the hand up and toe on the ground if you have difficulty balancing.
Summary
For me this transition is a good chance to practice lifting out of the standing hip and cultivating some good balance.
I start from lengthening lower back and firming tummy then go from there. It does not matter how wide your legs are or whether you reach the ground. In fact, sometimes going wider and for the ground will not give you as much benefit.
In this video I demonstrated leg raised versions. However, you could just as well lightly slide your foot back to trikonasana, and just keep a toe tip on the ground for the ardha chandrasana variations. From there you get a good chance to practice all of the hip stabilising actions.
This approach to movement and posture is what I teach in classes, retreats, and workshops. I really look forward to sharing with you. Our Bali retreat is filling up so do get in quick if you want to join us in April!
There are many ways into poses and different ways of doing poses. Different styles of yoga emphasise different things.
I say this and called this pose 'a way' to trikonasana to highlight that the way I describe here is not a definitive way but simply one that you might like to experiment with and think about in your own practice.
What I hope is that this way will promote a free and fluid spine so if you are 'looking' for anything in this particular variation then 'look' (ie, feel) for that.
At the moment I think of a free spine as almost like a spineless creature blobbing through the water. Like a jelly fish. It waves and floats and circles and moves fluidly.
Some of the important things that I will emphasise in order to help this free floating jelly fish blobbing spine are:
set the feet
adjust the sitting bones
allow the back thigh to roll inwards and ensure the front thigh points in the same direction as the shin
soften the ribs
press the armpits forward in the direction they face
relax the throat and neck
Instructions
I come into trikonasana from a low lunge.
I move my sitting bones down and under, top of the pelvis back.
I push front foot forward, back foot backwards. My legs get firm and stable. My spine becomes light and fluid.
I lower my back heel, careful not to lose the actions of the sitting bones.
I scoop the bottom sitting bone further under.
I keep the back thigh rolling in, front thigh rolling out.
I start to straighten my front leg, pushing into the ball of the front foot.
I lift the outer ankle of the front foot.
I keep my pelvis, belly, and chest pointing down for now.
My body is light. I can breathe freely.
I initiate a twist first from my navel, then my lower ribs, then my chest and shoulders.
I press my armpits in the direction the face--in this case forwards.
I start to straighten my arms but I don't take them back. I keep pressing the armpits forward.
My neck is free, jaw relaxed.
I breathe into my belly (pushing it out) and then to my chest--lengthening the front of the body without shortening the back.
I adjust my head so there is no tension in my neck. In this case, I look up, tuck the chin, and move my ear away from the top shoulder. If this is uncomfortable I reposition.
I breathe.
I relax.
I smile.
Blast From The Past
Just for a bit of added information, here is a video I posted a while ago about the front knee in trikonasana. It is from my time in Sri Lanka. It talks about good knee alignment in the pose.
And For The Encore!
And, if you haven't had enough of trikonasana yet, take a look at me practicing a few little tricks with it on my roof in Sri Lanka!
