The subtle intricacies of this pose shape my practice. A gentle nudge forward, a slight shift of the back foot, a strong bend in my knee, feeling the earth pulling down on my hips and my gaze focused on the abyss. With my torso strong and bold, I am strong, a gentle warrior.
I love this pose because it captures a moment of being. It was my first time trying this pose, and I didn’t know what the pose would look like, but I had faith as my master talked me through it. When my toes touched, he grabbed my camera and took the photo. So the photo itself is even more special because it is me as seen by my master. In a glance, there is a moment of yoga, no striving or thinking, just the joy of being.
One of the reasons I love this pose so much is that the name it is fun to say…both in Sanskrit and English. Try it 3 times fast… Utthita Hasta Padangustasana… Utthita Hasta Padangustasana… Utthita Hasta Padangustasana. Fun right? Also, Extended Hand-To-Big-Toe Pose, just sounds made up and yet perfectly descriptive.
OK, on a more Yogic note, Utthita Hasta Padangustasana was one of the first poses that really demonstrated for me the importance of bandhas, drishti and breath coming together to create a strong yet soft and focused balance posture.
The awareness in this posture comes from the inside-out. There is an intensity that is created from all 3 bandhas being active and engaged. The bandhas feel like the internal support necessary to find the external balance.
The drishti is a soft gaze that adjusts gracefully as the leg is extended out to the side. I love the rhythm of the gaze moving over the shoulder with the same timing of the leg moving outward in opposition of the gaze. Landing here, feels like the beginning of a new pose all together…well, officially it is: Ardha Utthita Hasta Padangustasana.
The breath is also a stabilizing factor in this posture as it is used to create clear focus allowing us to become less interested in the distractions of the mind. The breath feels like a holding space for all aspects of the posture…as the breath maintains its equanimity, it gives unity to the different variations of the pose.
Finally, after bringing the leg back to center, my favorite part of the pose is releasing the toe, bringing the hands to the waist and holding the extended leg for five breaths. Finding the calm within, while the quadricep is fully engaged and the leg is shaking from its own weight is disturbingly exciting to me (I probably need to get out more). Again, I notice that this is where the super trio of bandhas, drishti and breath allow me to find the full expression of the posture. At a time where it is tempting to squinch the muscles of my face, hold my breath and count to 5 as quickly as I can, these three yogic principles bring me back into alignment both internally and externally. As I ground into the earth, lift up from the crown and expand open from the heart, I find the dignity in the posture that is…Utthita Hasta Padangustasana!
Ahhhh…what next?
I love this pose, also known as « pigeon pose », because of it’s grounding and relaxing qualities. As I am doing this pose, I focus on the sensations of my legs against the earth and the movement of my breath in my hips. This helps draw my consciousness into my body and calms my mind. Other ways this pose benefits me are opening the thighs, groins, psoas and abdomen, stimulating the abdominal organs, opening the shoulders and chest. It also deeply releases the sacrum.
This pose is beautiful. It is among my favourite because it requires extreme focus, balance and « no mind », which is nothing else than the yogic state. The meaning of the pose is « flying horse pose with eagle arms ».
The spiritual center is on swadhisthana chakra, which means the sacral chakra, the chakra of creative energy and inspiration. The pose itself strengthens leg muscles and knee joints. It also reduces hyperactivity of the kidneys and diuresis.
I like urdva dhanurasa (and urdva dhanusara mandala) because it is a beautiful heart opening with a strong connection to the earth. It is about freedom, release and centering. A reminder of how good it is to be alive and pulsing.
When I first tried yoga, it felt like nothing I had practiced before. After my very first class, I could feel that through the breath my entire body had been cleansed and filled with some kind of joy. Then I went through another phase. A tough one. My father died, I was 28. And the yoga practice was the only time when I would not feel like I was in bits. It was the only time when I would bring myself to the present time and could no longer let myself roam in past memories. Since then, I have become a yoga teacher, and it has made my practice even more important to me. My teaching comes from the experience that emotions, body and breath are intertwined and yoga gives you tools to understand who you are. And tools to improve how you react to the complexity of life. It is about freedom, the freedom to become who you truly are.
In my opinion, the ashtanga yoga system is a very intelligent path to yoga. Not only can your body organically feel how well thought trough the sequencing is, but you are also empowered by the need for memorizing theses sequences. To me, it is as if the ashtanga series were mantras, instead of voicing them out, you express words and vibrations through your entire body with asanas and breath. It is about transformation, freedom and life.
Padmasana is my favorite yoga pose because it centers me and gives me the opportunity to connect to my breath and just be still. I do my yoga practices (and especially pranayama) to keep myself balanced, connected and in a positive vibration. My daily moments of breathing and moving the body in its rhythm are my gifts to myself.
I practice ashtanga yoga. I am particularly fond of balasana (child’s pose) because it is like a gift we offer to ourselves at the end of the practice, after physically demanding postures. And when we practice « Mysore style », we can spend as much time as we want into each pose and be our own judge to feel how long we need to regenerate or feel the healing powers of each asana. Ashtanga yoga is a very pure form of yoga, it is very demanding. It requires our will, sometimes our courage, but also our ability to stop when it’s necessary. And this is something I am able to do on my mat but that I have a hard time to do in my daily life. « Child’s pose », I love this name and what it makes me think of. I think children are naturally yogis. They are flexible, stand straight at the same time, they do things all the way and are totally connected to others and what is going on around them.
I particularly like this pose. To me, it is one of the best reminders of the fact that it is nothing else but what happens inside that counts. It is one of the asanas that help me the most to feel calm, focused and totally grounded.
