Area Yoga Brooklyn

The arrival of November signals an emotional and spiritual turning inwards as we examine our lives to appreciate what we are most grateful for. To inspire your sense of gratitude, practice seeing things from a different and challenging point of view. Practice pavritta trikonasana (rotated triangle).

 

Getting In: Even if you’ve done this pose dozens of times, try it with a block, as shown in the photo. Start in tadasana (mountain pose) at the front of your mat with your feet hip distance apart. Step your left foot directly behind your left hip about halfway to a low lunge. The distance between your two feet should be less than your typical warrior pose, so that you can place your back heel on the ground. Usually about 4 ft. does the trick. Place your left foot so that your toes are aimed at a 45degree angle off your mat, in the direction of the top left corner of your mat. Make sure your feet haven’t cross in line behind you and instead, place your left foot slightly to the left. (If you were to step forward, your feet would be back at hip-distance apart.) Take your hands to your hips to direct your left hip in line with your right. Begin to fold forward, hinging at your hips while directing your left hip forward and your right hip back. Either take your hands to the floor to frame your right foot or place your hands on two blocks on either side of your right foot. Whatever forward bend you are in, inhale to lift your spine slightly away from the ground and lift your lower belly up; keep this lift through your exhale to lengthen the crown of your head down the inside of your right leg toward your right big toe and soften your rib cage in toward your center. Enjoy a few breaths in the foward bend to focus on lengthening your spine. When you’re ready, use an inhale to carry your spine parallel to the floor, place your left hand (and the block, if you’re using it) slightly ahead of you, and an exhale to lift your right arm into the sky. Keep your left hand on the ground or block near your right foot (or try taking your hand to rest on top of your right foot or even to touch the ground to the outside of your foot). Be sure to practice this pose with your left foot forward, too.

Lining Up: Focus on balancing your weight between your two feet. Use the heel and outside edge of your back foot to roll your left upper femur bone into your hip socket while carrying your energy forward; use your right big toe and outside of your right foot to spiral your upper right femur bone into your hip socket while moving your energy back. Reconnecting your legs into your hip sockets steers your hips back to center to balance directly above the triangle of your legs. Your left hip moves forward to free your left shoulder and your right hip draws back to lengthen your right side waist. Move your kneecaps up your legs. Your feet and legs are scissoring towards each other, almost drawing the earth underneath you closed. From this strong base, reconnect with your breath: lengthen your spine when you inhale by taking your tailbone toward the space directly behind you and the crown of your head forward; twist further toward the sky when you exhale by sliding your belly button up and over your right side. Stack your arm joints from the floor up, with your left wrist directly beneath your elbow, beneath your left shoulder, beneath your right shoulder, beneath your right elbow, and right wrist, all lifting up towards your fingertips. Revolve your torso from your lower abdomen lifting away from the floor and your left shoulder moving under your rib cage to the right. As you twist deeper, you may need to adjust your left hand so it falls directly below the new placement of your left shoulder. Allow your shoulder blades to slide away from your ears. Draw your left shoulder blade towards your spine to encourage your heart even more into the twist. Smooth out the back of your neck by sliding your left ear flat against the floor forward; your right ear is open to the sky. Maybe you’ll turn your head from your ears moving together to look to your right hand.

 

Tuning In: Highly challenging pavritta trikonasana strengthens your feet and legs, stretches your hamstrings and hips, and wrings out your abdomen all the while encouraging flexibility in your spine. Twisting poses in yoga are intended to detoxify your body, much the way you wring water from a towel. As your body twists to face three different directions at once, use your breath to sooth the stretch in your legs and to soften the space between your eyebrows. Take notice of your personal reaction to this pose and how it challenges your unique body. Return your focus back to your breath to stay with the pose. Sometimes it takes a true challenge in order to see and appreciate things in a new and different way. Sometimes it takes an intense asana to truly reconnect us back to what’s most important, our breath.