Parsvottanasana - Intense Side Stretch

HELLO HAMS!
There is something very humbling and respectful about this Parsvottanasana/Intense Side Stretch. As you bow forward, whether your arms are in prayer or not, it feels like you are paying homage to the practice of yoga. I would take that a step further and add that you are bowing with appreciation and reverence to yourself too for turning up for yourself to your practice! For this reason this is definitely not a pose to be rushed.

Parsvottanasana/Intense Side Stretch is more of an intense back body stretch, mainly the hamstrings and the glutes, rather than a ‘side stretch’ as the name suggests! The front leg is extended and straight, which immediately brings a stretch into the hamstrings when the upper body hinges forward. When you compare Parsvottanasana/Intense Side Stretch to Baddha Virabhadrasana/ Humble Warrior the stretch is not as intense in the latter, because the hamstring is contracting to bend the knee. For this reason, if you find you hit a ‘hamstring wall’ in Parsvottanasana/Intense Side Stretch, bend the front knee as much as you need to, to give you more room to hinge forward over the extended leg. Bringing the feet slightly wider, left to right, will also give more space to extend forward with the upper body. If you are inclined to hyperextend your knees, keep a soft bend in your front leg as you fold forward.

THE BENEFITS OF PARSVOTTANASANA/INTENSE SIDE STRETCH
Parsvottanasana/Intense Side Stretch strengthens the legs, hip flexors, core and quads. It stretches the whole back body, including the shoulders, wrists, spine, hamstrings and glutes. It helps you find your connection to the earth and ground down to grow roots. As a forward fold it gently massages the organs of the abdominals; aids digestion; eases headaches, fatigue, stress & anxiety. Not only is it a forward bend but it is also an inversion, as the head is below the heart, which increases circulation and boosts the immune system.

EXPLORING PARSVOTTANASANA/INTENSE SIDE STRETCH IN YOUR PRACTICE
As with all intense poses there are plenty of versions for Parsvottanasana/Intense Side Stretch. Bringing the arms into reverse prayer can be challenging for most. It requires a lot of internal rotation and extension of the shoulders, and deep wrist extension too. If this is not for you, take one of the following options – hold your elbows behind your back; extend your arms back; bring your hands to prayer position in front of you or bring your hand to the ground or bricks either side of your front foot. Regardless of which arm position you take, remember to expand the chest and elongate both sides of your waist as you fold forward, to ensure you don’t collapse the spine forward instead of hinging from the hip joint. If you find you have very little forward rotation of the hips, simply stay more upright and work on maintaining the integrity of the spine and keeping the hips level and hugging to the midline.

There are plenty of opportunities to prepare all the strengthening muscles and stretching muscles. The sequence starts with some hamstring and glute warm ups to help release any tightness in the back of the hips. The first standing flow preps for your peak pose with the back heel lifted, and the second standing flow has the back leg grounded ready for Parsvottanasana/Intense Side Stretch. If you encounter a pose that hits a particular part of the back body that needs extra attention, take a few more breaths in there.

ALIGNMENT CUES
Ground down into both feet as you hinge forward into Parsvottanasana/Intense Side Stretch. Feel a solid connection to the ground beneath you.

Have a read of the tips below and either print out the sequence or save it onto your device:

• From Virabhadrasana I, step your left foot forward slightly, inhale, bring your arms behind your back and clasp your elbows, or draw your palms together in reverse prayer position. Broaden through the collarbones, lengthen through your spine.

• Exhale, hinge forward from the hip joint over your right leg, hips level, right hip draws back, left hip draws forward.

• Inhale, broaden through the collarbones, reach the chest forward, exhale, fold forward, release your head towards the front leg, keep the legs firm, gaze to your shin.

To save the images for personal use click and hold down the image until the ‘save image’ option appears; on Mac hold down ‘control’ and click the image to get the option box; on PC right click on the image to get the option box. Scroll down in the ‘option box’ and click ‘save image’.

Ruth Delahunty Yogaru

Marjaryasana & Bitilasana - Cat & Cow

ANIMAL MOVEMENT
Marjaryasana/Cat and Bitilasana/Cow go together like two peas in a pod and are perfect at any stage of your sequence to warm up, or ease out tension in the hips, spine and shoulders. I start off all of my own yoga practices and lots of my sequences with a few rounds of Cat & Cow. Even though they are often referred to as Cat & Cow it makes more sense to me to practice them as Cow first, with an inhale, and Marjaryasana/Cat after, with an exhale. In Bitilasana/Cow, when we inhale, the top of the pelvis tips down, the shoulder blades retract and draw together on the back, and the back of the shoulders reach towards the back of the hips. While in Marjaryasana/Cat, when we exhale, the pelvis tips up, the shoulder blades protract and spread apart on the back, and the front of the shoulders roll forward. All these opposites, in this simple two pose movement, make it a very good way to stretch and strengthen the hips, spine and shoulders joints. They are also very accessible with minimum scope for injury.

THE BENEFITS OF MARJARYASANA & BITILASANA - CAT & COW
Bitilasana/Cow strengthens the spine, and back of the shoulders, and stretches the front of the shoulders, chest, core and back of the hips. In Marjaryasana/Cat the opposite is happening – it stretches the spine, and back of the shoulders, and strengthens the front of the shoulders, chest, core and back of the hips. Bitilasana/Cow is a good prep for backbends while Bitilasana/Cow is a good prep for forward bends and poses like Bakasana/Crow. They are also very good poses for spinal health and massaging all the organs of the abdominal region. As we move from one pose to the other we are also linking the breath with movement, which is a valuable method for reduces stress and anxiety.

EXPLORING MARJARYASANA & BITILASANA - CAT & COW IN YOUR PRACTICE
Marjaryasana/Cat and Bitilasana/Cow can be added at pretty much any stage of your practice. You can even add it into other sequences to counterpose from a mini flow with lots of spinal, hip or shoulder work. In this sequence I have added them in as much as possible and added versions of Marjaryasana/Cat and Bitilasana/Cow to show how versatile they can be too. If you find your wrists are uncomfortable, place a rolled up blanket under the heels of your hands to reduce the angle at the wrist. If this doesn't relieve the discomfort, place your forearms on one or two bricks.

ALIGNMENT CUES
Below you will find the alignment cues for both Marjaryasana/Cat and Bitilasana/Cow. Even though these two poses partner together perfectly, take your time to get familiar with what you are looking for in each pose.

MARJARYASANA/CAT – EXHALE

• From all fours, hips stacked over knees, shoulders stacked over wrists.

• Exhale, arch your spine up, pelvis tips back, shoulder blades spread apart.

• Press into all five knuckles of your hands, the tops of your feet and your knees.

• Back of the neck long, gaze at the ground under your navel.

• Inhale, into Bitilasana, repeat 5-10 rounds to warm up the spine.

BITILASANA/COW – INHALE

• From all fours, hips stacked over knees, shoulders stacked over wrists.

• Inhale, dip your navel down, pelvis tips forward, sit bones spread, broaden your collarbones, move your sternum forward and up, shoulder blades draw together.

• Press into all five knuckles of your hands, the tops of your feet and your knees.

• Back of the neck long, gaze forward to the front of your mat.

• Exhale, into Marjaryasana, repeat 5-10 rounds to warm up the spine.

To save the images for personal use click and hold down the image until the ‘save image’ option appears; on Mac hold down ‘control’ and click the image to get the option box; on PC right click on the image to get the option box. Scroll down in the ‘option box’ and click ‘save image’.

Ruth Delahunty Yogaru

Salamba Sarvangasana - Shoulderstand

CALMING INVERSION
Salamba Sarvangasana/Shoulderstand is very calming to the nervous system and increases circulation to the thyroid and endocrine glands. It is an inversion that can be held for longer periods of time than some of the other more challenging inversions like Adho Mukha Vrksasana/Handstand or Salamba Sirsasana/Headstand. Which means you can linger a little longer to get all the benefits from inversions. Some yogis even use Salamba Sarvangasana/Shoulderstand as their meditation pose! Whether you intend to go down this route or not this is a pose that should be approached with care for the neck in particular. In Salamba Sarvangasana/Shoulderstand the full body weight sits mainly on the shoulder girdles. If you don’t have sufficient strength in your shoulder girdle the weight will collapse into the back of the neck which, with repeated practice, could cause strain to the back of the neck. A good judge on whether you are ready to try Salamba Sarvangasana/Shoulderstand is if you are comfortable in Setu Bandha Sarvangasana/Bridge and feel that you are able to press into the shoulder girdle rather than the back of the neck.

THE BENEFITS OF SALAMBA SARVANGASANA/SHOULDERSTAND
Salamba Sarvangasana/Shoulderstand strengthens the shoulders, arms, spine, and core. It also stretches the back of the neck and stretches the back of the shoulders. Inversions are fantastic poses to practise to strengthen your immune system – they boost circulation and flush out toxins from all the systems of the body and allow it to work more efficiently. This gives your immune system the resources to do its important job of protecting us from harmful microorganisms. Inversions are also very beneficial for good digestion; increasing metabolism; regulating hormones; stimulates abdominal organs; reduces fatigue; nourishing the cells of the brain; balancing hormones; building focus and concentration; eases stress, tension and anxiety; suppprts fertility; alleviates insomnia; and helps relive symptoms of menopause and sinusitus.

EXPLORING SALAMBA SARVANGASANA/SHOULDERSTAND IN YOUR PRACTICE
For most students it feels safer to give the neck a bit more space by lifting the upper arms and shoulders up a little higher than the head. To do this place one or two folded blankets at the top of your mat with enough room for your head to drop behind it onto your mat. The blankets should be folded big enough for your upper arms and shoulders to fit along the length of it. When positioning yourself make sure there is about 2 inches between the top of your shoulder and the edge of the blanket so that when you roll into position your shoulders don't fall off the edge of the blanket. Remember this is a shoulderstand not a neck stand!

If Salamba Sarvangasana/Shoulderstand is not for you there is plenty in this sequence to do all but the peak pose. Instead of Salamba Sarvangasana/Shoulderstand you can linger a little longer in Setu Bandha Sarvangasana/Bridge, take either of the supported Half Sarvangasana/Shoulderstand – either support the hips with a brick or place the hands, fingers facing up, just at the top of your hips and let your legs just drape over your head rather than reaching them straight up.

Before you come into the pose be sure to tuck your elbows into your body and your shoulder blades together to ensure that when you roll up you are pressing the weight of the body into the shoulder girdle. When you have raised your hips up over your chest, check your elbows haven’t splayed out and adjust them back in line with the shoulders if they have. It is much easier to adjust them now than in the full pose. When you are in Salamba Sarvangasana/Shoulderstand it is very important to not turn your head. Believe me when I say, this can cause a very uncomfortable nerve pinch in the neck.

ALIGNMENT CUES
For this sequence remember to hug the outer hips to the midline in Salamba Sarvangasana/Shoulderstand and squeeze to the midline.

Have a read of the tips below and either print out the sequence or save it onto your device:

• Lie on your back, inhale, arms press into the ground beside you. Exhale, bend your knees, lift your hips up and roll your legs towards your head.

• Place your hands on your lower back, fingers facing up, elbows shoulder width apart. Straighten your legs up high, lengthen up through your inner thighs, press through the balls of your feet. Walk your hands down your back towards your shoulders.

• Hug your outer hips to the midline, lift your front body up, lengthen your spine. Lift sternum up and towards your chin, lightly press into the back of your head, gaze to your feet. To come down, use your arms to support your lower back and slowly roll back down.

To save the images for personal use click and hold down the image until the ‘save image’ option appears; on Mac hold down ‘control’ and click the image to get the option box; on PC right click on the image to get the option box. Scroll down in the ‘option box’ and click ‘save image’.

Ruth Delahunty Yogaru