Yoga poses help strengthen muscles and joints. They also lower blood pressure, slow the heart rate and improve breathing and body awareness.
Before starting a new pose, start with gentle warm-up exercises to loosen and stretch the muscles and joints. Always remember to listen to your body and stop if you feel pain or discomfort.
Extended Side Angle Pose
Extended Side Angle Pose (Utthita Parsvakonasana) is a standing yoga pose that combines the leg position of Virabhadrasana II (Warrior II Pose) and the upper body and torso position of Utthita Trikonasana (Triangle Pose). This pose strengthens and lengthens the entire body, tones the core, and improves balance and stability. It also reduces backaches when practiced regularly.
To start, stand with your feet about a leg’s distance apart. Turn your right foot, ankle, knee, and hip inward to create stability in this front leg.
If it is uncomfortable to hold your balance here, you can place a block or chair in front of the bend knee or support yourself with your hands on the floor on the inside or outside of your back leg. Adding a prop helps improve this posture and allows you to take your practice deeper into the heart chakra. It also deepens the stretch of the shoulders and opens the chest, allowing your lungs to expand more freely.
Cat Pose
Cat Pose is a gentle, soothing stretch that improves spinal mobility and helps alleviate lower back, neck and shoulder pain. The movement also strengthens the core and arms and can help with breathing. It is often paired with its counterpose Cow Pose and together they are known as Chakravakasana.
Begin with your hips directly over your knees and your hands shoulder-distance apart, flat on the mat. If the movement of your spine feels like it is straining your neck, broaden your shoulders to protect it and lift your gaze towards the ceiling, but don’t force it up to your ears. Coordinate your movements with your breath to experience a strong front-body stretch that strengthens the abdominal muscles, as well.
If your wrists or elbows are tender, try making fists to rest on or practice on your forearms with yoga blocks under them. If your knees are sensitive, add more padding by rolling the edges of your mat or using a folded blanket to create extra comfort.
Extended Side Angle Modification
Utthita Parsvakonasana is a standard standing pose found in all yoga classes and, like many foundational poses, it can feel daunting for some. Jen began to appreciate this pose more when she learned that there are many different arm variations of the posture.
When you reach your arm up toward the ceiling in Extended Side Angle, you open and stretch the chest and shoulder muscles (pectoralis major and minor) and strengthen the back and shoulder muscles that support it (erector spinae and serratus anterior). When your top arm stays on your hip, you still open and stretch your chest and shoulders but it is not as taxing or demanding for your shoulder joint.
Beginner students can begin by keeping their arms on their thighs instead of reaching them towards the ceiling. This allows them to build confidence in the pose before moving on. It also helps them to develop balanced pressure through the body. This is a key component of preventing injury in yoga.
Warrior II
Often used as a foundation for more advanced poses, Warrior II (Virabhadrasana 2) strengthens multiple muscles in the lower and upper body. Its standing leg strengthens the quadriceps and hamstrings, while the bent knee activates and strengthens the hip flexors, gluteal muscles, and inner thigh. Moreover, this pose strengthens and stretches the chest, shoulders, and arms.
As with other warrior poses, a key point to remember is keeping the legs and feet parallel and perpendicular to each other. This ensures that the torso is evenly supported and helps prevent stress to the low back.
It is also important to make sure the front knee reaches slightly in toward the ankle and not outward. This prevents the pose from overworking the hip flexors and can be especially helpful for those suffering from groin or hip impingement issues. Additionally, a slight tuck of the pelvis can help power up the legs and core without adding stress to the hip and lower back.