One of the most important aspects of the asana practice is the forward bend. This is done in many asanas such as Upavishtha Konasana, Paschimottanasana, Janu Shirshasana, Hastha Padasana, etc
Most experienced Yoga instructors would tell you not to bend your back when doing the forward bend, but keep your back straight and move down by engaging the back. One of the best ways of doing this is by engaging the tail bone (mooladhara) and moving forward from the tail, feeling the glutes (buttock muscles) stretch deeply.
The cat pose helps us in understanding the concept of engaging ones' tail very well. Specially when you are looking up, pushing your navel down and contracting your lower back. At this point, the tail is engaged. Remembering how things feel is very important in Yoga as it helps you align accurately without the aid of a mirror or a friend who can guide you and correct you. So bring to memory the 'feeling' of the tail being engaged in the cat pose!
Work on engaging the tail as this helps deeply in deepening the forward bending asanas both when getting into the asana as well as coming out of it. Bringing the awareness to the tail bone and engaging the glutes helps in going much deeper in the forward bend than most other techniques and tricks.
Other tricks to get deeper into the forward bends is stretching from the armpits as well. Remember to breath and breath comfortably in all forward bends. Yes, you do breath out when going forward, but once in the position, do breath comfortable, and then breathe deeply right down to the mooladhara (as explained in my previous post) to maximise the benefit of the asana!
Most experienced Yoga instructors would tell you not to bend your back when doing the forward bend, but keep your back straight and move down by engaging the back. One of the best ways of doing this is by engaging the tail bone (mooladhara) and moving forward from the tail, feeling the glutes (buttock muscles) stretch deeply.
The cat pose helps us in understanding the concept of engaging ones' tail very well. Specially when you are looking up, pushing your navel down and contracting your lower back. At this point, the tail is engaged. Remembering how things feel is very important in Yoga as it helps you align accurately without the aid of a mirror or a friend who can guide you and correct you. So bring to memory the 'feeling' of the tail being engaged in the cat pose!
Work on engaging the tail as this helps deeply in deepening the forward bending asanas both when getting into the asana as well as coming out of it. Bringing the awareness to the tail bone and engaging the glutes helps in going much deeper in the forward bend than most other techniques and tricks.
Other tricks to get deeper into the forward bends is stretching from the armpits as well. Remember to breath and breath comfortably in all forward bends. Yes, you do breath out when going forward, but once in the position, do breath comfortable, and then breathe deeply right down to the mooladhara (as explained in my previous post) to maximise the benefit of the asana!
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