Ashtanga Yoga. Gregor Maehle

come to upright and exhale.

       Prasarita Padottanasana B

      WIDE STANCE FORWARD BEND B

      Drishti Nose

      Vinyasa One

      Inhaling, raise your arms out to shoulder height, and broaden the chest and shoulders.

      Vinyasa Two

      Exhaling, place the hands back on the hips. Inhaling, lift the heart high and lengthen through the waist.

      

      Prasarita Padottanasana B (top) and C

      Vinyasa Three

      Exhaling, fold forward at the hip joints, keeping the hands on the hips with fingers lightly pressing onto the abdomen to keep Uddiyana Bandha alive. Keep the groins deep and the psoas long to maintain the lengthening of the torso gained in vinyasa two. Hold this posture for five breaths.

      Vinyasa Four

      Inhaling, raise the trunk back up and exhale.

       Prasarita Padottanasana C

      WIDE STANCE FORWARD BEND C

      Drishti Nose

      Vinyasa One

      Inhaling, extend the arms out to the sides.

      Vinyasa Two

      Exhaling, draw the arms behind your back and interlock the fingers. It is important here to roll the arms back in the shoulder joint and work the arms straight. If the arms sit forward in the joint, it is both uncomfortable and impossible to open the shoulder joint. Inhale and lift the heart.

      Vinyasa Three

      Exhaling, fold forward, dropping the head.

      There are two hand positions for this posture. The first is where the palms face each other and the thumbs point down when one stands upright. This is the same hand position as in Halasana (page 118) and Karnapidasana (page 119). Pressing the heels of the hands together to intensify the stretch is contraindicated in students who have hyperextended elbows. If this condition is present, the teacher should not apply weight to the student’s hands to get them deeper into the posture, as it may exaggerate the condition.

      Once the first hand position is mastered, one can switch to the second, which is more challenging. Here we medially rotate the humeri (arm bones). In the forward bend the palms will face away from you with the thumbs pointing down to the floor. Apart from the arm position, the instructions for Prasarita Padottanasana C are the same as for B, with the added weight of the arms opening the shoulder joints and bringing more gravitational force into play in the stretching of the hamstrings. Hold this posture for five breaths.

      Vinyasa Four

      Inhaling, come upright.

      Exhaling, place the hands on the hips.

      Prasarita Padottanasana D

      WIDE STANCE FORWARD BEND D

      Drishti Nose

      Vinyasa One

      Inhaling, lift the front of the chest, keeping the hands on the hips.

      Vinyasa Two

      Exhaling, fold forward and clasp the big toes as in Padangushtasana.

      Inhaling, lift the heart, gaze up softly, and straighten the arms.

      Vinyasa Three

      Exhaling, fold forward, placing the torso between the thighs and, if possible, the crown of the head down onto the floor. Shift the weight forward toward the toes to intensify the stretch. Keep spreading the toes.

      The wrists and elbows draw out to the sides. The shoulder blades and the sit bones reach up to the ceiling. The crown of the head and the heart reach down to the floor. Hold for five breaths.

      

      Prasarita Padottanasana D

      Vinyasa Four

      Inhaling, lift the torso to straighten the arms and look up.

      Exhaling, place the hands back on your hips.

      Vinyasa Five

      Inhaling, come upright.

      Exhaling, return to Samasthiti.

       Parshvottanasana

      INTENSE SIDE STRETCH

      Drishti Nose

      Vinyasa One

      Inhaling, turn to the right and jump into a short stance. This is a square-hip position as in Parivrta Trikonasana. The vinyasa count encourages us to turn toward the right foot and place the hands in prayer on our back, all on the same inhalation.

      For the sake of precision, beginners may break down these movements. To do so, turn out to the right on exhalation, to face the back of your mat. The left foot needs to be turned in 45°. Place the palms together behind the back and bring them up as high as possible between the shoulder blades. On the next inhalation spread the toes and lift the chest high, wrapping it back over your folded hands.

      

       Parshvottanasana

      Vinyasa Two

      Exhaling, fold forward over the straight front leg. The subtle alignment of the front foot is here probably more important than in any other standing posture. There needs to be a straight line going through the second toe and the center of the tibia and femur, with both bones in neutral rotation. The common tendency is to turn the front foot out too much, which rotates the tibia and femur away from each other. Pin the right hip back by grounding the right big toe. The entire thigh of the front leg is sucked back into the hip by engaging the quadriceps and the hamstrings. Without lifting the heel of the foot off the floor, point the toes. This action also engages the hamstrings, which serves to protect them in this intense stretch.

      There is a strong tendency here to lean into the front foot, which causes the left hip to sag down to the floor. This avoids the stretch of the right hamstrings. Counteract this tendency by casting weight back into the left foot, spiking down the back heel. Keep the hips square and at an even distance from the floor. The back leg is straight and active, with an emphasis on grounding the outer arch of the foot. Gentle inward rolling of the thigh supports the squaring of the hips. All rotational movements need to be individually assessed by a teacher with knowledge of anatomy, as they can easily be overdone.