Upavishta konasana, Nov 2020
We lose 40 % of our muscles between 40 and 80 if we don’t train them. This has a huge influence on our lives. I also read that when we have to go to a hospital we lose 1% of our muscles every day because we usually lie in bed all day long.
Therefore I think we don’t have a choice if life shall not aggravate. We must train our muscles 💪. If we want to stay flexible we have to stretch, too. It’s not always fun. Me too, I’m not always in the mood to put in the necessary work. Yet moods change. Practicing daily is easier than having an on and off relationship with the daily yoga session.
Easier said than done.
I prefer to stretch than doing strength training. Both is important. I don’t avoid to build strength anymore.
On the picture is upavishta konasana. Every day I exercise forward splits and side splits. I consider these asanas as basic asanas. When I learned to move forward instead of downwards upavishta konasana improved. The spine keeps rather neutral. To bow the back is not recommended. The above asana opens the hips. It’s relieving for the back. Engaging the leg muscles helps to get deeper into the pose. The legs move to the center and not away from it.
Yet as always experiment, compare how different movements feel.