Amrita 6: Asana through the ages - Magazine - Page 30
The Yogi Resistance
6. Move from it.
Once a muscle has been strengthened, it can be engaged
(tensed and lengthened) in other poses. For example, with
the psoas, this could be forward bends.
This six-step protocol is useful when designing a
strength-building sequence in a yoga class, and I have adapted it for a hamstring-strengthening sequence.
Sequence to Strengthen Hamstrings
1. locate muscles
The Trail Guide to the Body (Biel, 2014) is a useful text for locating muscles, and students can work in pairs when doing
this — although it can be rather intimate. It can be adapted
for students on their own by lying in a supine position with
knees flexed. I have adapted the following instructions from
the text:
• Students are prone with knees bent.
• Locate the ischial tuberosity (sitting bones).
• Slide fingertips one inch from the sitting bones to feel the
tendon.
• Follow the tendon as it spreads out into the two bellies of
the muscle.
• Go to the lateral side and down so that you feel the prominent tendon of the biceps femoris.
• Follow it to the head of the fibula, the bony bump on the
top, lateral side of the leg.
• Then go to the medial side and feel the tendons there: the
most superficial is semitendinosus. (Biel, 2014).
As the antagonist muscles are also being worked in the
session, the exercise could be repeated for the quadriceps.
28 AMRITA Issue 6 / Spring 2021