Three Simple Yoga Asana Variations to Expand your Skills
If you are looking to move on with your Yoga and add more postures to your personal regime you should start by building on the three simple postures of Tadasana, Dandasana and Savasana. You can find details of these three postures in “Three Simple Yoga Postures you cannot Live Without” if you are not already familiar with them.
Janusirsasana, other wise known as the head to knee pose, builds on the Dandasana posture which is a basic sitting down Yoga Asana. It requires you to start by sitting in Dandasana with the aid of one or two folded blankets for you to sit on. Once in this position you can bend your right knee to the side and move your heel towards your groin. Ensure the bent leg is perpendicular to your left leg and the heel is just touching your pubis area. Stretch out your left leg and lean forward slightly catching your left foot in your hands. You may need a belt or bandage to help you do this if you can’t reach. Stretch your body up ensuring your back is concave in shape. Then look upwards as you stretch your foot, ensuring your left knee remains straight. Stay in this posture for approximately 20-30 seconds and then switch legs.
Utkatasana, otherwise known as the fierce pose, builds on the Tadasana posture which is the basic standing up Yoga Asana. In this pose you will need to begin by completing the Tadasana pose first. Once you are in Tadasana, stretch your arms up above your head as you inhale with your palms facing each other but not touching. Stretch your arms, fingers and palms ensuring you do not bend your elbows. Slowly bend your knees as if you are preparing to sit down. Try to keep your heels pressed firmly to the ground as you bend. Hold this posture for approximately 20-30 seconds.
Cross Bolsters is a variant of the Savasana pose. It does not require you to begin with Savasana first. First arrange two bolsters in a cross on the floor. Ensure that the one on top is pointing in the direction that your body will be when lying down on top of the bolsters. Next, sit on the bolsters and then gently lie back. Ensure that your lower back is on the highest part of the bolsters, and that your shoulders are touching the floor. Rest your arms over your head, bent at the elbows with the palms facing upwards. Hold this posture for 3-5 minutes.
While each of these three postures are different from the three simple postures you use to create them, knowing the primary postures first will aid you greatly in both accomplishing the posture properly and breaking it down into manageable sections. Once you know the basics of any Yoga posture you can then begin attempting to master that posture and practice it regularly. Do not be ashamed of needing Yoga tools to help you complete postures. They are there to ensure you practice safely and with time you will be able to remove some of them as you become more flexible and supple.
June 13th, 2009 at 9:39 am
[...] Three Simple Yoga Asana Variations to Expand your Skills Archives [...]
December 1st, 2009 at 7:37 am
You made some good points there. I did a search on the topic and found most people will agree with your blog.
April 16th, 2010 at 10:16 pm
Excellent. Thanks so much for the post. -Kate
April 20th, 2010 at 10:23 pm
now see, this type of stuff just does not sound right
April 23rd, 2010 at 5:43 pm
Good post, I can’t say that I agree with everything that was said, but very good information overall:)
May 4th, 2010 at 5:33 pm
[...] Three Simple Yoga Asana Variations to Expand your Skills Archives [...]
May 11th, 2010 at 8:52 am
The post has been excellent and I have referred it to many of my friends. I honor for the work that you have done. Thank you once again.
May 25th, 2010 at 1:02 pm
There are certainly a lot of details like that to take into consideration. That is a great point to bring up. I offer the thoughts above as general inspiration but clearly there are questions like the one you bring up where the most important thing will be working in honest good faith. I don?t know if best practices have emerged around things like that, but I am sure that your job is clearly identified as a fair game.
May 26th, 2010 at 8:02 am
Valuable information and excellent design you got here! I would like to thank you for sharing your thoughts and time into the stuff you post!!
May 26th, 2010 at 11:17 am
Aw, this was a really quality post. In theory I’d like to write like this too – taking time and real effort to make a good article… but what can I say… I procrastinate alot and never seem to get something done.
June 3rd, 2010 at 11:52 am
Thanks for good article. Hope to see more soon. . . . .