Yoga as Therapeutic Exercise: A Practical Guide for Manual Therapists

7

Chapter

Selected āsanas for integrating the aims and principles

Selected asanas̄ Selected āsanas

Selected asanas̄ Selected āsanas

5. Utthita Pār vako āsana (Figure 7.11)

Meaning of the āsana and its name

Utthita means extended, pārśva is the side, and koa

means angle. In Utthita Pārśvako āsana one leg is

bent at a right angle, the trunk is stretched over it

to the side; the straight leg, the upper side of the

trunk, and the upper arm are in one line. There is

an intensive stretch from the toes to the fingertips.

Precise alignment, particularly from the deep struc-

tures of the body, is vital for this āsana.

Getting into the posture

1. Stand in Tā āsana.


2. Walk your feet one leg length plus one foot
   length apart; adjust the distance so that you feel
   stable and well stretched.


3. Raise your arms to the sides, and stretch them in
   line with your shoulder girdle, palms facing the
   floor.


4. Keeping your trunk upright and in line turn
   your left foot on its heel 15° inwards, your right
   leg 90° outwards: lifting the front foot, turn it
   
   45° on its heel; lifting the heel, turn it 45° on
   the ball of the foot; in this way the line of the
   right foot is crossing the center of the arch of
   the left foot.
   5. Keep your left leg firm, and the outer edge of
   the left foot pressed to the floor, with the big
   toe on the floor; bend your right knee as you
   exhale until your right shin bone is vertical, and
   the knee is in line with the heel.
   6. Keeping the pelvis, thorax, shoulders, and arms
   in line, be in Vīrabhadrasana II for a moment.̄
   7. With an inhalation lengthen your spine and the
   left leg.
   8. Keeping the right big toe on the floor, press the
   right heel and the outer edge of the left foot
   into the floor, lengthening the right side of your
   trunk.
   9. With an exhalation bend your trunk sideways
   to the right, and place your right palm or
   fingertips beside your right outer heel on the
   floor.
   10. Keep the right shin bone vertical and the right
   knee in contact with the right arm.
   11. Place your left hand on your left hip; lift your
   left hip.
   12. Place your left hand on your left costal arch, and
   lift the costal arch and turn it back.
   13. Place your left fingers on your left shoulder; lift
   your left shoulder away from the center of the
   chest.
   14. Maintaining this posture for the legs and the
   trunk, stretch your left arm over the head, in
   line with the left trunk side; turn the arm from
   the shoulder joint so that the palm is facing the
   floor; create space from the neck to the upper
   arm.
   15. Keep your head in line with the spine; throat
   and neck comfortable.

Being in the posture: basic work

1. Press the outer edge of the left foot to the floor.


2. Keep the left knee well stretched, with the inner
   left leg lifting towards the outer leg, the front
   left thigh moving backwards.


3. Move the right sitting bone forwards, the right
   upper outer thigh towards the hip joint, and the
   Figure 7.11 right side of your chest forwards.