yoga Archives - Page 18 of 22

APPROACHING DRAGONFLY POSE

Breaking it down into little pieces is the key to making this intricate and challenging pose less intimidating. If your body is not “ready/prepared/able” to combine the hip opening, spinal rotation, and arm balance all at once, you can explore the many variations Matt offers in today’s video. Exploring these variations is the perfect opportunity to kinesthetically learn and integrate the patterns for the pose in your body. With each step, more than just making the shape, you are strengthening the appropriate muscle groups in order to eventually find a more equal balance of both ease and flexibility in Dragonfly. In the full class from which this video is extracted, Matt reminds you that it’s not about making the pose easy, it’s about creating integrity during the execution. For example, if you are extremely flexible and/or hypermobile, you can make Dragonfly more sturdy with the right muscular activations.

WATCH THE VIDEO

DRAGONFLY POSE: TECHNIQUES FOR HIPS & ARM BALANCES

TAKE IT DOWN

Creating these activations requires a generous level of exertion, making it effortful rather than easy.

In the first variation that Matt demonstrates, he removes the arm balance and takes you all the way down onto your mat. After creating the initial shape, he then introduces the use of a yoga block to assist in strengthening your adductors and hip flexors. While practicing the steps to develop strength, you acquire a deeper connection to and understanding of your body. You’ll find out where you already feel strong versus where you may need to spend more time building strength.

There are also a number of “tiny” actions that you can practice without the intensity of the arm balance component. The flexion and direction of your feet, for example, can greatly affect your ability to maintain the positioning of the top leg in Dragonfly Pose.

200 HOUR ONLINE TEACHER TRAINING

GET CERTIFIED & DEEPEN YOUR YOGA PRACTICE

Deepen your yoga practice
Build confidence speaking in front of groups in person and online
Learn foundational class structures and templates
Learn techniques for a wide range of yoga postures
Get certified and highly qualified to teach yoga
Yoga Alliance Globally Recognized Certification Program

STANDING VERSUS SEATED DRAGONFLY POSE

What’s incredible here is the variety of options Matt offers in standing and seated Dragonfly.

Standing Dragonfly

In the first option, he layers the spinal rotation element on top of the hip opening. You also begin to introduce more of a balance component since you are standing on one leg in a “Figure 4” position.

The final standing variation is done at the wall, through which a certain degree of balance is dialed back; however, the connection to the arm balance can begin here.

Seated Dragonfly

While seated in a chair, you again create the Figure 4 position, along with the spinal rotation. When you’re ready to progress to the arm balance, Matt demonstrates how to use the edge of a chair. Your chair plays a vital role in that the height must be just right so as not to place too much pressure on your hip.

300 HOUR ONLINE TEACHER TRAINING

GET 500 HOUR CERTIFIED AS A MASTER TEACHER

Master your skill set as a teacher through refined techniques, anatomy, biomechanics, sequencing, philosophy, meditation techniques, theming, yoga business, and much more!

Get 500 hour certified
Learn anatomy, biomechanics, asana techniques
Expand your teaching skills
Masterful sequencing and verbal delivery
Learn meditation and breathwork techniques
Transformative tools: theming, dharma talks, satsang

The 200 Hr. Teacher Training: Click Here to See the Next Start Date

BEGIN AT THE END

Part of Chromatic yoga is looking at the “end point” (in this case Dragonfly Pose) so that you can work backwards by analyzing all of the necessary pieces to work through and explore. It’s the “shooting for the moon,” if you will. What ultimately happens as you explore and prepare your body is that you discover a great deal about your physical and mental self. You end up “landing among the stars.” You find out how you react/respond once you are faced with a physical challenge while exploring a posture. Do you work through it, or is your instinct to run? You also discover what physical actions you need to take to break through and achieve your fullest potential.

Register for Matt’s Chromatic Yoga Immersion to transform your relationship to your yoga practice so that you open the door to new possibilities.

The 300 Hr. Advanced Teacher Training: Click Here to See the Next Start Date

Article by Trish Curling

Videos Extracted From: Flow & Fly Immersion

← See Previous Story See Next Story →

The Teachers' Toolkit

Advance your practice
Learn masterful teaching techniques
Acquire business-building skills
Attract the right students
Learn about social media, marketing, and business structure
Catapult your teaching and career

Continue Learning

3 Ways To Stretch & Strengthen Your Neck

3 Ways to Stretch and Strengthen Your Neck Home In on the Awareness of Your PostureNECK MOBILITYSTRETCH AND STRENGTHEN YOUR NECK A common postural tendency or pattern for so many is slouching, which includes forward head posture due to the amount of time spent at a...

Take Action In Flying Pigeon

Take Action in Flying Pigeon Asana and the 5 Powers of ConsciousnessEKA PADA GALAVASANATAKE ACTION IN FLYING PIGEON Interesting about seeking and incorporating a yoga practice is that the entry point is quite different for everyone. There are many reasons you may be...

Inversion Drills

Inversion Drills Conquer Fear Through TechniqueSIRSASANAINVERSION DRILLS Are you the type of person who avoids inversions altogether, or do you eagerly await the option in your yoga classes? Matt infuses Chromatic yoga with the philosophies of ancient Tantric yoga to...

Ignite Your Core

Ignite Your Core Add These 7 Postures for Strength and StretchingSPINAL FLEXIONIGNITE YOUR CORE It’s no secret that you go to your yoga mat for a purpose, whatever that may be on a given day. It’s important, however, to marry that purpose with intention. When it comes...

Dragonfly Pose

Dragonfly Pose Techniques for Hips and for Arm Balancesparsva bhuja dandasanaDRAGONFLY POSE Recently, I was listening to a podcast where the founder and CEO of Spotify, Daniel Ek, mentioned the quote “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.”...

Bound Side Angle

Bound Side Angle 2 Variations To Open Up Your ShouldersexpandBOUND SIDE ANGLE You might either approach Bound Side Angle with excitement or with a sense of fear. If you adopt a certain perspective, it’s possible for the word “bound” to evoke a sense of freedom in the...

All Videos

THE FREE TECHNIQUE PACK

When You Subscribe, You Will Get Instant Access to

the Technique Pack: 15 yoga pose breakdowns
exclusive online course discounts
exclusive blogs and videos

Bound Side Angle

by Trisha Curling | Sep 27, 2023 | Main Page Display

Bound Side Angle

2 Variations To Open Up Your Shoulders

expand

BOUND SIDE ANGLE

You might either approach Bound Side Angle with excitement or with a sense of fear. If you adopt a certain perspective, it’s possible for the word “bound” to evoke a sense of freedom in the context of yoga. In postures like Bound Side Angle, openness is required not just in the shoulders but also in the hips. While on one hand, yes, the posture can seem limiting and closed (especially if there are constrictions due to pain or injury); on the other hand, through the use of props and specific articulations, there are ways to access increased shoulder mobility. In today’s video, Matt offers very explicit actions you can take to acquire more flexibility and strength. What you’ll also find is that the connection you gain to the rest of your body ultimately creates a positive influence on your ability to find more opening.

CHROMATIC YOGA

OCTOBER 2023 15Hr. Immersion

12 Chromatic Yoga practices with founder Matt Giordano
Full-spectrum immersion covering all posture categories
Improve your body awareness and advance your practice
Technique, biomechanics, and alignment at the forefront
Life-enhancing and inspirational Chromatic philosophy woven through each class
15 Continuing Education hours with Yoga Alliance
15 Accredited Hours with the Chromatic School of Yoga
Step-by-step instruction for increased accessibility
Improve strength, balance, flexibility, and proprioception
Appropriate variations and modifications for all levels

~~$168.00~~ $138.00

MUCH MORE THAN YOUR SHOULDERS

It’s easy to prioritize the amount of mobility required in your shoulders for this posture, which is necessary, but there is more that requires your attention. Once you learn about what Chromatic Yoga is all about, you come into a more expansive awareness of your whole self—body and mind. Within your practice, this awareness is expressed as an informed exploration. This means that you begin to learn that certain movements or actions will alter your access and experience in a posture.

Let’s examine what’s involved with the hips. There is a generous amount of abduction required, demanding a high degree of flexibility and strength in the adductor muscles. The wider the stance, the “easier” it will be to access the bind. In the video and discussion below, you’ll see how this supports your ability to find more shoulder mobility.

WATCH THE VIDEO

BOUND SIDE ANGLE: 2 VARIATIONS TO OPEN UP YOUR SHOULDERS

BOUND SIDE ANGLE TECHNIQUES WITH A BLOCK

When setting up Bound Side Angle, some of the first cues Matt offers in the video are “hips back, groins back.” Emphasis on the positioning of your hips is addressed quite early. Taking these actions can immediately make way for increased space for you to drop your torso as low as possible. If the attempt to lower your upper body to a greater degree feels too ambitious, Matt suggests placing a block underneath your front foot. You can see how this elevation brings your inner knee closer to the back of your shoulder, which can allow more freedom for your arm to go underneath your inner thigh.

That being said, it is also the articulation of the shoulder joint that impacts your ability to wrap around for the bind. More protraction of the scapulae and internal rotation of the shoulders will assist you in getting your arm behind you.

200 HOUR ONLINE TEACHER TRAINING

GET CERTIFIED & DEEPEN YOUR YOGA PRACTICE

Deepen your yoga practice
Build confidence speaking in front of groups in person and online
Learn foundational class structures and templates
Learn techniques for a wide range of yoga postures
Get certified and highly qualified to teach yoga
Yoga Alliance Globally Recognized Certification Program

BOUND SIDE ANGLE WITH A STRAP

In both variations, once you have the security of the clasp, of your hands or with a strap, you can begin to lift. There are still actions that need to take place before you invite in the shoulder articulations for expansion. Creating a posterior tilt in your pelvis will set off the action of pulling your shoulders back, therefore lifting the chest up.

Practicing all of this with a strap may at first appear to be less arduous than without one. Matt notes that it may actually be more challenging in the sense that it provides increased range of motion in the shoulders. For this reason, it’s important to be aware of the muscle activations that will create an underpinning of strength to support the flexibility. Activating muscles like the rear deltoids and the erector spinae (for spinal support), along with the glutes and adductors, will substantially bolster the integrity of this posture.

300 HOUR ONLINE TEACHER TRAINING

GET 500 HOUR CERTIFIED AS A MASTER TEACHER

Master your skill set as a teacher through refined techniques, anatomy, biomechanics, sequencing, philosophy, meditation techniques, theming, yoga business, and much more!

Get 500 hour certified
Learn anatomy, biomechanics, asana techniques
Expand your teaching skills
Masterful sequencing and verbal delivery
Learn meditation and breathwork techniques
Transformative tools: theming, dharma talks, satsang

The 200 Hr. Teacher Training: Click Here to See the Next Start Date

THE ENTIRE SCOPE

As the saying goes, “You can throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks,” or in terms of yoga, you can arm yourself with education to gain more distinct results. The beauty of Chromatic yoga is that Matt articulates the alignment and biomechanics of each posture with absolute precision. This allows you to make informed choices regarding your practice: At any given time, you’ll have multiple opportunities to select which variations and modifications are appropriate for you. Through practice and repetition, you’ll experience a transformation within your physical body. What you’ll also learn is how to adopt and integrate the philosophical teachings of yoga into multiple areas of your life. Bound Side Angle pose may be a physical posture, but when you are open to the entire scope of what’s available to you within it, your potential is limitless.

The 300 Hr. Advanced Teacher Training: Click Here to See the Next Start Date

Article by Trish Curling

Videos Extracted From: Shoulder Revelation Immersion

← See Previous Story See Next Story →

The Teachers' Toolkit

Advance your practice
Learn masterful teaching techniques
Acquire business-building skills
Attract the right students
Learn about social media, marketing, and business structure
Catapult your teaching and career

Continue Learning

3 Ways To Stretch & Strengthen Your Neck

Take Action In Flying Pigeon

Inversion Drills

Ignite Your Core

Dragonfly Pose

Bound Side Angle

All Videos

THE FREE TECHNIQUE PACK

When You Subscribe, You Will Get Instant Access to

the Technique Pack: 15 yoga pose breakdowns
exclusive online course discounts
exclusive blogs and videos

Eagle Pose Legs

by Trisha Curling | Jul 6, 2023 | Main Page Display

Eagle Pose Legs

Pelvic Articulations to Find the Bind

garudasana

EAGLE POSE

Eagle is a yoga posture that can really highlight the relationship between your pelvis and your hips. Of course, the more you understand your body and how it works, the more you begin to capitalize on its infinite potential. You can do this by utilizing not only drills to prepare you, but also specific articulations of various joints that help you build on strength, flexibility, and mobility in your physical yoga practice. It’s within this understanding that you begin to grow in your practice. Yoga postures that may seem unattainable actually become more accessible or even possible. Sometimes it’s a simple movement or sequence of movements that revolutionizes your experience. In today’s video, Matt shares a simple drill and also a sequence of movements that primarily involve specific actions of your pelvis and hips. Both will transform your Eagle Pose.

online classes for anatomy of arm balances

ALIGNMENT

JUNE 2023 Immersion

12 Hatha-style practices
Transformative and informative experience
Alignment and techniques for the most common asana postures
Step-by-step, easy-to-follow instruction
Improve strength, balance, flexibility, and proprioception
Accessible and empowering modifications
Appropriate variations a modifications for all levels

~~$168.00~~ $138.00

START WITH THIS DRILL

If you know that you are moving in a specific direction within a given yoga practice (e.g., practicing a specific posture), your body requires specific warm-ups to execute the posture as safely as possible. The drill that Matt offers in today’s video focuses on supporting the shape of the legs in Eagle Pose. In the drill, he demonstrates a “straddle and criss-cross” movement in a supine position that works to prepare for the deep crossing of one leg over the other. This deep crossing requires a generous amount of flexibility and mobility. In addition to that, however, a great deal of stability is involved because Eagle Pose is also a balance posture. The drill works to prepare both the adductors and the abductors. As the drill progresses, Matt demonstrates how to pattern the actual wrapping of the legs. Continuing to build is key!

WATCH THE VIDEO

EAGLE POSE LEGS: PELVIC ARTICULATIONS TO FIND THE BIND

ARTICULATIONS TO CONSIDER

You’ll see in the progression of the drill that the wrapping movements prepare you for the internal and external rotation of the legs. However, these movements are only enhanced when you invite in other joint articulations.

As you practice Eagle legs in the supine position, it’s imperative to consider the articulation of the ankle in the top leg. In order to find the bind behind the lower leg, you must create an eversion in the ankle of the top leg. This means that you send your toes out and, as Matt explains it, you “shorten the outer ankle.” This creates a hook or locking to hold the bind in place. Now, remember that nothing works in isolation. How do we enhance this action, or make it more accessible? This is when you can really dive into supine Eagle Pose.

200 HOUR ONLINE TEACHER TRAINING

GET CERTIFIED & DEEPEN YOUR YOGA PRACTICE

Deepen your yoga practice
Build confidence speaking in front of groups in person and online
Learn foundational class structures and templates
Learn techniques for a wide range of yoga postures
Get certified and highly qualified to teach yoga
Yoga Alliance Globally Recognized Certification Program

SUPINE EAGLE POSE

With the aim of increasing the accessibility of the bind, following a sequence of actions is essential. Breaking things down into bits will help you deepen your understanding. It’s like putting the pieces of a puzzle together. As Matt begins to demonstrate more of what’s involved with the legs in supine Eagle Pose, he introduces you to movements in the pelvis, which then inform the legs and feet.

You’ll see in the video that he internally rotates the upper thigh bone, but to really emphasize this, he laterally tilts the pelvis (lifts the hip of the top leg). This will allow your foot to go behind the bottom leg with more ease. Want to go a step further? Lift your hips off of the ground first and then hike the hip while rotating your hips as if to twist.

300 HOUR ONLINE TEACHER TRAINING

GET 500 HOUR CERTIFIED AS A MASTER TEACHER

Master your skill set as a teacher through refined techniques, anatomy, biomechanics, sequencing, philosophy, meditation techniques, theming, yoga business, and much more!

Get 500 hour certified
Learn anatomy, biomechanics, asana techniques
Expand your teaching skills
Masterful sequencing and verbal delivery
Learn meditation and breathwork techniques
Transformative tools: theming, dharma talks, satsang

The 200 Hr. Teacher Training: Click Here to See the Next Start Date

EAGLE POSE ENTRANCE AT THE WALL

Eagle Pose at the wall may provide even more room to experiment with pelvic articulations and movements of the hip. Matt suggests that this is because you no longer have a surface beneath you that may potentially limit the amount of rotation available to you. What’s nice here is that you can initially take the balance portion of the posture out of the equation. You’ll see that you stand perpendicular to the wall with your hand resting on it for balance as you execute the hip hike. The rotation is much more significant as you turn to face the wall. What’s slightly different here is that in order to get your leg over top, you must first externally rotate your thigh before you internally rotate it to then find the bind. Once you find the bind, you can turn away from the wall and attempt to find balance.

ONE STEP AT A TIME

Practicing these actions in isolation will help you to find the confidence to practice them in the perfect sequence. Following each step helps to unravel the pieces that need more attention alongside the pieces that feel strong. The most exciting part of it all is realizing what’s possible. When you attempt what may seem like a tiny adjustment, you’ll experience just how significant the shift is in a posture and ultimately your practice as a whole.

If you’d like to delve even further, I suggest Matt’s Alignment Immersion, where you’ll really break down each posture one step at a time.

The 300 Hr. Advanced Teacher Training: Click Here to See the Next Start Date

Article by Trish Curling

Video Extracted From: Alignment Immersion

← See Previous Story See Next Story →

The Teachers' Toolkit

Advance your practice
Learn masterful teaching techniques
Acquire business-building skills
Attract the right students
Learn about social media, marketing, and business structure
Catapult your teaching and career

Continue Learning

3 Ways To Stretch & Strengthen Your Neck

Take Action In Flying Pigeon

Inversion Drills

Ignite Your Core

Dragonfly Pose

Bound Side Angle

All Videos

THE FREE TECHNIQUE PACK

When You Subscribe, You Will Get Instant Access to

the Technique Pack: 15 yoga pose breakdowns
exclusive online course discounts
exclusive blogs and videos

Neck Alignment

by Trisha Curling | Jun 29, 2023 | Main Page Display

Neck Alignment

Techniques to Find More Ease in Headstand

sirsasana

NECK ALIGNMENT FOR INVERSIONS

Yoga postures typically start “from the feet up.” The same is true when it comes to inversions—it’s just flipped upside down. The positioning of the head and neck sets the foundation, so finding balance can be quite challenging.

Inversions can be scary stuff, and there’s plenty of legitimate fear to go around. With inversions, the neck becomes “the feet” of the posture, and neck alignment will directly inform your experience. Proper alignment, along with the technique of “pressing your head back,” will strengthen your neck muscles and provide you with the stability required for this posture. In today’s video, Matt breaks down how this technique will provide you with confidence and help you overcome your fears in Headstand.

ALIGNMENT

JUNE 2023 Immersion

12 Hatha-style practices
Transformative and informative experience
Alignment and techniques for the most common asana postures
Step-by-step, easy-to-follow instruction
Improve strength, balance, flexibility, and proprioception
Accessible and empowering modifications
Appropriate variations a modifications for all levels

~~$168.00~~ $138.00

PRESS YOUR HEAD BACK

The fear of going upside down and placing weight on your neck can be enough to put you off of the posture all together, but the technique of pressing your head back can restore your faith in your ability to execute Headstand with assurance. One of the best ways to practice this technique is upright. Before you consider the strength, consider the neck alignment. Pulling your skull up and back will bring your head more in line with your spinal column and pelvis. Matt explains that this will place your cervical spine into a more concave shape, rather than the common convex shape that occurs due to a frequently forward carriage of the head. At the beginning of the video, you’ll see that the next step is to press your head into your thumbs. These steps are important to explore before you place any weight on your head in inversions.

WATCH THE VIDEO

NECK ALIGNMENT: TECHNIQUES TO FIND MORE EASE IN HEADSTAND

HEADSTAND PREPARATION

Once you feel more comfortable with the neck alignment cues, moving on to the next step in Headstand preparation means exploring those cues in Dolphin Pose. What also needs to be discussed here are the options you have in terms of the amount of weight you opt to place on your head.

At the initial stages of the setup, creating protraction and elevation in the shoulders will help you find more length in the back of your neck and also assist in keeping your head off of the ground. This will make the shift towards taking the back of your head away from your elbows and closer to your hands much easier. The key step, however, is the plantar flexion of your feet in order to make this shift. Next, pressing your head into your hands (more specifically your thumbs) will assist in strengthening your neck muscles.

200 HOUR ONLINE TEACHER TRAINING

GET CERTIFIED & DEEPEN YOUR YOGA PRACTICE

Deepen your yoga practice
Build confidence speaking in front of groups in person and online
Learn foundational class structures and templates
Learn techniques for a wide range of yoga postures
Get certified and highly qualified to teach yoga
Yoga Alliance Globally Recognized Certification Program

HEADSTAND WITH BLOCKS

You now know that pointing your toes will assist in stacking the pelvis over the shoulders, but hamstring flexibility is also required. Gaining the appropriate amount of hamstring flexibility will not happen overnight. This is where elevating your feet on blocks is extremely helpful. Using blocks creates a shorter distance for you to create the stacking you need in order to lift your legs. If you’re not ready to take flight in this way, then practice the stacking by moving back and forth between plantar flexion and dorsiflexion at the ankle joint. This will help you gain a deeper understanding of where your body needs to be in space.

300 HOUR ONLINE TEACHER TRAINING

GET 500 HOUR CERTIFIED AS A MASTER TEACHER

Master your skill set as a teacher through refined techniques, anatomy, biomechanics, sequencing, philosophy, meditation techniques, theming, yoga business, and much more!

Get 500 hour certified
Learn anatomy, biomechanics, asana techniques
Expand your teaching skills
Masterful sequencing and verbal delivery
Learn meditation and breathwork techniques
Transformative tools: theming, dharma talks, satsang

The 200 Hr. Teacher Training: Click Here to See the Next Start Date

UP AGAINST THE WALL

Not knowing where your body is in space is a reason you might choose to practice up against a wall, and this is a great decision, especially when you want to send your legs up in the air.

You may, however, feel like you are up against a figurative wall when trying to “crack the code” for Headstands. It is possible to start depending on the wall for security, which is why implementing the technique of pressing your head into your hands can completely transform your experience. Once you do that, you can feel everything else fall into place: The action encourages the bottom ribs to knit back, which can then send the pelvis over the shoulders. The beauty of using the wall is that you have time to more deeply understand the cues while it acts as your personal spotter.

The 300 Hr. Advanced Teacher Training: Click Here to See the Next Start Date

Article by Trish Curling

Video Extracted From: Alignment Immersion

← See Previous Story See Next Story →

The Teachers' Toolkit

Advance your practice
Learn masterful teaching techniques
Acquire business-building skills
Attract the right students
Learn about social media, marketing, and business structure
Catapult your teaching and career

Continue Learning

3 Ways To Stretch & Strengthen Your Neck

Take Action In Flying Pigeon

Inversion Drills

Ignite Your Core

Dragonfly Pose

Bound Side Angle

All Videos

THE FREE TECHNIQUE PACK

When You Subscribe, You Will Get Instant Access to

the Technique Pack: 15 yoga pose breakdowns
exclusive online course discounts
exclusive blogs and videos

Ashtavakrasana

by Trisha Curling | Apr 30, 2023 | Main Page Display

Ashtavakrasana

3 Variations to Access This Arm Balance

eight angle pose

ASHTAVAKRASANA

There always seems to be a sense of mystery attached to Ashtavakrasana (8-Angle Pose). How is it possible to balance in what appears to be such a complicated position for the body? Comforting to know is that once you break everything down and place technique at the core of your focus, Ashtavakrasana becomes a lot less complex. Whatever variation you are attempting, technique will always be the key to unlocking access to this and any other arm balance. In intricate detail as always, Matt breaks down 3 variations in today’s video. Moreover, he offers the benefit of increasing your anatomical knowledge via the technique within this posture. If you are armed with both technique and anatomical knowledge, Ashtravakrasana loses its mystique and becomes an arm balance you can approach with clarity.

FLOW & FLY

MAY 2023 Immersion

12 Vinyasa-style practices
Increase your cardiovascular activity
Foundational and advanced arm balance techniques
Improve balance and proprioception
Accessible modifications and sequences
Appropriate variations for your level of practice
Improve wrist, core, and shoulder strength
ALL LEVELS APPROPRIATE

$148.00

ANATOMY BREAKDOWN

In the full class, Matt explains that the adductor muscles (pectineus; gracilis; and the adductors brevis, longus, and magnus) are extremely helpful in assisting with taking flight in arm balance postures. This is particularly true for Ashtavakrasana when it comes to “clamping” the legs on the arm. The abductor muscles (gluteus maximus, medius, and minimus) are also part of the equation, and the internal rotators of the hip belong to the abductor group: The TFL muscle and the pectineus, along with the front fibers of the gluteus medius and minimus, work together to create internal rotation. Why is this important? Knowing the location of these muscles enhances your awareness and understanding of your own body. When activating these muscle groups to execute the posture, you will better decipher which areas require more strengthening for stability and balance in the posture.

WATCH THE VIDEO

ASHTAVAKRASANA: 3 VARIATONS TO ACCESS THIS ARM BALANCE

VARIATION 1

First, let’s have a look at the steps in variation 1 of Ashtavakrasana:

Step 1: From a seated position, bring one leg over your arm as much as possible.

Step 2: Cross the bottom foot over the top of the ankle of the first leg.

Step 3: Lean forward and pull your hips back to get you off of the ground.

Matt provides the option to stay here, but he also suggests layering on the action of internally rotating the top leg. In this case, the bottom leg stays on the ground instead of crossing at the ankle, while you lean way forward on wide hands and internally rotate the top leg. You can also add props. By sitting up on a bolster, for example, you can take balance out of the equation and home in on the sensation of the internal rotation of the top leg.

200 HOUR ONLINE TEACHER TRAINING

GET CERTIFIED & DEEPEN YOUR YOGA PRACTICE

Deepen your yoga practice
Build confidence speaking in front of groups in person and online
Learn foundational class structures and templates
Learn techniques for a wide range of yoga postures
Get certified and highly qualified to teach yoga
Yoga Alliance Globally Recognized Certification Program

VARIATIONS 2 & 3

In the second and third variations, the importance of the internal rotation of the top leg is revealed. All of the steps from variation 1 are implemented, including the cross at the ankle, in variation 2. What you’ll see in the video is a clear distinction between what happens to the hips when the top leg is internally rotated versus when it is not. When you turn it in (internally rotate), the hips go up, as opposed to externally rotating the hip and the hips going down. Once the internal rotators are activated, you can’t help but tap into the activation of the adductor and abductor groups. Now, the third variation is really going to expose where strength needs to be improved. There is no crossing at the legs here; instead, you’re fastening your ankles side by side. As a result, your adductors are put to the test.

300 HOUR ONLINE TEACHER TRAINING

GET 500 HOUR CERTIFIED AS A MASTER TEACHER

Master your skill set as a teacher through refined techniques, anatomy, biomechanics, sequencing, philosophy, meditation techniques, theming, yoga business, and much more!

Get 500 hour certified
Learn anatomy, biomechanics, asana techniques
Expand your teaching skills
Masterful sequencing and verbal delivery
Learn meditation and breathwork techniques
Transformative tools: theming, dharma talks, satsang

The 200 Hr. Teacher Training: Click Here to See the Next Start Date

ACHIEVE MORE THAN AN ARM BALANCE

Beyond the awareness of the physical aspect of Ashtavakrasana are mental focus and confidence. Arm balance postures can be scary. It’s smart to prepare both your body and the environment—strengthening through drills specific to the posture, putting blankets or pillows in place to soften any falls—but it’s also important to go for it, to take the plunge so to speak. In the end, you’ll be left with more confidence in both physicality and character, which transcends the yoga mat. This confidence dismantles the mystery of Ashtavakrasana, or any arm balance for that matter. Approaching your yoga practice in this way means that you develop the knowledge that technique and effort fuel ability.

Matt’s next immersion, Flow & Fly, will guide you through playful yet intentional arm balance practices that will ultimately improve strength.

See you on the mat!

The 300 Hr. Advanced Teacher Training: Click Here to See the Next Start Date

Article by Trish Curling

Video Extracted From: Anatomy of Arm Balances

← See Previous Story See Next Story →

BREATH OF FIRE

Moderate Vinyasa-style classes
Core strengthening & integration
Master your breath with pranayama practices
Access your core in arm balances, heart openers, twists, forward folds, inversions, and more
Learn where and how to breathe in challenging postures
Each class will include one pranayama (breathwork practice) and several core strengtheners
Access your core muscles: deep, superficial, anterior, posterior, and lateral
12 Classes: All levels appropriate
Lifetime unlimited access to all
Attend the livestream OR practice the replays any time that’s convenient for you

$148.00