SUPTA KONASANA
This wonderful pose must be one that every child has tried spontaneously. As an adult you may need encouragement to attempt the drop forward — it can seem a long way down!
1 Exhale, roll back onto your shoulders taking your legs wide apart. Catch hold of your big toes with the first two fingers of each hand. Straighten your legs and stay for five breaths.
2 Inhale, roll upright to balance on your sitting bones in a wide upward-facing “V” shape (as for Upvishta Konasan B).
3 Exhale, drop làrward to the floor with straight legs. Concentrate as you do this — the body’s reflex action is to bend the knees lust before impact and you need to override this. Make sure that the backs of your calves land before your heels to cushion the landing. [nhale, lift your chest and look ahead. Exhale and release your feet before going into a vinyasa.
This wonderful pose must be one that every child has tried spontaneously. As an adult you may need encouragement to attempt the drop forward — it can seem a long way down!
1 Exhale, roll back onto your shoulders taking your legs wide apart. Catch hold of your big toes with the first two fingers of each hand. Straighten your legs and stay for five breaths.
2 Inhale, roll upright to balance on your sitting bones in a wide upward-facing “V” shape (as for Upvishta Konasan B).
3 Exhale, drop làrward to the floor with straight legs. Concentrate as you do this — the body’s reflex action is to bend the knees lust before impact and you need to override this. Make sure that the backs of your calves land before your heels to cushion the landing. [nhale, lift your chest and look ahead. Exhale and release your feet before going into a vinyasa.
o If you can’t hold your toes with your legs straight, keep them bent or hold onto your ankles or shins instead. Until your legs are more flexible, concentrate on breathing deeply during the balance with your chest fully lifted. If you do the pose with bent legs, omit the forward drop which would hurt your heels. Instead release your legs from your hands and lower them slowly and gently.
These are the reclining versions of the standing balances on pages 63—65, Because you don’t need to balance here, you can focus on extending your legs and stabilizing your torso with the bandhas.
