RICHARD ROSEN’S ASANA BREAKDOWN NO. 5: UTTANASANA

Uttanasana is one of the most commonly performed of all the standing poses. It’s also one of the most useful, IF performed properly. In many classes it serves as a “rest period” between the poses of the standing sequence. It’s extension, ardha uttanasana, is also extremely important. Too often, we move into the standing forward bend from our belly, shorting and hardening the front torso. Ardha uttanasana reminds to continue to lengthen the front torso, and more importantly, the front spine.

UTTANĀSANA (oot-tun-AH-suh-nuh)

ut (actually ud) = a prefix suggesting power or powerful

tan = to stretch or extend (compare the Latin verb tendere, “to stretch or extend,” and English “tension”)

Intense Stretch Pose, commonly called Standing Forward Bend

1) Stand in Tadasana, hands on hips. Exhale and bend forward from the hip joints, not from the waist. As you descend draw the front torso out of the groins and open the space between the pubis and navel. As in all the forward bends the emphasis is on lengthening the front torso as you move more fully into the position.

2) If possible, with your knees relatively straight, press your palms or finger tips on the floor, either slightly in front of or beside your feet; if this isn’t possible, then cross your forearms and hold your elbows with the opposite-side hands. Feel the contact of the heels on the floor and lift the sit bones away from them toward the ceiling. Turn the top thighs slightly inward.

3) With each inhale in the pose, lift and lengthen the front torso just slightly; with each exhale release a little more fully into the forward bend. In this way the torso oscillates almost  imperceptibly with the breath. Let your head hang from the root of the neck, which is deep in the upper back, between the shoulder blades.

4) Uttanasana can be used as a resting position between the standing poses. Stay in the pose for 30 seconds to 1 minute. It can also be practiced as a pose in itself for anywhere from 1 to 3 minutes.

5) Don’t roll the spine to come up. Instead bring your hands back onto your hips and reaffirm the length of the front torso. Then press your tail bone down and into the pelvis and come up on an inhale with a long front torso.

Benefits

• Calms the brain

• Stretches the hamstrings, calves, and hips

• Strengthens the thighs and knees

Contraindications: 

If you have a serious back injury, do this pose with bent knees, or perform Ardha Uttanasana (pronounced are-duh = half) with your hands pressed to a wall, legs perpendicular to and torso and arms parallel to the floor.

Beginner’s Tip:

If it isn’t possible to press your fingertips or hands to the floor with your knees relatively straight, use a pair of blocks to support them. Never struggle to touch the floor.

Intermediate’s Tip:

To increase the stretch:

1) Perform the pose with the balls of your feet supported on a low height (maybe 2 to 3 inches), heels on the floor. The higher the height, the deeper the stretch. Stay for a minute or more, come up with an inhale.

2) Stand facing an open wall, maybe 4 to 5 inches away. With an exhale, swing your torso to one side, bend forward, and touch your back to the wall. Now adjust: if the stretch is too intense, back away from the wall; if it could be greater, wiggle in closer to the wall. Stay for a minute or more, then press your hands to the floor and step back to Downward Facing Dog.

ARDHA UTTANASANA  (are-duh oot-tun-AH-suh-nuh)

ardha = half

uttana = intense stretch

Half Intense Stretch Pose, commonly known as Half Standing Forward Bend Pose.

1)  In Uttanasana,  press your palms or fingertips against the floor (or against blocks on the floor) beside your feet. Straighten your elbows and, with an inhale, arch your front torso away from your thighs and lengthen between your pubic bone and navel as much as possible.

2) With your palms (or fingertips) push down and back against the floor (or blocks) as if trying to slide it (them) toward your heels; at the same time, lift the top of your sternum up (away from the floor) and forward (toward the opposite side of the room). You might bend your knees slightly to help get this movement, which will concave your back and convex your front torso.

3) Look forward, but as usual be careful not to compress the back of your neck. Hold the concave back position for a few breaths, then with an exhale release your torso into full Uttanasana.

Contraindications:

With any neck injury, don’t lift the head to look forward; otherwise same as those of Uttanasana

Benefits: (in addition to those of Uttanasana)

• Stretches the front torso

• Strengthens the back and improves posture

• Stimulates the belly

Beginner’s Tip:

When lifting and lengthening the front torso, if the backs of you legs are tight, bend your knees quite a bit to avoid stressing the lower back.

Intermediate’s Tip:

To intensify the stretch on the back thighs, bend your knees slightly and cross your forearms behind your calves. Firm the arms against the calves and lift and lengthen the front torso as described above. Hold that length, continue to resist the calves with the arms, and push back firmly against the top thighs. Let the front torso be drawn into a deep fold, maintaining as much of the length along the front torso as possible.

RICHARD ROSEN’S ASANA BREAKDOWN NO. 4: TADASANA

TADASANA
(tah-DAH-suh-nuh)

tāda = mountain (PRONUNCIATION NOTE: the “d” in this word is what’s called a retroflex. If it were properly transliterated from Sanskrit to Roman characters, it would have a small under-dot [the word processor used for this column can’t create that]. It’s not possible to describe in words what the “d” should sound like. It’s pronounced by curling the tongue back in the mouth and “flicking” its tip off the roof of the mouth. Be aware too that the first “a” is long [indicated by the small horizontal line over it, called a macron], and so pronounced “ah” like the “a” in father.)

There are at least two other traditional names for this pose, ghanasana (“compact, solid, complete” ) and utthitasana (“elevated, eminent”). Some modern yoga schools call this pose sama sthiti (sama = even; constant; straight; sthiti = standing upright).

1. Stand with your feet slightly apart. On each foot, draw a line down midway between the inner and outer ankles and out across the top of the foot to the toes. Generally the line runs out along the second toe (next to the big toe). Bring these two lines parallel to each other, the inner feet are then usually either parallel to each other or slightly turned in. Make sure the tips of the big toes are touching the same (imaginary) line. 

2. Draw the knee caps up toward the thighs by activating the front thigh muscles (quadriceps). Be careful not to “straighten” the knees by pushing the caps straight back into the knee joint. When the knees are properly straightened, the caps like a pair of eyes look straight forward; when the caps are pushed back and the knees “locked,” then they turn in slightly as if looking toward each other. 

3. Lengthen your tail bone downward, toward your heels. Be sure not to “tuck” it forward toward the pubis; rather, think of growing down along the backs of your legs and out behind you on the floor like a long kangaroo tail. 

4. Firm your shoulder blades against your back, but be sure not to squeeze them together, broaden them away from the spine. Imagine the lower tips of the blades firming up and into the back, that is, diagonally toward the top of the sternum bone (breast bone). Then lift the top of the sternum, be sure not to push the bottom of the bone (xiphoid) forward. Hold it down and into the torso. 

5. Widen the collar bones (clavicles) across the top chest. The width across the upper front torso should match the width across the upper back. Allow your arms to hang comfortably by your sides, hands relaxed. 

5. Release the base of the skull away from the back of the neck. This is more of an imaginary action than a physical movementWhen you do this, you may feel a slight tug on the crook of the throat, where the front of the neck and underside of the chin meet. Lift the crook into the head diagonally toward the top of the spine (atlas). 

6. Finally close your eyes and rock slowly side to side and front to back. Exaggerate the rocking at first, then slowly diminish the movement until you come to a stop with your weight evenly distributed on and between the soles. Stack the five “domes” of the body one atop the other: the foot dome (composed of the joined inner arches), the perineum, the diaphragm, the soft palette, and the cranial vault (the crown). 

-Benefits: Helps teach the physical body proper physical alignment, which serves as a template for all the standing poses. 

-Contraindications: None. 

Beginner’s tip: Practice this pose with your back to a wall. To begin, bend your knees slightly and then straighten them, feel the shoulder blades and tail bone drawn down toward your heels. Use your hands to gently lift the base of your skull away from the back of the neck. Then bring your arms alongside your torso and lightly press your hands against the wall, moving your back slightly away from its support. Stay for a minute or two, feeling the release down the back from the shoulders to the tail, and the lift of the skull base off the nape.

Intermediate’s tip: To increase the challenge of this pose, bring your inner feet together to narrow your base of support. Then to go a step further, close your eyes and use your “inner sense” (and not relying on outside, visual clues) to establish and maintain the balance in the pose. 

URDVHA HASTASANA
(oord-vah hahs-TAH-suh-nuh)
urdhva = raised (or upward)
hasta = hand 

Urdhva Hastasana literally translates to “Raised Hands Pose,” but it is also sometimes called Talasana, the Palm Tree Pose (tala = palm tree). 

1. Stand in Tadasana. Turn your arms outward (or laterally) so your palms face forward and thumbs point away from your body and out to the sides. With an inhale, sweep each arm in a wide arc out to the sides and up toward the ceiling.

2. If your shoulders are tight, stop when your raised arms are approximately parallel to each other. But if possible without lifting your shoulders up to your ears, press your palms firmly together. Start that by touching the bases of your palms, then the palms themselves, and finally the fingers. 

3. Extend your elbows fully and reach up through your pinkies so your thumbs turn slightly down toward your crown. You can look straight ahead or tip your head back to gaze up at your thumbs, but make sure not to compress the back of your neck.

4. Be aware that when you raise your arms overhead there’s a tendency to push the lower front ribs forward. This in turn can compress the lower back, not a healthy situation. Be sure then to keep the front ribs down (toward your pelvis) and in (toward your spine), and lengthen your tail bone toward the floor. Try to lift your back ribs faster than the front ribs so the rib case moves evenly away from your pelvis to stretch the circumference of your belly between pelvis and ribs. For the first time through the Sun Salute series, hold this position for a few breaths. 

5. Then exhale and sweep your arms out to the sides as you tip your torso forward from the hip joints to fold into Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend). Whenever you move from Raised Arms to Standing Forward Bend, always sweep your arms to the sides, never come down with your arms straight forward. The movement made this way adds an unhealthy load to your lower back. Be sure too to tip forward from your hips, not round down from your belly. Ideally you’ll lengthen the space between your pubis and navel as you move from standing or sitting to a forward bend.

-Benefits
Stretches the shoulders and armpits. 

-Contraindications (in addition to those of Tadasana): Avoid the raised arms in this pose with shoulder or neck injuries. 

Beginner’s tip:
To help strengthen the arms and extend the elbows more fully, squeeze a foam block between your palms. Be sure the bases of the palms are pressing the block. You can start by pressing the ends of the block at its widest width, then switch to the block’s middle width, and finally if possible for you, the faces of the block.

Intermediate’s tip:
It’s also possible to raise the arms with the hands clasped. To do this, interlock the fingers and then reach the arms straight forward from the shoulders, parallel to the floor. Turn the palms away from the torso and stretch the thumbs down toward the floor, draw them back toward your torso, and press out most actively through the bases of the index fingers. From here, swing the arms up and overhead. Once in the raised position, draw the thumbs down toward the floor and press up through the bases of the index fingers, opening the palms toward the ceiling.

RICHARD ROSEN’S ASANA BREAKDOWN NO. 3: URDHVA MUKHA SHVANĀSANA

URDHVA MUKHA SHVANĀSANA
(erd-vah moo-kah shvun-AHS-uh-nuh) 

urdhva mukha = face upward (urdhva = upward; mukha = face)
śhvana = dog (SPELLING/PRONUNCIATION NOTES: 1) There are three sibilants in Sanskrit. The simple “s” is pronounced exactly like the Roman “s”; say “so.” The second sibilant is called a palatal “s,” it’s marked with what the French call an “accent acute,” it looks like this (ś) and is pronounced like the “sh” in shave. The third sibilant is called a retroflex “s,” it’s marked with an underdot, it looks like this (ş) and is pronounced much like the palatal “s” except that the tip of the tongue is turned back in the mouth (hence it’s retroflexed) and flicked off the roof. 

2) In Sanskrit, when a “v” follows a consonant it’s often pronounced as a “w.” The best known example of this is the word “swami,” which when properly transliterated from Sanskrit to the Roman alphabet is actually spelled “svami.” When the early English visitors to India heard this word pronounced, they naturally spelled it with a “w” replacing the “v.” “Shvana” then sounds something like “shwana.”

Upward Facing Dog Pose 

1. Lie face down on your mat, with your hands pressed to the floor beside your waist, fingers pointing forward. Your elbows will then be approximately at a right angle, with your forearms perpendicular to the floor, upper arms about parallel. Press the tops of your feet to the floor as well. As with all back bends, rotate your thighs inwardly (that is, medially); in this position, such rotation will bring the little toes to the floor. Make sure they stay “pinned” there as you move into and hold the pose. 

2. Along with bringing the little toes to the floor, the inward thigh rotation will push your tail bone out of the pelvis and so slightly over-arch your lower back. Moving into any back bend with this “duck tail” will overly compress the lower back. Do this repeatedly and the risk of injury increases considerably. you’ll practice of back bends (or any kind of pose for that matter) with this deep compression drastically increases the risk of injury. 

3. To counter the “duck tail,” clasp your hands (that is, inter-lace the fingers) behind your back and press your thumbs on the sacrum. Then slowly slide your thumbs down across the tail bone and imagine that it’s lengthening along the backs of the legs toward the heels. Repeat this thumb-slide a few times until you have a clear sense of how to re-create the movement without using your hands. Then return your palms to the floor. 

4. When you move into the pose, your hands and arms should do two things. First, obviously, your hands must press firmly against the floor, the greatest pressure focused on the bases of the index fingers, NOT the bases of the palms. Second, your hands should “scrub” backward away from the front of your mat (“scrub” means to press the hands in a certain direction without physically moving them). Imagine you’re trying to push your mat toward whatever’s behind you. Generally speaking many beginning students lift into Upward Dog by pushing their torso up and back, jamming the lower back. The “scrubbing” of the hands should help the torso lift up and slightly forward, avoiding the deep compression of the lower back. 

5. Lengthen your arms (that is, straighten the elbows) as much as you can, firming the muscles at the backs of the upper arms (triceps) against their bones. Be sure your shoulders are pulled down away from your ears.

6. The thighs firm as you lift the torso and the entire length of the front legs lift slightly off the floor. Press the tops of your feet to the floor, applying the greatest pressure on the area just above your toes. Then imagine that a partner is pulling your heels away from the backs of your legs. This action of the heels away from the backs of the legs ideally triggers the shoulder blades (scapulas) to move oppositely and press against your back torso. 

7. To repeat, the torso should move up and forward into the full pose. Try to keep the front ribs tucked down and into the torso and lead the upward lift with the top of the sternum (manubrium, the “handle”). 

8. Beginning students should look straight ahead. More experienced students who can release their shoulders and firm the shoulder blades against their back can bring their head slightly back, as long as they don’t compress the back of the neck.

9. As with all backbends, lift into the pose with an inhalation. Urdhva Mukha Shvanasana is one of the positions in the Sun Salutation sequence. You can also practice this pose by itself, holding anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute, breathing softly through the nose, and come down on an exhale. 

Benefits.
As with all modern poses, the claims made for Upward Dog’s benefits should be seasoned with a grain of salt. That’s because they’re largely anecdotal, and have no “scientific” support (especially since Light on Yoga was published in 1966, before any broad based medical testing of benefit claims). Mr Iyengar writes that this pose “rejuvenates” and “strengthens” the spine, which we can readily accept IF the pose is performed safely. He also says it’s “good for persons with lumbago, sciatica … and slipped or prolapsed discs of the spine,” and that it “cures backaches.” All this may be true to some extent, depending on the seriousness of the injury, but with any of these conditions you SHOULD ONLY BE PRACTICING UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF AN EXPERIENCED TEACHER. He also credits the chest expansion encouraged by the pose with making the lungs elastic (which we can assume improves breathing). He concludes that the blood flow in the pelvis keeps that area “healthy” (Light on Yoga, 85). 

Contraindications.
As noted above, avoid this pose unsupervised with any serious back, neck, or spinal problem or injury. Students with wrist problems should, depending on the seriousness of the problem, either support their hands on a pair of blocks or a chair. See the Beginner’s Tip below. 

Beginner’s Tip.
Beginning students who find it difficult to release the shoulders down away from the ears or straighten their elbows fully should support each hand on a yoga block. If the blocks don’t help, then the pose can be practiced with the hands grasping the sides of a chair seat.