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Questions about a pose, a correction you'd like to suggest, or just want to say hello? I'd love to hear from you.

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Corrections

If you spot an error in any post — a miscounted vinyasa, a misnamed pose, anything — please tell me. This blog aims to be a reliable guide, and corrections make it better for everyone.

Popular posts from this blog

Triangle Pose (Utthita Trikonasana): It's Not About Touching Your Toe

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After the two forward folds, the practice turns sideways. Padangusthasana and Padahastasana asked you to go down; Trikonasana asks you to go out — and that small change is where a lot of students quietly lose the thread. In a morning room full of practitioners you can hear it happen. The ujjayi that was steady through the folds turns thin and short the moment the hand starts hunting for the toe. So let me say the useful thing first. The triangle is not a pose about reaching your foot. It is a pose about staying long while you turn. Utthita Trikonasana — the chest stays open as the torso turns. How you get in, breath by breath From samasthiti, inhale and step or lightly hop the feet apart, arms opening to the sides at shoulder height. The distance is roughly one leg-length — in the traditional measure, the right hand should be able to find the right foot without the ribs collapsing. Turn the right foot out ninety degrees, and turn the left foot very slightly in. Both heels stay g...
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Intense Side Stretch (Parsvottanasana): Square Hips, Long Spine, Honest Fold

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Parsvottanasana is the last of the standing forward folds in the Ashtanga Primary Series and, quietly, the strictest of them. It comes right after the four Prasarita Padottanasana variations, and it takes everything they taught you about folding from the hips and asks you to do it with one foot in front of the other, hips facing squarely forward, and hands pressed together behind your back. Nothing about it is dramatic to look at. Almost everything about it is difficult to do honestly. Parsvottanasana - hips square to the front foot, spine long, hands in reverse prayer What is Parsvottanasana? Parsva means side or flank, ut is an intensifier, and tan means to stretch. Intense side stretch. The name is slightly misleading for beginners, because the stretch you feel is not along the side of the torso, as in a side bend, but along the back of the front leg and through the whole length of the spine as it reaches forward over that leg. The "side" refers to the fact that e...
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Half-Bound Lotus Standing Fold (Ardha Baddha Padmottanasana): Knee Safety Before Shape

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The standing sequence has asked you to fold, twist, stretch and balance. Now, in Ardha Baddha Padmottanasana , it asks for something different: to place one foot into half lotus, reach behind your back for the toe, and fold forward on one leg. This is the first pose in the Ashtanga Primary Series where a beginner can genuinely hurt themselves by being enthusiastic, so it is also the first pose where the smartest practice is often the smallest one. Ardha Baddha Padmottanasana - top foot high in the hip crease, heel drawn toward the navel, spine long over the standing leg What is Ardha Baddha Padmottanasana? The name breaks apart cleanly. Ardha is half, baddha is bound, padma is lotus, and uttana means an intense stretch. So: the half-bound-lotus intense stretch, standing. One foot comes into half lotus on the opposite thigh, the same-side arm wraps behind the back to catch the big toe of that lotus foot, and then the whole shape folds over the standing leg. Three things happe...
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