.

      

      

      From top, going into Ardha Baddha Padma Pashimottanasana, phases 1, 2, and 3

      If you are unable to bind your big toe, you are not ready to fold forward in this posture. If the foot is situated on the thigh rather than in the groin, bending forward can strain ligaments and/or damage cartilage.

      

      Ardha Baddha Padma Pashimottanasana, vinyasa seven

      Instead, continue to work on opening the hips. Sit upright and keep drawing the foot upward with the left hand while you work the extended left leg. Be patient. Many of the other postures will aid the loosening of your hip joints and adductors. Then you will be able to perform the posture safely.

      If you managed to bind the right foot, gently place the knee out to the side and down toward the floor. The left hand reaches forward and takes the outside of the left foot. Inhaling, lift the chest and straighten the left arm. Square your hips and shoulders to the straight leg.

      Vinyasa Eight

      Exhaling, fold forward. The straight left leg works in the same way as the legs in Pashimottanasana. To place the right foot into the left groin we performed outward (lateral) rotation of the thigh. To work in the posture, we now medially rotate the thigh. To aid medial rotation, keep the right foot pointed and inverted. The muscles that inwardly rotate — two hamstrings (semimembranous, semitendinous) an adductor (gracilis), an abductor (gluteus minimus), and a hip flexor cum abductor (tensor fascia latae) — all have the tendency to suck the thigh into the hip. This can lead to a build-up of tension in the knee.

      To counteract this, let the femur reach outward and away from the hip. This action releases the adductors, and its importance cannot be overemphasized.

      Continue to gently draw the knee down to the floor and out to the side. The ideal angle between the two thighs is around 40°, depending on the ratio between tibia and femur length of each individual. The heel of the foot sits in the navel during the entire posture. Only then can the purpose of this posture, the purification of liver and spleen, be fulfilled.

      

      Ardha Baddha Padma Pashimottanasana, vinyasa eight

      Square your shoulders to the front leg and keep them at an even distance from the floor. Draw your elbows out to the sides, away from each other.

      The sit bones ground; the buttocks spread. The crown of the head reaches toward the feet while the shoulder blades draw toward the hips. Hold for five breaths.

      Vinyasa Nine

      Inhaling, lift the chest and straighten the left arm. Exhaling, take the leg out of half lotus and place the hands on the floor.

      

      Vinyasas Fourteen to Twenty

      Repeat the posture on the left.

       Triang Mukha Ekapada Pashimottanasana

      ONE-LEGGED FORWARD BEND WITH THREE LIMBS FACING FORWARD

      Drishti Toes

      Vinyasa Seven

      Inhaling, jump through to sitting. Bend up the right leg and fold it back so that the right foot is placed outside the right buttock, with the sole and heel facing upward. Eventually, one can work toward jumping through and folding the right leg back in mid-air to land seated, with the left leg straight and the right foot pointing backward.

      If necessary, lift the right thigh off the calf muscle and use your hand to roll the calf muscle out of the way. Now draw the right sit bone down to the floor. Adjust the rotation of the femur to make sure the front edge of the tibia points straight down to the floor. Most students will have to laterally rotate the femur in this posture. Medial rotation is necessary to get into the posture. If you experience discomfort or pain in your knee as you attempt to get your right sit bone down, proceed with compassion toward yourself. Inability to ground the right sit bone is due to stiff and short quadriceps. This prevents complete flexion of the knee joint.

      

      FIGURE 13 PECTORALIS MINOR

      The pectoralis minor is a small but important muscle beneath the pectoralis major. It originates on the third to fifth ribs and inserts at the coracoid process. The coracoid process is part of the scapula (shoulder blade), but reaches forward, underneath the clavicle (collar bone), to the anterior aspect of the rib cage.

      As it contracts, the pectoralis minor moves the shoulder forward. It works together with the serratus anterior in performing Chaturanga Dandasana, but it is the prime mover of the shoulder during the transition into Upward Dog and the jump through into the sitting postures.

      A permanent collapsing of the shoulders forward indicates a tight pectoralis minor muscle.

      

      To give the quadriceps time to lengthen, sit on a folded blanket. The blanket should be under your sit bones and the foot down on the floor. This tips the pelvis forward, returning the lordotic curve to the low back, enabling you to sit upright with ease. A tight quadriceps is often the cause of knee problems. Sit in Virasana whenever possible to lengthen it (see “Lengthening the Quadriceps,” page 57, which includes a photograph of Virasana). This posture consists of two Triang Mukha Ekapadas combined. Performed outside of vinyasa practice, this posture is even more effective. Then residual stiffness in the cold muscle is targeted — stiffness that may not be apparent when the muscles are warmed up. Spend as long as possible in Virasana and the quadriceps will quickly lengthen. As in Triang Mukha, it is essential that the foot does not turn out to the side and that the heel faces upward.

      

       Triang Mukha Ekapada Pashimottanasana

      Ground both sit bones. Now reach forward with both hands to take the left foot or shin. Initially there may be a tendency for the right sit bone to lift off the floor and the body to lean over to the left side. This can be counteracted by using your right arm as a support, but it is more therapeutic to use the combined effort of the core muscles of the trunk and the work of both legs to stay upright. Both thighs have to rotate to the right, which means that the left thigh needs to rotate medially and the right thigh laterally. The abdominals, lengthening eccentrically, draw the right sit bone down. If you are still in danger of keeling over, elevate the blanket on which you are sitting.

      Inhaling, straighten the arms and lift the chest while still holding the foot.

      Vinyasa Eight

      Exhaling,