Eka Pada Rajakapotasana: April 2011

How do you feel bro?

In this pose, Eda Pada Rajakapotasana, I feel like I do after a gymnastics class. Its a mixture of pleasure, accomplishment, pain and feeling extremely flexible, no matter how much you aren't. In gymnastics we have to work at it constantly to be able to nail a trick, like a handspring, on the vaults or the floor routines or the uneven bars. After a good, long class, you feel accomplished if you nailed a trick or got part of it down. You feel happy because you didn't just sit around doing nothing and pain because you have to work hard to push yourself to your limit. In this posture, at first you have to concentrate on your breath and being steady so that you don't fall over. When you feel steady, you have to push your body to bend backwards and stretch out your lower back. Opening your hips, chest and shoulders sends a warmth down your spine to your fingertips and feet. It feels like you've been in freezing cold ac and then all of a sudden you walk out into the blazing sun. My back starts hurting quite quickly, but i try to keep holding the posture for as long as i can. I try to focus on extending my spine so that my bones don't crush into each other, even though that is what it feels like. As i am in the posture, i feel like i have to keep focusing on what i'm doing at the moment and not get distracted or i could lose my center and fall over.

English

Eka Pada Rajakapotasana is called the "pigeon pose."

Physical and Therapeutic Benefits

Benefits:
-opens up your hip flexor muscles (psoas and rectus femoris) and it opens up your groin muscles
-opens up the hip rotator muscles (gluteus medius and minimus)
-relieves nerve tension and lower back pain
-opens up chest and shoulders

Therapeutic:
-controls sexual desire, increases circulation to the urinary, digestive and reproductive systems.

How to (:

1. Start off on all fours with your knees directly below your hips and hands slightly ahead of your shoulders.
2. Slide your right knee to the back of your right wrist and your foot to the front of your left knee. Rest your right shin on the floor.
3. Slide your left leg back, straightening the knee, and lowering the front of the thigh to the floor. Your left leg should extend straight out behind you.
4. Exhale and lay your torso down, reaching your arms out in front of you. Stay in this position for a couple breaths then push yourself back up. Lengthen your lower back by pressing your tailbone down and forward.
5. With your hands on the floor, bend the back knee and bring the foot as close to the top of your head as possible for you.
6. Inhale and stretch the right arm up towards the sky and backwards a little, creating an arch in your back.
7. Exhale and bend the elbow, reaching back to grab the foot and pull it as close to the crown of your head as you can. Hold this position for a couple breaths. Release and repeat on the other side.

http://www.myyogaonline.com/poses/back-bends/pigeon-pose-eka-pada-rajakapotasana

Modifications

If you have any lower back pain, place a folded blanket or a block under the bent leg's thigh to add support.
If your knee position is off, place the foot closer to the opposite groin and use a blanket or a block under the thigh.
As you move on to advanced versions, you can start off by using a belt around the back foot rather than holding it with your hand.

Eka Pada Rajakapotasana

Friday, April 15, 2011