Pada Hastasana
Vinyasa Three
Inhaling, lift the head and chest as you straighten the arms. Exhaling, place the hands on the hips and return to Samasthiti.
Returning to Samasthiti on one breath is obviously a complex move. Beginners may break it down to retain the integrity of the movement.
Breath count for beginners: Exhale, place the hands on the hips, drop the tailbone, strengthen through the legs. Inhale and come up to standing, leading with the heart. Exhaling, hop back to Samasthiti.
FIGURE 7 HAMSTRINGS AND QUADRICEPS
Bending forward should involve flexing the hip joints and not the spine. The flexing of the hip joints is limited by the hamstring muscle group, which performs the action of hip extension and knee flexion. The hamstring group consists of three individual muscles. Of these the biceps femoris externally rotates the femur as it extends the hip, and the semitendinosus and semimembranosus internally rotate the femur as they extend the hip. We will encounter these muscles later in their secondary function as rotators of the femur.
If we passively hang in Padangushtasana, soreness can develop at the ischial tuberosities (sit bones), which is the origin of the hamstrings. To prevent this we need to engage the antagonists of the hamstrings, the quadriceps.
The quadriceps is engaged by pulling up on the kneecap (patella). The quadriceps consists of four separate muscles that jointly insert, via the patella tendon, at the tibia. The four heads of the quadriceps are the rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus intermedius, and vastus medialis. The rectus femoris is the only two-joint muscle in the group. It originates at the front of the hip bone and can thus not only extend the leg at the knee but also flex the hip joint. The three vasti originate at the lateral, anterior, and medial surfaces of the femur respectively, and only perform extension of the knee joint.
Utthita Trikonasana
TRIANGLE POSTURE
Drishti Raised hand
Vinyasa One
Inhaling, turn to the right and hop your feet about three feet apart and parallel. The arms extend out to the sides at shoulder level.
There is no “one stance fits all” here, but rather an ideal stance for every level of flexibility. This is of such importance that it should be assessed by the teacher on an individual basis. If the stance is too long, the inner integrity of the posture will be lost and its execution will bring little benefit. If it is too short, one will not gain spinal support, strength, and elongation. As flexibility increases over time and with practice, stances can be lengthened.
Vinyasa Two
Exhaling, turn your right foot out 90°. For the sake of precision, visualize a line going through the center of your mat lengthwise. Place the second toe of the right foot precisely along this line and check that the center of the heel is placed on the same line. A deviation of only 2° could be significant. Beginners often turn the foot out too much in order to gain stability, but this will result in a lateral (outward) rotation of the tibia, which is sometimes accompanied by a compensating inward rotation of the femur. This places stress on the knee. Dancers often prematurely wear out their knees through turning the feet out in this way.
Turn your left foot in approximately 5°, with the heel positioned on the same center-line on the mat. The 5° position will ensure that foot, shin, and thighbone all point in the same direction, again as the optimal position for the knee. To stay at 0°, or to turn the foot out, would place stress on the knee joint. On the other hand, if you turn the left foot in too far, say 30°, you will not achieve sufficient opening of the groins.
With the feet correctly positioned, let the right hip drop down (lateral tilt) as far as possible, bringing the pelvis toward being vertical to the floor. If the pelvis is left in a horizontal position, the spine has to flex laterally (sideways), which is not intended in this posture. The left hip swings up and out to the left to allow the right hip to drop.
Opposite, Utthita Trikonasana
ANATOMICAL FOCUS
The Knee Joint
The knee is a modified hinge joint. A hinge joint can move in only one plane, but the knee does allow for some rotation. The action of straightening the leg is performed primarily by the quadriceps femoris muscle (front of the thigh), while the primary knee flexors, the hamstrings, draw the heel to the buttocks. But if we sit on a chair with the thighs held firm, we notice that we can swivel the feet left or right and the tibias will follow the movement.
The knee joint is complex, as the femur and tibia do not articulate well with each other. The lower end of the femur consists of two rounded protuberances called condyles, similar to two wheels, that roll — and also glide — over the upper end of the tibia. To cushion and secure this movement, two half-moon-shaped cartilages, the medial and lateral menisci, lie between the bones. Their function is similar to that of rail tracks for a train, the train being the femur and the wheels being the condyles. The difference is that the menisci actually follow the movement of the femur to allow for the roll and glide.
If the leg rapidly extends under pressure, the menisci may be unable to withdraw fast enough and are crushed. If we attempt to rotate the knee joint and at the same time straighten the leg against resistance, we can inflict serious damage, as often happens in some sports. The knee joint should never be rotated when under pressure or bearing weight.
Torn menisci heal very slowly, and medical doctors usually recommend surgery, but in many cases meniscus injuries can be healed with yoga in six to eighteen months. Cartilage has minimal blood vessels and therefore minimal nutrient supply, which is needed for the healing process. Yoga accelerates healing because the postures and transitions, when performed with precision, stimulate nutrient exchange. To heal a damaged knee will take much perseverance and patience, and especially careful precision. Whoever has worked with a meniscus injury knows that a change of only 2° in the positioning of the feet in standing postures can make the difference between comfort and healing and pain and aggravation.
Most knee problems, however, do not start with meniscus problems but with a strain of the cruciate ligaments. The posterior cruciate ligament prevents the femur from dislocating forward on the tibia, while the anterior cruciate ligament prevents backward dislocation. They are named after their points of insertion on the tibia, in the back and front respectively. Once the cruciate ligaments are strained, the knee becomes loose or unstable. Imprecise tracking of the femur on the tibia results, leading to wear on the menisci.
Strain of the cruciate ligaments comes about through hyperextension of the leg, in other words its extension beyond 180°. The anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments and the popliteus muscle restrict hyperextension, but it will occur if sufficient stress is applied. Continuous hyperextension of the leg will eventually weaken and strain the cruciate ligaments.
Hyperextension of the knee can often be observed in Trikonasana, students with low muscle tension being especially predisposed