You may find that your foot is much farther away than you
thought it was! But once you grab it, you will want a good grip, so if your
feet or hands are wet with perspiration, wipe them with the towel first.
As a beginner, keeping
the standing leg tight and locked is the most important thing, even if that is
all you can do the first day. Also, the concept of “straightening” the leg
is incomplete. You will find progress if
you think in terms of bowing the leg backward rather than straightening it.
Relaxation comes into play here. People tend to translate
instructions to “straighten and stretch” as “tense and tighten.” But not until
you fully relax the standing knee, letting it bow right backward, will it
really straighten. Don’t fight it. Don’t
be scared. Let go!
Don’t be discouraged if you feel ten months pregnant and
trying to tie your shoelaces as you attempt to straighten your raised leg out
parallel to the floor. Even ballet dancers in tip-top condition have trouble
doing it at first, plus not falling over in the process. So why should you be
any different?
The fact is, straightening the extended leg has nothing to
do with the leg itself; the leg is only there to connect your foot to your
body. Your focus of attention must be on
your foot, pulling hard on the toes until they point back toward you, pushing
the heel forward with all your might. In addition, you will never get the
toes pulled fully back, the heel thrust fully forward, and thus the leg fully
straightened unless you - again –
relax!! Give it your honest effort each day. But be patient with yourself. This
is a toughie.
Do not attempt to
bend forward and touch your head to your knee until you can straighten the extended
leg and lock the knee. This is an absolute rule!!
Do, however, get those elbows down toward the floor from the
very beginning, almost hugging your leg, rather than letting them point outward
like chicken wings. This makes balance easier, increases the pull on your toes,
and will speed your progress in touching head to knee.
If you keep losing balance, it is because you are not
keeping gaze fixed, as though your eyeballs had turned to stone, on one spot
either in front of you or on the floor. Experimentation will find the spot that
works best for you.
To start getting
forehead down to the knee, use brute strength, gallons of perspiration, and
whatever huffing and puffing makes you feel good. Once your muscles and
tendons become fairly flexible and you are about halfway there, you can cheat a
little. Hold your position to the count of eight, bent as far as you can go.
Then the last two seconds of the posture, pull your leg upward more strongly
and reach with your forehead even more, trying to touch the knee if only for a
split second.
You may fall over the
first few times, but your body and your muscles will begin to remember and to
figure out what they have to do to eventually make the contact and hold it.
Balance in the final stages of the Standing Head to Knee is
accomplished by bowing everything farther and farther and pulling more firmly
upward, toward, and “into” yourself. Another trick to remember is relaxing
everything in the hip joints, buttocks, and the lower spine.
Benefits
The Standing Head to Knee helps develop concentration,
patience, and determination. Physically, it tightens abdominal and thigh
muscles, improves flexibility of the sciatic nerves, and strengthens the
tendons, biceps of the thigh muscles, and hamstrings in the legs, in addition
to the deltoid, trapezius, latissimus dorsi, scapula, biceps and triceps.
Read more about this pose benefits, pictures, video
and tips from here
Drawings and info from
"Bikram´s Beginning Yoga Class " Book, 1978.
2 comments:
Dandayamana Janushirasana - Standing head to knee pose builds mental strength.
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