Virabhadrasana CWarrior 3Veer-bha-drah-shah-nah Virabhadra (वीरभद्र) = Distinguished hero, also considered to be the fierce aspect of Shiva Asana (आसन) = Pose, Posture, Seat Virabhadrasana (वीरभद्रासन) Boat pose in its simplest description brings the practitioner into a one legged balance with the rest of the body resembling a superhero flying. The shape is simple, but the strength, flexibility and balance required to hold the pose make this an fun and generally accessible intermediate posture. In B.K.S. Iyengar’s “Light on Yoga” he shows a preparation and only one version where he enters the pose from warrior one. He calls Warrior 3 an intensified version of warrior 1. The variation shown in “light on Yoga”, has the arms fully reaching forward. This version is the most advanced version of the pose as the full reach of the arms creates an incredible amount of leverage which significantly increases the work of the muscles of the back and back of the shoulders. Students with shoulders or low back injuries, or those who have not yet developed the back strength necessary for the full version will benefit greatly from modifications to the shape and reach of the arms so as to lessen the tension in the back. Energetically this pose works deeply into the core, hips and pelvic floor stimulating the root chakra (muladhara) sacral chakra (swadisthana) and navel chakra (manipura). When we feel grounded from the waistline on down we can find more freedom and float from the waistline on up. Left: Blocks under hands for support Right: Hands at the heart in prayer, less leverage How to do Virabhadrasana
Benefits
Adho Mukha Svanasana- Downward Facing Dog Virabhadrasana 1- Warrior 1 Utkatasana- Chair Pose Counter PosesSoft forward folds Any easy twist to release the spine and abdominals. ReferencesIyengar, B.K.S. (1966) Light on Yoga, Yoga Dipiki. (3rd Edition) NY, United States of America. Schocken Books Inc. www.wikapedia.org About Chris Loebsack
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Vasisthasana (VAH-shees-THAH-suh-nuh) is a powerful arm balance that also increases our core strength. The word vasistha in Sanskrit translates to "most excellent" or the "best". There are many excellent poses out there, but whomever named this one was really fond of it. It is certainly makes my list of favorite asanas (postures). It is simple in form, but simple does not mean easy! How to do a side Plank: 1. Start on all fours in a table top position with your hands fully grounded and positioned underneath your shoulders. 2. Step back into a plank position (Top of a push up) 3. Roll to the right and press firmly into your right hand and outer edge of the right foot. Keep your hips lifted as you raise your left arm towards the sky. 4. Firm up your belly and bottom to keep a straight line from your feet all the way out through the top of the head. 5. Switch sides. 6. Rest in a child's pose when you have completed or keep going with your yoga flow. There are many variations to make this pose more accessible or more challenging. Note: This pose is not for students with acute wrist or shoulder injuries.
It is important to keep the bottom hand fully connected and press down through the fingers and front of the palm. This will keep you from sinking too much weight into the wrists. The bottom shoulder will tend to sink forward. Two helpful cues to avoid this. 1. Press down even more, this will help you lift up with that root to rise feeling. 2. Turn the eye of the bottom elbow forward. This externally rotates your arm and helps to draw the shoulder blade into a retracted and depressed position (shoulder blade in and down the back). The butt tends to drop back which pushes the chest and head forward. Squeeze your glutes (butt muscles) and draw the upper back towards the wall behind you. Firm you belly. Pull the head back in line with your shoulders and reach the top arm as high as you can (like a good morning stretch). Don't forget to breathe while you are engaging all of these incredible muscles. There is a receptivity within our strength! Enjoy our monthly challenge and stay tuned for next month! If you are interested in learning more about arm balances check out the weekend training below! https://www.boundlessyogastudio.com/arm-balance-academy---ce-program.html About Chris Loebsack
Most people know that a benefit of yoga is increased flexibility, but many have not yet realized how important the strength side is to their bodies and how yoga can help. Welcome to the pose chaturanga dandasana or four limb staff pose.
Chatur — four Anga- Limb Danda — staff Asana — pose Chaturanga dandasana is an incredible posture for building balance, good posture and shoulder, core, thigh and leg strength. This posture is commonly seen in flow (vinyasa) classes. The downside is that many students do not really see this as a posture but use it as a transition to get from plank to up dog. If the transition is done with full awareness of the alignment of the pose and moved through with control the entire transition becomes a powerful strength building combo. If the transition is done without awareness of the alignment of the pose the transition losses its skillful nature and turns into a potentially damaging situation for the shoulders. It is important to note that no posture is good or bad, but our application of the poses may be skillful and supportive, or less than skillful and potentially problematic. In order to harness the incredible potential of this posture let's look at a points. In the photo above I was holding for about a minute as photographer Joe Longo got the photo. Chaturanga at first glance looks like a push-up. Technically it is a type of push-up, however there are a few things of note. 1. The elbows are close to the waistline (a traditional push-up would have the elbows almost inline with the shoulders). 2. The elbow are stacked over the wrists. (It is a common mistake to have the hands under the shoulders rather than the elbows) 3. The shoulders only lower to the same height as the elbows. (Going lower with the chest in this position is a major cause of repetitive stress to the rotator cuff and can manifest as a burning or sharp sensation at the head of the arm-bone on the front of the body. If you have such pain at this time I recommend skipping this posture and checking with a qualified medical professional) 4. We typically lower into the posture (training the negative) or hold the posture (isometric contraction) rather than lifting and lowering in repetition like a regular push-up (not that you couldn't, but it is not the usual mode for a flow class). Since the elbows are in line with the waistline and not the shoulders this decreases the recruitment of the pectorals and increase the workload on the triceps and upper-back muscles to keep the chest lifted. AS we lower the body down from a plank posture into chaturanga we are lengthening the triceps while they are contracting (eccentric contraction or training the negative). For students who are newer to this posture there can be a tendency to collapse into the shoulders as the chest lowers. Until the student builds enough strength,I recommend two things that can be helpful to train more safely, 1. Lower the knees to the ground to reduce the leverage of the body and thereby reducing the weight bearing load on the shoulders. 2. Lower down only as far as you can hold good form. There is no yoga rule book that says you have to be able to get the shoulders to elbow height right now. Move to where you feel the work and overtime you can get a little lower until you can maintain the shoulders at elbow height. "But I thought I was supposed to lower down further?", This is something I hear quite often and it is simply incorrect. Once the shoulders start dipping lower than the elbows with that amount of weight bearing it creates a strain on the attachment site of the muscles of the rotator cuff at the head of the arm bone. In addition it does nothing to build strength at that point. When you go to far and "hang" into the joint you are no longer in a mechanically advantageous position to maximize the engagement of the triceps. It is much harder to keep the shoulders lifted, and that is really the point. We want to build the strength around the triceps and the shoulder girdle. Do's Hips low Shoulder no lower than elbows Elbows stacked over the wrists and elbow grazing the side of your waistline Quads firm and legs straight (unless the knees are on the ground for a modification) Bellies pulling in an engaged Chest reaches forward Upper back lifted Sides of the neck long Gaze slightly forward Put your knees on the ground to decrease the leverage and weight-bearing if it feels unmanageable at this point Don'ts Stick the butt up Dump into the head of the arm bones Hands under the shoulders Bellies sagging forward Chest and head collapsing downward Not sure if you are in a skillful alignment. Ask your teacher to take a look at your chaturanga next time you go to a class. Nothing beats having an outside eye on your form. You can also practice it in from of a mirror so you can see if you need to engage in a different area. Sometimes we feel like we are in the right spot but when we see it we recognize where we need something. VrksasanaTree Pose - A foundational standing balance posture virk-SHAAHS-anna (roll the r in virk) Vrksa (वृक्ष) = Tree Asana (आसन) = Pose, Posture, Seat Vrksaana or tree pose, allows us to step into the joy of balance. It is a beginner’s standing balance pose, but that does not mean that it is easy. Tree pose requires a shift in our center of gravity and a narrowing of our base of support while keeping the upright energy of tadasana (mountain pose). The pose is engaged but not rigid and cultivates grounding in the foot of the standing leg and flexibility in the hip and knee of the bent leg. There is a “root to rise” energy as the crown of the head lifts to the sky. It allows us to stand in a receptive but powerful stance. The pose is never fully still, instead our foot is absorbing the energy of our movement and making constant subtle (or not so subtle in the beginning) adjustments to keep us upright. At first the pose may feel unsteady and the adjustments may cause us to shift a good deal. Over time and with steady practice the pose finds a sense of quiet within the balance and becomes relaxed within its efforts. In some traditions, the pose is called Bhagirathasana, to honor a great yogi king from India who—as stories claim—stood on one leg for a long time to appease the Hindu god Shiva and to be allowed to bring the sacred river Ganges from heaven to earth. The pose is meant to be one that brings about a calm endurance. While it is not the most complex pose it takes patience and persistence to learn to balance. When we first try to balance there can be a tendency to over grip. Try setting up the pose with a bit of patience and softness to the breath. Ease in and allow yourself to feel the shifts beneath you. Start from a place of joyful exploration and be curious and compassionate about your progress. Some days balance challenges even long time practitioners. Most of all have fun. How to do Vrksasana
Variations and Modifications Benefits
Reclining Mountain Reclining Tree Tadasana ReferencesIyengar, B.K.S. (1966) Light on Yoga, Yoga Dipiki. (3rd Edition) NY, United States of America. Schocken Books Inc. Singleton, M. (2010) Yoga Body, the Origins of Modern Posture Practice. NY, United States of America. Oxford University Press, Inc. Swenson, D. (1999) Ashtanga Yoga, the Practice Manual. (6th Edition) (Woodruff, C, Ed.). Houston, TX, United States of America. Ashtanga Yoga Productions. www.wikapedia.org About Chris Loebsack
Utkatasana Fierce Pose aka Chair Pose - Beginner Standing Back Bendoot-KAH-TAAHS-uh-nuh Utkaṭa (उत्कट) = Wild, Intense, Fierce Asana (आसन) = Pose, Posture, Seat (www.wisdomlib.org) This posture features a standing high squat with a lifted spine as if one were trying to sit into a chair. The pose is often referred to as chair pose, but it’s translation from Sanskrit (the indian language of yoga) means fierce pose. For anyone who has ever tried this pose and held it even for a little while, you would know why it is called fierce. The pose offers incredible potential to build strength in the legs, thighs, hips, spine and the back of the shoulder. Utkatasana is an incredible power pose. It can build energy in the physical body and confidence in the emotional body. How to do Utkatasana
Benefits
References Utkatasana. www.ashtangayoga.info, Retrieved 6 August 2020. Kona www.wisdomlib.org Retrieved 4 August 2020Swenson, D. (1999) Ashtanga Yoga, the Practice Manual. (6th Edition) (Woodruff, C, Ed.). Houston, TX, United States of America. Ashtanga Yoga Productions. About Chris Loebsack
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