Amrita 6: Asana through the ages - Magazine - Page 62
Playing it Safe
“Why 20 degrees? There are standardised measures of how
much each joint is designed to move through each direction”
neutral pelvis and reduced leg extension. Why 20 degrees?
Welcome to the world of standard range of motion (flexibility). There are standardised measures of how much each
joint is designed to move through each direction. This is
based on joint structure (or joint potential), not whether you
just happen to be restricted or flexible. And it tells us how
much stretch is ok for the vast majority of people, and leg
extension on a neutral pelvis is around 20 degrees. I’d totally
recommend you get into this as it will revolutionise your
understanding of yoga and your teaching of it.
Abdominal Wall Engagement: The abdominal wall, wrapping all round roughly between my pelvis and ribcage is
contracting to prevent my pelvis from tilting forward (and
therefore upsetting my hip mechanics and lumbar spine)
and to prevent me tilting back into the thorco-lumbar hinge
discussed above.
Hip Flexor Stretch: Because my pelvis is held in a neutral
position (instead of dipping downwards at the front in an
anterior tilt) then my hip flexors – especially rectus femoris
– stretch and my abdominal wall stays engaged in neutral!!!
And what people need of course is hip flexor stretches not
ab stretches.
Upper back (thoracic spine): because my lumbar is held its
normal curve by my neutral pelvis and abdominal wall engagement, it is possible to instruct students to try and flatten
their upper backs (thoracic extension) without pushing a
backbend into their lower backs. This is super helpful to
them as it allows the beginning of undoing the excessive
rounding in the upper back that so many students carry.
So all the above turns our fictionalised Warrior 1 into
something really helpful to our students. And of course a
similar dynamic would inform our instruction of cobra, upward facing dog, anjanyasana.....
Notice that I decided on a purpose of my Warrior 1 which
was helpful to my students and based the alignment of the
asana and my instructing in order to deliver that purpose. So
I am starting with a combination of what is OK for human
bodies based on standard joint mechanics, plus an awareness of what my students need, and modifying all my teaching based on that.
60 AMRITA Issue 6 / Spring 2021
