Lateral Standing Postures

Hi everyone, welcome back to class. Today we are going to focus on Trikonasana and Parsvakonasana, which are both lateral bends — lateral bends meaning the side of the body is going to get a very deep stretch. I recommend that you use the Surya Namaskar video to warm up nicely, and then you can come back to this and we can get started.

Starting off, come to Sukhasana, heel behind the heel, spine nice and straight, close your eyes. Take a moment to observe the breath, don't hurry. Inhale deeply from your chest, exhale, pull the navel in as much as you can, release the air, try to breathe with sound. Remember the Ujjayi breath that we practiced earlier, try to maintain that. Inhaling from the chest, exhale, pull the stomach in as much as you can, release the air. Last time inhale, breathe out. Join the palms together, let's chant Om together. Inhale, gently open the eyes. Now we are ready to begin.

So we are going to start in a cross-legged position today. We are going to take a very simple lateral bend to the side. Go ahead by placing the right forearm down on the ground. Inhale, take the left hand up. Now, if it's difficult for you to keep the forearm down, just keep the fingers down — no problem, this itself is enough. Keep it a little forward and this is good enough; if it's accessible, keep the forearm down.

So inhale here, exhale, take the arm over the head — not down, but to the side, so you can feel the side of the body getting a stretch. You shouldn't lift the hip up like this; the hip is nicely down. If you're comfortable, look at the hand. Five breaths here, deep breathing. One, two, good, try to keep the navel pulled in. Three, the arm is right by the ears. Five, that's good. Inhale as you come up.

Let's do it on the other side. Exhale, keep the left forearm down. Inhale, take the right arm up. Exhale as you take it over the head. Take a moment, and then turn your head if you can, look at the hand. If it's uncomfortable to do this, just keep looking straight, no problem. Enjoy the nice stretch on the side of the body. One, two, stomach is pulled in, hip is down. Three, four, five, that's enough. Slowly come up. Okay, relax.

Let's switch over onto the hands and knees, remember the tabletop position — we're going to come back to that. Start off by spreading the fingers, shoulders over the wrist, pull the navel inside. Now we need some strength for this posture, so we're going to work on that now.

Inhale, dip down, exhale, protract the shoulders, press into the hands, come up as much as you can. Inhale, just dip down — no bending the elbows, we don't want the elbows to bend, elbows are super straight. Inhale, dip down, exhale, take it up. Inhale, dip down, exhale, take it up. Two more times. Inhale, dip down, exhale, protract. Inhale, retract, exhale, protract.

Now, with the shoulders protracted, let's hold it for five breaths. Inhale, just arch the back for a moment, exhale, round the back, press into the hands, shoulder protraction, hold it there. One, two, pull the navel inside as much as you can. Three, four, five. Inhale, just arch the back for a moment, release everything, exhale, neutral spine position.

From here, inhale, move the shoulders over the wrist, feel pressure on the wrist for a moment, exhale, come back to original position. Inhale, move forward, avoid arching the back, exhale, come back. Three more times. Inhale forward, exhale back. Inhale forward, feel the strength in the shoulders, exhale back. Inhale forward and hold it for five breaths. One, two, pull the navel in, keep the legs active. Three, four, five, come back. Balasana, take some rest, bend the knees and head down. Slowly come up.

Let's take it to downward facing dog. Spread the fingers, come on the toes, push back, lift the hips up — so here we are in downward dog. Take a moment, absolutely no hurry, observe the breathing. We'll stay for five breaths. One, two, three, deep steady breathing. Four, five, that's enough. Look forward.

Now let's walk forward. You can lift your heels up, slightly bend the knees and start to walk — walk towards the hands, walk in, walk in, walk in. Open the feet apart, slightly hip distance — I'm going to turn here so you can see. Open the feet about hip distance and just gently bend the spine forward, interlock the elbows.

Now you should bend the knees, try to get the chest resting on the thighs, and five breaths here. Avoid this position — we don't want the back to round so much, we want length in the back. So if it's difficult with the knees straight, bend the knees, no problem. One, keep the hands completely relaxed, relax the head. Three, four, and five. Gently bend the knees, release the hands with a rounded spine, slowly come up and relax.

From here, open the feet a little more than hip width. Keep the left hand on the waist, right hand up — we're going to warm up the sides of the body. Inhale, exhale, you have to tilt your hip to the side and then you bend to the side. Feel a nice deep stretch through the side of the body. Avoid this position — we don't want to come forward, we want it to be a side bend. No bending the knees. Inhale as you come up.

Right hand down, left hand up. Start by pushing the hip towards the left side and then you bend. Inhale, come up. We'll go a little faster — exhale down, inhale come up, exhale down. One more time, inhale up, exhale down. Hold it for five. One, two, deep breath. Three, four, and five. Inhale up.

Exhale — one, push the hip to the side. Two, three, four, five, that's good. Inhale and come up.

Now we're ready to try Triangle Pose, Trikonasana. Let's start with the left leg. So, keeping your left leg at a 90 degree angle, take your right leg a little back — not too wide, just three to four feet is more than enough. See if your right leg can point directly forward and your left leg is pointing fully towards this side. Hands on the waist for a moment, align the heel and arch of the foot, let it be in one line. If it's not very easy to do that, align the heels together.

Now from here, inhale, open the arms. Exhale — don't just bend like that, think that somebody is pulling the left hand forward. So again, tilt the hip to the side, think that someone is pulling the left hand. Keep going as much as you can and dangle the hands here, then hold wherever you can, hold for a moment. If it's comfortable, switch your gaze to the right fingers. Press down on the toes, hold there for a few breaths. One, two, deep breathing. Three, keep the navel in. Four, five.

Now you can stay here, but if it's comfortable, go a little bit deeper down — you can even hold the first two fingers around the big toe and slowly switch your gaze up. Again, don't bend forward, you should never compromise on the spine when doing these postures. We want this nice beautiful side bend to be there. Three, two, one, look at the floor. Balance, inhale, come up.

Let's try it on the other side. Right leg turn, left leg 45 degrees. Inhale deeply, exhale, reach back slightly and then reach forward. Push the hip to the side, bend, dangle the hands, hold wherever you can. Slowly turn, look at the left fingers. Don't make it a forward bend, it's a nice beautiful side stretch. One, two, three, four, five.

You can stay here, but if it's comfortable, go down and take the first two fingers around the big toe. Hold it there. One, two, keep lengthening, broadening the chest. Three, four, five. Look at the floor. Inhale, come up. Turn the legs back.

From here, let's do a vinyasa. Take the hands back to the ground, step back to plank pose. Inhale, plank. Exhale, chest down. Inhale, nice and simple, just arch the back for a moment. Exhale, downward dog, let's just rest for a moment in downward dog. Take an inhale, exhale, look forward.

Step the left leg forward and come and start, back leg 45 degrees, come and start. We're just going to do Trikonasana one more time — I'm going to show you from this side now so you can understand the back. Front leg is 90 degrees, back leg 45 degrees. Open the hands, inhale, exhale slowly, push the hip to the side and come down. Now if this is comfortable, take the hand a little over the head, feel a nice stretch towards the side of the body. One, just a few breaths here. Two, three, that's enough. Inhale, come up.

Right leg turn, back leg 45 degrees. Open the chest, inhale, exhale, reach forward and then go down. Left hand up, exhale, take it over the head. Hold it there. One, two, three. Inhale as you come up, all the way up. Again, face forward, take the hands back to the mat. Bend the front knee, inhale, plank pose, exhale, knees down, chest down. Bhujangasana, breathing — you can even do Urdhva Mukha. Exhale to downward dog. Deep inhale, deep exhale. Take the right leg forward, back leg 45 degrees, come and start.

Now we're going to do Parsvakonasana. So for this one, we want a wider distance between the legs — see how wide my distance is. If you're taller, you need an even wider distance, so whatever is comfortable for you. Front leg is 90, back leg is 45 degrees. Go ahead and open the hands, nice long inhalation. As you exhale, start like you're doing Warrior II, get into this pose.

Keep the forearm down on the thigh. Inhale, take the left hand up, look at the left fingers. Five breaths here — the knee shouldn't cross the ankle, remember that. One, two, good. Three, four, five. You can stay there, but if it's comfortable, keep the right hand down outside of the right leg. Inhale, exhale, take the left hand over the head. Don't sink the hip down, keep it nice and elevated, nice and open. Don't collapse onto the hand, keep breathing. One, back knee straight. Two, three, four, five. Inhale, come up.

We'll do it on the other side. Left leg 90, back leg 45 — it requires so much strength in the legs to do these asanas, your legs will strengthen over time. Inhale, open the hands, don't hurry. Exhale, bend like you're going for Warrior II. Inhale again, exhale, take the forearm down. Inhale, take the right hand up.

Five breaths here, look at the right fingers. One, two, deep breath, pull the navel in. Three, four, five. You can stay here, but if it's accessible, left hand down, take the right hand over the head, look at the right fingers. One, two, three, good. Four, try to balance. Five, that's enough.

Inhale, take you back up. Face the beginning of the mat. Take the hands to the ground, step back, plank pose. Exhale, Chaturanga, inhale, Urdhva Mukha, exhale, downward dog. We're going to take some rest — drop the knees, Balasana.

Slowly come up, come back and sit. Just a very small twist to release the body. Right hand on the left knee, inhale, look at the center. As you exhale, twist and look behind you, chin over the shoulder as much as you can. Couple of breaths. Inhale center, exhale, twist over to your other side, back to the center.

If you feel like you need more rest, go ahead and take Savasana for as long as you need. Close your eyes, let everything come to rest. Join the palms. Inhale, gently open your eyes. Thank you so much, I'll see you next class.