Wednesday, 5 September 2012

Dandayamana-Bibhaktapada-Janushirasana – Standing Separate Leg Head to Knee Pose – For Beginners


Don’t worry too much about your arms that look like a steeple in this pose. The steps that follow will keep your arms straight.

The wider the stance, the easier this pose will be, just as in the Standing Separate Leg Stretching.  Also note the difference between this pose and the Triangle. Instead of keeping your hips and torso facing directly forward you face directly to the side.

You’re having trouble?  As a beginner, you are allowed to bend the right knee as much as necessary to touch your forehead to it. If, even bending the knee, you still cannot touch your forehead to it, you either suffer from a cast-iron spine or you are trying to touch your nose or chin or chest to your knee instead of your forehead.

This is a forehead-to-knee pose, and to get forehead to the knee you must tuck the chin in and keep tucking it in while you curl toward the knee with the forehead, using everything you’ve got.
I don’t know why, but no matter how many times I (Bikram) say the word forehead, my students continue to concentrate on stretching their backs, reaching for their feet, getting their chests close the their legs – everything but what I tell them. 

When finally you succeed in getting your forehead to your knee and your hands down to your feet (which can take a day of weeks), begin then to use the forehead to actually push on the knee and straighten the leg back to the locked position. As you do this, you’ll feel the stretch in the back of your knee. This is good. Push more. Breathing will be a large help here. Big exhalations!  And with each exhalation you will sink deeper into the pose.

Once you are all comfortable, forehead touching, both knees straight, work on twisting your hips even more to the right. Your goal is to face squarely to the right.

This pose gives many of the same slimming and tightening benefits as the Hands to Feet Pose and the Triangle, so give it your best effort!!

Benefits

The benefits of this pose are the same as Hands to Feet Pose. It also slims abdomen, waistline, hips, buttocks, and upper thighs.
Read more about this poses benefits, pictures, video and tips from here!
Drawings and info from "Bikram´s Beginning Yoga Class " Book, 1978.

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