Yoga Posturas » Yoga Exercise » Yoga and strenghtening of legs
Yoga and strenghtening of legs
Question:
I have been trying to practice Yoga and attend some classes here. I have observed that in most if not all the case, the case demands that I put my leg straight and do the exercise. Despite my best effort I could not achieve the same and it bend in knee areas. What exercise I should do to get rid of this problem. In any yoga exercise, I found that it is essential to keep legs straight. The place I stay there is no trained teacher and any suggestion for their help is of no use to me. Any suggestion will be greatly appreciated. *** Natwar Lath, Rourkela, India **
Response:
Jai Bhagwan Natwar, It is not essential to keep the legs straight in any yoga position if it is uncomfortable. Quite often, we see the ideal position, and feel that that is what we need to achieve. I feel that we must do what we can, and adjust our bodies to what we can do. yoga is not the practice of perfection, it is the practice of awareness. So, if a posture feels better with legs bent, then bend them. As you relax into the strengths and limitations of the body, the muscles will relax and lengthen with you. If you force your body to achieve, the energy will freeze and no lengthening. You can lengthen the muscles in the back of your legs by lying on your back, with knees bent and feet on floor. Raise your right leg so that the sole of your foot is facing the ceiling and gently stretch. Do the same with the left leg. any questions please e-mail me at: Linda – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I have been trying to practice Yoga and attend some classes here. I have observed that in most if not all the case, the case demands that I put my leg straight and do the exercise. Despite my best effort I could not achieve the same and it bend in knee areas. What exercise I should do to get rid of this problem. In any yoga exercise, I found that it is essential to keep legs straight. The place I stay there is no trained teacher and any suggestion for their help is of no use to me. Any suggestion will be greatly appreciated. *** Natwar Lath, Rourkela, India **
Response:
I have been trying to practice Yoga and attend some classes here. I have observed that in most if not all the case, the case demands that I put my leg straight and do the exercise. Despite my best effort I could not achieve the same and it bend in knee areas. What exercise I should do to get rid of this problem. In any yoga exercise, I found that it is essential to keep legs straight. The place I stay there is no trained teacher and any suggestion for their help is of no use to me. Any suggestion will be greatly appreciated. *** Natwar Lath, Rourkela, India **
Hi, It is very appropriate that you are working on straightening your legs, but don’t feel that an asana will have no value until you achieve straightness. Working towards straightness yields rewards from the beginning, not just when it is finally achieved. Work on it in any asana or stretch in which the back of the leg is stretched. Standing forward stretches or seated forward stretches are good choices for focusing on straightening the legs. Your muscles on the front of the thigh should feel like they are pulling your kneecaps towards the hips (that is, raising the kneecaps, if you are standing). Feel this with your fingers. Raise and release your kneecaps and feel them move. Always check that you are lifting the kneecaps in your forward stretches. Don’t stretch with your legs totally passive. Work the fronts of the legs while stretching the backs of the legs. The front muscles of the legs should also be used to rotate the hips so that the tops of the hips move toward the front of your body and the bottom of the hips move toward the back of your body (if an observer looked at you from the side, so that he could see your right side, your hips would be rotating clockwise around the hip joint). Remember to keep returning awareness to the knees and move them back (if standing) or down (if sitting) with a sensation of them opening up toward straightness. Be active in the stretch (actively contracting the muscles of the fronts of the legs while relaxing the muscles of the backs of the legs, and of course keeping the breathing relaxed), but be gentle also… injury is very counterproductive. I hope that this is clear and helpful. Mark P.S. I must comment that it seems amusing to me that one can be in India and have no access to a trained hatha yoga instructor! Good luck in finding one in the future.
Response:
"Begin your puja with a prayer for spiritual elevation with a heart full of love and devotion." commentary on Maxim 2: "Prayer is the sign of devotion. It shows that we have established our relationship with the Holy Divine." "Divine revelations and Nature’s command then begin to descend upon him ((abhyasi, via prayer)) and the first phase of initiation thus comes into effect." – () are the posters – "The reason why prayer should be offered with a heart full of love and devotion is that one should create within himself a state of vacuity so that the flow of Divine Grace may be diverted towards him." All comments by Shri Ram Chandra of Shahjahanpur, Founder-President of Shri Ram Chandra Mission http://www.srcm.org/index.html
Response:
Consider the asana Jana Shirshasana, this is head to knee pose. I hope you can find good instructions in a book. One picture will be very helpfull to you. If not email me for more information. Enjoy your explorations of yoga, & notice how it inspires patience for ourselves. This is a most important part of the practice. peace sandra
Response:
I have been trying to practice Yoga and attend some classes here. I have observed that in most if not all the case, the case demands that I put my leg straight and do the exercise. Despite my best effort I could not achieve the same and it bend in knee areas. What exercise I should do to get rid of this problem. In any yoga exercise, I found that it is essential to keep legs straight. The place I stay there is no trained teacher and any suggestion for their help is of no use to me. Any suggestion will be greatly appreciated. *** Natwar Lath, Rourkela, India **
Remember that there is far more to this than exercise. Never try to force your body to do something it isn’t ready to do yet. Progress in asanas can only be made by letting go; not by force. Trying to "achieve" the "ideal" posture is a game played by the ego. It will actually cause more tension in your body, this anxiety about "getting it right." It’s not about getting your body how you want it to be; it’s about knowing your body as it is. *You* will not make it work. Prana will make it work. All you do is to set up the proper conditions, then allow. We all have our own particular patterns of chronic muscle tensions. These are caused by blockages in the nadis of the subtle body. Yoga doesn’t increase flexibility by stretching muscles; it increases it as a secondary effect of nadi shodhana (purification of the nadis). An intrinsic part of this process is prana prabalaya, the strengthening of prana. This is best accomplished through anuloma viloma pranayama. Nothing increases flexibility more effectively in the long run than AVP. Additionally, ujjaiyi pranayama is good to utilize while actually in the posture. The trick is this: stretch the muscles until they are at the point where you feel a lot of sensation in them, but not actual pain. Hold the posture! You will note that your breath will probably start to become irregular and shallow at this point. Instead of indulging that, breathe slowly, deeply, and evenly. This will actually cause the sensations in the tight spot to intensify. Even though it’s not actually pain, your mind will start yelling at you to stop because it’s uncomfortable. It that doesn’t work, it will distract you by wandering off somewhere, so you slack out of the posture a bit & forget to breathe properly. Just keep coming back to the point. You will gradually develop the ability to maintain focus and disregard the distractions of the mind. The reason the sensations intensify is because the deep breathing (regulated and made even by constricting the muscles of the throat, so that a hissing sound is made) is driving prana into the blocked region. It helps if you deliberately "breathe into" the sensations. The tense area may loosen up gradually with regular practice, or it may release very suddenly and dramatically. Such fast releases are often accompanied by, or soon followed by, a wave of intense promotion. This is the indication that nadi shodhana- which is primarily a process of psychological purification, in Western terms (I live in USA, though I studied in Gujarat). In either case, the muscles will limber up. And remember: a given area will change in flexibility according to time of day, season, and the emotional experiences you’ve recently had. Just because you can "go deep" into a posture easily one day doesn’t mean you’ll be able to do so the next. Enter each posture *very* slowly, with full consciousness of every movement you make and how it affects your body. Hope this is of help. Glad to see you in the group. By the way, would you happen to have access to an English translation of the Yogakundali Upanishad? I’ve been trying to track one down for some time. Jai Bhagwan, Kavindra
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