Monday is primary day for Ashtanga Yoga practitioners. Primary is focused on forward bending asanas mainly.
The back of the body gets stretched. The hamstrings might sing a song about forward bending asanas.
I’m surely a fan to practice effectively. I personally want to do what works. Miracles don’t happen.
Stretching takes time. It takes much longer if not done correctly. It takes a felt eternity if injuries happen. Injuries are setbacks.
How to stretch:
Firstly the closer the feet the more challenging the asana is. It’s good advice to move from easy to more challenging. Gravity helps to get deeper into the pose. Yet, the pose must be held longer than 5 breaths if one wants to see results. One minute is a good beginning. More than 5 minutes is not necessary. If the asanas becomes a piece of cake 5 breaths might be enough. There are other asanas who scream for attention…..
The weight is on the back leg. Also this shift helps to deepen the asana.
Engaging the abdomen and the pelvis floor show sudden effects.
With each inhaling the body stretches, with each exhaling the upper body moves closer to the front leg.
I used the arms as a leverage. It helped me a lot. Yet this variation must be used with care. Once I injured myself. Hamstring were pulled. We always remember the injuries. As it can be seen on the picture this variation helps me to move deeper into the pose. It’s more about lengthening the upper body. With the arm as leverage it helps to keep the back straight.
Most standing asanas can be practiced everywhere and even with clothes (if those are not too tight). I always preferred clothes that allowed me to move. Minimum requirement of a pair of trousers is that it allows me to sit in lotus pose. Sometimes I try this in the shop. One can feel at once if a piece is comfortable or not.
My Monday morning practice was so intensive, I didn’t like to spoil it with taking pictures.
As mentioned. Stretching takes time. When practicing correctly the process is faster. Yet it takes time to stretch. Stretching can be done often. Take care and stretch.
Being flexible gives me a feeling of freedom. My body doesn’t limit myself.
This is how the asana looks after having applied the leverage with the arms. Abdomen are engaged. I guess I was one minute in that pose.
